fund for unicef.o this check can't be accepted for that technical reason. it's actually made out to k.i.n.d. instead of u.s. fund for unicef. and i certainly can't accept a check like this from a presidential candidate to handover to my favorite charity. and so i am sending this check back to donald trump, sending it back in this envelope with this thank you note. dear donald, thank you very much -- i think i need the glasses for this one. dear donald, thank you very much for your generosity. unfortunately in our current positions, yours as a presidential candidate, and mine as someone covering your campaign, i cannot accept or pass along a check from you for any purpose. i hope you will understand this predicament. and i hope that when your campaign is over or when your presidency is over, you will resend this check because the need will still be there. classrooms in malawi will still need desks. girls will still need financial help to go to high school. in the meantime, to assure the immediate fulfi

unicef is putting the best we could to address this sort of situation. the winter situation that we're dealing with. we are getting air conditioning in the schools, we're getting kerosene heating systems in the schools and in spaces where children are there, but it's small. it's small and it's absolutely very small portion of what children need. we are in this difficult situation where i would hope the world will understand the situation of iraq is crisis that has been forgotten. that is been forgotten crisis that needs support from the international community >>> the u.n. is coordinating efforts to get food in the besieged areas in syria where people are starving to death. it is estimated 42,000 people are trapped in the mountainous town of madaya which is under siege by government troops, and thousands of others are stuck in other areas held by various rebel groups. this amateur video has emerged from madaya of what appears to show starving patients being seen by a doctor. they say they haven't eaten in days and are desperate for help. al jazeera canno

cover of "time" today and he's on the minds of the celebrities at a big unicef charity ball including his co-star from labyrinth, jenni con you've torn your dress >> i met david quite a few times. he's such an inspiration. he's had such a great influence over so many people. >> the soccer superstar even posting a photo and touching tribute to the rockg wthag connolly shared a screen with bowie in the fantasy film "labyrinth." not only was he a genius, he was a ge who had time to him. nothing nothing will keep us together may take place in new york where he lived with his wife eyeiman. >> every time you hear bowie song, it reminds you of so >> nicole kidman, miranda carrey were all there for the event. >> i've been an ambassador for unicef since i was 17. i mention that david beckham is the man? i mean, he is thman. at the yma fas gala in new rki w caught up with the event's honoree jessica simpson. she has big plans for 2016, but one thing definit on the slate, another baby. >> oh, good lord, i don't think i can have another baby right now. that's not in our near future. >> check her

unicef since i was 17. what they're doing, i've witnessed. >> can i mention that david beckham is the man? like h the man. 3,000 miles away at theyma fashion scholarship fund gala in new york city, we caught up with the event's honoree, jessica simpson. she has big plans for 2016, but one thing definitely not on the slate, another baby. >> oh, good lord, i don't think i can have another baby right now. that's not in our near future. >> check her out with her husband and sharing her secret to a fabulous figure. >> being a mom is enough of a diet. you have to run around chasing your kids. but i do eat a lot of their corn dogs. i have to get on the treadmill a lot. >> she's keeping fit and she's crazy busy. eight years since her last movie, but she told us she's got big things lined up. >> there's lots of music and lots of acting coming up in the near future. but i will never ever put fashion aside. that's our next adventure. macy's, will you sell it? >> the woman who launched her fashion empire a decade ago w

unicef is putting the best we could to address this sort of situation. the winter situation that we are dealing with. we are getting air conditioning in the schools, we're getting kerosene heating systems in the schools and child-friendly spaces, but it's small and very small portion of what children need. we are in this difficult situation where i would hope the world will understand the situation of iraq is crisis that has been forgotten. it has been forgotten places that needs support from the international community. >> reporter: thank you so much for being with us. we really appreciate you walking us through the crisis here, explaining just how dire the situation is. in so many places here in iraq, i can tell you in this camp because of the rains the last fuf days, there are flood-like conditions. there are tents and we're talking just tarped. it doesn't really guard much against the cold. they have caved in because of the water on top, the windy conditions. the kids here are cold. it is a dire situation. it is getting worse. the aid workers couldn'

syria in 2010, half of that population is no longer living in the homes where they lived. >> and unicef's representative for syria under line the horrible plight of children who are caught in the war. >> syria is probably the most dangerous place on earth now to be a child. even the very simple act of playing is no longer safe. a few months ago 19 children were killed in a playground in homs as they were celebrating the eat holidays. the same week six children were killed when a mortar hit a unicef supporter child friendly space in aleppo. and i will always be haunted with the faces of the mothers and the children of the school in homs during the memorial ceremony after a suicide bomber attacked a school and killed at least 30 children between the ages of 9-11. >> more than 300,000 syrian children who are refugees in turkey don't go to school. many work illegally trying to feed their families however a home grown initiative is trying to ensure that some kids get to class and andrew simmons reports near the border between syria and turkey. >> they should be in school but instead they are t

fund for unicef that i am sending to unicef in place of yours. yours sincerely, lawrence.hat letter. i meant it sincerely and i wanted him to take it sincerely. well, now i know. i believe that all of my dealings with the presidential candidate on a matter like this should be completely transparent. and so donald trump and i have had no communication about this other than his original note to me and my letter of reply to him, both of which i've read to you. and now his note replying to my letter which i received at my msnbc e-mail address with the subject line "a note from donald j. trump." and here it is. lawrence, just got your note. very nice. your sending a check is class. you'll have mine in eight years! best wishes, donald j. trump. and so, donald j. trump gets tonight's "last word." >> two weeks out, we're in the red zone. let's play "hardball." >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington with just two weeks to go to iowa. donald trump and ted cruz have gone to total war. today, cruz is calling trump rattled. he already called him unstable. trump accuses cruz

fact, david bowie is on the cover of "time" today and he's on the minds of the celebrities at a big unicef charity ball including his co-star from labyrinth, jenni con you've torn your dress he's such an inspiration. he's had such a great influence over so many people. >> the soccer superstar even posting a photo and touching tribute to the rock legend. there's a starman waiting in the sky >> i think it's very sad his passing for so many reasons. >> as a teenag jennifer connolly shared a screen with bowie in the fantasy film "labyrinth." not only was he a genius, he was kind. my experience him. nothing nothing will keep us together >> reports say bowi funeral may take place in new york where iman. >> every time you hear bowie >> nicole kidman, miranda carrey were all there for the event. >> i've been an ambassador for unicef since i was 17. i mention that david beckham is the man? i mean, he is thman. at the yma fas gala in new york city we caught up with the event's honoree jessica simpson. she has big plans for 2016, but one thing definit on the slate, another baby. >> oh, good lord, i d

>> one would think that unicef would be in the primary position to do exactly that. what we saw was -- this sounds like very harsh judgment, but there's no other way to describe than a lie. that unicef said that they had provided medical and psychosocial support and protection for the six children that skam forward in 2014, who's allegations were covered up, and unicef claimed to the member states and to the media, that they had -- they were protecting those children and handling it. when an investigative team went in, the so car report panel, their findings were that unicef blatantly mislead everyone. the children were interviewed for two hours, and then sent on their way. no services whatsoever. >> okay. paula, thank you for giving us your perspective on the news hour on al jazeera. thank you. >> thank you. >>> well, staying with the central african republic and opposition protesters have called for the cancellation of last month's presidential election results. they say the vote was full of irregularities and should be annulled by the constitutional court. a secon

reports from unicef officials that have been able to make it in with aide c onvoys. one official says that at a clinic, unicef officials watched fromyear-old roboy die malnutrition right in front of their eyes. towards --rd reap reports that parents have been so desperate to alleviate the suffering of their children. they have been giving them sleeping pills to make it a little bit easier for them to face that suffering. anchor: arendt this testimony there -- horrendous testimony there. the do people think arendt's outcome of the security council meeting could be? reporter: it really is to put thosere on on side of all responsible for putting these towns under sees -- under siege. this is ahead of political talks between the syrian regime and the opposition leader on the 25th of january. syria on envoy for monday. he is expected to raise the issue as well and perhaps to say to the syrian regime to bring a message from the opposition. there will be no negotiations unless these sieges on these towns are lifted. we heard the un's secretary-general say that using food as

. >> over the past week unicef staff from the office in bangui have under taken four visits to meet with the four victims. unicef is working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care and assess their psycho-social needs. >> the report said that the u.n. had failed to carry out proper back group checks and needed to do more to protect children. >> troops can be vetted. the allegations that we hear can be investigated properly. and those who are deemed responsible for those kind of crimes can be can be prosecuted or should be prosecuted. >> thousands were sent to the central africa republic after a coup in 2013. in april last year a peace agreement was signed between the mostly muslim seleka and the mainly christian anti-balaka groups. the divisions between the communities run deep. votes from last month's presidential election is still being counted but two-thirds of the candidates wanted the process suspended because they say there are irregulates. people in central africa public suffered for years. the u.n. said it has low tolerance for those who abuse civilians. >> pro

. >> rutan is a unicef official in europe. >> if you want to stop them, it would be against their best interest. >> reporter: because normally that would be part of your job in unicef, to gather these kids up and keep them safe. >> totally, yes. what we are looking for, making sure those children are not being smuggled or trafficked. for the moment i can tell you all the road between here and germany nobody is going to do anything legal because nobody has the means. this country the main objective is to make sure nobody stays behind. >> most underage refugees are convinced if they tell authorities the truth they will be sent home. >> he is 19 years old. >> you're 19? you're 19? you don't look 19. >> some in this group of afghans looked a lot younger than the 19 years old they first insisted they were. >> they are afraid if they say their true age 15 and 17 that they will get stopped. >> they will get stopped. >> they will get stopped. he finally owned up to being 15. >> people are suffering all this way, drowning in the sea. why should we get all this way just to get deported? if we're

our correspondent spoke to union self unicef who said it is a dire situation. >> we are calling it a forgotten crisis crisis because we are surrounded by other countries with much higher profile. we have 3.2 million displaced population. on top of that, we have nearly 250,000 refugees that are also in iraq. out of the 3.2 million in iraq, majority of them are children. those children are going through difficult situation, getting them to school is hard and the majority of them, at least 700,000 of them miss at least one year of their schooling. there is no problem hygiene, there is no water, there is no proper health care system. the entire life of the children is affected and their future is crashing on their head and we are actually watching a situation that we will see quite large number of children that lost their future. so we are dealing with a situation that is so dire that getting resources to support children, put them in school and put them in protection enters, put them into a life with dignity where they get proper water, hygiene and appropriate toilet is becoming difficu

. >> over the past week unicef staff have met with the four alleged victims. unicef is working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care and is assessing psycho-social needs. >> allegations made against peace keepers in central african republic. last year in a report criticism, the report said that the u.n. failed to carry out proper background checks on peace keepers and needed to do more to protect children. >> many things that can be done to prevent this type of abuse. troops can be vetted. the types of allegations can be made and it can be investigated properly. and as much as anything most importantly of all those who are deemed responsible for those kind of crimes can be prosecuted or should be prosecuted. >> thousands of foreign peace keepers were sent to central african republic after a coup in 2013. in april last year a peace agreement was signed between the mostly muslim seleka and the mostly christian anti-balacka groups. votes from lost month's presidential election is still being counted but many want the votes suspended because t

we're going to speak now to the head of the unicef office inner bill, mr barfa. i want to ask you, with all the various concurrent cry-- kri cease going on-- crisis going on. >> i would like to start with how many concerned unicef is of the situation of children in iraq and across the region affected by the multiple crisis that we're facing. iraq is particularly very unique situation that we are facing in. we are calling it a forgotten crisis because we are surrounded by other countries which much higher profile. let me state a few facts. we have 3.2 million displaced population. on top of that we have nearly 250,000 refugees that are also in iraq. out of the 3.2 million those in iraq, many of those are children. those children are going through difficult situation, getting them to school is hard and the majority of them, at least 700,000 of them, miss at least one year of their schooling. there is no proper high jeem, there's no water, there's no proper health care system. the entire life of the children is affected and their future is crashing on their helped a

unicef is working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care around is assessing their psychosocial needs. >> the allegations made against u.s. peacekeepers in central african republic, last year there were criticisms of child abuse in 2013 and 2014. the report said the u.n. failed to carry out proper background checks on peacekeepers and needed to do more to protect children. >> we wouldn't say it's inevitable but certain things can be done to prevent this type of abuse. troops can be vetted. the types of allegations can be investigated properly, and as much as anything, probably most importantly of all, those who of deemed to be responsible for those kind of crimes can be prosecutors cute or should be prosecuted. >> thousands of foreign peacekeepers were sent to central african republic after a coup in 2013. april last year, a peace agreement was signed between the selica and christian groups. divisions between communities run deep. votes from last momentum's presidential election are still being counted, but two thirds of the candidates want the process suspended, be

. >> unicef staff has undertaken four visits to meet with the four alleged victims.f is also working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care, and is assessing their psychosocial needs. >> reporter: this follows a series of sexual abuse allegations made against peace keepers in central african republic. an independent report criticized the u.n.'s response to allegations of child abuse. the report said the u.n. failed to carry out proper background checks on peace keepers. >> certainly many things can be done to prevent this type of abuse. troops can be vetted. the abuse we hear of can be investigated properly. and as much as anything, probably most important of all, those deemed responsible for those kind of crimes can be prosecuted -- or should be prosecuted. >> reporter: thousands of mourn piece keepers were sent to the central african republic. in april last year, a peace agreement was signed between the mostly muslim seleka, and mostly christian anti-bellka groups. people in central african republic have suffered from years of chaos and violence

. >> unicef staff from the office in bangui have undertaken four visits to meet with the four alleged. unicef is also working with local partners to help the girls receive medical care. >> reporter: this follows a series of sexual abuse allegations made against u.n. peace keepers in central african republic. in december last year, an independent report criticized the u.n. response to occasions of child abuse in the capitol bangui in 2013, and 2014. the report said the u.n. has carried to carry out proper background checks on peace keepers, and needed to do more to protect children. >> there are certainly many things that can be done to prevent this type of abuse. troops can be vetted. the types of allegations made, and the abuse that we hear of can be investigated properly, and probably most importantly of all, those deemed responsible for those kind of crimes can be prosecuted -- or should be prosecuted. >> reporter: thousands of foreign peace keepers were sent to central african republic after a coup in 2013. in april last year, a peace agreement was signed between the seleka and th

visited the camp for internally displaced people outside of irbill in northern iraq and spoken to unicefh challenges faced by such people in need. >> reporter: at this camp it has been raining since last night. it is extremely tough conditions for these people. when i tried to walk here these streets are now just mud. we just saw in these pools in this makeshift playground that is been made by the government and the refugee agencies these pools children were playing in these cold conditions and had nothing else to do. these parents and children are going through one of the toughest times in their livelihoods and we are talking to a family who has a five-year-old and they were telling us all their child has seen is this camp. let me speak to the united nation children agency who joins us now and jeffrey welcome. so tell us, put this into perspective, we have been seeing numbers in terms of millions of people. isn't it a bit overwhelming and put this into perspective for us. >> what we have right now in iraq is three million people internally displaced and nearly 10 million people that nee

shall we start with hanna singer from unicef please? >> thank you very much.ably the most dangerous place on earth now to be a child. even the very simple act of playing is no longer safe. a few months ago 19 children were killed in a playground in homs as they were celebrating the eat holidays and in the same week six children were killed when they hit a child friendly space in aleppo. and i will always be haunted with the faces of the mothers and the children of a school in homs during the memorial ceremony after a suicide bomber attacked a school and killed at least 30 children between the ages of 9-11. the impact of this war on education has been staggering. two million children are out of school, one in four schools can no longer be used, 35 schools were attacked this year. the education sector has lost over 50,000 teachers because they were killed or forced to flee the conflict. for a country that before the conflict education enrollment or school enrollment was over 90% syria has now lost two decades of education or progress, this is a real risk. there

unicef is doing the best it could to address this situation. the winter situation that we're dealing with. we're getting air conditioning in the schools. we're getting kerosene heating systems in the schools, but it's small. it's small, and it's absolutely very small portion of what children need. we're in this difficult situation where i would hope that the world would understand the situation in iraq is crisis that has--that has been forgotten. it's a forgotten crisis. >> do stay with us here on this news hour. still to come, gentrification comes to one of new york's historic neighborhoods, and not everyone i. ireland's new push to convince people who left, that the grass is greener back home. and in sport the case of deja vu before the first grand slam of the tennis season. many arrive. >> we'll take to you cologne. large numbers of police at a demonstration. large numbers of people out on the streets following the attacks on news year eve that was largely blamed on foreigners. meeting police head on there in the german city. we'll keep a cl

and unicef said 250,000 people have now died in the fighting with children bearing the brunt of the war. our diplomatic editor james bays is there. >> the flag flying again. >> the timing just days before u.n. envoy is due to convene peace talks is no coincidence. among the first items on the agenda is a cease-fire in syria. the government in damascus has helped in recent months by russian airstrikes, and clearly wants to make as many gains as possible before the talks start. as invitations to the talks were being sent out the u.n. invited a panel of top humanitarian officials to brief the press and news conference deliberate time to show why negotiations are so badly needed. >> syria right now is the worst place on the earth to be a child. the simple act of playing is no longer safe. >> there is unease about the humanitarian access being part of the talks because the united nations resolutions have repeated all the parties leave sieges with no pre-conditions. >> i have a lot of unease about that, as do all of us. this is what we try to do every day, to try to make a dent on why trying

she was instrumental behind-the-scenes in the creation of unicef and argued for you and women 3 -- u.n. women three decades before it was put into place. she was instrumental in securing funding for the i.r.c. and to negotiate the, shall we say, moral turf battles related with forced migration. your pointtail with about the struggles for women to get recognition in the u.n., the as aspeech eleanor gave member of the american delegation to the united nations , as a major speech she gave during the kennedy administration, was in support of the convention on political and civil rights of women. argue that the declaration is, in fact, her greatest achievement. but she was also working very , and while she won the battle with unicef, she lost the battle with u.n. women. she said if we push children without pushing women beside children, children will, in fact, serve the status of women at the u.n.. n for the kofi anaa same reasons you are talking about because he got it and it was his work that set up u.n. women. thank you all very much. [applause] linda: yes, please. [inaudible] linda: exc

. >>> we can talk now to a representative from unicef, and she is the polio communication expert.nk you very much for talking to us. it is exceedingly difficult then to get this program of immunization against a very, very debilitating disease through to place like parts of pakistan and indeed afghanistan, as well as nigeria, how does unicef cope with that? >> good morning, and thank you for having me. indeed out is -- the program is operating in very challenging circumstances. polio thrives in areas where there's security-effected challenges, where there's conflict. where there's poor sanitation conditions that allow the virus to thrive. but we are seeing unprecedented success. 2015 marked the lowest number of cases that we have ever seen in the world. we have had more than an 80% since 2014. so we are confident that this is the final stage. >> okay. so how are you going to tackle these enough nuts then? because clearly as you say, it is a highly contagious disease. and if you haven't eradicated it from this part of pakistan, then there's a good chance it will spread. >> we are f

the same week, six children were killed when a mortar hit a unicef supported child-friendly space inleppo. >> inside syria, the army is striking hard at rebel positions gaining ground. activists say government helicopters have been pounding the city of aleppo, while russian air strikes have been focusing on the southern city of hama. this comes as government forces recaptured a strategic town in the southern province of daraa. it is a significant victory for damascus. russia's air strikes have been key to those gains. moscow admits its intervention helped reverse the situation on the ground. >>> the syrian flag flies again in this area. it has taken the army weeks of intense fighting to retake this town in the southwestern province. state television showed military forces entering the town center after securing supply lines. battles are reported to be continuing on the outskirts. the importance of the ruined town cannot be overstated. it lies on the main road linking the capitol with daraa, the city where the revolution began nearly five years ago. government forces have given up muc

to react to the crisis, waiting unitl it was out of control.the outbreak killed more than 11,000.unicef says more than 20,000 children are now ebola orphans.and while according to the 'who" the worst is over they do warn that flare ups could still for the next two days amazon is offering a hug discount to its prime membership. membership.the subscription fee will drop from 99 to 73 dollars.the promotion starts today at nine pacific time..that's noon local.it'll run until noon on sunday.one catch...only new customers can take advantage of the deal. a nine year old girl will have a scar for the rest of her life because of a burn from her i-phone case. liquid from the case leaked onto olivia retter of england's leg when she fell asleep with it. her mother has now posted a warning on facebook... saying that liquid can cause a chemical burn. its been shared more than 40- thousand times. the company that makes the case has now stopped selling it... and is talking with its supplier. gunshots ring out in the city of hamilton.two person hit, one needing to be air lifted report from the scene on