Transcripts For ALJAZAM Your World This Morning 20151223

This morning millions of merps are taking to the skies are, the roads, the rails, all trying to get to their holiday designations. This is a live look at how crowded the skies are right now. Many travellers could be seeing delays. Good morning and welcome to your world this morning. Reporter according to the Popular Crowd sourcing, today is the worst day for Holiday Travel, so expect traffic jams and long lines at the art port warnings are already out because of some dangerous weather reporter this bus Holiday Travel week started off wet. Its not Getting Better you have to visit, right. Reporter more than a hundred million travellers will hit the road more than ever before. You have to keep an eye on the skies just as much as they do the road. Fog may have led to this chain crash killing at least three people. Cross parts of the west, snow is so heavy it is slow in the search and rescue mission in washington state. A missing skier had to be halted because of avalanche dangers. Dangerous winds over turning tractor trailers and taking down trees. Thats keeping utility crews working around the clock. More than 38 million travellers are expected to travel through the busiest airports. Historic east bakes the north east already this morning there have been several tornado watchings and warnings. Good morning kevin it is going to be a series day in terms of Severe Weather, down towards the south. The watchers and warnings are out there. Theyre going to be moving. This area down here across the region. A tornado out break across here. Airports are experiencing one and a half hour delays for them. Were watching these storms pushing through here right now. The watchers warnings were not seeing too much in terms of damage yet, but one area of hail damage reported. Right now we do have Tornado Warnings in arkensaw. The area of red, that is a warning meaning tornados are the ground or imminent and the darker red is a watch. What is going to happen today is this area is going to slowly move to the northment so from memphis youre going to be the bulls eye as we go towards the afternoon and evening time hour. Across the northeast we are looking at some rain coming in, but the big problem is the fog. That is causing some problems at the airports. As i said, philadeplpi has delays as well. We will talk about those temperatures as well as christmas. Reporter thank you very much. Back later this morning for us. Thank you so much. Turning now to syria where Amnesty International says russia may have committed war crimes with air strikes that appear to have directly targeted and killed hundreds of civilians in syria. Homes, hospitals, mosques and markets have been hit over the last two months. A report released this morning, the Human Rights Group says in most cases the location and timing of the attacks matches Russia Ministry reports of air strikes. Moscow says it was targeting i. S. I. L. The latest hit damascus. A report from our correspondent. Reporter they can barely believe what has just happened. Air strikes thought to have been carried out. The russian war planes have flattened a busy market full of people. In the moments after the attack, panic sweeps through. There are dead bodies everywhere and people are rushing to find survivors. They check if this man is alive. He is not, so they move on looking for injured people to help. This is the town in the damascus countryside. People who live here say fighting between Syrian Government forces and opposition fighters has been nonstop for two months. They say the Syrian Regime is trying to break the deadlock with the help of russian air strikes. Translation this is from the regime of bashar alassad. This is what is happening to us. Where are you muslim brothers . Where are you . Reporter russia began bombing syria in september. It says its targeting i. S. I. L. , but the institute for the study of war, a u. S. Based think tank, says the Russian Air Campaign has mainly hit Syrian Opposition groups. Translation the russian and syrian air strikes on eastern area and on duma have increased recently. They pretend that theyre targeting the terrorists, but most People Killed are women and children. Reporter these are scenes that the people of syria have become familiar with. What started as an uprising against the government has long descended into civil war. That cycle of violence has played out across the country for almost five years now and killed at least 200,000 people dozens have been injured after a gas pipeline explosion in mexico. The blast happened in the Southern State of tobasco. There are at least 30 victims and some reportedly were seen with his clothes partially burned off. The state owned company denied it was a pipeline. It says it happened after a stolen fuel panic prison officials admitted they released inmates early. The Department Says it was a computer glitch that is to blame, miscalculating the time they got off for good behaviour releasing them from two days to two years ahead of schedule. An immediate investigation is being commenced. This was allowed to exist for 13 years. It is deeply disappointing. It is totally unacceptable and frankly it is maddening there are also reports that three years ago the family of one of those inmates reported the problem but nothing was done to fix it. Reporter another black eye for the people charged with protecting president obama a. A secret Service Agent had his gun, portable radio, badge, handcuffs and other items stolen from his personal vehicle in down town washington dc. That happened monday, less than a block from the headquarters. Thats the latest of embarrassing things. Bowe bergdahl and his lawyers are now considering whether to have his Court Marshall heard before a jury or a judge. On tuesday he did not enter a plea at his rushlight on charges he deserted his post in afghanistan back in 20039 at his arraignment. I do not flanked by his Army Attorney and military police, 29yearold Bowe Bergdahl faced a just for the first time on tuesday on an arraignment that lasted about ten minutes. He explained his right to be tried before a panel or a military judge. The judge also inquired if sergeant Bowe Bergdahl wished to enter any motions or a plea at this time. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl deferred all of these decisions to a later hearing. Reporter Bowe Bergdahl held by the taliban for five years after he left his post in afghanistan is charged with desertion and misbehaviour before the enemy. A rare charge that carries a severe punishment including life in prison. He explained his actions in interviews on the pod cast serial. What i was seeing from my first unit all the way up into afghanistan, all i was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were barely, from what i could see, in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed. Reporter sergeant Bowe Bergdahl said he planned to alert his colleagues and show up at another base days later alive and well, a super hero. Doing what i did was me saying i am a was the real thing reporter he was released in late may 2014 as part of a prison swap in exchange for five detain detainees. It was criticised as jeopardizing the safety of the country. Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl endangered the lives of thousands of women and men who went to search for him. Reporter politicians and others had been using him as informeder to push their own agendas for months it is said. Would we want people to realise that he is not an american hero. He didnt serve with honor and dignity and respect. He is a deserter in a time of war. Reporter the next Pretrial Hearing is scheduled for january 9. Robert ray there has been a settlement in connection with the new town shootings. 1. 5 Million Dollars will be split. The families filing suit against the estate of adam lanzers mother. She failed to secure the proper that was used to kill the 20 children and six educators back in 2012. She was also killed by her son. The families are also suing bush master the maker of the rifle. Kentucky will have new marriage licences to answer to the religious objections of some of their clerks. The names of clerk who issue them, including kim davis who was jailed earlier this year nor refusing to give out those licences. She said that having her name on the documents implied she endorsed gay marriage protesters say they will be at the mall of America Today despite a judges order barring some of them. A state judge on tuesday said the mall has the right to keep black lives matter organisers out but decided the mall cannot bar every member of that movement. Similar demonstrations last year disrupted shopping at the mall. This year organisers were using the protest to draw attention to the Police Shooting death of jam ar clarke last month reporter rescuers in china have found a man buried alive they are still searching for 76 people missing after the disaster. Adrian brown reports. Reporter alive against all the odds. Trapped under deputy refor almost three days debris for almost three days. A migrant 19yearolds pulse and voice were feeble. It translation it is a mirror ago em. A man was miracle. A man was rescued alive. We were happy when we heard about it, very happy. Reporter he had been in the office of a factory when the mud slide happened on sunday morning. A man found close to him was dead. Doctors are hopeful he will recover, but his injuries are serious. Translation he is severely debilitated and dehydrated. He has soft tissue injurys, a crash injury on his right lower limb. Reporter at the rescue site frantic efforts to find more survivors. Search teams are using sensors to locate signs of lie but theyre also finding more bodies. The operation has begun to affect local businesses translation we cannot go out and transfer the goods in and out of this area. There is no guarantee for our lives. Many workers have to eat and there is no power supply now. Reporter the deluge of mud and construction waste engulfed more than 30 buildings in an industrial zone. It happened after heavy rains dislodged the man made pile that had been there several years. Now a senior official of the firm that managed the dump has been arrested. State media say that a local government report had identified storage problems at the site months ago warning of a catastrophe. A catastrophe that has now happened a battle of ramadi after several young men died while playing american football here in the u. S. This year, coaches and researchers have come up with what seems like a count intuitive way to make the game safer a mystery in the sky. Investigators look into a bright light seen from vegas to ventura. Al Jazeera America gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. More on every screen. Digital, mobile, social. Visit aljazeera. Com. Follow ajam on twitter. And like alJazeera America on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. So you dont just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. Al Jazeera America. Iraqi forces say theyre pushing closer to the city center in ramadi as they try to retake the area from i. S. I. L. Forces are making steady process as they advance. Retaking ramadi appears to be just a matter of time. Reporter after months of planning, training and shaping operations, iraqs offensive to retake ramadi is in its final phase. It would appear based on the overwhelming knew her rail superiority of the numerical superiority of the iraqi forces, that i. S. I. L. s days of ruling ramadi are numbereded, possibly in the single digits. Employing a floating bridge like this one, they forded the riverment they closed in on the city center where they faced methodical house to house combat against dugin i. S. I. L. Fighters. Back in may i. S. I. L. Took ramadi with shocking ease, routing a force of nearly 20,000 battle weary iraqi offenders with just over one thousand attackers. The i. S. I. L. Fighters have been whittled down to 350 or fewer. The iraqi Assault Force numberss over ten thousand and is backed by u. S. Air power which has been pounding i. S. I. L. Positions killing hundreds of i. S. I. L. Fighters according to the military spokes soman i think the fall of ramadi is inevitable. The end is coming. Thats said it is going to be a tough fight. Reporter for months iraqi forces executing a plan drafted by the u. S. Have been slowly surrounding ramadi, cutting off supply lines. For u. S. Commanders the pace of the campaign has been frustratingly slow. Especially since the Iraqi Government and Prime Minister has refused to accept help in the form of u. S. Apatche attack help cop terres. It is hard to inflict support on somebody. We try to provide support. The kind of support we provide has to be consistent with the way Iraqi Security forces fight. Reporter but iraq has taken one important piece of u. S. Advice and kept shia militias out of the force that will retake and eventually secure ramadi, a largely sunni city. The soon eye tribal fighters will patrol the city after the fighting ends. Reporter the conditions are set for the full liberation of ramadi and were doing everything we can to expedite the completion of that operation. I remain very optimistic. The pentagon has called ramadi a crucial test for iraqi forces. If they can push i. S. I. L. Out of the city just a miles drive from the capital baghdad, it wont just be a huge psychological victory, but the model for future operations next year and against the i. S. I. L. Stronghold of mosul in Northern Iraq a retired army major, thanks for being with us. I want to show you a map of the region. As you can see ramadi is important for a number of reasons. You heard it said it is strategic. If iraqi forces are able to retake ramadi is it a game changer . It is, but it is in the first in a few. I think that has to be the plan for the government at this point. Think have to prove that they can take this city. The reports say theyve entered to the south with the iraqi forces and the tribal forces from the sunnis. Who holds it exactly. Retaking it and holding is another. Once they do retake do you think they can rehold it . If the sunni tribes cant rehold, if the shia militias have to enter, understanding see a situation of ethnic cleansing. For example, you can see a civil war breaking out between these two tribal units inside this city. Thats not something the government wants. The government has to leave behind some iraqi forces behind there, and away from each other. That will cause risk in other places of iraq one thing emerging here is that it is moving slower than the u. S. Would want, but it is moving at the hands of the iraqis which is also what the u. S. Want. So is it going to be slow, is it going to be steady or is it not going to be as rapid as u. S. Would want and will that complicate things down the road . It just extends the time line as to when it gets done. This is how it is amp there. Youre coming to understand that things take longer in this particular situation. Its very slow and deliberate. Were used to fighting wars. This conventional war. Were used to fighting this conventional war using speed, shock. That is an advantage in combat. It doesnt look like iraqis are using that in their advantage. Theyre just slow are you optimistic that it is the iraqi forces that are leading the charge and, in fact, rejecting the advice and the support of some u. S. Forces . You heard the general saying that they dont want helicopters that would increase the face im confident that the Security Forces are doing well. Im concerned about the shia militias coming in and having influence over the battle at some point. If the Iraqi Security forces get into trouble, who do they call for back up . They call those helicopters or the shia militias in, that will create the future problem. That will be the consequence of whats going to happen there the president has been criticised saying it is not focused and not moving fast enough. If ramadi falls by the first of the year or middle of january, will that change the narrative with regard to the attack against i. S. I. L. And in regards to the political dialogue back here at home . I think it shows that the Iraqi Security forces and the Prime Minister are doing the right thing inside iraq, restoring that border. Theyre going to have to fight up in both directions. The next step is falugia and mosul. That is going to be a big phi. Weve been talking about this for months but i dont think theyre ready to do that on any level thank you for being with us. Thank you. Reporter the number of refugees and migrants entering europe this year has hit more than one million. The International Organization for migration says the real number of people fleeing their homes could be even higher since tracking the families is so difficult. Our correspondent has the story. Reporter most refugees and migrants entering europe are arriving by sea. Risking their lives in hopes of starting new lives. Most of these people are fleeing war. Theyre fleeing for their lives. Theyre fleeing terror itch. It is a shocking reality reporter now theyre fleeing in record numbers. More than one million so far this year. This is three to four times as many migrants coming north as we had the year 2014. The deaths have already far surpassed the deaths from last year reporter the u. N. Says half of the refugees and migrants by boat are syrians seeing are war. 27 are afghans and 7 iraqis theyre also coming across africa. Some are now fleeing climate change. People who can no longer grow crops on their land and cant survive as a result. Reporter most refugees and migrants land in greece. Many also aarrive in italy, buglari and spain. Migration to you are key is even higher. The u. N. Says more than two million Syrian Refugees are there. This is your family. Reporter more than one million have fleed to lebanon. They make up nearly a fourth of the countrys total population. More than 600,000 are in jordan. Many of these refugees have lived for years in legal limbo without the right to work. So some are now heading to europe where governments are struggling to agree on a response to the crisis. Germany sweden have welcomed the largest numbers of refugees in europe, but a number of European Countries have erected fences to deter them. The European Union is pouring money into beefing up Border Security and next year the risks involved in trying to enter europe illegally are expected to grow. We may see higher numbers but we may see higher deaths. We have seen four thousand people drying and dying in circumstances trying to get into europe. These people are entitled to protection plum eting oil prices. Reporter what that means for your pocket book the mobile money trail. Why trailer parks have become hot property for investors across the nation. This is it. Oscar winner alex gibneys edge of eighteen marathon. If i said that im perfectly fine, i would be lying. I feel so utterly alone. In this envelope is my life. If you dont go to college, you gonna be stuck here. I dont wanna be stuck here. Catch the whole groundbreaking series, edge of eighteen marathon. You are looking at live pictures of Reagan International airport in washington, d. C. , millions of people are expected to head toe airports across the nation for the holiday getaway. Good morning, welcome back to your world this morning. February 30 00 eastern time. Millions of americans hitting the road for the holiday. Weekend Severe Weather could lead to pretty big delays. Watches and warnings are up for tornadoes and flooding affecting the flights, the roads, as well. Triplea saying more than 91 Million People are be spect to travel by car nationwide. Iraqi Officials Say Government Forces are closer to pushing isil out of ramadi, a key city in Anbar Province not far from baghdad. Isil has been in control of ramadi since may. At the beginning of the offensive, isil attacked soldiers with a car bomb. Crews heap to find 76 people missing in a mudslide in china. One man was found but died a short time later. Oil prices continue to slide, Global Benchmark crude hitting 11 year lows just this week. Crude is trading at 56. 51 a barrel but could fetch even less next year. Opec predicted prices will eventually recover but only to about 70 a barrel by 2020, far lowe in 2014 where it was above 100 a barrel. One major factor driving prices down, the saudi oil cartel is pumps crude with abandon, even though it is hurt the saudi economy. Awash in oil, but going broke, the ironic state of saudi arabia, which the i. M. S. Said will faust its financial funds in five years if it doesnt cut pending. The kingdom is facing sort of fiscal difficulties that it hasnt faced for many, many decades. Thanks in large partly to a Global Oil Glut thats seen crude prices plummet 60 in the last year and a half. It is driven by saudi arabia, which has pumped oil into a market overflowing with crude to drive more mostly u. S. Shale Oil Producers out of business and keep regional rival iran from cashing in on the 100 millionbarrels of oil a day it plans to pump by the end of next year. That strategy has caused oil to trade almost 65 below what sawed needs. Thanks to a costly war waged in yemen, expensive airstrikes against isil and dealing out billions of dollars a year to its citizens two well paid government jobs, energy subs dies and allowances and super free loans for building homes, getting married and starting small businesses. In the medium to long term, the most important thing is reducing subsidies. Cutting benefits is never an easy political sell and there are reports of moves within the saudi royal family to out of the the king and his son who head the kingdoms Economic Policy committee. The saudis do have 6,050,000,000,000 in Foreign Exchange reserves that should stave off the need for immediate spending reforms. Lets bring in jim crane, the wallace s. Wilson fellow for Energy Studies at rice universitys energy ins absolute. Thanks for joining us this morning. Good morning. Now, weve seen lots of estimates about how low oil can go and when oil prices might start to climb again, but where do you think oil is headed in 2016 . You know, its really anybodys guess. I mean, the oil sector and industry is so complex that it can go anywhere. Weve got an Investment Bank in houston still calling for eightydollar oil in the second half of 2016, next year, within the next, you know, seven or eight months potential lil. Then you hear the report that Goldman Sachs is looking for oil potentially 20, so, you know, it depends on producers, and on consumers, you know, the low prices are spurring demand and people are driving more, but, you know, the production continues to outpace consumers, so, you know, well just have to wait and see, really. Lets talk about the impact on producers, specifically many producers really reeling under these many low costs, venezuela for example, what are the geopolitical risk of these sustained low oil prices . Those are a bit more interesting. I mean, you know, the geopolitical risks are huge for some of these countries. Weve got in your package we heard about some of the fiscal issues of saudi arabia. Saudi arabia is probably in a more comfortable position than all but about four or five of the biggest Oil Producers, so the big producers in the persian gulf, the gulf monarchees, kuwait, the u. A. E. And saudi arabia, those countries are probably going to be ok, yeah theyre feeling fiscal pressure, but theyve been through oil busts before, theyve got the same families in power today and they know what the ingredients of survival are. The producers that have a large herb population relative to the size of their production, so countries like venezuela, iraq, algeria, nigeria, even ecuador, some of the smaller producers that really still are very reliant on oil to fund their national budgets, those countries are going to have bigger problems, you know, theyre going to be cutting back on spending, on Welfare Benefits and those benefits are so important for shoring up support for the government that as those are cut, youre going to look to see political unrest starts to broke out and whether the governments can indeed maintain control. In past years, weve seen countries raising prices on energy products, only to see governments to bel. Its happened in indonesia and venezuela in the past. We have to keep on eye on that. We certainly will have to keep an eye on that. Jim crane of the baker institute, thank you so much for joining us this morning with your insights. My pleasure. Donald trump ends the year with a commanding double digit lead, more than his competitors combined. The justice released cnn pole shows 39 support. Ted cruz trailing with 18 , ben carson and marco rubio tied for third with 10 . Florida governor jeb bush just 3 , that poll taken after the last president ial debate. A poll on tuesday telling a much different story, putting trump at 28 with cruz just behind at 24 and that is in the margin of error. Jeb bush not in the top five. The pollices finding that 50 of americans say they would be embarrassed to have donald trump as president. 35 saying the same about hillary clinton. The Obama Administration says 2016 sign ups for obamacare are going strong. Officials say 8. 2 Million People have signed up or renewed coverage through the website healthcare. Gov, up from 6. 4 million at this time last year. 2 million of those who signed up are in the insurers most sought after demographic, 35 and under, nearly double the number of young people who signed up last year. The National Football league is denying reports that it is pulling funding for a new concussion study. The league gave the National Institutes of health a 30 million grant to pay for the Boston University research but multiple reports allege the nfl pulled the funding after a doctor whos been critical of the league was chosen to be the projects main researcher. We have this report on a separate unique study looks into the causes of head trauma. American football practice with an important twist, the university of new hampshires college Team Dedicated part of their training sessions to doing drills without wearing protective helmets. A perhaps counter intuitive idea aimed as reducing the number of concussions and head injuries. It is a dangerous game. Its part of a study run by professor eric schwartz. He said the helmet is part of the problem. The sport of football is just identified by the football helmet. It is necessary for the sport. It provides protection, but at the same time, the helmet enables contact with the head because you are able to use the head and it doesnt hurt. Four local High School Teams are also part of the study. Players wear special sensors in head bands to record impacts during games. So you can see below listed all the hits that occurred and up here on the graph, we can click on a specific hit which shows exactly where that hit occurred, so you can see this hit happened right on the top of their head on the crown. Millions of young men play american football all over the u. S. Its one of the most popular sports, but also rough and sometimes violent. This season alone, at least eight High School Players have died as a result of onfield injuries. The latest of those eight was 17yearold luke shem, a High School Player from kansas who suffered a traumatic brain injury after being a tackled in a game, but you the risks havent put off 16yearold miles strickler who place safety for the high school team. His parents worry about head injuries, but he said being part of the study has changed his game for better. Normally i would lead with my head or lead with my head up and that was i guess put me more at risk for injury and now i can get my head off to the side because of muscle memory. Im more used to getting my head out of the way out of contact. That helps a lot. We have intelligent kids and as they saw the benefit, they saw what we were trying to produce and saw the end result and what we were building to. To make americas contact sport a little bit safer to avoid serious head injuries that have become all too common. Al jazeera, bedford, new hampshire. It is fascinating that they are taking the helmets off of the players to see how that affects how they tackle. Lets switch gears and talk about weather. Flooding fears with days to go until the holidays. We are talking about a lot of rain coming up the east coast. Thats right, six to eight inches of rain, because its going to be raining for the next two to three days. Ill show you that in just a moment. Temperature wise, remember i told you about that Severe Weather. Take a look towards the south, where you see those warmer temperatures is where the Severe Weather is bubbling up. Were going to be seeing those warm temperatures stay in place today. As you can see, Severe Weather threat up to mississippi is going to continue as we go into the evening hours. Tornado watches in effect right now, the previous Tornado Warning had been drops, so were going to be watching for newer ones to be forming a little bit later as we go towards today. Now tomorrow, notice all of this green right here. That is why were looking at flooding across that region, anywhere from parts of alabama up towards virginia, four to sis maybe even locally heavier than that. Thats going to cause problems on the roads, lower visibilities, as well, but thursday is also going to be our warmest day, even warmer than what we had last week. Take a look at those temperatures, nuke at 71 degrees, going a little closer in. Philadelphia, 76 degrees on christmas eve, yes, its going to be raining. I guarantee people are going to be in shorts and probably flipflops, as well. Going towards christmas, temperatures begin to come down, but theyre still well above average, and that trends going to stay through the weekend. You know what all that rain does to your Christmas Decorations . Shorts and lights going out. Its not pretty. Its nasty. Kevin, thank you very much. Millions of people in this country call trailer parks their home and demands skyrocketed after the Global Financial crisis when many lost their homes to mortgages they could not afford. Now investors are looking to make big money from these humble homes. Were in our first park here. On the road to potential profits, investors are tying up trailer parks. 20 Million People live in low cost mobile home communities. Demand is high and as more parks are bum dozed for other developments, supplies are dwindling i dont apartment rents are going up, people being squealed out. A three day seminar called mobile Home University, a million hour owns 140 trailer parks and is an expert as queasying money out of some of americas poorest people. To be in this business, you have to be a pessimist by nature. You have to put all your eggs in the basket that the economy is going to continue to go down. He tells park buyers to tear out amenities, like playgrounds which cost money to maintain and raise rent as high as possible without forcing residents to leave. Theres no regulations on what you can raise rent to at all, so basically, the park owner is free to raise it as much as he wants. Investors are eager to get in on the trailer park bandwagon. From a management stand point, theyre awesome. They have a very good return on the money, better often than an Apartment Building with a lot less management. If you have to live inexpensively in the united states, a Mobile Home Park is one of the best ways to go. A used trailer can cost a few thousand dollars, payable in installments and the ground rent in a Mobile Home Park like this one averages around 250 a month. Many trailer park residents earn minimum wage, are disabled or elderly living on fixed incomes. 72yearold bill said he cant afford to live anywhere else. Its easy to move from one town to another when you have a trailer. As the bus tour continued, it was shadowed by protestors denouncing the hardedged Business Practices mobile Home University preaches. These companies are coming in, raisings the rents rapidly, you know, far greater than weve ever seen before and they are making massive profits on these communities, but theyre also displacing a lot of people. Some of the biggest names in u. S. Finance, including multibillionaires warren buffet and sam zell are making large investments in trailer parks, proof that theres big money to be made from the pennies of the poor. Rob reynolds, al jazeera, washington. Humble homes. When we come back, well talk about a living building. We go inside what is said to be the greatest building on the planet. Were following stories of people who have died in the desert. The borderland marathon. No ones prepared for this journey. Experience al Jazeera Americas critically acclaimed, original series from the beginning. Experiencing it has changed me completely. Follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. Its heartbreaking. Im the enemy. Im really pissed off. All of these people shouldnt be dead. Its insane. Not a bird, not a plane, instead that bright light everybody saw on the west coast was a Russian Rocket coming back into the atmosphere. It was bright enough to be seen in california, arizona and nevada. Builders in seattle say that center is the greenest commercial center in the world. Want six story office this generates more energy than it consumes. Al jazeera got a look inside. The greening of this 52,000 Square Foot Office this begins with basic materials, concrete is relatively cheap and known for load bearing properties, but here, its used only for the first two floors, because its considers a carbon emitter, due to all the energy used in making it. The top four floors of the 32 november 000,000 believe are wood, laminated timber beams reinforced by a steel core. This is probably by a factor of not quite two, the most Energy Officials building in the world amounted its not that hard. Dennis hague runs the nonprofit eco friendly bullet foundation. We wanted to place a very big bet to show that what was going on in Green Building wasnt beginning to achieve what is possible, and we wanted to set a very high bar that the theory being once it exists, its possible. The concept here is bio mimicry, build a believe that operates like a plant. We tried to design this building as if it were a fir tree, using the rain for all its water, comb posting all its waste. A building that takes its cues from nature. Theres the weather station over there. Thats feeding information into our system, its telling us the wind speed and wind direction and if its raining and if its sunny. What do we have up here . These are the solar panels. Can we go up there . Absolutely. Its five must not 75 panels producing 232,000kilowatt hours. The array gives power to the you if it grid in the summer and takes it back in the dreary northwest winter. The building produces 60 more electricity every year than it uses. Tenants who meet conservation goals dont pay for power. Its totally aligned with who we are as a company and makes absolute sense. Water is pumped underground drilled 400 feet deep where the temperature is a constant 53 degrees. In summer, the liquid circulates through the floors for cooling and in winter months warmed by a heat pump to warm the temperature. Hot air goes out the top, cool air out the bottom. Self opening windows tweak ventilation at needed. Blinds adjust automatically to the angle and intensity of the sun. A computer monitored by a catchful human helps the building run itself. The building operates like an organism. It tries to keep itself regulated. Eventually, all this buildings water needs will be met by what falls out of the sky, rain captured in a as i say turn. The water comes out of that cistern. So called gray water from sinks, showers and dish washers drains into a huge tank in the basement. Its then pumped several times through an artificial we had land on a third floor rooftop, where plants, soil and beneficial bacteria filter in i am purities and nutrients. Landscaping filters down through tubes into the water table beneath the believe. Toilets use minimal water and waste is composted on site, then further treated for use as fertilizer, a two year process. We think this is the worlds only six story composting facility. The parking garage accommodates only bikes, no cars. A grand windowed stairway also encourages exercise, small steps toward a bigger goal of greener, healthier construction practices. Its a slow beast to turn, but weve got to turn it. The challenges of life in a living building. Al jazeera, seattle. Chesterton he willed explosives and hammer drills around usually associated with art. Be a artist is using them to make a comment about the world. His studio may be gyp doors, but alexander prefers extoror calls on Old Buildings to exhibit his art. I think the city has a lot to gain by giving space to artists to create in it, not just for the cultural life, but also for the factor that it makes life more interesting if the cities. Hes an internationally recognized graffiti artist. These days instead of spray cans, he use is kris he wills and drills, even controlled explosions to create oversized portraits in public spaces, all of which are legally approved. Its like or the of archaeology process, digging into the layers, you expose history. You sort of make the invisible visible. A city landscape like hong kong is a perfect canvas. Old buildings are overshadowed by modern skyscrapers and its the history that he wants to capture in his art. I try not to reflect on the shiny part of the building, but the shadow they cast on the city. I think the shadow is where the work is, and thats what interests me and where i want to put the focus on. This building was once a busy cotton mill in hong kong, now being turned into a creative and cult rat hub president the owner invited him to document the transformation. Its something that we feel very proud of. Its ejecting a little, you know, Different Energy into the neighborhood and the communities, i think that are interacted with, they really receive it positively. Its not just hong kong. His work is featured from malaysia to spain, brazil and the united states, but the theme of his collection remains the same, to reflect on cities changes and pace of development by uncovering some of its past. What once started as an act of rebellion is one this graffiti artist an International Following that continues to grow. This is one of the most influential young street artists of our time. He has developed a following in the contemporary art world. The foundation decided to bring him to hong kong because he has proven himself in the contemporary art scene as worth watching outside of the urban art context. A lot of his work are temporary installations with the changing face of asia, he says he wont be short of inspiration. Sarah clark, al jazeera, hong kong. What do they say in a word . Cool. Hundred was protestors getting ready to go to the mall of america over the objection of the moms owners and after a ruling from a judge. The latest controversy over concussions, the claim the nfl pulled its money from a study. We are back in two minutes with more. We will see you then. At 9 30 america tonight top investigative reporting, uncovering new perspectives. Everything thats happening here is illegal. Then at 10 00 its reports from around the world. Lets take a closer look. Antonio mora gives you a global view. This is a human rights crisis. And at 11 00 news wrapup. Clear. Concise. Complete. Shoppers beware, hundreds of protestors expected at the mall of America Today, angry over the Police Killing of a black man. A holiday mess, Severe Weather could mean big headaches for millions of americans hitting the road today. Retaking ramadi, moving closer to retaking the city. Rediscovering your cult u. In a video game, a History Lesson using modern technology. Good morning, welcome to your world this morning. Pro testeddors in minneapolis say they will be at the mall of America Today despite a Court Order Barring some of them. There have been demonstrations for weeks over the death of an africanamerican man at the hands of police. The judge said the mall captain bar everyone who wants to protest. Al jazeeras andy is live in minneapolis. There were demonstrations at that mall last year. This time, the mall says they are better prepared. Well, and actually, they are being much tougher this year, del. Last year, they didnt know what to expect when protestors showed up, they even louped the media inside to film it. When it was over, there were 11 arrests for trespassing and disorder conduct. The malsays it lost a hefty chunk of change last year and the Salvation Army lost an estimated 15,000 in donations, so this year, the mall said were not going to allow the media in at all, and they went to court to sue the entire black lives matter group to keep them out of the mall and they demanded that the leaders of the group go on social media and tell everybody that the event was canceled today. The aclu as you can imagine hauled at that one. Last night the judge agreed, saying you cant force leaders to go on social media and tell everyone the event has been canceled. You cannot keep the entire black lives matter group out as a group, but the judge did allow that the mall can keep out three of the protest leaders and the attorney for the mall called that a victory. We have yet another court saying again, mall of america is private property, mall of america has a right to prohibit demonstrations on that its property, and this order in particular sends that message very directly. Well, the protest group black lives matter called it a victory for them and as far as the judge saying those three leaders cannot be in, she basically just said that those three were sort of the ringleaders who pose the greatest threat so speak to the mall, but other protestors say this just emboldens them and they are going to show up. Some seeing malls as americas main street. What are the protestors say about their reasons for being there . Well, they have long said they wanted to show up in relationship to the jamar clark case. He was the young black man shot by a Police Officer last year in minneapolis. There is conflicting circumstances around his death. They say he was shot while unarmed by the officer. Thats really fueling them. Youve got to wonder how much this court case some the mall tried to bring against these protestors is actually feeling todays event and well be watching, del. Patty, as you can see from the live shot, much colder in minneapolis than it is on the east coast. It is, and you can expect more than the usual disruptions and delays starting your Holiday Travel. There is dangerous weather hitting the country. Watches and warnings of up in a day that is the worst day for Holiday Travel. This busy Holiday Travel week started off wet for many people and its not Getting Better. Triplea said more than 100 travelers will hit the road, more than ever before. Theyll have to keep an eye on the skies just as much as they do the road. Fog may have led to this Chain Reaction crash on interstate 49 in arkansas, killing at least three people. Across parts of the west, snow is so heavy, its slowing a search and rescue mission in washington state. Officials had to suspend the search for a missing skier because of avalanche dangers. He could be in a snow cave, under a tarp, just waiting for us. Dangerous winds in california overturning tractor trailers and taking down trees. Thats keeping utility crews working round the clock. We have another tree down, were going to have to go respond to it. More than 38 million travelers are expected to fly through january 3, the busiest airports, atlanta, los angeles, chicago and weather could cause flight delays at many people will not see it, youre right. Its too cloudy. Another black eye for the people charged with protecting the president. A secret Service Agent having his gun, handcuffs and other itemstain from his personal vehicle in downtown washington, d. C. It happened less than a block from secret service headquarters. It is the latest in the string of embarrassing scandals for the agency that includes agent and officer behavior and security lapses at the white house. Iraqi Officials Say Government Forces closer to pushing isil out of ramadi. Thats a key city in Anbar Province not far from baghdad. As al jazeera reports, the progress is called slow and steady. After months of planning, training and shaping operations, iraqs too much to retake ramadi is in its final phase. It would appear based on the overwhelming numerical superiority of the iraqi forces that isils days of ruling ramadi are numbered, possibly in the single digits. A floating bridge supplied by u. S. Army engineers, Iraqi Security forces forded the river and began to close in on the city center where they face methodical house to house combat against dugin isil fighters. Back in may, isil took ramadi with shocking ease, routing a force of nearly 20,000 battle weary iraqi defenders with just over 1,000 attackers. Months of Coalition Bombing and low level ground attacks whittled the isil fighters down to 350 or fewer, while the iraqi Assault Force numbers over 10,000. It is backed by u. S. Air power, which has been relentlessly pounding isil positions, killing hundreds of isil fighters, according to the u. S. Military spokesman in baghdad. I think the fall of ramadi is inevitable, the end is coming, but that said, its going to be a tough fight. For months, iraqi forces executing a plan drafted by the u. S. Have been slowly surrounding ramadi, cutting off supply lines. For u. S. Commanders, the pace of the campaign has been frustratingly slow especially since the Iraqi Government, Prime Minister abadi has refused to accept help in the form of u. S. Apache helicopters that could provide air cover in tight urban terrain. Its kind of hard to inflict support on somebody. We try to provide support, and like i said, the kind of support we provide has to be consistent with the way Iraqi Security forces fight. Iraq has taken one important piece of u. S. Advice and kept shia militias out of the force that will retake and eventually secure ramadi, a largely sunni city, Iraqi Security forces have been joined by u. S. Trained sunni tribal fighters and former anbar police who will patrol the city after the fighting ends. The conditions i think are properly set for the full liberation of ramadi, and were doing everything we can to expedite the completion of that operation. I remain very optimistic. The pentagon called ramadi a crucial test for iraqi forces. If they can push isil out of the city just you a miles drive from baghdad, it wont be a huge psychological victory, it can be the mod elf of future operations next year in fallujah and eventually against mosul,s isil stronghold in Northern Iraq. Were getting a new sense today of just how much the fight against isil is costing the country. The pentagon says anti isil operation in iraq and syria have so far cost up wards of 5 billion. Half of that went toward airstrikes and surveillance. The military says more than 8900 airstrikes have been conducted since the coalition began them in september of 2014. There are new allegations of war crimes inside syria. Amnesty international saying russian airstrikes appeared to have directly targeted and killed civilians. Those strikes have hit homes, hospitals, mosques and markets over the last two months. A new report shows the location and timing of the attacks max russian defensively Ministry Reports of airstrikes. Russia says it was targeting isil. Al jazeeras victoria gatenby reports. They can barely believe whats just happened, airstrikes thought to have been carried out by russian airplanes have flattened a busy market full of people. In the moments after the attack, panic sweeps through. There are dead bodies everywhere and people russia to help survivors. They check to see if this man is alive. Hes not. They move on looking for injured people to help. This is the damascus countryside. People say fighting between Syrian Government forces and opposition fighters that been nonstop for two months. They say the Syrian Regime is trying to break the deadlock with the help of russian airstrikes. This is from the regime of bashar al assad. This is whats happening to us. Where are you, muslim brothers . Where are you . Russia began bombing syria in september. It says its targeting isil, but the institute for the study of war, a u. S. Based think tank said the Russian Air Campaign has mainly hit Syrian Opposition groups. The russian and syrian airstrikes on the east have increased recently. They pretend they are targeting the terrorists, but most People Killed are women and children. These are scenes that the people of syria have become familiar with. What started as an uprising against the government has long descended into civil war. That cycle of violence has played out across the country for almost five years now and killed at least 200,000 people. Al jazeera. This morning, guns rights advocates condemn a decision in virginia to stop recognizing concealed carry permits from 25 other states. The states attorney general announced the decision tuesday. An internal review found other states dont follow virginias strict requirements for getting a concealed permit. It takes effect february 1. The n. R. A. Lost a challenge to a tax on guns and ammunition in seattle. A judge there dismissed the groups argument that the law exceeds the citys authority. It willed a 25 to the price of each gun sold as well as a few cent to say each round of ammunition. Officials expect it to raise up to 500,000 a year to off set the cost of gun violence. Rescuers in china found a man buried alive inside a landslide. Hed been trapped for more than three days. Dozens are still missing, al jazeera is there. Alive against all the odds. Trapped underdebris for almost three days, the man is a migrant worker, age 19. His voice and pulse were feeble when rescuers reached raising their morale and those of local people. Its a miracle, a man was rescued alive. We were so happy when we heard about it, very happy. He had been in the office of a factory when the mudslide happened on sunday morning, but a man found close to him was dead. Doctors are hopeful tian will recover, but his injuries are serious. He is steely debilitated and dehydrated. He sustained injuries including soft tissue injuries, bone fractures and a severe crash injury on his right lower limb. At the rescue site, frantic efforts to find survivors have intensified. Search teams are using sensors to locate signs of life. They are also finding more bodies. The operation has also begun to affect local businesses. We cannot go out now. We cant transfer goods in and out of this area. There is no guarantee for our lives. Many workers have to eat and there is no power supply now. The deluge of mud and construction waste engulfed more than 30 buildings in an industrial zone. It happened after heavy rains dislodged the man made pile that had been there several years. Now, a senior official of the firm that managed the dump has been arrested. State media say that a local government report had identified storage problems at the site months ago, warning of a catastrophe, a catastrophe that has now happened. Aid brown, al jazeera, beijing. Those images coming out of beijing are amazing. When we come back, well talk about the concussion controversy. The new film raising questions about how Safe Football really is. Technology that could make the rails safer. There is yet another controversy today over concussions in nfl. The nfl is accused of pulling grant money meant to explore brain trauma. It comes days before a major movie hits theaters. Concussion is all about the league and the research into the condition. I found a disease that no one has ever seen. In the new Sony Pictures film concussion, will smith stars as real life forensic pathologist dr. Bennett omalu. He contained the phrase cte after performing the autopsy on mike webster. Repetitive head trauma chokes the brain. His research led to the discovery of the disease born from repeated Blunt Force Trauma in the brains of nfl greats. Many players took their own lives. The film chronicles how the doctor went from knowing nothing about football to becoming the preeminent scholar on football related injuries. No proof was presented today. The film portrays the National Football league as determined to cover up the doctors findings. Three days before the movie hits theaters, multiple reports have the league reneging on a 30 million grant promise to a leading Brain Injury Research group. The reason according to reports, the Boston University project is being led by a leading critic of the lead, dr. Robert stern. The nfl deny that is and the Group Handing out the nfls money said its setting the grant aside for another project. Emails made public from the sony hacking scandal seemed to indicate the studio tried to avoid the nfls wrath by softening some parts of the film. One august 2014 email from senior studio executive reads that wouldnt surprise me, because theyve down played the concussion situation for such a long time. Joe is an nfl hall of fame guard. If the nfl did have a way of alternating the film or altering it in any way, of course theyre going to try to soften it. It should be noted Sony Pictures has no formal business relationships with the nfl and the films director strongly denies any effort to soften the story. As for players, one of thousands collectively award road close to a billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit. He said hes keeping his grandchildren away from the game he once loved. Ive got five grandkids or do we have six . Six grandsons. I really dont want them playing. Dr. Robert gladder is the director of sports medicine, also the co author of the book the football decision and exploration into every parents decision whether or not to let a child play contact sports. Doctors, thanks for being with us. Theres that movie out there, the quote the nfl owns a day of the week, that being sunday. Do you think the league sincerely wants to get to the bottom of this problem or is it just a p. R. Move on their part . I think there is a concerted effort for them to understand whats going on amongst these players. Remember these are professional players who have had a long term career that have had multiple hits, concussions, some of which threw out a long term career. We dont know the exact genetics behind whats causing this, because we know there are genetics. These hits that happen over a very long period of time is different from someone who plays youth sports and stops lying up until the high school level. Heres the question. In this case, you literally did write the book on this and wrote an article, a klum for forbes in which you talk about it and it deals with the decision that parents should make and you tell them what they should do and that is a what . I think they should let their Children Play sports. Some may be contact sports. We have to realize that football is actually not one of the riskier sports, he equestrian, skateboarding, snowboarding. The injury rate amongst football is actually less than you would have amongst other types of sports and we have to be aware of that. The data itself is not clear about the risk of concussions and what we call sub concussions in the youth age. We have to look at that. How do you donter the parent that says why should i even take any risk if there is a possibility that my child winds up being good in football and then he wants to go and he wants to play in the pros and he sees people like jim mcmahon walking away with severe brain injuries. Why take the risk . There is risk. Im not going to deny risk associated with football, but there are many benefits to football. Look, for example a team sport, learning to work with others to achieve a common goal. This is very important. Youth brains are very what we call plastic and not my lennated. Team sports can improve and help children. There are rumors to the nfl changed the funding decision at the n. I. H. , the league denies it, but as someone who has been working that system for years, sometimes moving the grant money means moving that money over to another body that might not be as critical of the league. Your take. I think that having it under ni. H and no bias is a smarter move. Its unclear what transpired. This movie go be good or bad . I think there is a lot of hysteria with the public. Is it justified, though. This is a very rare entity in that recently, its been a little bit overblown and we have to look at really the long term history of this. We dont know a lot about it. I have to state that the genetics are not clear. Theres certainly that aspect about that and we have to look at that long term effect. Also, repetitive head trauma is not the only thing that leads to c. T. E. Brains that have had issues with c. T. E. Can have issues with there have been drugs, also neurodegenerative changes. There are other factor that is play into this. This whole host of factors have to be looked at. Dr. Robert gladder, thanks for being with us today. Construction of a nearly 2 billion stadium is underway in los angeles and that could end the nfls two decade absence from the city. The site is being developed by st. Louis rams owner, but he has competition. The owners of the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders teaming upping on a competing stadium in carson. Nfl owners plan a special meeting in january to try and figure out which team, if any, might move there. The Washington Redskins may have new help in trying to get their trademark back. A federal Appeals Court tuesday struck down part of a law that lets the government reject trade marks if found offensive or disparaging. In july, a federal judge ordered the redskins trademark registration be revoked because its considered offensive to native americans. The redskins are currently challenging that decision. Mapping out his legal plan. Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl going before a judge. His lawyers are planning their next steps in his court martial. A new twist over same sex marriage in kentucky, the governor makes a change demanded by kim davis. This is it. Oscar winner alex gibneys edge of eighteen marathon. If i said that im perfectly fine, i would be lying. I feel so utterly alone. In this envelope is my life. If you dont go to college, you gonna be stuck here. I dont wanna be stuck here. Catch the whole groundbreaking series, edge of eighteen marathon. Welcome back to go your world this morning, now 8 30 eastern time and time to look at todays top stories. Protestors will be at the mall of America Today despite a judges order barring some of them. The judge said the mall cant bar all demonstrators over the shooting death of an africanamerican man by minneapolis police. Last year another protest disrupted shopping in the mall. Severe weather could lead to big traveling delays. Watches and warnings are up for tornadoes and flooding, affecting flights and the roads. Aaa expect more than 91 Million People to travel by carnationwide. Iraqi forces pushing closer to the city center of ramadi, trying to retake the captain of a of anbar from isil. Isil has been in control of ramadi since may. At least 14 iraqi solers have died since the beginning of the offensive. The fall of ramadi has been seen as a major setback for the iraqi military. I talked to retired Army Sergeant mike lyons. He said the fight to regain control of the city is not going to be easy. It extends the time line when things will be done. In that part of the world, you come to understand that things take a lot longer in this particular situation. Its very slow, very deliberate. Were used to fighting wars, conventional war, that kind of conventional war using speed, audacity, shock and we think that thats an advantage in combat. It doesnt look like the iraqis are using that to their advantage, theyre slow and deliberate as they take the pace. The president has been criticized for his iraqi strategy, being said it is not focused and fast enough. If ramadi falls by the first of the year or middle of january will that change the narrative with rewards to the attacks against isil and political resolve back home. It shows that the iraqi forces and Prime Minister are doing the right thing, row storing that iraqi border. Theyre going to have to fight in both directions, on the tigress andy firefighters river. Military planes are dropping leaflets over the city, asking the residents to leave. Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and his lawyers are plotting the next steps in his court martial, including whether to have the desertion case heard before a jury or a judge. As al jazeeras robert ray tells us, bergdahl did not enter a plea at his raiment tuesday. Flanked by his Army Attorney and military police, 29yearold sergeant Bowe Bergdahl faced a judge for the first time on tuesday in an arraignment. He has a right to be tried by a panel or military judge. Sergeant bergdahl deferred all decision to say a later hearing. Bergdahl, held by the taliban for five years after he lest his post in afghanistan is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, a relatively rare charge that carries a severe punishment, including life in prison. Recently, bergdahl explained his actions in interviews on the podcast, serial. What i was seeing from my first unit all the way up into afghanistan, alls i was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally from what i could see, in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed. Sergeant bergdahl said he planned to alert his colleagues, then show up at another base days later alive and well, a kind of super soldier, he said, likening himself to the superhero from the bourn supremacy movies. Me saying i am, i dont know, jason bourne, fantastic idea that i was going to prove to the world that i was the real thing. He was reds in late may, 2014 as part of a prisoner swap in exchange for five detainees in guantanamo bay, the deal was the subject of Harsh Criticism from members of congress who accused president barack obama of jeopardizing the safety of the country and from Service Members when Bowe Bergdahl disappeared. Sergeant bergdahl endangered the lives of thousands of men and women searching for him. The attorney and others have been using him as fodder to push their own agendas for months. Bergdahls army peers think differently. We want people to realize that he didnt serve with honor and dignity and respect and he is a deserter in a time of war. The next Pretrial Hearing is scheduled for january 12 before army judge colonel judge who will preside over future hearings. Al jazeera, fort bragg, north carolina. Kentucky will soon have new marriage licenses to answer the religious objections of some clerks. The new governor there ordering the state to revise the licenses and remove the names of the clerks who issue them. That includes county clerk kim davis, jailed earlier this year for refusing to give out those licenses. She said having her name on the documents implied that she endorsed gay marriage. The settlement in the newtown connecticut shootings, the families splitting 1. 5 million. The suit alleging that nancy lanza failed to properly security the weapons used to kill 20 children and six educators at sandy hook in 2012. Nancy lanza also was killed by her son. The families are suing bush master, as well, the maker of the rifle. This week amtrak put new safety controls in place on parts of its busiest line between philadelphia and new york. Its meant to prevent crashes, but as al jazeeras mary snow tells us, many other places will miss the deadline to make the rails safer. This is the kind of Railroad Accident that available Crash Prevention Technology is designed to prevent, eight people were killed and 200 others injured when an amtrak train derailed last may. It was speeding as it approached a curve. The collision happened in philadelphia. The haunting memory has added a sense of urgency for the city to install that Safety Technology on its own Commuter Rails. I was at the amtrak crash scene the day after this past year, and, you know, anybody whos been through a site like that just dont want that to happen. Jeffery is the general manager of the southeastern pennsylvania transportation authority. His office has paid 328 million to install what is known as positive train control. What positive train control does, it can either stop a train or it can limit the speed of a train. Engineers have been testing out the technology that is designed to override human engineers. If he attempts to do overspeed or to go past the stopping point, the equipment will stop the train. The National Transportation safety board has been calling for this kind of technology for more than four decades. It means covering 250 miles of track with transponders and hauling in roughly 400 cars to this warehouse to install them with signaling systems. Were working around the clock to meet the deadline. That federal deadline aimed at Commuter Rail lines like this, along with commercial trains carrying Hazardous Materials is no longer legally binding. Thats because of a move that sparked controversy on capitol hill. Back in 2008, Congress Passed a bill requiring railroads to install positive train control by the end of 2015. Seven years later, most railroads dont have it installed and lawmakers here in washington extended the deadline. Congress gave railroads at least three more years with room for two years of testing on top of that. The delay was granted after the industry lobbied lawmakers saying more testing i guess needed. Critics say railroads are dragging their feet because of cost. Patricia riley disputes that. She represents the Railroad Industry and said private companies have spent more than 6 billion and plan to spend billions more. Railroads did not meet the p. T. C. Deadline because of the unprecedented nature of the mandate. It was an unrealistic deadline. They have been saying that for years. Safety advocates question why the railroads lag over industries in developing technology. The former chairman of the National Transportation safety board said this. I would say when it comes to Technology Like this it is not rocket science. We have seen the Airline Industry implement Collision Avoidance systems, and theyre working in three dimensions. Government red tape is also being blamed for delays, as well as congress not approving enough money to pay for the law passed. Also cited, the roughly 275 million the Railroad Industry has spent lobbying lawmakers since Congress Passed the 2008 law requiring p. T. C. Its very important that lawmakers hear both sides of an issue and this is exactly what we do on many, many issues p. T. C. Being one of them. Amtraks northeast corridor where last mays attack occurred will meet the original deadline to install p. T. C. Los angeless metro link is nearly done. It had a 2008 crash that killed 25 people and was the catalyst for the federal man date. In philadelphia, it plans to launch the p. T. System in january. That leaves the majority of railroads without the life saving technology. We know that every year that this Tech Knowledge is not implemented, thats another year we risk having another major collision or derailment and weve seen it year after year after year. Mary snow, al jazeera. Marine biologists in texas trying to figure out how a 45foot whale got stuck in galveston. It finally died. Reports suggested it might have been ill before wash to go shore. Dozens of people tried to push it back into the water, even using this bulldozer to help, but to no avail. Wet weather is causing problems in southern california, causing accidents, traffic jams and freeway closings. Its the beginning of a string of storms that will roll through there through friday. Hob a holly jolly messy start to your commute across the country. It is not going to be pleasant. It is not. National Weather Service has upgraded the area of Severe Weather to moderate, which is one thing they dont normally do in december. Lets go to that right now. Temperatures are warming across the south. That is one reason we are seeing Severe Weather, of course the moisture as well as upper level mick knicks going on. This is the area we are very concerned about. This area of red has been upgraded, and that means the potential is going to be greater for tornadoes, Severe Damage from winds, as well as hail. Thats going to continue all the way up the Mississippi River valley into the overnight hours, which of course, that is the most dangerous times when we are talking about tornadoes. Tomorrow, were dealing with a lot of weather in terms of rain anywhere from the gulf coast all the way up here towards new york. Were expecting to see between four to six inches of rain, eight inches locally. Were going to be seeing watches and warnings for flooding, as well, across that particular area. As we go towards those temperatures on thursday, which are going to be the warmest temperatures, take a look at this, across pennsylvania, virginia, were talking mid 70s. This is the day well see records broken, albany new york, 71 degrees, boston, 68 degrees. Towards christmas, temperatures begin to come back down across the region, but across that area. Were going to be seeing temperatures between 1025 Degrees Higher than normal. Even though the temperatures are coming down, they are still going to be staying well above average through the weekend. Remember when santa just drove a sleigh . Yes. Now hes got to have everything, to tell you the truth. That slay is going to hydroplane. When we come back, finding new hope and a new home. One syrian family getting a Second Chance at safety in a state that said they didnt want them. The new star wars film. [ laughter ] i cant take it. Star wars has fans flocking to theaters across the country, but in kansas, this farmer is using a Different Force to summon his herd. Hes found a way to round up his herd with his trombone. He has done this kind of thing before. In a galaxy youre never more than a few youre never more than a few minutes away from a check of away. Last year, he played lawrence royals for those cows. Theres more help today, Something Different for Syrian Refugees in north america good news, the royal bank of canada donating 2. 5 million supporting refugees and others coming to canada. The funds will be used toward resettlement and developing skills for newcomers to find jobs. The canadian government calling on business to help with the effort to help refugees coming to canada. More than 2,000 syrians have come to the u. S. Since 2011. President obama has promised to take in 10,000 more next year, but many states say they dont want them, including new jersey. Thats where al jazeeras paul beban visited one syrian family who recently resettled in the garden state. For most parents in america, children coming home from school is a precious but perhaps mundane moment, but this couple arent like most parents. Theyre syrian refugee he is and for them, these mundane moments, a normal day at school, a quiet dinner, are much more than precious, theyre all they have. When you left, what were you able to take with you . Nothing. We hurried the children to the car and we drove away. That was a little more than three years ago, when the family fled the syrian city of idlib. There he had been a successful lawyer and she a housewife, caring for the children, tending their six bedroom house. They were prosperous, happy and ordinary, they say, until war came to idlib, and ripped that quiet life apart. Where we used to live was a major clash point between the opposition and the regime. One day, we heard indescribable tremendous blast, a shell hilt our houses wall. They moved more than once, but everywhere they went, fighting and fear followed. In september of 2012, they put the children in a car and drove to turkey. Every minute, at every hour, we were expecting to die. There was no choice but to leave. It must have been terrifying. Of course it was difficult, but sometimes circumstances are stronger than any decision. The family stayed in turkey for two and a half years until they applied for Refugee Status with the united nations. Six months ago, the International Rescue committee helped them settle in elizabeth, new jersey. Emigrating from syria with his parents 35 years ago, today he is a businessman living in allendale, new jersey. Since the syrian war began in 2011, hes been doing everything to help both here in the u. S. And in syrian refugee camps. It is a catastrophe in syria. I mean, your heart would bleed. We send so far about 27 containers to syria, this to the camps in northern syria, give them generators, food, tents, it them heaters in the winter. They were so happy. He is also helping them settle into their new home. Here, the family of eight is squeezed into a tight three bedroom apartment, but the children are doing well in school. This 6yearold who a autism is getting the help she needs. He is trying to learn english and looking for work. The family makes ends meet with u. S. Government support and donations from the local syrian community. Our thoughts are always with family and friends left behind. The talks in paris have them worried. People think islam is a religion of terror, violence and blood, no, it is not like that. God willing, we will work on that. The 13 are dreaming big. They want to someday return to syria. I know it is safer here. What do you want for your children . Our goal is to provide them with a good education, to secure a good future for them, god willing. Now, do you feel you are someplace safe where you can rebuild and have a new life . In america, we feel there is justice. We feel we can improve our lives. God willing, we hope things will get better. They arent alone. On sunday evening, they joined other Refugee Families at an islamic cultural center. Of course i miss my country, but thank god, we made sure or kids are safe. They are all struggling, but all grateful to be anywhere but syria. Paul beban, al jazeera, elizabeth, new jersey. Those words on the statue of liberty, the huddled masses. Yearning to be free and safe, safety for their children. Well talk about video games used for History Lessons. One company is helping connect some kids to their culture. Lture. Video games are not just a good way to unwind. One company is using the technology to connect alaskan native kids to their culture. Al jazeeras science and Technology Correspondent jacob ward reports from alaska. You be the fox. She is deadly serious about her video games. Follow my lead, ok . Ok. Hold it nice, good job, team. Gosh. During these countless hours on her x box, she issues not shooting anyone. Shes battling a blizzard, communicate, spirits. Thats a spirit box. You save me from a polar bear, duh. She is playing a game called never alone, based on a legend of a group of native alaskans who live above the arctic circle. In the game, an orphan girl must overcome obstacles to finding what is causing a never ending snowstorm threatening her village. Technology is being used to interest a Younger Generation in their own culture. That culture is introduced to a wider audience. One day over lunch that he and a half years ago, sitting with our team, we said why not video games . Why not use the greatest asset that we have, our people, our stories, our culture. The game is based on this place. This is the largest of a series of villages here that belong to the meme whose stories and culture are based on a life of whaling, a sub as i say tense life that in many ways is slipping away. James is an expert in the language. He narrates never alone. Is the culture and language in danger in your opinion. The way that we live was in the language, and thats going to be lost by the young people. He says the game could preserve a language only spoken by 2,000 of the 15,000 inuit left in alaska. Maybe they will get serious about living the inuit way. Not only will we make money, but we had huge impact in the world, huge impact in the industry. A polar bear . Whats the name of it . Nuk. Sparking his daughters interest in her culture is all that matters to hear father. If theres a better why to communicate a message to a certain audience, like kids, they like video games, that they can actually learn something from and have fun doing it, yeah, i think were doing an awesome job. Its actually cool. Jacob ward, al jazeera, alaska. More reporting like this on america tonight at 9 30 p. M. Eastern, 6 30 p. M. Pacific. What did the little girl say . Duh. The vatican expressing concern over star wars, saying the film is confused and hazy, saying the director failed spectacularly on his representation of evil. That is not stopping italian fans from going to the theaters. Were keeping a close eye on nasty weather hitting a huge part of the country. It will cause more delays on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Today is called the worst for Holiday Travel. They say leaving work early is not going to help. They say the worst traffic is expected between 3 00 p. M. And 6 00 p. M. A look at ohare International Airport in chicago earlier this hour, people trying to get to holiday destinations, taking shoes off be a socks, just about everything, over the river and through the woods. Coming up from doha, more on the iraqi defensive to retake ramadi. Your world is back tomorrow morning. You can find us 24 hours a day by going to aljazeera. Com. Have a good weekend. Syrian activists say five civilians are killed in a gas attack near damascus. Hello and welcome live from doha. Also coming up in the next 30 minutes, a wanted man, russia issues an International Arrest warrant for the former oil tycoon and critic of the kremlin. More than 60 hours after a landslide in southern china, a survivor is pulled from the rubble. Zimbabwes government takes white farmers off