>> this is aljazeera america. live from new york city, i'm richelle carey. tony harris has the night off. apple's argument, the tech giant's illegal case against unlocking an iphone for the fbi. the threat facing the united states, what secretary ashe carter is concerned about. detained in iran, his 80-year-old father. and an unusual high number of

babies in washington state. apple is officially fighting back, the tech giant went to court to fight the request to hack into a phone that belonged to one of the san bernardino shooters. jacob ward is in san francisco, and it seems that the stakes are high for all involved and for the country. >> reporter: that's right, richelle. absolutely. this is not just a case of being a war of words, but truly, a war in the courtroom. apple finally filing a motion that makes the argument because no one has ever been asked to do this before, their constitutional rights as a company have been violated. in a motion filed a day ahead of the deadline, apple

magistrates are asking to reverse the order of the order to hack into the i-phone of one of the san bernardino shooters. they are being asked to build something new, a government ao as much, as well as a forensic facility that could be used to unlock phones in hundreds of other cases. apple executives told reporters that the order violates the company's rights, compelling a third party to work for the government. he said this is just about a single phone, but nevertheless, he told a house panel that it could be a larger issue. >> we have two roles in this cake. we must do a competent investigation following the murder of 14 people in san bernardino, and we will, and we'll use whatever lawful tools are available to us. but in the larger conversation, i think our roll is to make sure that folks understand what are the costs associated with moving to a world of universal

strong encryption. >> microsoft's legal officer told the house committee that the government has gone too far. >> we do not believe that courts should seek to resolve issues of 21st century technology with law that was written in the era of the adding machine. we need 21st century laws that address 21st century technology issues, and we need these laws to be written by congress. >> reporter: everyone seems to agree that this is new territory. asked what the president of apple drew on, he said we're not aware of any precedent for this at all. no compan ever been conscriptedo build something that doesn't exist, and apple argued in its filing, i have to be the first. richelle, this has been an interesting, almost philosophical debate, and it brings out the poet call side, the director, comey, talking

about our poetic personalities, and what no one should look like. >> there are a lot of issues under this umbrella, a lot of topics to discuss. and i know you spoke with the apple executives and what's the mood in the company some. >> that company is finding itself in a very very uncomfortable position. until now, they have worked with law enforcement. and they talk about how quickly they respond, receive requests from the fbi at 2:00 in the morning and get back within a couple of hours and they're used to this, but they have walked up to a line that they will not cross, and again talking about their constitutional rights and the first and the fifth amendment and the idea that the government compelling them to work and build a facility to help the government investigate these kinds of cases they have been put in a position that no other company has been put in before. and they refuse to go to it.

so essentially a company with its back against the wall that is not going to go any further. >> it will be fascinating to follow this and see what the implications r. president obama and congress focused on national security threats today. the president went to the state department this afternoon to meet with the national security team. and they discussed a number of issues, including the fight against isil. >> the fight against isil will remain difficult. but we'll continue to draw on all elements of our national power. military, intelligence, homeland security, law enforcement, and the strength of our communities. and i am confident that we will prevail. we're in a better position now than we were last month, and in a better position last month than three months ago. >> the president spoke hours after his top defense official testified before congress, and they told lawmakers that russia and china are the top

competitors to america's military might. aljazeera's national correspondent, jamie mcintyre, has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: well, richelle, the house subcommittee was reviewing the pentagon's budget and seemed concerned if the u.s. military was keeping up with threats from moscow and beijing. secretary, ashe carter listed five challenges, is ill, had iran, north korea, russia and china. and he called russia and china the most stressing competitors to superiority. >> we saw it in the sea and in crime and syria as well. in some cases, they're developing weapons and ways of war that seem to achieve their objective rapidly, before we can respond. >> reporter: russia has been flexing it's muscle with bashar al-assad in syria, but it's

china that's threatening in the asia pacific region. something this week that the u.s. command in the pacific made clear in testimony before i senate committee. >> in my opinion, china is clearly militarizing the south china sea and you would have to believe in a flatarity to believe otherwise. >> reporter: china has been building up reefs in the south china sea, and deploying hardware to man had made and natural islands in what o'hare says is an overeddest to deny access to the united states. >> when they put their vast missile systems on the parasails, and when they build 3,000-foot runways on their base that's they reclaimed h. they do all of that, they're changing the operational layup in the south china see. >sea.>> reporter: they are

spending billions on weapons in china tripling the number of cruise missiles on a be attack submarine to a new generation of ship missiles, and to underwater drones and exotic swarming microdrones which can be made 3-d printer. in his opinion, the u.s. still has the em, but unless spending is increased, there's no doubt. >> there's no doubt in my mind, the trajectory that china is on today, where we cannot maintain an investment profile as outlined in the budget, we would lose our competitive advantage over time and find ourselves incatastrophically able to advance in the pacific. >> he thanked them for some of the relief for some of the sequestration spending limits, but if they are not permanently lifted within the next five years, the u.s. could fall

behind it's rivals. >> president obama can cross one list off of his list of potential supreme court nominees. nevada governor, sandoval said that he's not interested in being considered but he said that he's grateful to be mentioned as a potential nominee. the white house was asked if this will discourage them from going through the process. >> the people who actually are interested in a supreme court appointment. they understand that this is a rig process, and they understand that what entails. i think it's certainly understandable that most people wouldn't want to go through it. >> the president will meet with senate republicans next week, who once again today said that they will not hold hearings or vote on any nominee. the last republican debate

is seen as the last chance to stop donald trump. marco rubio and ted cruz want to chip away at trump, and in houston, michael, this is all easier said than done. how in the world do you go head 20 head with a personality like trump? >> reporter: well, it's an interesting way that you ask that, richelle, because head-to-head is a thing that they haven't done. i spoke with ted cruz's campaign this afternoon, and they said you're going to see a different ted cruz tonight. you're going to see someone who is not just going to hear donald trump say that he's a liar, but react to that. >> it's time that people feel they need to go after not just marco rubio, but donald trump. and they're going to do a different attack against donald trump tonight. it may be a different donald

trump that you see because of that. >> . >> do the pollsters say that he ask lead and trump is leading in florida. how catastrophic would it be if both of those things happened? >> reporter: well, it would be catastrophic for all of them. ted cruz can't really go on if he loses here in texas, in your home state of texas, richelle. this is where he has won before. and it's hard to take that narrative out of texas and to the other states and say, i didn't even win my own state, donald trump beat me there, but he's going to be banking on the fact that in march h. the voters go to the polls, they're going to refute marco rubio. the polls show marco rubio way up there, and the average shows cruz up 6 points in texas. i think that it would be devastating for both of them, but the point is that we should not get lost on them.

people spend so much time concentrating on cruz and rubio, but donald trump is so far ahead. in any other year, you would say this is done, but because of trump, it's a different nomination. >> the second and third place guys are getting a lot of attention. tell my parents hi when you leave there. all right, just two days before the democratic primary in south carolina, and hilliary clinton is keeping up appearances. in state law, bernie sanders has moved o polls suggest that had clinton has a lock on it, but that has other challenges. good evening to you, sir. >> good evening, ma'am, and how are you? >> wonderful, let's talk politics here. >> reporter: yes, behind me, hundreds of people in this room, we're in a church hall to the north of the city of

charleston, and it's a town hall being organized by the clinton campaign. and the senator will be here and taking questions from the people behind me. she doesn't have to do that, not in south carolina, because she's way ahead in the polls. and bernie sanders has been heavily criticized for not being here. he's in oklahoma and ohio and flint, michigan today. and he'll be back here tomorrow, just on the lip of the polling activity on saturday. but just in time. the secretary is doubling down and campaigning hard. and she doesn't want to get her fingers burned. she has been here before, up in the polls, and then another candidate, barack obama, takes it away from her, and she's out and campaigning hard and this is part of that. but that's not to say, however, richelle, that the secretary hasn't had a tough 24 hours.

in politics, this black lives matter crowd held a sign up, as hillary attended a fundraising event in charleston, south carolina. >> we'll talk about it. >> the protestor's sign refers to controversial statements that clinton made in 1996 about at-risk youth. >> they're the kids that we call super predators. we have to bring them to heel. >> it's not the first time that clinton has encountered activists from black lives matter on the campaign trail. she tried to talk about civil rights. >> yes, they do, and i'm going to talk a lot about it. >> the stand off was for 15 minutes before they were escorted out of the building. >> okay, back to the issue.

>> the disruption is not likely to slow clinton in south carolina where the polls suggest that she's going to win and win big. >> we have waged a very very vigorous campaign and picked up a lot of support. and we have closed the gap very very significantly. >> bernie sanders denies abandoning the state. but he has moved on. though he will return on friday, taking his message the last couple of days of inequality to ohio and talking to residents of flint, michigan, about the water crisis on thursday. >> how could it happen? >> reporter: while sanders makes his way across the country, clinton isn't budging from south carolina. up to voting day in a place that may be influenced by history. in 2008, polls suggested that she was the favorite. but the state hand today barack obama, and he eventually won the nomination. clinton is determined that history doesn't repeat itself

this time. and in an interview with the "washington post" newspaper firm, mrs. clinton has apologized for the words that she used. she said said i shouldn't haved those words, and i wouldn't use them again today. >> residents from virginia to pen are cleaning up after a deadly series of tornadoes knocked out power to thousands of customers alone the east coast. four people were killed in a tornado in the tiny town of waverley, virginia on wednesday, and paul said that he's lucky to be alive. >> i went to the kitchen and the window, and it was spinning there in the yard. this exploded backwards and all of this stuff came into the house, and i was standing right here. >> the powerful storm is still bringing snow and biting wind. hundreds of flights have been

canceled. up next, cleaning house. a french judge gives the go ahead to disband part of the jungle. the largest refugee encampment. and in syria, a cease-fire begins tomorrow, but the fighting intensifies.

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the jungle. the authorities want to move 1,000 refugees into the accommodations from the camp. they once again have to leave their homes. >> reporter: a refugee from iraq has been in the jungle catch in calais for a month. helping out at this food tent means that he stays worm and stays busy, but the local authorities have been given the green light to clear people out of this area. and they said that they won't use force, and the things like this library and places for worship will be left in place. but he has applied for asylum in france. >> i am going to register for asylum on friday, and i would like to bring my wife and four children in iraq so we can live in peace and my children in france. >> but many others see the planned eviction as just another hurdle to clear.

they're determined to reach britain, where they have got friends or family. >> i'm waiting here for month. i want to do to uk, but now i don't know where i'll go. >> reporter: there are places for refugees in france and germany, but people here have strong reasons for going to england. they have family there, and they don't want to stay here. >> reporter: the government insists that it has a better solution to offer them. >> with the organization, previously on an area, we'll be able to offer a decent shelter for migrants of calais and most importantly, get them out of hands of traffickers. >> reporter: behind the tree over there is the southern part of what we call the jungle camp, and the authorities in calais would like everyone living over there to move into

a new accommodation center not far away. it's made up of heated containers, and psychologically, it's a great move. the aid organizations say that there are far more people here that can stay in the container park or other centers. france is telling the migrants, they can either live in a container or in a shelter. it's going to pump people all over, just like ten years ago. there will not be enough space for them in the shelters provide bid the government. >> reporter: charities say that the french government should do much more to help the many children and teenagers here in particular. clearing this part of the jungle, but a lasting solution still seems out of reach. aljazeera, calais. >> the u.n. is saying 21 tons of desperately needed food and

supplies to syria has been lost. the cargy was air dropped yesterday because the town was surrounded by isil. they were destroyed when the parachute did not open friday. >> fighting is raging on this weekend in the hostilities. the russian-backed government is continuing to make gains against isil. >> reporter: as the final countdown begins, leading up to this much anticipated cessation in hostilities, there was no letup in terms of the violence on the ground in syria, russian airstrikes in the damascus suburbs in the countryside, showed introduction to civilian areas. there was video soundbites of children, putting an end to what they decried as the aggression against them. there was no reports of an isil

presence in that area. the other development, the armed forces of the canassor town, which is south of aleppo. it was previously controlled by isil fighters for a few days. as we lead up to these hostilities, it clearly allows for all sides to loose violence under the pretext of self defense, and it's a loose term, and that's why there's not of optimism. probably the main hope that people have, maybe this cessation of hostilities will at least provide for some sort of a window for aid to reach.

we already saw the aid dropped from the sky, and that was unsuccessful. and even if it was unsuccessful, 21 tons is a very minimal amount compared to what is needed. it's barely a truckload of aid. providing some sort of a window, on the ground to the areas that we see. starving people there, where there hasn't been water, food electricity, medication for a long time, it's a bitter, bitter winter. >> reporting from southern turkey. argentinian special prosecutor, murdered, and that's what an appeal prosecutor said today. he was found hours before he was supposed to testify about the then president, kercher. and he's accused of helping officials cover up the 1994 bombing of the jewish community center. and his death was originally

ruled a suicide. a woman who lost her husband is asking for $7.6 million. next of kin for all passengers, already entitled to compensation for any lawsuit seeking more must file next month, two years after the incident. the plane carrying 239 people disappeared on march 8th, 2014, and only part of the wing has been found. up next, deigne detained in. and plus, a deadly medical mystery.

>> iranians head to the polls in a few hours for the first vote since the nuclear deal. one of iran's vice president viciscritical of how thousands f candidates have been barred from running. >> reporter: iran is used to elections, but this is billed as a poll that will take the islamic revolution into a new era. one that could be more moderate. she believes that change is coming. the first woman vice president between 1997 and 2005.

back in 1979, she was the voice of resistance. aged 19, spokeswoman for iranian students, who held 52 americans hostage for 144 days in the u.s. embassy crisis. she's now serving a third term as vice president, under rouhani. and she believes that the majority will be overturned. >> the people believe that they can change the course of events. if people had not voted for rouhani, and not come to the polls 2 and a half years ago, we would not have been successful, in for example the nuclear deal, lifting the sanctions. >> there are powerfulling institutions standing against moderates and reformers. the guardian council made up of mainly conservatives and

hardliners, cut the number standing for the parliamentary elections by half. the number of experts, cutting the number standing for that body by more than 3/4. most of those disof qualified were either reformists or moderate. >> the way that it's actually done, i think that's open to a lot of criticism. >> what is your view of it? >> we should be more open in terms of allowing people, particularly those who are coming, for example, strong political credentials in the past, or people who are coming for the first time, and they don't have that much experience in the political arena, i think that they should be given the chance. >> even if conservatives did lose control of the iranian

parliament, the extreme leader, ayatollah would still hold the control of the military and a wide range of islamic institutions. aljazeera, teheran. >> iranians have arrested the father of a u.s. citizen who has been in iran for four months. the 80-year-old was detained after returning from a trip from abroad. his wife said that he was taken to prison. his son was arrested in october. and the officials have yet to announce charges against him. and he was not part of the people freed in the prisoner exchange last month. a senior associate from carnegie, the middle east program, and a friend as well, and he joins us from washington d.c. so these two arrests. what message, if you're able to tell, is iran sending the u.s. with this?

>> well, i think in the case, the regime is trying to send a few signals. one is for the iranian business people, to send a signal that just because the economic sanctions have been lifted, iran is not open to business to all of you. it remains a very closed party to can i only government cronies will benefit. and i think second, they want to send a install to the united states that the nuclear deal was not indicative of an iranian desire to improve or normalize relations and those will remain adversarial, and lastry lee, they want to undermine the agenda of president rouhani, to regulate relations with the outside world. so that's why he was arrested. but in the case of his father,

80-year-old, i suspect that they're trying to put pressure on siamak to make a false confession, and that's why they imprisoned his father. >> is there something about how the iranians engage with the u.s.? >> no. on a societal level, i wouldn't say that there's a huge divide. overwhelmingly, iran is a vast population, and the vast number of iranians want to be participate of the outside world and integrated and normalized. the divide is within the regime itself. but going back to the family, these are two people who are u.s. citizens. they're it at the same time patriots of iran, people who could be living very comfortable lives in the united

states. they chose to be back in iran, and as long as you have these types of iranians languishing in prison, rather than active in the iranian private sectish or non-governmental sector, i'm sceptical that iran is really on the path toward a better future. >> so what were your thoughts on the elections coming up tomorrow, and how crucial they are? >> i wouldn't say that the elections are particularly crucial. no matter what happens in these election, the most powerful man in iran will remain supreme leader, and the revolutionary guards will remain powerful. and iran has broad strategic objective, whether it's the nuclear policy, or behavior in the middle east, it's not really going to change with

these leaks. on a microlevel, if you're living in iran, the differences between the candidates can make a difference in your quality of life. but if you're sitting at the state department or the white house, it's not really going to change iran's interaction with the outside world. >> do they have any negotiations for release of them? >> it's unclear at this moment what it is that the iranian government are interested in. are they trying to do a prisoner exchange like they did in the previous case of u.s. prisoners in iran? on one hand, i do think that you could refer to siamak and his father as hostages, political prisoners se and it's

oftentimes difficult to see what it is that the regime wants in release of these innocent prisoners. >> thank you very much. >> fired an assistant professor on the columbia campus. he was caught at the height of the demonstration over the treatment of african-americans on campus. the student was covering on the university's president and want chancellor re signed. democratic presidential candidate, bernie sanders, is campaigning at chicago state university tonight. and the positions on race and funding for higher education tie him to both schools. >> bernie sanders is expected to draw a crowd of about 7,000 people at this arena at chicago

state university, which is caught in the middle of a dire financial stand off. darren martin was voted mr. csu by fellows at chicago state last year, but even he can't conjure up a solution to losing his scholarship money, which could mean no diploma this year. >> i'll be a sophomore, that's how detrimental it is to me if i transfer. >> chicago state and other institutions depend in part on state money, while the state legislature, controlled by democrats, is launching a standoff for republican governor, bruce rouder. for eight months and coupling, there has been no state budget. which means that csu hasn't received 38% of its budget. that's $38 million. >> we have basically put everything on the table, including all personnel including all programs and

buildings. >> reporter: the school, which services mainly minority and lower income students, has warned that it may not be able to stay open beyond next month. spring break has been cancelled and this semester has been shortened, all in an effort to race to the school year's end before the money runs out. >> i need my education, and i can't think of anyplace else to be but here. >> reporter: the roughly 10,000 students are feeling the pinch. scholarship money, paid for by grants, has dried up. >> i already work paycheck to paycheck to pay any bills, and now for school too, it's crazy. >> reporter: the student activity director, montoya marsh, wonders if her program and her job are in jeopardy. >> our students leading this fight are the ones keeping us going, so their optimism is really helping us. >> students at csu have spent

weeks protesting against the budget stale mates, both in chicago and in springfield. they blame both democrats and republicans, but especially governor rouner, for vetoing a bill that would have kept the funds flowing to the school, the governor blames bad spending at csu. >> they have been wasting money for years. >> like many large organization, of course there are inefficiencies here that we need to improve o we certainly don't believe that we have a $38 million inefficiency. >> tonight, bernie sanders at the university of chicago across town, has essential meaning for him. he got arrested here in 19623, protesting treatment of minority students, but it was here tonight where the plan to making tuition at public colleges and universities free is playing well. >> to see what we go through

for our education, and how hard it is to pay for your education. >> there are some proposals floating around that could destroy the school's budget. and the government is sounding agreeable to at least one of them, and as grim as it looks now, it won't be the death rattle for this 150-year-old school. >> we will recover. >> president barack obama is striking an optimistic tone in the battle against the zika virus. it's caused by mosquito and may cause brain damage in hundreds of newborns in brazil. >> we just had a meeting about zeeka, and there's a promising diagnostic for it, and it's not a complicated virus apparently. >> the president's words follow the dire warnings for disease control in the americas. a rare and deadly birth defect striking a portion of

the skull, affecting babies in this eastern washington more than anywhere else. >> well, everything was fine at first, and it was normal. i had morning sickness. >> but it wasn't just fine. and at five months, sally acosta found out how bad her pregnancy really was. an ultrasound showed that her baby had ancephaly, a badly underdeveloped skull and brain. >> i wanted to die, i wanted to be the one that wassic and not her. >> she has had two healthy children since then, but little maria didn't survive her first day. sally still has the baby footprints and handprints, and a few pictures and a few minutes worth of memories. >> i looked into her eyes and told her i love her, and i still have dreams about that. i dream about that constantly.

>> it was only after she gave birth that she heard about other cases in the same area. lots of them. >> we're not aware of any other cluster or other areas of the country that are experiencing elevated rates. >> cathy lofy oversees the ancephaly investigation. the defect is extremely rare, two out of every 10,000, but the. but in the county of eastern washington, it's four times that. some years five times. the health deposit ha departmenn looking for answers. >> we have heard of them, but can't pinpoint a common reason >> the desks are not concentrated in one spot. of the many possibilities, three things jumped out to state health investigators as potential causes. nitrate contamination in drinking water. pesticide exposure of some type

kind. and the haniford nuclear, which sits in the middle of the area. it's where plutonium was produced and hold more high level waste that have any other place in the continent. but ancephaly spaced evenly, there's no access to the site. >> we couldn't see a pathway where women would have been affected. >> the area supports some of the state's best fruit crops and a booming wine and grape industry, thus suspicions about contaminated water and pesticide use. but the state tracks night rate levels in drinking water and surface, and other similar agricultural areas don't she high rates, and no it specifically pesticides. >> after decades of research, we still don't understand

ancephaly. >> hispanic women are at a slightly higher risk for ancephaly, and there's a significant hispanic population in the area. it doesn't explain what's happening. the ancephaly rates are up for all regions. they ask them to take folic acid, but they can't say that a lack of foliccanceid is the cause. >> no. >> they are interviewing as many women as they can find who are willing to talk. that's only 17 so far. they haven't talked with sally. her loss was too long ago and falls out of the bounds of the current study. there has been no test of air or air or soil. >> if we can figure out what happened, we can figure out what can stop it, so other people don't have to go through

this. losing a child is hard. >> as more babies are buried in eastern washington, there's no clear solution to this troubling mystery. allen schauffler. >> up next, the big business of hacking. hollywood executives are turning to digital bodyguards to protect their works of art. and a steam engine is back in service.

>> more than 200 countries will cast their votes tomorrow. here's a look at the candidates trying to descending the presidential step lard, and whoever wins will have the task of reforming a history filled with corruption. >> app extraordinary congress in zurich, chaos with the world's governing body. who will be the man that the federation selects that will try to create a new and improved fifa? >> you have what you need? >> for months, the favorite has

been bahrain 'shaikh, contacts and influence, and though his alleged role in the crackdown on athletes, made his candidacy controversial. his main challenge comes from the secretary general in europe, he originally stepped in, and now he has enough pledges of support to look like a serious threat to salmon. it ended after a $2 million payment was exposed. they lost their appeal this week. african businessman is a saquald jordanian prince ali, who

dramatically resigned. he has complained. he ruled the organization for 17 years and remains a sideshow, corruption, and completely discredited he claims that he didn't actually resign and has right. popularity has always important for blatter's power, and they are holding further talks in zurich. the interim leader pledged his official support for shaikh salmon a month ago. it is important to know that the people are also voting on a reform process on this big day, and trying to convince the world that it can be a cleaner place. with the probing, as it continues largely on the world cup, and specifically the

individuals involved so, the first few months of the new president's reign is not going to be easy. >> after spending nearly one year in space, an astronaut and cosmonaut are coming home. they have been carrying out numerous experiments that kelly hopes will one day pave the way for humankind's next big destination. >> i'm hopeful and i hope that we'll learn more about longer duration space flight and how that will takes you to mars one day. and i think that this is a big stepping stone for mars in the future. >> the two will leave the international space station next week, and by then, kelly will hold the record for total time spent in space. 520 days. a much awaited return from the track, after a 10 year,

$6 million makeover. >> it can the symbol of a bygone era. almost 100 years after the flying scotsman made it's debut, it's back on the tracks. with thousands of people turning out as it made it's long journey from london to york. >> this is an appeal, it's fire and water, and it's deep in our dna. >> in its heyday, this locomotive was a record breaker, the first anywhere in the world to reach speeds of 100 miles or 160 kilometers an hour. now it's modern namesakes can travel twice as fast on the same line. what it makes up for in speed is charm and character.

he started cleaning the engine before becoming a flying scotsman driver in the 50s. >> you could know us in england, you could get it along. >> the flying scotsman has had a checkered history. gone out of service, been sold and gone on tour overseas. spending ten years in the workshop. >> it's difficult for this kind of historic locomotive. so we rip today back and put it back together. so it's just as good as it was back in the 1920s originally. >> this cultural icon represents a time when british innovation changed rail travel around want world. nearly a century o the flying scotsman has been attacked for different reasons. aljazeera, new york. >> the number of cyber

criminals attacking the entertainmentvy is on the rise. sin the sony hacking incident, they have been the subject for attack, and now the movie executives are fighting back. >> reporter: there's edward snowden, and there's hollywood director, oliver stone. he's making a film about edward snowden, and this is ralph, the man oliver stone has hired to keep his film about edward snowden away from prying eyes. >> he doesn't really know. >> mal he's a hacker, and watchg very closely. >> they still have this idea that the film isn't canned. and it's a physical thing. and it's not. but you're capturing this film, it's a file, and it gets duplicated and multiplied in the process, and that didn't

happen with a piece of film. >> hacking is big business. just and sony about that. in 2014, the cyber criminals stole tara bites of data, and it cost the film millions of dollars. >> five out of every ten businesses in the united states have fallen to some sort of cyber attack, and in one year, that number was up 40%, and it's getting worse and not better. hollywood is a major victim. you have so many people involved in the network production process, and they're all accessing files using their own phones, and in some cases, their own laptops, and to keep all of the prying eyes out, the hackers, it's almost impossible. he's a cyber crime expert.

try aiming for the stars. >> you have talent, which might go to the store and buy an iphone, and send the password to their dog's name. and holding an interview talking about their dog, and somebody can pretty much figure out how to get things off of their system. >> but for this digital bodyguard, it's all about damage control. >> it's a matter of identifying a potential threat early enough so it doesn't have a huge impact. >> the hackers are in hollywood, metaphorically at least. there may be no happy ending in sight here. aljazeera, los angeles. >> digital bodyguards. i'm richelle carey, thank you so much for watching aljazeera. keep it here throughout the night. and randall kingston is up next.

this is al jazeera america. i'm randall pinkston. john seigenthaler is off. tonight the republicans debate for the last time before the super tuesday. the university of houston is tonight's debate. donald trump is the front runner. that after winning in new