jonathan betts, aljazeera, boston. >> cold air is coming down from the east. and dropping about 10-15° from a few days ago, and it will stay chilly, especially in the mornings. the winds die down, and the temperatures down to the freezing mark. many freeze warnings. the cold is here, and there's snow coming down because the cold air is coming across the warm great lakes waters this, and that leaves the lake affect snows. here are the warnings there in new york and pennsylvania. freeze watches, meaning that the temperatures are dropping to 32 by tomorrow morning. the radar plus the clouds shows the rain and snow going over the same area. a closeup view shows it's in new york and western pennsylvania. and the we're talking about amounts close to a foot. because the air temperature is 40°, and the water is 45, and it pulls a lot of moisture up from the great lakes and dumps it down as snow. the snow amounts, in new york, 12 inches and 6 inches in western pennsylvania, just to the east of erie. as far as the temperatures go, 55 by thursday and friday. and by sunda

debt has climbed to nearly $17 trillion, jonathan betts explains how it got so high. >> reporter: ninestates has pretty mitch been in debt since its founding and every few years congress has had to raise the debt ceiling to borrow more, republican presidents has raise it had more but the amounts have gone up moreover democratic presidents. debt ceiling raised more often under ronald reagan than any on prison, seven type times, much to pay to buildup the military and the war on drugs, the debt limit nearly tripled during the '80s topping a trillion dollars for the first time. under president george h.w. bush it was raised five times, bill clinton saw it go up four times, jumping 44%. but the nation's debt actually went down during the clinton years briefly and it was one of the few times that's ever happened in u.s. history. then came president george w. bush, ceiling was raised seven times under him. our debt nearly doubled. tax cuts along with the wars led the u.s. to top $10 trillion in debt for the first time. and that brings us to president obama. he's already raised the debt limit

jonathan betts takes a closer look at the potential impact. >> reporter: the default means it's out of like you have maxed out your credit card but still have bills to pay so you try raise your credit limit. so just how much does the u.s. government spend? let's peek in to its check book or the daily treasury report. on thursday thursday. just last thursday the united states brought in $110 billion. from taxes, farmers paying loans, customs fees, but on that same day the treasury spent $143 billion. just from thursday, the united states is in the red $33 billion. so to pay those bills, it borrows money. but we are about to hit america's credit limit and this is what it is. $16.6 trillion, it's a huge number. but it's not enough. and it can borrow no more than this right now. the united states government needs, soon, a trillion more dollars just to pay the bills. so what gets paid? what doesn't? well, no one actually knows for sure. but things like social security checks for retirees, medicare, military pay, money for local cities and schools, they could all be at risk in theory. and th

jonathan betts. just captured two convicted killers. they'd been released from prison by mistake using fake documents. found in a motel in panama city beach florida. hours after walker's mother pleaded with him to turn himself in. >>> two dead were a bart employee and contractor inspecting the tracks. it was believed that the train was not being run by regular operators as the transit strike continues.

. >> jonathan betts explains how the debt climbed to $17 trillion. >> the united states has pretty much been in debt since its founding. every few years the limit is raised. republican presidents raise it more often. but the amount borrowed went up under democrat presidents. it rose more under ronald regan. much to pay to build up the military during the cold war. the debt limit tripling during at 80, topping a trillion. under george w bush it was raised five times. bill clinton saw the debt ceiling go up four times, jumping 44%, but the nation's debt went down during the cloint's years. it's one of the few times it happened. then president george w bush - raised sooech times under him. debts double. it brings us to president obama. he's raised the debt limit five times, this is the sixth. the amount borrowed has gone up 50% and he hopes to raise the limit by another trillion. the u.s. started with less than a trillion of debt in 1980. it soared over the past three decades, approaching $17 trillion in debt today, and more money needs to be borrowed. every time the debt ceiling is raised

jonathan betts. just captured two convicted killers. they'd been released from prison by mistake using fake documents. found in a motel in panama city beach florida. hours after walker's mother pleaded with him to turn himself in. >>> two dead were a bart employee and contractor inspecting the tracks. it was believed that the train was not being run by regular operators as the transit strike continues. >>> j.p. morgan chase could pay a record fine over its mortgage practices, the tentative deal was reached friday, calling for the bank to pay $9 billion to the federal government and $4 billion to struggling homeowners. the bank still faces a criminal investigation by the government. >>> 9 lebanese hostages and two turkish pilots are now free. the release comes after a complex negotiation between turkey lebanon and syria. those are the headlines. america tonight is up next on al jazeera america. >> good evening, and thanks for being with us. i'm joie chen and you're watching america tonight's weekend edition. over the next few nights anon

i'm jonathan betts with a look at the top stories. a deadly blast rocks sir ja. an explosion near damascus killed 16 government soldiers, several were hurt. it happened after syrian rebels freedom hostages held for a year. an in my submission wade manhunt continues to two killers released from prison by mistake. both were serving life sentences but were able to walk free using forged documents. they are believed to be hiding in the orlando area. >> no deal on a contract betwe