coming up on our t.v. for the fifth straight day thousands of residents in west virginia are banned from drinking the water state officials are testing the water for its toxicity while the investigation into the spill eats up we have a report from west virginia straight ahead. and a plague of the piglets virus is killing baby pigs across the country so is your pork safe to eat so find out coming up. and is it the and broadcast t.v. networks aereo an internet startup is airing the signals of the biggest broadcasters for free online the networks are turning to the supreme court to try and stop them so it's free broadcast t.v.

about to fade to black find out later in the show. it's monday january thirteenth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our team america. well again today in west virginia where hundreds of thousands of people are living without water water is trickling back for some residents but most are still going without it water restrictions went into effect thursday and nine counties in west virginia when it was discovered seventy five hundred gallons of toxic chemicals leaked out of a storage tank and into the elk river fourteen people have been hospitalized of the three hundred thousand residents living under the bad about about ten thousand today we're told it's ok to turn the tap back on the rest are told not to drink

bathe or cook with the water at this point there are many unknowns it's unclear how many are harmed when it exactly happened and when the water will be safe once again are to correspondent megan lopez has more on the public health disaster from charleston. folks who were always good. there you go i was just walking my dog over there and i saw they got more water like i was walking by so kind of rushed through this is not how ben cook was planning to spend his day so how even a couple days it's going to like her and other stuff and every time i get there i just miss it but been along with three hundred thousand residents of charleston west virginia is no scrambling to get his hands on one of the most basic elements of life a chemical spill from a local company forced governor all ray tomblin to make an unprecedented decision to go using the water with the exception of using the you know should.

know local authorities are teaming up with the department of homeland security and the national guard to get this crisis under control. pallets of water are coming in by the truckload. fire garages normally used to house the station's trucks have to . learned to distribution drive through everything. outside a line of cars as far as the eye can see i didn't have a bar of the first day and i got meant that the advance those who can drive walk to the station everyone just trying to get their hands on a case of water it's not stopping every time we bring a truckie and it's pretty much gone just as quick as we can get carts are there and they're still coming within minutes of arriving i mean you've got. to notify them or you run for your life that's the last one hundred were out there for.

the water has completely vanished fire station two closes its garage door and waits for the next shipment to arrive we got here maybe about twenty minutes ago our kind of cut in as was coming out of the parking lot right here because i think they're backed up all the way down washington street i mean it's just or angry residents want to know how this happened there's nothing nothing no plans no preparation whatsoever to deal with this type of an emergency except for people to come begging for water. hopefully keeping their family alive the culprit that stopped the water flow in nine counties is a company few residents have ever heard of before i am at ground zero of the chemical spill here in charleston west virginia right in front of freedom industries now freedom industries it is a company that produces chemical material for the cement steel and mining industries what you see behind me are massive storage tanks eight of them can hold thirty five thousand gallons of the chemical that they are producing here right

beyond those storage tanks is the elk river or one of those stores tanks or at least chemicals into the river that was taken downstream to a local water treatment facility freedom industries didn't report the leak until thursday morning when residents complained of a strong licorice smell in the air that odor was seventy five hundred gallons of a chemical known as for meth the psycho hexane methanol or him c h m for short it's a foaming agent used to clean coal before it goes to the market before the spill little was known about the effects of in c.h.m. and there was no way to test for it in the air or water nor its effects on humans now investigators are continually testing the water waiting for the m.c.h. in levels to get down below the e.p.a.'s recommended one part per million before they flush the system and give residents the all clear at this point there are more

questions than answers like who decided to build a chemical plant upstream from a water treatment facility and would never have thought this not in this day and age not in this day and age especially with all modern technology. but for now residents of the sleepy southern city are still hunting for water and hoping that this crisis will be resolved soon i think everybody is angry. i'm tired in charleston west virginia meghan lopez r t. some signs of hope for the crisis in syria u.s. secretary of state john kerry is n.p.r.'s meeting with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov the diplomatic leaders discuss the possibility of negotiating a cease fire and the three year long syrian civil war are to correspondent you are pissed off reports but one of the first things that we've heard from u.s. secretary of state is that russia the u.s. and the u.n. are completely on the same page that the only solution of the conflict in syria is

a diplomatic one mr kerry also said that both the soon enough and to the opposition are equally responsible for the atrocities committed there now we've also seen a slight shift on iran since a lot of barbara he meet you on special envoy on syria and syria level off they both were saying that they want to see iran taken part in the geneva two conference this is a key player in the region this was something that the u.s. has previously against but now according to u.s. secretary of state washington wouldn't mind seeing tehran there at geneva two if it's supports the agreements reached earlier at the geneva one now mr also said that the authorities in syria have now confirmed that they are going to take part in the conference although one of the sticking points right now is that it's really unknown whether or not the opposition is planning to do the same although we are possibly witnessing now a positive tendency somewhat of

a positive tendency when it comes to the relationship between the opportunities there and the rebels since we've heard today about possible exchanges of prisoners and allowing humanitarian aid to get in but according to sergei lavrov right now regarding humanitarian aid the rebels are the key obstacles that's why moscow doesn't want to see the terror threats among the key issues to be discussed to be on the table there. now today we've heard nothing about calls for president. having to step down which is different from sunday since yesterday the french prime minister when he met with the syrian opposition he did make these calls for the syrian president to step down which shows that right now even though the key players now working on organizing this conference they are completely on the same page when it comes to lots of key issues so countries in the west are sending mixed signals which could theoretically undermine the success of the conference. that was

our tease igor piskun off. well it's been months since the hunger strike ad gone tanabe officially ended the strike led to renewed calls for the u.s. government to shot the base down this past weekend marked twelve years since the first detainees set foot inside that controversial detention center to mark the anniversary dozens of protesters staged demonstrations in front of the white house on saturday some of them wearing orange jumpsuits and holding signs bringing attention to the plight of one ton of obey detainees there were also protests on the west coast are to correspondent ramon galindo takes us inside one of them in california. it's now been twelve years since the first detainees were sent to the notorious one tunnel bay prison in cuba thousands of miles away from the prison here in southern

california demonstrators are demanding that guantanamo be shut down the costs of operating the prison have climbed into the billions and president obama says that he's committed to closing it is now rageous that these people are being tortured and that people are still not aware of it a lot of people still believe in it it's important because it's still there and it's still going well there's all this talk about closing it and more people being released. it still isn't. a hunger strike involving inmates increased the push to shut down guantanamo because obama says that the prison serves as a recruitment tool for extremists on congressional opponents claim that guantanamo is key to fighting terror or some of those voices may be losing their influence until about the last year or two congress members were hearing from constituents that guantanamo should not be closed and then

a last year or two there hearing more from constituents who say want tama should be closed and so i think this is very encouraging that the constituents who do speak up that do witness that do keep this issue alive are having an effect people who were arrested who were detained and sold to the u.s. government. for the bounty and were never charged with a crime. one hundred fifty five men remaining. dozens of them have already been cleared for transfer human rights activists vowed to keep fighting until the final prisoner is released in santa monica california are among that in the party. the united states has a government of the people by the people for the people but which people new research shows that for the first time in history a majority of federal lawmakers are millionaires it's the same congress with the

honor of being the least productive on record and the lowest approval ratings ever artie's a mere david has more. well it's no secret that members of congress are on average wealthier than the rest of the country their average congressional salary alone weighs in at about one hundred seventy four thousand dollars but of course wealth is not just about a monthly check rather it's about how much you're worth and as we're finding out it's the net worth of lawmakers that really merits the most attention every year since one nine hundred ninety c.q. roll call has examined the financial disclosures of all five hundred thirty five lawmakers to determine the fifty richest members of congress this year's report is based off of the numbers from the two thousand and twelve calendar year so without further ado let's take a look at which lawmakers are topping the list starting with number five west virginia senator jay rockefeller his last name says it all jay rockefeller is the great grandson of oil tycoon john d.

rockefeller and he's clearly reaping the benefits of that oil rich ancestry the senator is estimated to be worth at least eighty three point seven million dollars his lofty assets include three separate trusts j.p. morgan wells fargo and united national bank in charleston all worth at least eighty million dollars so even though the senator has said he won't seek reelection this year it's likely he'll be quite comfortable in retirement and that takes me to number four connecticut senator richard blumenthal when elected in two thousand and ten blumenthal stood as the wealthiest incoming member of congress and since then his net worth has skyrocketed now standing at eighty five point three million most of his wealth comes from the family of his wife who happens to be the daughter of real estate mogul peter malkin together their assets include a real estate company in sao paulo brazil and multiple manhattan properties including the entities that lease and operate the empire state building now moving on to number three virginia senator mark warner warner has been steadily moving up

the money ladder over the years this year his net worth stands at ninety six point three million dollars and that's about. sixty six percent of that were held in trusts but warner most notably made his money early on as the co-founder of the cellular company that would later become nextel now to the number two spot texas representative michael mccaul mccall is taking a step back this year slipping from the number one spot to number two but at one hundred fourteen million dollars a net worth mccall is still fairing pretty well the majority of his assets are connected to his wife who happens to be the daughter of lori mays the founder of clear channel communications keep in mind clear channel is the umbrella company that likely owns the radio station you listen to the company operates over one thousand stations now finally to the number one spot this year is richest congressman california. two thousand and twelve was

a very very kind to representative eissa grow over one hundred million dollars thanks to that year alone the congressman's net worth has now surged well beyond every sitting congressman to three hundred fifty five point three million dollars before being elected to congress ice and made the bulk of his fortune after founding directed electronics a company that manufactures car alarms but outside of that most of his money seems to yield from investments in the stock market so there you have it the top five riches congressman according to c.q. roll call strong financial markets are credited with making most members of congress even wealthier and fact the median net worth of the fifty richest raise more than seventeen percent this year now the numbers aren't so cut and dry there is room for interpretation of the disclosure forms that lawmakers must fill out but there is one number that's indisputable for the first time in history the majority of congress is now comprised of millionaires so as long as the markets continue to

grow so will congress as a millionaire's club in washington david r t. still ahead here on araa t twenty two stay. they're reporting an outbreak of a virus that's killing piglets what does it mean for pork prices in your pocket paul details when we come back. i marinate join me. in park and financial commentary interviews and much much. only on the bus and. i've got a quote for you with me to tito. de witt substory. did

this guy like me or. did it work for the people of both nations the beach maybe you're. right. they did rather. well for all you bacon lovers this should make you think twice before picking out a virus that kills baby pegasus is spreading throughout the country the u.s. department of agriculture says california and wyoming are the latest states to report having pigs infected with the poor sign an epidemic diarrhea that brings the total of twenty two states where pig farms have the virus the first case in the u.s. was reported back in april and since then thousands of piglets have died symptoms in six winds include diarrhea vomiting and severe dehydration lucky for humans the

virus does not make people sick only baby pigs but the bug is causing pork prices to soar and is sparking fears of a pork shortage for more of the deadly pig virus i was joined earlier by dr michael greger director of public health and animal agriculture at the humane society he started out by reiterating that the virus is not dangerous to humans. although the virus is found in pig feces and there's widespread fecal contamination of the us poor supply is not known to cause sickness in animals but the same factory farming practices that led to the emergence and spread of this dangerous virus for pigs is also the same risky practices that have led to pathogens that can kill people thousands of people like swine flu right now we're neck deep in flu season and the virus that's killing and infecting most americans now the flu virus is still h one n one this swine flu virus that emerged in two thousand and nine killed over ten thousand americans infected sixty million americans and that virus definitively

timed to factory farming practices the same practices that have now led to this diarrhea by ok can you talk more about these risky practice says how the virus and it's transmitted and why in this case only baby pigs are a fact that. the reason that these so-called factory farms are really breeding grounds for disease is because of the sheer numbers of animals the overcrowding the stress of confinement the lack of adequate ventilation the fresh air sunlight put all these factors together you really have kind of a perfect storm environment for the emergence and spread of new bacteria and viruses and that's why the american public health association has called for a moratorium on these factory farming practices because of the public health implications of how we now raise pigs i have never seen anything like this quite like this before we have not this particular virus it's new to the u.s. as of last year but there have been a number of other similar viruses that are spread and if you imagine if you have you know overcrowded tens of thousands of pigs in these filthy football field size

sheds to lie snout to snout atop their own ways you can see how it's just kind of a viral incubator for these kind of diseases if you put a thousand people in elevator someone sneezes you know a lot of people are going to get sick and that's the problem with packing so many animals together and so we really need to heed the public health communities coal to get rid of these kind of risk. taking is there what is. i would expect that it's just going to keep spreading we see it in twenty two states now like you spreading i mean you know boy these pigs are you know born in north carolina fed in the fields of i often slaughtered in california we you know our meat can travel thousand miles on the horse before rides that are placed they trade these pigs like trading cards all across the country you cannot stop this virus once it's spread and it really just highlights how poor the biosecurity is in these kind of facilities that you can't keep this virus out and unfortunate the concern is you're not going to be able to keep viruses out that have human health implications as well now i want to switch gears a little bit to the economic implications of what is this doing to the hog industry

and how is it affecting meat prices food prices there's certainly concern that there's going to be an increase in pork prices but you know in some ways that could be a signal to the industry of all the industry cares about is the bottom line i mean if the implications for people in terms of food safety are going to do it well then maybe you know the hit in the pocketbook is going to have the industry rethink some of these practices and really move we have good data showing that this person epidemic diarrhea virus is much higher risk in these industrial large factory farms compared to smaller farms actually lived big move around and allowed outside and so maybe you know it's now the economic calculation for these the reason that they pack i'm all in is because you know. per price per pig when you pack them in like kind of parked cars you can reduce the per pound cost of production but when there's these other costs that can't be externalized on to society then maybe the industry will think about changing their practices well now that we know it is and

we know this what can we as consumers do to help we can really exercise our consumer purchasing power and demand for example. create freeport there's been a big movement large supermarket chains and restaurants demanding that the pork industry at least not keep these mother pigs crammed in these little metal cage just barely larger than the body of a can even turn around. their whole lives and their kind of strokes can lead to the ferment of their immune system that could increase the risk of diseases that can have human health implications well a good time to be a vegetarian i care appreciate you coming on the show that was dr michael gregor public health at animal agriculture at the humane society. now to a supreme court case that could decide the future of television the nation's biggest broadcasters are suing new york based tech company aereo the company develop tiny antennas that allow anyone with an internet connection to watch live

television here's the company's advertisement of their product anyone can watch live broadcast t.v. for free off the year with an entire area was taken that it needed unbelievably small small enough to know hundreds of thousands of people. you can access them from the internet and watch live broadcast t.v. is it here you can choose the t.v. you want. can you record that my t.v. you put it back i can d.v.r. it on the box. well companies like c.b.s. and n.b.c. is say this product enables stealing because ariel does not pay redistribution fees ariel on the other hand says it's a consumer's right to watch with their own antenna and own device now it's up to the nation's highest court to decide for more on what this means for the media industry christopher a chambers joined me earlier today he is a journalism professor at georgetown university i started by asking him what it would mean an area wins this case. well. we're talking about

a tsunami here because. very interesting larry the legal issue is very very defined and simple it's an interpretation of section one of six of the copyright act which has been around in one form or another for two hundred years the ability to you know demand fees or permission to basically re play your content. area was saying is like look we're not stealing anything we're releasing basically antennas so people can get the stuff and play it we're not stealing it we're not appropriating it but what you've done is when you cut out these re transfer retransmission fees we're talking about billions of dollars that the networks get from say the cable companies and this allows the networks of course to extort money from the n.f.l. or major league baseball or the n.b.a. to get the super bowl and all kinds of cool things so we're talking about an ecosystem that is going to basically go into meltdown if this is allowed to

continue because for aereo you know they might survive they might not but when you kill these redistribution fees by putting a mark of approval on this business model you will fundamentally change the broadcast ecosystem and that is going to upset a lot of people to the point where you know you've already had the chairman of fox and c.b.s. say well we'll just we'll just become a cable network yeah you know to avoid that kind of stuff speaking of fox and c.b.s. want to read part of the statement from c.b.s. who as we can expect is not happy about this acknowledging they say quote we believe the aerials business model and similar offerings that operate on the same principle are belt. creative content. chris what do you think is it time for these companies to kind of accept that this is the change changing face of how consumers absorb the news of abs. media content and adapt or what do

you think i think they need to add that because clearly their old business model is working for everybody no. problem with time warner cable and c.b.s. but time warner had to back down but you know their market the market power of these broadcast networks and hollywood generally to some extent you see to become eaten away with the with the problems in the controversy over sopa and cispa and even the old digital millennium copyright act you have these tech giants like google and apple that are getting into the content production business you have netflix what you have stuart we have streaming capabilities and they're streaming is based on cloud based technology which is something that aereo the aereo case does implicate because what the networks are saying is we have the right to even kill off this cloud based form of content that you can draw upon privately you know

to your own device so there are implications for this are very very clear the networks are going to lose power now they've been losing it for years they still have it because even though most people that watch network t.v. are old people like me. you know will die off eventually and the young people who are streaming house of cards on netflix or watching apple t.v. are going to be the you know they're going to inherit the earth and i don't think the networks have a business model that contemplates that and this is pretty much forcing them to contemplate that certainly now it's being contemplated in the supreme court so i want to read it from an area statement here and response to this case from the supreme court they say quote we look forward to presenting our case to the summary supreme court and we have ad very confident that the court will validate and preserve a consumer's rights as a way is that what it's about press consumers rights. money but but they have

a point i mean the point is that the consumer basically leases their equipment they're not stealing anything they're basically an intermediary for the broadcast content and the u.s. court of appeals for the second circuit agreed with them and people need to think about the intermediate appeals court has agreed with aereo and it goes is supreme court you've got eight justices hearing it because justice the justice alito recused himself so if there's a four four tie and there might be area wins so this is their way of basically putting a thumb in the of the broadcast networks and i don't think the broadcast networks are going to become cable networks where they just put all their content on cable i think that's just an idle threat but i think it's an idle threat of somebody who's used to having a lot of power and then it's almost like a bully who gets bullied back and then they just act crazy and say whatever comes to their comes to mind because their shareholders certainly have not ok this and so

there is a lot of trepidation that people are going to make comments off the cuff like that like we're just going to shut down well that's not going to happen that's what they're saying but one thing that does point out is people do not want to pay for their media if they can get a free if they can somehow exactly they're going to shut that that television off chris great to have and the sale that was christopher chambers journalism professor at georgetown university. well could it be the end of the world as we know it a nasa space telescope has found a quote potentially hazardous asteroid hurdling through space currently about twenty seven million miles from earth the asteroid is about point four miles in diameter significantly larger than the meteor that wreaked havoc and russia last winter now for the good news according to nasa calculations the asteroid won't get really close to the third rock from the sun for another one hundred years so hopefully that's enough time for scientists to come up with

a solution and that is going to do it for now i'm liz wall thanks for watching. technology innovation and all the developments around russia. the huge area covered.