spying are matt sledge, national security reporter for the "huffington post," chris for the american civil liberties unionand soesh your associate dean of international business and finance. he is the author of "the slow pace of fast change." >> chris what do these latest reach, the capacity of the nsa that we didn't know before? >> the nsa has an enormous appetite to collect information. they have been able to compel u.s. technology companies tohand over information about individual users, but then they have also vacuumed up vast amounts of data, and taken advantage of the fact that tech companies have not secured the connections between the customer and the tech company or the tech company servers at their facilities. so that has allowed the nsa to do dragnet searches, for people who say things in instant messages or have online activities, those are the most problematic, because they are the ones that are analyzing people's traffic not based orn them being a target but based on them being a target online. >> do these stories tell us something new, chuck? >> i think it tells the general public something

. >> the american civil liberty's union hailed the ruling. in their statement they said, "the call tracking program can't be scared with the constitution." dozens of american sailors involved in rescue efforts now say they have cancer. 51 sailors on the uss "ronald reag reagan" believe they were suffered to radioactive material. the sailors filed a lawsuit against the owner of the nuclear plant. >> ukraine's president is set to meet with russian leaders. thousands of protesters demonstrating in key eve, calling on president viktor yanukovych to step down after turning down a trade deal with e.u. vladimir putin is likely to offer loans. they hold key pipelines that much of europe depends on, a deal with russia could mean lower fuel prices. >> north korea marks the second anniversary of kim jong-il's death, dying unexpectedly, and passing power to his son. political leaders in the country used the occasion to pledge loyalty to june. last week he had his powerful uncle executed for plotting to overthrow the government. >> the united nations an as

and then he goes why it's unlawful. >> the lawsuit was filed by the american civil liberties union and they responded in the last hour saying, we're extremely disappointed with this decision which means the relevant statutes understands the privacy implications of the government surveillance and this describes a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core -- this particular judge in this ruling who says the nsa program was legal was appointed by former president clinton and the one before was george w. bush. the irony should not be lost on anyone on these things. >> it's interesting, what we have here are two courts saying two different things and when that happens it typically moves up higher and ultimately will probably get to the supreme court. it will have at some point a defining decision from them about the post 9/11 surveillance programs and given all of the attention we've seen that the programs have gotten in the past year, this monumental event where we're going to be on this issue going forward. >> peter king, more of what he said in his statement. he referenced edward s

the american civil liberties union filed the lawsuit. earlier in month a judge ruled against the n.s.a. in a case brought against verizon. >> the syrian government agreed to have toxic compound out by the end of the year. diplomats today said it will not be finished by that deadline. >> more than a million americans out of work lost unemployment benefits. the program would have cost $19 billion if extended. >> let's go jennifer london live in hawaii, where president obama is vacationing. president obama is hoping to extend the benefits still. >> well, he certainly was before he came out here to hawaii for his vacation. to provide context, today some 1.3 million americans are seeing their federal unemployment benefits cut off. that is because, as you mentioned, extending the benefits was not part of the bipartisan budget act of 2013 which members of congress approved. and ultimately president barack obama signed. >> while the president has been pushing for months for congress to extend the benefits, nothing will happen in the immediate fu

>> well, in his 54-page ruling supporting the program and dismissing a lawsuit by the american civil liberties unionthe judge basically called the nsa's program a blunt tool which works because it effects everything. he also went on to say will is no proof the government used the data for anything other than to stop terrorist tashgs. and called it a counterpunch to the al-qaeda network. and the mentioned the fourth amendment, the judge said in his ruling that the right to be free of searches and seizures is fundamental but not absolute. it was a fairly lengthy ruling, and he -- this now means that the nsa is free for the moment to continue collecting data as it sees fit. >> and this is the exact opposite of the ruling just 11 days ago in washington, d.c. are we looking another messy and prolonged legal battles ahead? >> yeah, very much so. a d.c. judge ruled that the program unconstitutional. but the judge in that case did not enforce his ruling because he said in light of the significant national security issues at steak and the novelty of the issues, he gave the government six months to appeal the

the american civil liberties union sued in 2009 saying the law is institutional.the state claimed it helped solve so-called cold cases like decade old murders, the u.s. supreme court upheld a similar law in merchandize. >> ad heart to musical acts refusing to play at sea world. they're backing out of the show after a movie showing treatment of animals at sea world. willie nelson and bare laked ladies has also pulled out. >> someone spotted a mountain lyon in half moon bay this morning. it happened at 2:00 along way '2. the deputies did not find the big cat. lion sighting are common in the area. >> there's a meat recall affecting california. federal agriculture inspectors are recalling 2600 pounds or whole boneless hams, shipped by santa maria foods of ontario canada. test shows listeria pathogens in 50-pound becomes. the boxes are labeled prochute to gold. there are no reports of anyone getting sick. >> up next at 6:00, what niner fans said today as candlestick park is close to wrapping up more than a five-decade run. >> can we expect a warmup this week? spencer c

the american civil liberties union sued in 2009 saying the law is institutional. the state claimed it helped solve so-called cold cases like decade old murders, the u.s. supreme court upheld a similar law in merchandize. >> ad heart to musical acts refusing to play at sea world. they're backing out of the show after a movie showing treatment of animals at sea world. willie nelson and bare laked ladies has also pulled out. >> someone spotted a mountain lyon in half moon bay this morning. it happened at 2:00 along highway '2. the deputies did not find the big cat. lion sighting are common in the area. >> there's a meat recall affecting california. federal agriculture inspectors are recalling 2600 pounds or whole boneless hams, shipped by santa maria foods of ontario canada. test shows listeria pathogens in 50-pound becomes. the boxes are labeled prochute to gold. there are no reports of anyone getting sick. >> up next at 6:00, what niner fans said today as candlestick park is close to wrapping up more than a five-decade run. >> can we expect a warmup this week? spen

collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden released information. the government's interpretation of its authority under the patriot act was so proceed that it could justify the mass clebz of health and library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the acl will appeal the ruling saying it misinterprets the statutes, understates and missupplies to weed away constitutional corrections. the department of justice was pleased with judge william pauley's decision. earlier judge leon ruled the opposite way in a suit brought against verizon, writing: >> last week the white house issued a report commissioned in the wake of the edward snowden leaks in which it was suggested changes may be in the offing in the way data is collected and stored. two federal judges coming up with conditions, many think the issue of n.s.a. spying is headed towards the supreme court in washington. >> at least three other lawsuits against the n.s.a. are pending in other federal courts. >> four u.s.

today, a new york judge dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union saying it is trying to we get to al-qaeda and says the phone data could help connect the dots before s&p september 11 athats. cover california is up and running after being down for three hours yesterday after an audit discovered some "irregularities." they will not say what thing regulators were but it because not an attempted hacker attack. cover california extended the sign up deadline for january 1 coverage. now, you have until machine to complete the process if you want coverage starting new year's day. >> it has been a blue christmas season if retailers. what that means for shops this welcome. >> and the politician now getting involved in the squabble over "duck dynasty" and the resolution he wants. >> two bay area marching bands are about to countdown the if you year. >> we see blue skies and thin clouds and how is that affecting us here temperature wise? our meet obligation is coming up with a look at what is in store throug that put you on their gift list? well say hello to aio! at aio

collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after edward snowden linked details of the top-secret programs that pick up millions of telephone and internet records on american networks every day. it was argued that the authority was so broad that it could justify the mass collection of financial health and even library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the aclu said it will appeal the ruling saying that it misinterprets the statute, and misapplies a narrow and outdated precedent to read away core constitutional protections. now the department of justice spokesman said they were pleased with judge pauley's decision. earlier this month federal judge richard lyon sitting in washington, d.c. ruled the opposite way. he wrote: >> reporter: last week it was suggested that changes were in the offing in the way information is collected and stored in this country. two federal judges coming up on two completely different rulings on the same subject many believe that the issue of saying will be headed to supreme court.

ruled legal by a federal judge in new york, the decision as a result of a lawsuit by the american civil liberties union. earlier in washington a judge ruled against the n.s.a. in a case brought by verizon. >> the syrian government agreed to have toxic chemical weapons out of the country by the end of the year. diplomats said the job will not be finished by the december 31st deadline. >> the international community is condemning the assassination of a lebanese politician killed in a car bomb friday in beirut. former finance minister mohamad chatah and five others died. more than 70 others were hurt. mohamad chatah was an outspoken critic of the syrian regime and served as ambassador to the united states in the late '90s. >> those are the headlines. "inside story" is up next. for more updates go aljazeera.com. have a good weekend. >> people are having to rent versus the desire to buy. >> for growing cities like washington, d.c. an increase in affluent young professionals is driving up prices. >> you have more millennials coming into the area. the jobs are here. so that the demand for hire quality apartme

friday, district judge william polley dismissed a lawsuit from the american civil liberties union challengingthe nsa's mass collection of u.s. phone records. he said telephone metadata could have potentially prevented the 9/11 attacks by alerting the government to hijackers who made phone calls from the united states. the issue will likely head to the supreme court. polly's ruling comes less than two weeks after another federal judge questioned the program's constitutionality and described the bulk collection as almost orwellian. the german publication der spiegel has revealed new details about a secretive hacking unit inside the nsa call the office of tailored access operations, or tao. the unit was created in 1997 to hack into global communications traffic. hackers inside the tao have developed a way to break into computers running microsoft windows by gaining passive access to machines when users report program crashes to microsoft. with help from the cia and fbi, the nsa has the ability to intercept computers and other electronic accessories purchased online in order to secretly insert sp

collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after edward know ze edwan leaked information. iinformation. the aclu said it will appeal judge pauley's rulings and saying that it disinterpret the statute and uni under states the application. the department of justice said they were please with judge pauley's decision. judge lyon ruled in an opposite way in a suit against verizon for the collection of phone records. he wrote, : . >> in the meantime, two federal judges coming up with completely different decisions on the same subject many people think the issue of nsa spy something headed to the supreme court in washington. john terrett, al jazeera, new york. >> the police have released the final report of the investigation of the new town shooting. there is no new information as to lanza's possible motive. 20 children and six teachers had been killed in that shooting. >>> a checkpoint friday night scoping out possible evacuation routes for diplomats. they're not saying why the men were taken into custody. >>> the death toll for fri

the american civil liberties union sued in 2009, saying the law is unconstitutional. the state claims it helps solve cold cases. the u.s. supreme court has already upheld a similar law in maryland. >>> add heart to the list of musical acts refusing to play concerts at seaworld. the band's official twitter account announced it's backing out of a february show because of a documentary called "blackfish." it examined the treatment of killer whales and other marine mammals at seaworld. willie nelson and bare naked ladies have also backed out of seaworld concerts. >>> coming up next on abc 7 news at 9:00, we'll tell you how alligators and crocodiles may use tools to hunt prey. >>> can we finally expect to warm up this week? spencer christian is up next with the forecast. >>> the 49ers and seahawks don't like each other which is normal for division rivals. a subaru... ...are the hands that do good things for the whole community: the environment, seniors, kids, and animals. that's why we created the share the love event. by the end of this year, the total donated by subaru c

. >> there is one filed by the american civil liberties union and two plaintiffs have won, anyone who is in a similar situation which is basically all of us who have had our phones looked at by this program can file a same lawsuit. so it's going to be open season on the nsa now. >> there is a meeting tomorrow, the president of the united states and tech companies getting together and talking about their roles. what do you think they will tell president obama? >> they are going to say you need to fix this program. our customers are mad at us. we are cooperating with you. you have to give the data. but we don't want to be in the position of being your bad cops. >> they are irked at the president. >> absolutely. you have the trouble in two directions coming for president obama. this court ruling saying it's illegal. the tech companies saying we don't want to do it any more. but you have the national security community saying this protects lives. >> jeff tuben, thank you. >>> and now turning now to the high school shooting in centennial, colorado. we are hearing from the family of the sho

information that is collected for any purpose other than investigating and disrupting attacks the american civil liberties union says it plans to appeal the ruling to the second circuit court of appeals the union father will sit on june the eleventh in new york challenging the constitutionality of the nsa is mass collection of americans' phone records however in a previous willing to judge for the district of columbia said the program infringes on that degree of privacy that the pound is enshrined in the fourth amendment. he ordered the government to stop collecting data on the plaintiffs. and still in us a final report released on friday gives new insight into the horrific send the whole school shooting. last year thousands of pages of investigative documents. d tell the troubling image behind the shares to seven dollars and does so adele now has more details. the eu after the massacre it's an eco elementary police this afternoon of the least seven thousand pages of documents photos and nine on one costs the report confirms investigators found no written in nineteen ninety nine atlanta home in the cave it may

the american civil liberties union said some are detained in jails longer than six months. prosecutors were asked to hand over court papers on the matter but it will take six months to get all of the records together. >>> houston, mission accomplished. nasa said a series of space walks to repair a problem on the international space station was successful. the last walk happened on christmas eve. astronauts removed and replaced parts of a cooling system that broke two weeks ago. the repairs took seven hours to complete. >>> it was a special christmas for a woman in virginia beach. that's because she reached a milestone. she turned 100 years old. nanny hardy was the guest of honor at a family celebration yesterday. great, great grandmother of four she shared pictures from her life and reminisced over the good times and the bad. >> [indiscernible] >> god bless nannie hardy. her words of wisdom are pretty simple. she says love your neighbor as yourself and don't be an enemy to your neighbor or your family or your friends. good words. >>> cell phones were a hot commodity this chr

that dragnet surveillance would likely be proven unconstitutional a lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union was dismissed but the rights group is expected to appeal the motion has details. a federal judge in new york william of pauli ruled friday that protections under the fourth amendment do not apply to records held by third parties like phone companies the n.s.a.'s indiscriminate and systematic collection and storage of phone records belonging to all americans while that's lawful this decision came down because the a.c.l.u. was suing to halt the n.s.a.'s bulk metadata collection program but the federal judge granted a motion filed by the obama administration to dismiss the challenge now in his ruling judge pauley said that the n.s.a.'s blunt tool only works because it collects everything during his decision he also raised the nine eleven attacks arguing that if the n.s.a.'s met a data collection program had been in place before september eleventh two thousand and one the hijackers may have been caught now the a.c.l.u. has expressed disappointment and says it plans to appeal that decision

that's the case why do we have staff attorneys at the electronic frontier foundation and the american civil liberties union who have spent the last five to ten years trying to pry not just me we're not talking about how these programs work we're talking about trying to pry what is the secret legal interpretation for whether our government united states government can spy on us as citizens or what sort of procedures do they have to follow what other ization do they have to get to engage in foreign intelligence surveillance you know this sort of thing is something that the n.s.a. is not want to talk about they were particularly didn't want to talk about it when warrantless wiretapping came up under the bush administration into the obama administration we've just seen it legalized and expanded and up until edward snowden there was absolutely no dialogue going on all stood out to you throughout the memo is just blatantly false. well i looked at they make this claim about not stealing industry secrets i actually have to point to a colleague in my profession marcy. wheeler who deconstructed that point and said y

the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union was dismissed but the rights group is expected to appeal the most to bring a fortnight as teach us. the federal judge in new york and william are poly ruled friday that protections under the fourth amendment do not apply to records held by third parties like phone companies. yes the nsa is indiscriminate and systematic collection and storage of phone records belonging to all americans while that's lawful this decision came down because the aclu was silly to call the nsc will manage data collection program but the federal judge granted the motion filed by the obama administration to you i'd dismissed the challenge him in his ruling judge paul e center yet as seeds one school only works because it collects everything right during his decision he also raise the nine eleven attacks argui that if the nsa is mad at the debt collection program had been in place before september eleventh two thousand won. the hijackers may have been caught with the aclu has expressed disappointment and said he plans to appeal that decision two weeks ago f

that's the case why do we have staff attorneys at the electronic frontier foundation and the american civil liberties union who have spent the last five to ten years trying to pry not just me we're not talking about how these programs work we're talking about trying to pry what is the secret legal interpretation for whether our government united states government can spy on us as citizens or what sort of procedures do they have to follow what other ization do they have to get to engage in for an intelligence surveillance you know this sort of thing is something that the n.s.a. is not want to talk about they would particularly didn't want to talk about it when warrantless wiretapping came up under the bush administration into the obama administration we've just seen it legalized and expanded and up until edward snowden there was absolutely no dialogue when all stood out to you throughout the memo is just blatantly false. while i looked at they make this claim about not stealing industry secrets i actually have to point to a colleague in my profession marcy wheeler who deconstructed that point and said you k

paid attention to those comments we also had a lot of meetings with people including the american civil liberties union the technology companies centers that are concerned with justice human rights organizations we met with people outside the united states certainly in terms of the intelligence community we were given. as much access as we wanted so all overall what was your sense of the n.s.a. surveillance practices. we feel that going forward it's important to do two things first to retain. the mechanisms that allow the and essay and colleagues in the intelligence community to read and. intrusions on our national security so many people said after the nine eleven attacks that there was an intelligence failure we didn't study that in detail but we certainly don't want to have intelligence failures that result in the deaths of innocent people so that's why on the kind of foundation for our recommendations the other thing we think is that security means not just national security but also security in your homes and persons and papers in a fax that's to paraphrase the fourth amend the constitution so we

that's the case why do we have staff attorneys at the electronic frontier foundation and the american civil liberties union who have spent the last five to ten years trying to pry not just me we're not talking about. we're talking about trying to pry what is the secret legal interpretation for whether our government united states government can spy on us as citizens or what sort of procedures do they have to follow what other ization do they have to get to engage in foreign intelligence surveillance you know this sort of thing is something that the n.s.a. has not want to talk about they would particularly didn't want to talk about it when warrantless wiretapping came up under the bush administration into the obama administration we've just seen it legalized and expanded and up until edward snowden there was absolutely no dialogue when all stood out to you throughout the memo is just blatantly false. well i looked at they make this claim about not stealing industry secrets i actually have to point to a colleague in my profession marcy wheeler who deconstructed that point and said you know basically that the

the judge threw out a lawsuit against the program filed by the american civil liberties union. the judge writes that the technology allowed al qaeda to plot attacks remotely. the program represents the government counterpunch. another federal judge said the exact opposite last week, ruling that the collection violated the constitution. for the latest, let's had to peter cook in washington. different judge, different outcome. >> that is exactly right. you have two federal judges into different jurisdictions. one is in new york. the other is here in washington. they have reached to different conclusions. this tells you that the debate is not yet over. this is likely heading on to the u.s. supreme court. judge pauley is a clinton appointee. case andd the imclone a case on unpaid interns. he is ruling in favor of the federal government. it is a big win for their supporters in congress as well. congressman,he gave his reaction to this. he says that preserves a vital weapon for the government in the war against terrorism. he hopes that judge polly's decision will ease the adulation fo

. >> the american civil liberties union says it will appeal. now because of the decisions in two courts likely this issue of phone surveillance will go to the supreme court. >> 26 people killed in sandy hook last year and abc news is not releasing videos in this report but marcy gonzales details some of what is shown and what police concluded in the investigation. it's now a closed case the investigation concluding today with connecticut police releasing the report. thousands of pages of witness statements and nearly every other detail of the investigation. while graphic images and details were redakted the report shows shell casings on the floor of the school where 20 students and six educators were murdered in december. as well as images from inside killer adam lanza's home, including a gun on the floor of his mother's bedroom where she was shot to death. in lanza's bedroom garbage bags covering windows and images of the computer police say lanza smashed, destroying a potentially key piece of evidence that could have helped investigators learn

we also love meeting people including the american civil liberties union. technology companies centers that are concerned with justice human rights organizations met with people outside the united states certainly in terms of the intelligence community we were given. as much access as we wanted so i was just the same serving practices. we feel that going forward it's important to do two things. first every retain it. um mechanisms that allow the nsa and its colonies in the intelligence community to her aunt's of the intrusions on our national security. so many people said after the nine eleven attacks that there was an intelligence failure. we didn't study that in detail we certainly don't want to have intelligence failures the results in the deaths of innocent people. so that's why i'm the kind of foundation or recommendations the other thing we think is that security means not just on national security but also security in your homes and persons and papers. to paraphrase the fourth amending the constitution. so we do have a series of reforms that would giv

i had, as was announced, a affiliation with the american civil liberties union. one senator asked me any questions about that affiliation. my hope is that we will get back to the way it was. the chief and justice alito. true of is also justices kagan and sotomayor, negative, negative votes. i knew great man that and loved said the symbol of the isn't the es really bald eagle but the pendulum. has swing too far in one direction in the handling of judicial nominations and should back to the middle. >> i think we would all hope that. et's give a hand to justice ginsberg. [applause] do we have time for questions? >> we do have time for questions. microphones.o i would ask that you go to one of the micro phones and identify ho you are and company and no questions from the media today, please. thank you. cases no questions on that are pending decisions or to be heard. thank both oft to you for your historic leadership in protecting the rights of gay to marry. it was a terrific change and necessary. you.nk [applause] you for sharing your thoughts with us today. one thing

there are three groups trying to diminish christmas, the american civil liberties union and the americanumanist association. the most agreg sieve is the freedom from religion foundation which routinely threatens to sue school districts if they dare utter the word christmas. the irony is that nobody is bothering the atheists. they are free to celebrate whatever they want. they are free not to believe and snicker at anybody who does believe. that's not good enough for these people. they want to banish any mention of jesus in the public square. they're the 0 pressers so why are we allowing anti-christmas madness. 47 percent of americans believe there is a war on christmas. 40 do not and 13 percent are confused. once again i will keep on eye on the situation. helping me is the alliance defending freedom organization based in scottsdale, arizona. they have been successful in defending traditional rights in the courts. therefore i say to them, god bless you, each and every one, with apologies to dickens. let's go to arizona and bring in doug napper, an attorney who works for the alliance organ

collection program was part of the adjustment and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties unionfter analyst edward snowden leaked details of top-secret programs on american networks every day. the aclu's lawyers argued the government's interpretation was so broad that it could justify the mass connection, financial health and library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the acu will appeal judge william pauley's rulings: >> now the department of justice says they were pleased with judge william pauley's decision. the federal judge richard leon sitting in washington d.c. ruled the opposite way in a suit against verizon, writing: >> last week the white house issued a report commissioned in the wake of the edward snowden leaks in which it was suggested changes may be in the offing to the way data is collected and stored. with two federal judges coming up with different decisions on essentially the same subject, many think the issue of n.s.a. spying is heading towards the supreme court in washington. >> at least three more lawsuits against the n.s.a. are pending in

surveillanceyou served as president of the american civil liberty union. she's a professor of law at brooklyn law school as well. edward snowden in that parlor game hero or goat? >> guest: my usual response, peter, when people want to talk about snowden. my first response is to say instead of talking about the messager, should we talk about the problem? and i think snowden has done us a great favor. he said the reason he wanted to start releasing some of the documents so the american people could make the decision about whether they think we have gone too far. or whether they are too many costs? i think that's in fact discussion we're now having. i think his strategy worked. the american people are being informed. because one of the things we learn is not even just that the government was spying in ways i was already describing in my book, but that we had in the fisa court we had secret law. there was law that the court was making that the american people couldn't find out what the law was. to me, it really went too far. >> host: is there anything in the p

before a federal court in san francisco, and the court will hear arguments brought by the american civil liberties unionmandatory collection arrested for a felony, well that is a violation of the constitution but dna collection helps solve cold cases and very recently they upheld a similar law in maryland but it comes from those who committed felonies. >>> he talked about how he was treated in korean now that he is back home in his home country. >>> we have more on the black ice and where to expect it next. >>> i will show you traffic which is completely jammed up even worse than usual. find out how long this crash is supposed to last and what routes you can take as alternates. >>> in los gatos, it is very close, see if there is any rain on the extended outlook. ♪ could it be? ♪ no presents beneath the tree? ♪ ♪ wait a minute, now i see ♪ my gifts are above me ♪ that's my kind of holiday [ ding ] cheese plate? cheese plate. no, i made something better. you used the oven? boom. [ male announcer ] pillsbury crescents. make the holidays pop. ♪ make t♪ holidays pop. hey, that's the last crescent! oh, did yo

. >> but that keeps the american civil liberties union on the sites that these are required for the testing> often the drones are going to be commonplace all across the country. that's why we think it's important that congress itself should pass legislation putting privacy guidelines in place. if drones are going to be throughout the united states we think it's important that there be a strong national uniform standard put in place. >> these are just the beginning as america looks to the future of sharing the skies with drones. juan carlos molina, al jazeera. >> this is not meth. >> it's the show breaking bad, the tv drama about a meth-dealing high school teacher. from the president's list of favorite shows it seems he's drawn to stories about politics, intrigue and sweeping world events. there's game of thrones, boardwalk empire, and the wire, president has often called it the greatest show of all times. the british series downton abbey, he's got good taste, that's for sure. that's the news. the headlines are up next. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz with tonight's top stor

this will no doubt be appealed by the american civil liberty's union which brought the lawsuit here inew york hah other groups. it's in contrast to a ruling by a judge in washington, d.c. which said that the nsa program was likely unconstitutional and violated the constitution. but now we have conflicting findings by courts in various states, and we could end up s i sisiisis sisiing -- seeing this decided by the supreme court. if this conflict continues in the lower courts and federal courts we could see the supreme court making the ultimate decision and put this to rest once and for all. >> certainly very complex issue. great talking to you. thank you for that. >>> and you are watching the al jazeera news hour. still ahead, the growing humanitarian crisis in south sudan. 120,000 people have been displaced. >>> plus transport lifeline, or public menace? >>> and in sport, england cricketers finally make their mark in the ashes series. ♪ >>> now to news from europe and fresh from their prison release, two members of the russia punk band pussy riot say they still want to topple the russia

he rejected a challenge to the law by the american civil liberties union. plots that have been foiled by the nsa program and said quote, as the september 11th adaejs straight, the cot of missing such a thread can be horrific. judge pauley said the nsa program is overseen by all three branchs of government including congress, the justice department, and a special federal court. this opinion directly contradicts a decision early this month by judge leon who called the surveillance program almost orwellian and said once we would have thought this was the stuff of science fiction. the white house had no comment on friday's ruling but a presidential panel earlier this month recommended major changes to the nsa surveillance program and anthony and vinita, a senior white house official here in hawaii told me that when the president returns in january, he will offer a specific set of reforms to the nsa program. >> chip reid. chip reid traveling with the president in hawaii. thanks. >>> more than 1 million americans will lose their federal unemployment benefits toda

the national front, there are three primary culprits seeking to diminish christmas, the american civil liberties unionthe freedom from religion foundation, and the american humanist association. the most aggressive is the freedom from religion foundation, which routinely threatens to sue small towns and school districts if they dare utter the word christmas or allow choirs to sing carols in public schools. the irony is that nobody's bothering the atheists. they are free to celebrate whatever they want to celebrate. they're free not to believe, and they are free to snicker at anybody who does believe. that's not good enough for these people. they want to banish any mention of jesus in the public square. they are the oppressors. the christmas spirit people are just upholding a nice tradition. so why are we allowing anti-christmas madness? polls showed 47% of americans show there is a war on christmas. 40% do not. 13% are confused. so once again this year, i will keep an eye on the situation. helping me is the alliance defending freedom organization based in scottsdale, arizona. they have been very succe

ruled that the nsa's phone tracking program is legal, and he dismissed the lawsuit from the american civil liberties union. the judge said there's no evidence that the government used any of the information it's collected for any other reason than investigating potential terror attacks. doug has more on this. he is traving with the president and has been with the president while he is on vacation. doug is not in honolulu. this could set up a showdown in supreme court. >> almost bound to be destined for the supreme court. we have contrary rulings here, both occurring this month. no way to properly interpret this national security agency surveillance program without some court of supreme court resolution to it. the district judge pauley in his ruling today, 54 pages, said basically that he admits the nasa is vacuuming up all kinds of metta data about telephone calls made to and from the united states, but said after the september 11 attacks we learn that al qaeda is using technology, and he says the bulky metadata program represents the government's counterpunch, connecting fragmented and fleeting communica

a new report by the american civil liberties union of pennsylvania looked at student discipline and whether actually helping or hurting students and the verdict -- well, the overly broad policy just isn't working. and joining me to discuss is broward county public school superintendent robert brunsy, president of national school services committee and psychologist wendy walsh. >> tell us what zero tolerance is and why turn away from it now? >> well, the reason why we would turn away from it is because zero tolerance policies are not effective. in 2011 in broward county, we had the largest number of stude student school-related arrests in florida. 1,062. out of that 754 of them, about 75%, were for non-violent misdemeanor offenses. these are things that would normally have been handled by schools in the past and as we see the numbers continue to grow, they just put children on a trajectory that, one, they don't learn from the behavior. two, we see a lot of repeat offende offenders. we're trying to put interventions on the front end to change behavior and increase students' opportunity for su

collection program was part of the adjustment, and he dismissed the lawsuit brought by the american civil liberties union after former nsa analyst edward snowden leaked secrets on american networks every day. the aclu's lawyers argued the government's interpretation of its authority under the patriot act was so broad that it could justify the mass collection of financial, health and even library records of innocent americans without their knowledge. the aclu says it will appeal judge pauley's ruling, sais it misstates the statutes and misapplies a narrow and out dated precedent. the department of justice, spokesman says they were pleased with judge pauley's decision. robert leon ruled the opposite way, in a suit brought against the company verizon. serious doubts of the metadata collection, as a method of collecting time sensitive information. the white house issued a report in which it was suggested that changes maybe in the offing to the way in which information is collected and stored in this country. two different decisions on essentially the same subject, many people think the issue of florida spyin

voters passed the law in 2004 and the american civil liberties union sued saying it is unconstitutional law. the state claims it solves cold cases and supreme court upheld a similar law in maryland. >> oral arguments before the 9th circuit court of appeals in san francisco can be seen online live starting today. it is believed the first time a federal appellate court will broadcast live video of a proceeding. only cases deemed of "great importance," will be streamed live. >> new information on the deadly crash of an asiana flight 214 at sfo back in july. ahead of government public hearings tomorrow, sources say the national transportation safety board investigators will highlight overreliance on computers and the need adjust pilot training. they will reveal the pilots misunderstood exactly how the boeing 777 automatic feed control features functioned. three teen girls died in the crash. the ntsb hearings begin tomorrow and will last two days. >> former san diego mayor faces sentencing on felony and misdemeanor charges after placing a woman in a head lock kissing another and grabbing the

the line between civil liberties and security? joining me now, director of the american civil liberties union national security project.od and others who worked in the white house and administration and say you don't know what we know, there have been threats that have been averted? >> thank you for having me, andrea. i think one answer is to be found from people who have actually looked at classified information and those include three senators, senators widen, udall and heinrich who are on the intelligence committee and filed a friend of the court brief in the challenge to massive phone records surveillance recently and they said they have got no evidence this program is necessary let alone that it has been effective in thwarting a single plot. that was one of the issues in the case that judge leon decided yesterday finding that the program of dragnet surveillance is unconstitutional. he said that the government simply hadn't been able to make its case, hasn't provided evidence that the dragnet surveillance of all americans has been effective incur tailing any imminent attack or time sensitive goal the government say

. >> but that's the concerns that has the american civil liberties union that has them concerned. >> es will be commonplace across the country, and that's why we think that it's important that congress passes legislation putting privacy guidelines in place. drones will be throughout the united states, we think it's important that there be a strong national uniform in place for privacy. >> so these sights are beginning, as america looks for its future with drones. >> it is professional football black monday. the professional season is now over, and team members spent the day unloading coaches. mike shanahan, and detroit lion's jim schwartz, and also, minnesota vikings' leslie fraser, after winning just five games, and in tampa bay, a four win seasoning got greg sheehano fired. greg kaczinski got choked up when he was hired. >>> michael schumacher remains in a medically induced coma this morning. he was injured in a skiing accident in the french alps. the doctors can't predict the outcome. >> he battled his way to the top of the formula one circuit. and now michael schumacher is fightin

who is ruling against the government but basically ruling in favor of the american civil liberty union and then you have a democratically appointed judge ruling in favor of the government, really ruling against the aclu which is the organization that brought that case. there are a lot of very interesting lines that are crisscrossing here in this case. >> they're interesting but you know what? i think they are really irrelevant. i think that discussing judicial decisions in terms of political, supposed political outlook of the judges is generally not a productive thing to do. if you look at the legal merits of them -- >> there are people who are suggesting judge william pauly made this decision because potentially he's anchoring for a higher position in the obama administration. >> i seriously doubt that. if he's angling for a higher position in the obama administration, i seriously doubt he's going to get it. that is, i think, really borderline absurd. >> one other aspect to this that i find interesting. while pauly claimed that the program was legal and valuable, he also said, quote,