drama on the high seas still. we'll tell you what happened when an ice breaker tried to reach the ship frozen for days in antarctic water >> it's all legal. that's what the government says about the government's sweeping phone snooping. behind the numbers. how will the ending of benefits affect the economy? the answer might surprise you. he's back. in fact, it's like he never left. the "duck dynasty" dude no longer suspended. did it just serve to promote the show? good morning, everyone.

welcome to "weekends with alex witt". we have new reaction to to a federal judge's ruling that the nsa seeping collection of phone is in fact, legal. the new york court ruled the surveillance program is an important part of the fight against terrorism. it comes two weeks after a washington, d.c. judge came to a different conclusion, saying the surveillance likely violates the constitution. pete williams has more on where the issue heads next. pete, good morning. >> the two rulings we have on the nsa program could not be more different. a fell judge said he found no evidence that it was effective in preventing terror attacks and an invasion of privacy. this judge in new york says just the opposite. it has stopped terror attacks. he said it's the federal government's counterpunch to al qaeda's ability to exploit communications before the 9/11

attacks. only by gathering all this data can the government isolate individual streams of terrorism communications. now he says, as did the judge two weeks ago, people use their phones much more widely than they did three decades ago when the u.s. supreme court said people have no expectation of privacy in the records that their phone companies keep. but this says a lot of the uses have nothing to do with making phone calls and they aren't free to overturn what the supreme court said. thank you for that. president obama is making 5eu personal appeal to extend unemployment benefits that are ending today. democrat jack reed of rhode island and republican dean heller of nevada. those benefits are ending today because congress did not include an extension in the bipartisan

budget the president signed into law on thursday. so that means 1.3 million unemployed will be losing their benefits. the congressional budget office said it would boost gdp by 2% and increase full-time employment by 200,000 next year. we'll take a close look at the numbers at the half hour. meantime, power crews in michigan and maine are race to go get the lights and heat back on for the tens of thousands of families still in the dark today. will the weather cooperate this weekend for the work crews? dylan dreyer has the forecast for that. dylan. >> good morning, alex. this week has been fairly quiet. we are starting to see rain move into the gulf coast. look at temperatures.

it's not all that cold. temperatures 23 in minneapolis. 35 in chicago. 38 to start off the day in new york city. the storm system developing in new orleans will turn into a big storm for the southeast today. it is going to be a rainstorm for most. you can see a closer look shows you heavy rain moving on shower from new orleans into mobile, alabama. it will move into atlanta by this afternoon. 6:00 this evening, still developing throughout the southeast. by 7:00, it races through the carolinas, virginia, the mid atlantic. then it moves into the northeast. by the time we get to 5:00, we are looking at heavy rain through new york stickers through southern new england. but there will be snow through central new england. considering the power is still out for those across maine. we will see accumulating snow in that area. we will see a widespread two to three inches, up through

virginia, washington, d.c. as well. but to the north of that where the coldest air is through central vermont, new hampshire, maine, three to six inches in your highest elevations. finally thawing out. chicago, high of 47. 60 in dallas. rain across the southeast. 81 in orlando. that arctic air moves into the northern plains and through the upper midwest with 1 for a high in minneapolis. 30 in chicago. the rain does move into the northeast. boston topping out at 41, which is why it will be rain along the coast. alex? okay. dylan dreyer, thank you for that. a russian ship has been stranded since christmas eve off antarctica. joining me now martin fletcher joining us from london. martin, the saga continues. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, alex, talk

about weather. good morning to you. so far the chinese ice breaker, six nautical members from the trapped ship. but it is, too, stuck itself. it's in ice 10 feet thick and can't move forward. an us australian ice breaker is coming to help but is a couple of days away. spirits are said to be high. a research team from the australian university of south wales. they are telling their families not to worry. they have enough pressure food on board for two weeks and dehydrated food too. so they say no need for alarm. right now the chopper can't take off because of snow and cloud. the leader said with all the modern equipment and systems you can't beat antarctica.

all they can do now is wait for the weather to improve. >> remind us how many people are on board the the ship. do you know what kind of research they were doing? >> yeah. 74 people on board. that's 54 scientists and volunteers helping them and the 20 crew, which are mostly russians. they set out initially to replicate the research of another explorer from 100 years ago who was in the same area, making the same pressurements. they're probing the depth of the ice and checking the temperature of the water 1,200 feet below the sea to see what happened to the ice and the water in the conditions over the last 100 years. the professor is an expert in climate control. so they went out for what seemed like a pleasant expedition to the south pole and it has turned into a nightmare. >> tell me how this works. that ship is cruising along. surely all the ice that's

encapsulated them for which they can't move, they saw this coming, right? i'm just trying to visualize how this happened. >> well, i'm sure their families are too. >> good point. >> yeah. well, what happens is this is the windiest place on earth. there's ice floes and ice packs. the wind pushes the ice together. they did see it coming. they wanted to extend their experiments and get out quickly. people think ice moves slowly. in reality it moves quickly indeed. and the wind packed the ice together so strongly, listen to this, when they were packed in, when they sent their distress signal christmas eve, there was two miles between them. in the few days since, it has

grown to 13 miles. they are now 13 miles from the open sea. the ice is packed so deeply. they said the ice, which is pushing against the ship, has tilted the ship a little bit. now, the captain changed the ballast so it is level again. but the ice is pressuring, pushing, beginning to crush the ship. there's no sense of alarm. it's not that far along yet. but they said 100 years ago the famous ship "endurance" was crushed by ice. we're nowhere near there, of course, but those are the kind of conditions in the region. >> thank you for explaining all that. it's a much clearer picture. see you again. thank you. four american military personnel in tripoli depained but a libyan government and released on friday. u.s. officials say they were e taken into custody at a

checkpoint near the town of sabratha. they were held for hours before being let go. a full report from the tragedy of sandy hook in newt n newtown. the report contains thousands of documents, photos into the investigation of the shooting rampage that left 20 first graders and 6 adults dead. the mother said her son was becoming increasingly despondent. a warning in washington, d.c. about riding the subway while drunk. wow. this was just released from the city's metro agency. people slipping and falling into big time trouble. some people falling off the escalators or collapsing on train tracks, which is worse. alcohol played a role in all of these incidents. all the people in the videos are recovering. a big reward for the las

vegas taxi driver who returned $300,000 in cash. the gambler came forward and gave a $10,000 thank you. the biggest seller in stores this holiday season, what was it? plus, new development in the massive target security breach. will it scare shoppers even more or not? wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. the end of trial and error has arrived. try a free sample at eucerinus.com. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection.

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the clock ran out on america's long-term unemployment benefits and more than 1 million americans got an ugly post christmas jolt at midnight last night. 1.3 million americans cut off. the economy may be improving, many lawmakers warn the move will set america back.

in fact, when congress resumes next week, you can almost count on a showdown over the expired benefits program. in the meantime, though, some serious belt tightening for many americans. and joe fryer is in los angeles. good morning. >> good morning, alex. at one point unemployment aid lasted two years. most recently it's lasted just over a year. now, as of this morning, unemployment benefits are back to prerecession levels, maxing out at six months. for nancy, a single mother of three, the first round of bad news came last year when she lost her job. >> i didn't think for a moment i would be sitting here today a year later, no job. >> she received her second round of bad news this month when she learned her unemployment insurance was exhausted. now, she's trying to sell her car to save her house. >> i want to have another job that i can go back to work and

have medical benefits and not have to worry about what i'm going to do next month for my mortgage payment. >> more than 4 million americans have been out of work since months or longer, including 215,000 in california, 125,000 in new york, and 90,000 in new jersey. 1% of that state's population. some in congress want to renew the program. critics say they must find a way to pay for it, arguing long-term benefits can hurt job seekers. >> the longer they are unemployed, the less likely they are to ever get a job again. >> bill sexton said it's hard to find a job in six months. >> it seems to be the impression that people on unemployment benefits are sitting around and enjoying the money. nothing could be farther from the truth. >> long-term impacts for the long-term unemployed. ten years down the road they earned 30% less than their peers. >> while everyone is adversely

affected by future earnings over time by unemployment, the long-term unemployed are substantially worse off. >> desperate for any job, conley-cummings spent two hours last week at a grocery store. >> to see a manager to say, hey, i'm looking for work. i'm willing to work. can you help me? >> she is still waiting for someone to answer yes. >> with the end of these long-term benefits, many exists say the unemployment rate could actually drop but not for reasons considered desire. that's because some people will stop looking for work and therefore won't be counted in the unemployment rate. others might take lower paying jobs. alex? >> it is a very tough thing to hear those stories. joy fryer, thank you for bringing it to us. and power problems. an ark lick blast is on the way. nearly 4,500 people are still

without electricity in maine. in michigan, 29,000 are still in the dark. that's where we find kevin tibbles. good morning. >> it's been a week of shivering for many as work crews go around the clock trying to turn the lights back on. but some are beginning to lose patience. the sun barely shows itself. but crews are already in the sky. >> how come you're still smile something. >> just happy to be out here getting people's powerback on for them. >> they come as far away from wisconsin, ohio, and maryland, putting in 18-hour days away from their own families at christmas. >> we had various wires down. our number one priority is customer safety and employee safety. so we have to make sure we keep the public safe. >> it's freezing cold down here on the ground where i am. but where he's working is probably 15 to 20 degrees colder in the wind. >> here, heavy ice buckled power lines. the crew is efficient and fast.

residents very thankful. >> we've got so many christmas cookies i don't think me or dave would care to have another one. we haven't had one bad thing said to us. >> some like chad will have to wait a while longer. >> unfortunately the power company at this time has run out of meter boxes they need to reinstall so we can get hooked back up. >> heavy snow covers much of the ice, compounding headaches for those still in the dark. >> i think it's pretty, but it has caused a lot of damage. >> still, a thank you from residents here too. back in michigan with the line repaired, dave fletcher hoists a pole, finally restoring power. >> so you're officially just flicking the switch? >> yeah. >> home owner tom breathes a sigh of relief. >> christmas tree lights are on. that's a good sign. his house got down to 37 degrees.

they return outside to catch the crew before they leave. >> thanks a lot, guys. i appreciate it. >> kevin tibbles, nbc news. good news, more power expected to be restored throughout the day. bad news, more frigid temperatures. >> okay, kevin. thank you for that. why did the a&e network decide to bring back the "duck dynasty" star before he was really gone? you'll hear their explanation ahead. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief.

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has some very special power. ♪ [ toys chattering ] it's filled with new duracell quantum batteries. [ toy meows ] [ dog whines ] [ toy meows ] these red batteries are so powerful... that this year they'll power all the hasbro toys donated to toys for tots. want to help power some smiles? duracell. trusted everywhere. victims of the target security breach are coming forward to tell their stories. when he asked for help from target, he said he was ignored. >> two charges that total up to $1,300 and something.

and come to find out those charges were from africa. not available. please try again later. i talked to three different people from target. no help at all. >> target says in the next two weeks they will be offering free credit monitoring to those affected. the hackers can't use some of the data they stole. a live report in just a phi minutes >> now to today's three big money headlines. hey, big spend, not loving it, and puff and stuff. regina, good morning. >> thank you. >> the big spender. what's the early read on holiday spending? >> it's interesting. i don't think it's surprising that consumers found out out of the box black friday and fizzled ow. i think it was always a zero sum day. nobody said i'm going to throw caution to the wild and go hog

wild. notable exceptions, jewelry in particular. $500 to $1200. that's pretty big. look at the picture. december is the single biggest engagement month in this country. >> that's good. now to not lovin'it. and strike three for the resource line. >> they often outsource thing. mcresource, the internal hr website, if you will, had a series of blunders starting with a budget tips for their employees that forgot about food and gas. if you are making minimum wage. then an emily post syndicated column said if you're tipping here's what to give your house cleaner, au pair or pool cleaner. and then the latest posting a healthy eating tips. and literally having a picture

of a hamburger and fries. here you see it and labeling it unhealthy choice. >> that's ridiculous. >> i know. that's what happens when it is lost in translation. they have pulled down the site. i bet they don't outsource it anymore. >> what about puff and stuff? >> this is ecigarettes. not since 1971 have there been cigarette ads. what about ecigs? if you are trying to build a brand in this category, you're going to advertise gang busters until they stop you. although i think they will temper themselves a little bit pause they don't necessarily want to taunt policymakers into regulating the ads. but expect to see a ton of ads in this category until somebody potentially calls foul. >> i think we can play part of an ad for people. do we have that, jason? okay. let's roll that. >> ♪

>> for everything friends do for each other, return the favor. friends don't let friends smoke. give the only ecigarette worth switching to. >> i get to have it without the guilt. no ash no, odor. which means i don't get the stink eye from others. >> here's what they're doing here. they used the word switching. taking people who are smoking transition al cigarettes and switching them over. the fear is they will attract new people. that could be a slippery slope. >> thank you so much, regina lewis. happy new year. >> thanks. how does the public feel about the coming year? will it be better or worse? with crest 3d white toothpaste. it removes up to 90% of surface stains in just 5 days. unleash your smile with crest 3d white toothpaste.

life opens up with a whiter smile. life opens up "stubborn love" by the lumineers did you i did. email? so what did you think of the house? did you see the school ratings? oh, you're right. hey babe, i got to go. bye daddy! have a good day at school, ok? ...but what about when my parents visit? ok. i just love this one... and it's next to a park. i love it. i love it too. here's our new house... daddy! you're not just looking for a house. you're looking for a place for your life to happen. i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. oh what a relief it is.

than any other behind the counter liquid gel. new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. welcome back to "weekends with alex witt". time for your fast five

headlines. the 27-year-old is charged with a hate crime because police say video taken from his phone shows he targeted the because he is black. early morning train fire in india killed more than 20 people. it broke out in a compartment where most were sleeping. in argentina, a heat wave caused widespread power outages. big changes in china. they have changed the one child policy to allow a second child if the parent is an only child. a british study, older teens say facebook is dead and buried. they prefer twitter and snap chat. target is trying to stop the

bleeding after details surrounding its massive security breach went from bad to worse. they are revealing p.i.n. numbers were stolen by hackers. gabe gutierrez is outside target in atlanta. good morning to you. why is target the swiped pins can't be used? >> good morning. the nation's third largest retailer insists it was stronglien cysted and can't be unlocked. so far no evidence to suggest the pin data has been compromised but some security experts worry it's possible. this morning the investigation into one of the largest data breaches in u.s. history is deepening and customers remain nervous. >> it makes me leery about going there. >> at first they said 40 million of its customers numbers had been stolen around the start of the holiday shopping season. now the retailer confirms en

crypted numbers were confirmed. we remain confident that pin numbers are safe and secure. >> would you go in and make a purchase with your debit card, they never see your pin number in the clear. all they possess is the encrypted number. >> target says since that digital key is not within their system. >> it would take decades to crack. it's not worth their time to go after the pins. >> but other cybersecurity experts aren't so sure. >> target may be understating the significance. because in the past the criminals have actually decrypted the pins and used it to steal cash from consumers. >> some frequent tart shoppers feel the retailer's offer of

free credit monitoring just isn't enough. >> as a consequence, we're the ones having to foot the bill for the extra effort. >> all this has come at a very crucial time for target, the holiday shopping season. shares have fallen 2.3% since news of the cyber attack broke, alex. >> yeah. so, gabe, what's the bottom line here? because we heard from a guy earlier in a taped piece that he had $1300 worth of airline tickets on a west africa an airline charge and it was traced to africa. if you've got stuff going on with your debit cards or credit cards, what can you do? >> yeah. well, alex, right now there is no way to know exactly how many instances of fraud there have been throughout the country. target says it is very minimal. many experts saying changing your pin isn't enough.

if you shopped in target in late november, early december, those security experts say the best thing you can do if you suspect your debit or credit card information may have been breached, the best thing to do is ask your bank for a new card number, alex. >> what a mess to clear up. thank you so much. well, the suspended star of the hit cable show "duck dynasty" is headed back to tv. it is reversing its decision for suspending phil robertson. kristen dahlgren is joining me with more on this. good morning to you. what's behind this decision. >> reporter: good morning, alex. a controversial comeback. a&e suspended phil robertson following his interview with gq magazine in which he compared gays to drunks and terrorists. and said blacks were happy

before civil rights. now the network has decided to bring robertson back to the show releasing a statement that says, "duck dynasty" is not a show about one man's views. it resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family, a family that america has come to love. as you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. in the meantime, lbgt released this statement in response, "phil robertson should look african-american and gay people in the eyes and hear about the hurtful impact of praising jim crow laws and comparing gay people to terrorists. if dialogue with phil is not the next steps, then they have chosen profits over

african-american and gay people, especially its employees and viewers. the series resumes filming in the spring, alex. >> i'm curious. have you heard anybody say this was all a great publicity stunt. because really he didn't miss any filming did he? >> no. the suspension only lasted a week. this was a standoff between the family and the fans behind them and a&e. a&e blinked. a lot of people say money talks. this show, alex, the most popular reality show on cable tv and $400 million in merchandising that goes along with it. a lot of money was on the line and a lot of people talking about this one. >> i have a smile on my face because i have seen an episode of that show. i was like really? okay. kristen dahlgren, thank you so much. >> you bet. >> should the "duck dynasty" star still be suspended or did

a&e do the right thing in bringing him back? now, to washington. aclu will appeal a federal judge's ruling that the nsa collection of millions of americans telephone records is legal. they said it is a valuable part of the nation's efforts to combat terrorism. "we are pleased the court found the nsa's bulk telephone metadata to be lawful. lynn sweet. lynn, go saturday morning to you. my friend, in the final news conference, the president said he would review this. does it change the president's approach? >> well, probably not because there's another federal judge that also gave a ruling that was contrary to this one. i think on the 46 recommendations that are before the president right now, the one that he indicated he was most interested in probably acting

on, and this is the good bet is asking congress or legislation to deal with the bulk phone data, metadata system. right now the government holds all the records. there will be a request and suggestion in that report just to have the companies hold it, which is controversial in its own right. >> so in the ruling the judge suggests a sweeping amount of phone data to help collect the dots on any potential terror plots. any evidence, any of that which has been collected stopped one terror threat. >> this is a very meaty question. and i interviewed jeff stone, one of the five people on bow 'bama's surveillance panel. his point was this. you had these horrible attacks that could kill tens of thousands of people. he's taking the longview. so there is no evidence that these precise programs thwarted

anything. >> okay. let's get to the long-term unemployment benefits of which you know 1.3 million americans are losing those pbenefits. 11.4 million people out of poverty. benefited 17 million children. cbo estimates the extension would boost gdp by 2%. it could increase full-time employment by 200,000 next year. so, lynn, making these cuts might save money. but if you look at the big picture and then down the long road here, does it really hurt the economy more to let the benefits expire? >> alex, again, that is the biggest democratic argument right now, to not let them expire. this is a boost, it's an economic engine. it doesn't make sense to cut off people when this money goes

right back into the economy. this is money that goes out to buy things. it's not like giving a rich person a gift that might go in the bank or a person who is not living paycheck to paycheck. and i think that's an argument that maybe, just maybe might be one that congress listens to when they get back. senator harry reid said a three-month extension will be a top their agenda the first week. >> the president called the two senators behind that democratic jack reed and republican dean heller. he said let's get this going, this quarter long, 13-week extension here. but what are the chances it's going to be extended? bass what i keep trying to figure out is what is different between what was happening in the lead-up to congress's break for the holiday and when they come back? what's different in two, three weeks? >> here's what i think will be different, two things. there has to be on the policy

side some pay for how these billions -- i don't remember the right number for what this costs. and i think the democrats need to be a little bit more aggressive in making the case in how they will pay for this. on the other side, the republicans may be hearing from their constituents. it crosses ideological and party lines. there might be an uproar in places that will get through to people. >> i want to switch gears and quickly ask you about this new york times story. it is titled" stories add up as bully image trails christie." who is adding this stuff up and how much do you think it adds up to? >> it will become part of the narrative. and this early on there's nothing to counter it. there's not -- the good christie stories, the soft and cuddly stories, the lovable christie and also most people don't bully

people. and bullying is a societal issue now. if that's the way he treats people, that's something he has to deal with if he wants to advance. >> lynn sweet, many thanks. happy new year. >> happy new year. if the bitter cold in new jersey doesn't keep you away from the super bowl in february, another aspect of the game probably will. ed like a bunch of those to clean this mess. [ kc ] you're probably right. hi, cascade kitchen counselor. 1 pac of cascade complete cleans tough food better than 6 pacs of the bargain brand combined. cascade. beyond clean and shine. every time. wears off. [ female announcer ] stop searching and start repairing. eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. the end of trial and error has arrived.

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take the energy quiz. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. new york times square is ready to ring in the new year. electricians installed the last of the 2688 crystal triangles yesterday. meanwhile polls shows 49% are approaching the new year with opt mitch. they say their lives will improve. 14% say it will be a downgrade. 34% don't expect much change. well, the super bowl heads to new york city in just a few short weeks. if you want tickets, be prepared to spend big time cash.

ron mott has more on this super bowl sticker shock. >> what i would be giving to be sitting here super bowl sunday. of course we have no idea who the two teams are. but already demand for this seat and some of the 78,000 other seats are sky high. face value of the most expensive ticket to the february 2nd game at metlife stadium is expected around $2600. reality is they are already going for far more on the resale market. what's drives prices up into record territory, you guessed it, location, location, location. new york city and wall street, a first for the big game. >> it's all speculation. it's hype. people saying this is new york city. look how many corporations are based here. those companies are going to pay for tickets.

>> and pay dearly. super bowl packages start at $5600. if case you're wondering, that's per person. >> it is driven by two factors, one is the city it's played in and the second is the teams playing in the event. >> the cheapest ticket on stubhub, $3200. getting to this super bowl will be different than all others too. >> best way to get around, mass transit. >> the first mass transit super bowl ever an estimated 12,000 arriving by train, 35,000 by bus. >> act like a local. take transit. >> and then the weather. >> one thing if you know the nfl they're vigilant in controlling every aspect of the super bowl. when you look at the weather, that's one thing the league cannot control.

>> snow and bitter cold are real possibilities. if it's really bad out, the nfl has floated the idea of moving it to another day, super bowl saturday. or how does super bowl monday night sound? it is about five weeks away. it's freezing. it's 29 this morning with a windchill of 23. back to those tickets, how do you get them? the nfl does not sell to the general public directly. you will have to find a ticket reseller. plenty of those out there. but buyer beware. if you don't go through their official ticket exchange attic et master. now back to you. >> thank you for that. u.s. olympians compete for a spot in the sochi winter olympics. more on that in the noon hour >> up next, fund-raising pore al qaeda and the donors don't even know it. [ female announcer ] trying for a baby? only clearblue advanced digital ovulation tests can identify your four best days to get pregnant -- two more than any other test. maximize your chances of getting pregnant.

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>> charitable donations for al qaeda. we are learning how the

terrorist group is getting millions of dollars in well connected supporters. it is the subject of a new article this week and joby joins me with more. it started out with a story about the professor at the university of cutter remember tell us about him. >> question have seen different schemes, but how fascinating is how prominent these individuals are. this is a professor nuaini, a fundraiser at cutter. we do a lot of business with. he was a professor the president of the football association him he was raising money for the royal family. at the same time, he was raising millions of dollars for al qaeda, syria, iraq, sometimes as much as $2 million a month for these organizations. >> this is not the only one seen by the treasury department. tell us about the other man in your article. >> the second guy from yemen. a very similar profile,

connected to charities and human rights organizations for muslims. people are going for human rights for muslims. at the same time he was helping plan operation, plan assassinations of yemeni politicians. >> the we can say the professor and reporters have written both of these people have been with anti-terrorism, particularly the use of drones. so do you think that, the use of drones has been a galvanizing force for al qaeda? >> they certainly are making it an issue. they are raising the issue of drone strikes as a part of their fundraising campaigns. they go to places like geneva saying this sa violation of human rights, at the same time they are hoep helping the guys we are trying to attack in yemen as a result. >> if you look at the profiles of these men, you do you explain the dichotomy here. these people promote humanitarian roles and civil

rights. they are supporting allegedly these extremist groups. >> there is a long tradition of the use of charitys to support radical groups. it goes back to afghanistan when the groups are supporting the mujahdin. in ordinary muslims, the charities is wasted to help common people, refugees to help war orphans and widows. in reality. a lot of this money gets directed to unsavory characters. we see that again and again. >> it's also harder for the u.s. to track this funneling of money to charities through nefarious groups. >> what is new now the use of social media, facebook, twitter. because you can reach out to millions of people, collect money fairly anonymously. they give a bank account or a number to call so you can make your donations. we have seen all kind of strange things like auctions for cars for jewelry, for even vacation properties, using twitter to raises a cash. all that money gets walked akrots to syria to saudi groups

and very unsavory characters. >> can i ask you also about an article you wrote, this is extremely disturbing to me. these are a cubs camp about using young boy, kids like ten-years-old as training potentially to be suicide bombers. i mean, water all this? >> yes, this is something we are seeing in syria. it happened in iraq years ago. the extreme groups, closely connected to al qaeda, see an opportunity to not only wage jihad but wage and train few generation of fighters. they reach into schools and bring out children as young as 10-years-old, bring them into military camps to teach them, to encourage them to become suicide bombers. this is something that's fairly new in syria. we see it as a long-term problem that could haunt us for years to come. >> suicide bombers. active military and even scouting. right. these are the kids that will go out and find where people are.

>> that's scary. >> all right. jobbie warrick. thanks so much. >> thanks,. >> join us for a twof-hour edition of the show.l then we have "up" with steve kornacki. keep it here all the time on msnbc.

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