Transcripts For ALJAZAM News 20140116

To tied u. N. Committee grilled vatican officials over allegations they protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims they conceded the church needs to do more to deal with the scammeddal. But denied accusations ive cover up. Its not a poll to encourage cover ups, but this goes against the truth. Al jazerra simon mcgregorwood has more on todays hearing in geneva. Reporter for many that was a chance for the vatican to display different attitude and was a very public form. The session opened from a statement from the vatican tell greg. The the actions taken by local churches presents a frame bourque that when properly applied will help eliminate the occurrence of child sexual beus by clergy and other church personnel. Reporter an attempt to reassure. But didnt convince many. The question came thick and fast. Whawhat are you doing with remarked to 39 of or convention which refers to reparations both psychological and financial to children who are have been victims of six uma beus. Despite the exception tiff protests, what steps have been train en with regard to sanctions and punishments for clerics who have engaged in Inappropriate Conduct . Reporter most were disappointed they wanted to know more about what wassing being done by the church. Are priests being reported to police . What was being done to give children more of a voice . There was certainly no apology. I am also here to say we get it. Probably a bit i dont know. Lets say we get it. Lets not say too late or not. We get it. Reporter it was an at least an admission that they got it wrong in the past but many didnt like the tone nor at tempt at humor. Absolutely offensive when they are sitting in a room full of very, very damaged people who have zip through hell and back and fight really can studently for support of the people and they sit there being evasive and, you know, co losing with other each and actually joking at one point. Reporter it has been an uncomfortable session spot vatican, they were asked for more disclosure and to finally start taking greater responsibility for the crimes committed against children by its clergy. But they didnt deliver either and for many people that will be a huge disappointment. And that was simon mcgregorwood reporting from geneva john terrett is here to expand on the history of these child abuse cases. We were talking about this rest. In many respects its history making. I think you are right. It is very, very history making and i think you havent seen these pictures before. When you have the monsignor who until recently was in charge of prosecuting sex crimes in the vatican and the wider church sit ago long side the man who is effectively the vaticans ambassador to geneva and three other highlevel representatives that is history in the making. So you have not seen that b thats why we think this is a very, very important. Sorry you wont see it for a long tie i would bet either. Talking history. Lets have a History Lesson here and look at the time line that was involved i in the abuse. Allegations date back in the Catholic Church, building as far as back as the 1950s with the city of boston at the sent every ocenter ofmany of the allegatio0 the vatican ratified the International Convention on the rights of the child. Thats the convention which they are discussing in geneva today. But it waited Something Like 20 years until only last year, 2012 to issue any progress reports on priestly sexual abuse. The issue of child abuse within the Catholic Church absolutely exploded onto the National Scene here in 2002. That year, the vatican issued guidelines for dealing with allegations of sexual abuse by a priest within the church. It called for cases to be reported to rome, but not to local authorities. Which even today really angers victims. And also in 2002, the archdiocese of boston paid about 10 million to settle lawsuits with victims and in december of that year, Cardinal Bernard law, who is the archbishop of the diocese, fled to rome and he did it on the day that he was due to be subbed to appear before a grange jury to discuss abuse and he has not been back to boston since then. He is still in rome. Now, according to the conference of catholic bishops, more than 6900 catholic priests have been accused of abuse in the u. S. As of last year. And and thats since 1950. They say thats about five person of the 110,000 catholic priests action the active in thy since that time the conference of bishops acknowledges 16,463, lets give them the precise number, these are the number of victims that they have identified and there has all been 3,000 lawsuits between 1984 and 2009, which have resulted in 37 trials, and the Catholic Church, the conference of bishops tells us that they have spent at least 2. 5 billion in trying to settle all of this. Thats in settlements to victims, attorneys fees and taking care of priest who his have been hauled out of their perishes for allegations of abuse. And i think that figure of 2. 5 billion, tony is conservative. I think it is a lot more than that. Because that figure doesnt include 10 million, for example, which was paid out and is being paid out by the diocese in los angeles. For example. Thats right. John, appreciate it. John terret for us, joining us now from geneva to talk about how this affects the church is Barbara Blaine the head of a Survivors Network of those abused by priests and she is there not u. N. s meeting today. Barbara appreciate it. I know we hustled you in to the chair there but thank you for being us w what are your take aways from todays meeting . Was it significant . There is no question its significant. This is a historic day for victims across the globe. Its a very first time that any, any authority has questioned the vatican officials. And so that in and of itself makes it historic. And it makes it good because it calls more attention and if even one child is protected and kept from being raped because of this, its all worth it. Do you think the vatican addressed your core issues, to your satisfaction . Oh, well, let me explain. The committee did a fantastic job. The vaticans response, or maybe their lack of response, was dismal. The vaticans officials started the day off by pretending to be helpless, to control the bishops in other parts of the world. Which, of course, is so disingenuous. And then tried to claim that the various governments should be bringing justice for the victims of abuse by priests, when while we know that those same Church Officials are involved in obstructing justice in the various states. So it was it seemed very disingenuous us from our perspective. Wait a minute, barbara, that was the test for this meeting. The test was would be vatican be open and transparent in answering questions. And it sounds to me you are saying, if that was a test, they failed the test. Clearly the vatican officials did not answer many, many of the questions. And it was interesting because the Committee Members kept coming back to them and saying, well, wait a minute, you didnt answer this, or you didnt answer that. And the Church Officials finally admitted late in the day that no, they hadnt answered them and when they were asked, well, are you going answer the question, they basically said, well, not today. Well have to check and see if we are going to answer or not. Well get back to you on that. And from my perspective, thats so insulting to the Committee Members, to the United Nations and its also insulting to catholics across and the general public because they have known these questions for months. They published their responses, then we published in several other n. G. On. Published statements pointing out how they failed to answer the questions. The Committee Members were well aware that they didnt answer the questions and then they and they are standing there saying they are being open and transparent. You know, clearly, they are not open and transparent if they wont answer a question. I dont want to lose the window before i ask you other question. Would the vatican, if i am trying to view this from the vaticans perspective and this may not be the most pertinent question of bow would they open itself up to more litigation if it were as open and transparent as you think the vatican should be about the scandal . Well, look, i mean, clearly continuing to cover up for sexual predators is just wrong. Yes. And its a public nuisance, its and they havent be permitted to get away with it. But is that an incentive to not nell teel the truth . The majority of us who were raped and sodomized. Is that an incentive in your mind . We were taught at victim to his keep secrets. Yeah. I mean, basically they are dont want the truth to come o out. Then they should just admit it and not keep claiming they are being transparent because they are clearly not. If pope francis was sincere he would turnover his records to the Tottenham Police and fu punishing the bishops that cover up the sex crimes. They have so much barbara. She is the me let of the networf those abused by priests in geneva gentleman neave is also where World Leaders are trying to end civil war. Today john kerry urged the syrian optician to join the conference, the talks led by the u. N. And dubbed geneva two are set to begin next year. The goal is to install a Transitional Government in syria to help end the war there about 130,000 people have died since the conflict began in 2011. The United States for these reasons urges a positive vote. We do so knowing that the geneva peace conference is is not the end but the beginning, the launch of a process, a process that is the best opportunity for the opposition to achieve the goals of the Syrian People and the revolution. And the political solution to this terrible conflict that has taken, many, many, many, many, too many lives. Kerrys comments come as al jazerra has obtained a letter from syrias foreign minister to man kimoon. Al jazerra dip natural i can editor james bays has more from the hague and the perth lands. Reporter this letter i think is important. It shows the Syrian Government replying to the u. N. Saying, yes, we are coming to geneva. Yes, here is our list of our delegation, but and its a big but, but we have reservations about some of the details of the whole process. This is supposed to be building on what was known as geneva one back in the summer of 2012. The idea for both sides to sit around the table to come up with a transitional governing body with full executive power to take control of the governance of syria, members of the opposition and government, part that ever body. It seems now syria has reservations about that, the Syrian Government, remember, the opposition still havent decide first degree they are going to attend these peace talks that are taking place in switzerland neck week. Next week. Some in the opposition will seize on the letter and say it shows the Syrian Government is not serious about making concessions, theyll be others, and i know they are western diplomats who say this, who will say the opposition should attend, they should sit around the table because that will then expose the position of the Syrian Government and force the Syrian Government to actually negotiate conceding power and possibly a assad standing down. Al jazerras james bays. The president and first lady made a big push today to make it easier for americans to get a college education, cost say huge factor in deciding where to go to school and whether to go to school. The average cost of a education at a private four year college has nearly tripped to 11,000 in 1973 to over 30,000 in 2013. But a College Degree pays, it really does as you can see here this the figures in the long run. Right . While a High School Drop out earns less than a Million Dollars over a lifetime, someone with a College Degree can earn two, three, even four times that amount. President obama hopes more people will be able to enjoy the fruits of a college education. Mike have care is at the white house for us. Mike, if you would tell us more about the president s plan. Reporter certainly its about cost. This is something president obama has talked about quite a bit in the course of his administration it has sky rocked 19 , private is 29 . That continues to be a problem. The president has been talking about this for the past several months now, income disparity. The difference between rich and poor in this country ever widening and ever firming up those lines. And if you are going to get out of the lower income group, what do you need . You need an education. If you are going to college you need money but also a belief and operate where college is of value and he can pecked of you. And that is the theme that the president and first lady hit on today. Placing it all in the context of the classic american dream, picking yourself up by the bootstraps but saying there are a lot of impediments to lower income people. Whether its the attitude of their peers and family no expectation to go to school down the line from to the application fees to get in college. The president appeared with people from the universities talking about tutors, getting kids on the right track, match h up with the right colleges, getting them mentored in to the higher jobs that are available disproportionalitily available to those with a here education, here is a little bit more of what the president had to say. We have to make sure that there are new ladders of opportunity in the middle class and that the rungs on the ladders are solid for more people. Reporter cue it up, the president talking about over the course of last week and virtually every communication, i have a pen and a phone. He wants to do this without an act of congress, of Course Congress still blocking much of his agenda due to gridlock due to ideological or partisan division in congress. President moving forward without a bill gathering representatives from Higher Education to make this initiative. Appreciate it, mike, Mike Viqueira at the white house for us. I u. S. Army helicopter made a heartlanding killing one person and injury two in georgia at a savannah air fields. It was not a crashing but a heartlanding. You can see the picture right there. Officials are investigating exactly what happened here. The air force took new actions today in the wake of a cheating and drug scandal involving officers who oversea Americas Nuclear missiles, David Shuster has been following this story for us and joins us with the latest. Tony, thank you very much. The air force says it retested every officer today who helped to oversee the nations 420 landbased intercontinental ballistic miss little. These icbms are armed with Nuclear Warheads and a key part of america chaps strategy of deterring other nations from using nuclear weapons. Approximately 600 air force officers are required to pass tests each month to monitor their proficiency on launch guidelines, communications and missile silo equipment. All of these air force officers were retested today. And later this afternoon, in honester to remind the public that the United States nuclear soriao remains in trustworthy hands the air force plans to post the test results on a pent gob website. This week 34 officers at mall storm air force base in montana which tripped of their certification says after they cheated on monthly exams or knew about the cheating and did not report. It cord to go investigators the officers were texting each other with answers to the proficiency test. The cheating scandal drew out of a drug investigation at malmstrom that has now spread to officers at bases in california, colorado, and wyoming. These drug and cheating investigations are the latest embarrassment for a force that faces growing questions over discipline and morale in the post cold war era. The head of icbm, the former head air force Major General Michael Carey was fired in october for getting drunk and being with women in russia. That episode repeated carey repeatedly asking to sing with a russian beatles cover bands. Its not as serious that officers that come together to cheat on fr proficiency example. This all comes after a b52 bomber stkhreupbt transported nucleararmed missiles across the country and congress is being openly skeptical about how much progress the air force has mid in tightening it ships. Thank you. David. Developing news. A confidential bulletin from the u. S. Describes the methods and software hackers use today target target. The malware used in this breach was written partly in russia. Hackers targeted newspapering runs named retailers apart from target. The code could not be detected by Antivirus Software and the hackers displayed innovation and a high degree of skill. Thats a quote. The report was sent to retailers and other merchants so that they can take the steps necessary to protect themselves. Coming up on Al Jazerra America, a highprofile trial for one of the most dramatic political assassinations in history. And why a brawl, look at this, broke out in ukraines parliament. Im phil torres, coming up this week on techknow. A mystery, deep in the heart of the rain forrest we havent seen something actually build them. Its been really frustrating its a spidery clue that has our team of scientests stumped. Join our journey to peru. Then, it looks like chicken, tastes like chicken, thats good. But its not. The foamy inovation thats making hardcore meat eaters happy. Techknow on Al Jazeera America welcome back, everyone to Al Jazerra America. A syrian al qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the latest deadly car bomb in lebanon it took place in the hound of her mel 10 miles from the syrian border, Authorities Say three people were killed and more than 20 people hurt. Comes at four men are being tried in absentia at the hague for the 2005 assassination of former lebanese Prime Minister. Andy gallagher has more. Reporter it was one of the most dramatic political assassinations in the middle east. The attackers killed innocent bystanders. Reporter and the death of former Prime Minister rah team harari in 2005 tore Lebanese Society apart remember the billionaire business man as i sey leader the five men charged with his murder belong to hezbollah. And there are now fears that the highprofile trial in the netter lands will again heighten tension that his huh rear is son saad says its an important step. To the for the first time this act of terror will see the time of immunity ending and the time of justice coming. Reporter prosecutors say they have enough evidence to begin the trial even though the mena used have never been arrested and wont be in court. Its thought theyll use eyewitness accounts as well as date from mobile phones that is said to track the movements of the bombers. Hezbollah says the trial it part of an International Conspiracy and they wont cooperate. Group denials all charges but this is the first time one of lebanons long list of political crimes is being prosecuted and for in thats progress. You have a lot of people here in lebanon that think this is political tribunal and its terror. But for us we think its a very serious pry pun. It was a very serious inquiry. Reporter the sprecial tribunal punna has given rice fr debate. And the march 14th movement set up follow huh reu here huh. Andy gallagher, al jazerra. Time for business bytes. The dow kind of broke the winning streak. Its over. After two dates of gains the blue chips closing down 64 points, too have been worse, s p lower following the record high by the nasdaq and managed a slight gain, one major drag on the market today, best buy. The biggest Electronics Retailer says sales dropped. 90 during the holidays because they had to slash, and well get in to this in a moment, eric, prices to compete with its rivals, best buy shares losing almost a third of their value today. And some good news on jobs after last weeks disappointing december employment numbers, Labor Department reporting in addition jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 326,000. The second straight week of declines lets talk about all of this with financial reporter eric platt. He is with the Financial Times 24 hour news service fast ft. Good to take to you. Glad to be here. Eric, welcome back. Whammy talking about, welcome back. So the idea, for best buy a lot of these retailers was to give you these discounts you get in stores and did these stores get the foot traffic. And why are we getting the numbers from best buy . So, it charlie worked. They got people in the doors. Okay. And they saw huge surge in online sales up like 20 remember the big issue is they were competing with amazon which doesnt have any stores in the u. S. And doesnt have costs. With walmart which they have the ability to slash costs. You are doing that, you are do that at the expense of profit and margins and you know, thats why investors are punishing them. Wait a minute. If you are someone like best buy, do you also have an online component as well . Are you competing against yourself in some respects . You definitely are. Whoa. Part of the reason they feel such a big boost in online sales is you are allowed to ship products from online to the store and pick it up. Thats thousand they think they can differentiate from amazon. Amazon has come out with drone that his could if approved. Exactly. So, wait a minute, the other side of this is going to be disappointing for someone like best buy, they are selling the cool stuff. They are selling the stuff that the cool kids want to have, right, the games and Everything Else to get these numbers has to be doubly disappointing, right . Massively disappointing sphrergs i because wandespecialo major launches xbox one and play station four. Its huge. People were, he picturing banner years because of that kind of to outpace or offset drops. What is the message Going Forward . The day of a deep discount is over . Yes, a little bit. You think so . They have to get customers in the door so its like, never ending circle. What are your thoughts on firsttime claims take dang here particularly on the heels of that december jobs report . Its a huge announcement. Icon mists generally few claims below 150,000 as an indicator that the labor market is healthy and people are probably finding jobs. So at least not seeing large scale lay offs at companies right now. Gotcha. The Biggest Issue you are not seeing the pick up in payrolls at the same time. Eric, appreciate it, thanks for the time. Eric platt is with the Financial Times 24 hour news service fast ft. Eric, thanks. And coming up on Al Jazerra America, a serious situation in california. Wildfire spreading in severe Drought Conditions and now three people arrested for starting it. Well get a live update. And president obama is about to announce new rules for the nsa but critics are already saying they are not enough. Place in a [ inaudible ] the United Nations is not in favor welcome back to Al Jazerra America here a look at your top stories. Reporter a u. N. Committee today grilled vatican officials over allegations they protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims. The vatican conceded that the church needs to do more but denied accusations ive cover up. Secretary of state john kerry surged the Syrian Opposition today to join a peace conference in geneva those talks led by the u. N. Are set to begin next year week. The goal is to start a Transitional Government to help end the war president obama and the first lady urged action today on giving more people access to a college education, 100 College Leaders are gathering for a summit at the white house. And are vow to go take steps to expand access. Three men are in jail accused of setting a Massive Wildfire outside of los angeles today. Investigators say their campfire provided the spark for what quickly grew to be a 1700acre inferno albuquerques jennifer london is live in glendora with more on the fire, the arrests and the Drought Conditions, jennifer. Reporter tony what you have behind me is a big, Brown Mountain that has been burning since 6 00 a. M. Local time. The colby fire as its called is burning in the foo foothills ofe San Gabriel Mountains residential area 25 miles north east of los angeles. The last update we have from fire officials tony, 1700 acres have burned. Two homes have been detroit. One person has suffered minor injuries and about 2,000 people have been evacuated. You can probably hear helicopter going above me, there is an aerial a sought here, they have strike teams on the ground as well. And this is a multiple Agency Effort to try to get this fire under control. It has been fueled by extremely dry conditions and also earlier today the santa ana winds, these are heart, dry easterly winds were blowing gusts up to 40 miles per hour. While the fire crews are having a hard time getting the upper hand on this fire, it didnt take fire officials long at all to discover how the fire was started. And who started it. Three people, as you mentioned, tony, have been arrested and charged with recklessly starting a fire. They were all three together. The way its told to us is that all three of them were together at the time, sith around this campfire, a breeze kicked up and thats what caused the fire. Reporter and this fire is a great way to have a larger conversation about the extreme dry conditions throughout the state of california. 2013 was the driest year on record for california. To give you an example of how dry it was, normally the la region gets 15inches of rain per year. In 20 teen the 2013 they saw 3. F rainfall of the snowpack is at 25 and this is causing great concern because a third of californias waters from comes from the snow back. Wait a minute. Given how bad the draught, is is there much of anything that can be done to prevent more of these fires . Reporter californias governor jerry brown we are told is preparing to declare a drought emergency. He hasnt done so yet. But we are told that that preparation is . The works and what that would do is that would help maximize the states limited Water Resources meaning it would initiate water transfers and also start conservation, water resourcing, asking people to conserve. All of that would go in to effect if a draught emergency is, in fact, called and also the governor has already convened a multipleagency task force, tony, they will be meeting weekly to look at how they can prepare for 2014 which is shaping up to be another dry year. All right, jennifer london, for us, in glen doerr, a california. Good to see you, jennifer. Thank you. And for more on how the fire season is actually shaping up, lets get over to meteorology dave warren, dave. Meteorologist yeah, and we are certainly looking at the know pack. No storm are in the forecast. Its a severe drought. The latest Drought Monitor with the visible satellite picture shows that there are no clouds this white area is the snow in the mountains and that number that comes in, look at this compared to the april 1st average, april 1st is the key dade because thats when everything starts to melt and goes in to the streams and reservoirs, its 10 Southern California here the mountains there, 8 and 4 of the average snow that you have on april 1st. They are taking measurements so its well below average. And certainly no snow is expected here in the next two weeks at least. There is los angeles, and there is the fire you can see the smoke on the visible satellite picture blowing right over los angeles with those dry santa ana wins, now, the satellite shows this large ring of clouds around southwestern u. S. And that is the High Pressure center, thats the flow of the storms going up in to canada and down across the northern plains, nothing expected in the next two weeks at least. We need this pat tone change toe and get snow in the area. Thank you. New information from the Guardian Newspaper says the nsa collected up to, listen to this number, 200 million, 200 million Text Messages per day. And that is according to documents provided by whistle blower edward snowden. These details come as president obama is set to unveil new guidelines tomorrow for federal agencies involved in intelligence gathering. The new rules have been in the works since snowden first revealed the extent of the spying done by the nsa but crit i can are saying they dont go far enough. David shuster is back with us now for a look at what will change, david. Tony, according to former and current Obama Administration officials the president is going to announce in some new limits tomorrow on the nsa program that collects billions of phone records. The president will call on congress to help determine the programs future. The Officials Say mr. Obama has concluded the program has some value as a Counter Terrorism tool, but the president is also staring at some very harsh political realities. Thats why, for example, he will be giving the speech from the Justice Department not the nsa. White house officials want to underscore the president s commitment to civil liberties. The president will also announce according to official that his the bulk phone records collected by the nsa will continue to be held by the nsa, not the phone companies as a board had recommended. A few months ago the whitehouse floated the idea of civilian control through the phone companies of these records but phone companies came to the white house and said that would be unworkable given that the Companies Hold data in different formats and for different lengthses olengths of time. Finally future limitations the president will announce, according to official goes, that hes going to defer much of this to congress. The law that governs the current nsa Collection Program is up for renewal next year and the votes arent there for renewal particularly in the house. So by deferring to congress the president can avoid appearing to fight for something that he would lose. Critics are already accusing the president of a plan to seed executive power. But by kick this is to congress the white house can put pressure lawmakers to take some ownership of whatever new nsa restricts they want to support. All right. Yeah. All right, david, appreciate it. Thank you. Catholics around the world watched the testimony of vatican officials at the u. N. , but many clergy sex Abuse Victims didnt hear what they were hoping fork diane esther brook has the story of one victim who says the vatican needs to take responsibility for a scandal that has devastated thousands of lives. Reporter in Northern Illinois parish is where an eightyearold boy says he was abused at his confession 31 years ago. It was just the priest and myself alone in the room. Reporter a frightened dave tried to tell his family about the abuse later. But was told not to tell lies. I was reprimand forked that because you dont say those kind of things about a priest. Reporter stories like his has sparked worldwide outrage. There is no excuse for any form of violence or exploitation of children. Reporter the hearing comes one day after the chicago archdiocese was forced to turnover thousands of documents detailing sex abuse to victims attorneys. The documents part of a Court Mediation process show the archdiocese sometimes relocated priest to his different perishes after abuse was reported. There was no intention of covering up, it was just they didnt realize that it was such a terrible thing. And so i think they did relocate people, but it was not intended as a way of covering up things. Reporter while victim advocates say that the church is making honester to be more transparent, they think there is still stonewalling on sex abuse from local diocese, all wait up to the pope. Hes a monarch, he can unilaterally make decision decid carry them out within a very short period of time. He has not yet disciplined one bishop or cardinal for their part they have played in this cover up. Reporter three decades after his abuse, he sued the archdiocese of joliet, illinois, winning a modest cash settlement and the release of documents detailing what the courts in illinois say are cred i believe accusations of abuse. He and his family like many other victims worldwide want the vatican to acknowledge their mistakes. They needs to come clear. Very bad things happened. Reporter he says only then can he and other victims finally heal. Dianeest a brook, al jazerra, chicago. See just a minute state media says 90 of voters have approved a any constitutionality, official results not expected until saturday. This is the secretary contusion put in to place says the 2011 revolution overthrowing mubarak. Last one was discarded after being put in to play by ousted president Mohamed Morsi and the now banned muslim brotherhood. Tackling Human Trafficking is a major focus after 40 people were arrested as part of a child sex abuse ring, police rescued 15 children after searching the a fits. The investigation began in 2012 when videos were found in the you feel k. Of children being abused this led to the philippines where the sex abuse string live steeped to several countries. Major sticking points. The Obama Administration has criticized adding more settlements and the u. N. Considers them illegal. The israeli army has bulldozed some of the homes and that has reportedly led to back and forth violence between the two communities. Nick schifrin has more on the socalled price tag attacks. Reporter in the palestinian village the olive trees that he calls holy are all destroyed. This has been attacked by them. You see. Reporter just a identify hundred feet way in the illegal israeli outpost. This field used to have hundreds of olive trees. Aaron shows me the only one left. This tree here is probably one of the last ones that the tractor missed. Reporter this is the frontline of the israelipalestinian conflict. Israeli settlers considered ultra nationalists build communities of guard towers and prefabricated homes. Planting huge fields and are right next to palestinian villages. Even the is rally army calls this outpost unauthorized. And says the settlers are planting on palestinian land. And so it uprooted the settlers trees but instead of responding against their own im the settlers attacked palestinians. They ran through a town and brought metal pipes and bashed his head. The palestinians fought back the settleers end up with bloody faces one knocked unconscious, eventually out numbers they surrendered. Soldiers arrived to take them way, tension was hey so ibrahim helped shield the settlers. When you are on the bottom and your enemy is moving his hand up, so you are not allowed to kill him. But if he fights back, you can kill him. Reporter those fighting words show just how tense this area is. The villagers say settlers have attacked 28 times in the last two and a half years. On this side. Reporter thats the palestinian village. Yes. Reporter and over that hill, thats the outpost. Yes. Reporter and right in between. The soldiers. Israeli soldiers. They are there just to prevent attacks from the settlers of the palestinian farmers. Reporter do they prevent the tacks . No, they didnt. Reporter he feels hes battling his own government and the palestinians. He provided this video of palestinians attacking the fields. Israeli troops defend the settlers, and so the settlers feel that they can stay. Even if their outpost is illegal. So bottom line is neither side is going anywhere. Just finally got back after 2,000 years, we are back home, we are here to stay. We are staying. Its our land, we will not leave. Reporter and so the tension continues. Ibrahim vows to replant. And is teaching his son. Aaron plans to double the number of trees. Hes already taught his son to love this field. You like planting trees . Yes. Reporter and so until there is peace, their children will fight over the same land. Nick schifrin, al jazerra, in the occupied west bank. So lets look now at other stories making news across the country including possible subpoenas, more in the new jersey bridge gate sandal. Morgan is with at that. Convicted of raping and killing a pregnant woman ohio man was put to together using a neverbefore tried combination of a cock till drug as he struggled and gasped for air 15 minutes before he was pronounced dead and thats exactly what his lawyer said would happen if the Supreme Court ignored their pleas for a stay of execution which raises the question, tony, why this new drug now . Well, the old execution drug ran out after the company said, this is off limits for capital punishment. Now the new drug is a combination of sedatives and painkillers. And then there is getting served. The more subpoenas expected today for last weeks bridge gate sandal. The state legislator voted today to renew its authority to continue the investigation just as a new congressional session begins, helping out with the investigation well, that would be the federal prosecutor who helped convict former illinois governor Rod Blagojevich mapping out the road for the few herfuture, drivers in a lands mk case a San Diego Traffic Court hears today from the woman ticketed for wearing had i google glass while driving. She had the latest computer in your Eyeglass Technology on her heads when she got pulled over for going 85 in a 65 zone. The officer gave her a citation ruled for people who have a video tv screen in front of their car. The woman pled not guilt and i says that laws need to change as quick as a technology. So far three states have already introduced bills that would ban driving with that google glass. Pay fine, dont wear that is, come on. You think shes putting us at risk . Yes. Yes. Dont you feel that way . I dont know. Reporter its kind of the new technology. I a google glass. There you go. An old School Moment there you go. Morgan, appreciate it, thank you. Absolutely. Coming up on Al Jazerra America, a unique protest against vie fence lebanon and you have never heard anything like this. We will talk to away. Who was Walking Around in a advantage suicide vest. And why real life stories like American Hustle are taking certainty stage at the oscars this year. Cars and suicide bombs have become a regular fixture on beiruts streets in recent months. In response to the up tick in violence one young lebanese artist decided to walk around with a fake bomb strapped to her body. Dressed all in black except for the red suicide vest and her converse sneakers she walked through the crowded streets of downtown bay rue, rima says the performance way a statement against the normalization of violence in lebanon. I spoke with her earlier today. Well, its being afraid or fear can be very funny, actually, because it makes you do a lot of things. But then it makes you doesnt allow to you do things as well. Everyone i think was afraid at these moments and i think everyone is negotiating fear all the time after this, this wave of violence in lebanon. So how did you come up with the idea that what you are going to do is the tnt project as i understand it . Yes. And that the project in essence, is you Walking Around busy streets in beirut downtown bay rue, one of the more well known neighborhoods in beirut essentially with a fake suicide vest on . I wanted to be the actual bomb. You know, because as we are talk walking on the street and looking at the cars, which car is going to explode any time soon, i think i wanted to just know what would be the response or what would be the reaction if you saw a real bomb or if you saw a bomb. If you say a bomb what are you going to do . We are looking for that. And then that is making us more paranoid and more aggressive. Violence for sure plays a big and huge role in the condition of how people, you know, like you are always asking yourself where is the bomb. And i am going to be suspicious of this car or this person and you are walking and dont know where to look. And what to look at. And you dont know if any time soon or not, but this is not all of it. You know, like, yeah, this is super, super scare, but then, again, nothing else helps to you just keep ongoing. However, lebanese need to keep ongoing. How they are going i dont know. You are putting a face on a potential violence to ask people to reflect on the violence in the country. Exactly. What kind of reactions did you get from people on the streets of beirut to your expression . So reaction during reactions during the intervention, varied between angry, indifferent, taking photos, smiling, looking for a ridden camera. Hidden camera. Making jokes. Touching me. Yelling at me. Actually, its very rewarding to just think and work and reflect collectively versus individually. You know. Because i felt that i opened the door for other people. If they were angry at me i was fine with them to shout at me. If they wanted a photo i was fine with them to just take a photo. So the fact that it was kind of a collective fearness, if you want, that we are sharing or its a collective reflection so that they are reflecting on what i am dressed as and i am reflect on the ground what they are doing. Okay. So the nominations for this years oscars were announced earlier today. And there is an interesting theme among the nominees. Topping the list for best picture, American Hustle. And gravity both with testimony nomination ace pete, 12 years a slave. With nine. What several film have his in common is they focus on the lives of real people. Here is brian rooney. I will not fall in to despair. Reporter this was a move any year in which art didnt so much imitate as copy it. 12 years a slave. It says right there on screen this is based on a true story. Captain phillips khrael. Base on the 2009 highjacking of a cargo shim. Fill mean, a the wolf the wall street think all true or at least truish. That would not hold in a court of law. All have been scrutinize forked how faithful they are to trying. The problem is in you you want the words up. People are check to go see if that real story is what you have truly depicts. Reporter the wolf of wall street. Has been criticize forked not mentioning the victims of financial crimes. 12 clears left out details and saving mr. Banks goes easy walt dizzy during criticism he was antisomatic. And its hard for a move like American Hustle. About the infamous corruption investigation to be both entertaining and accurate. Hustles disclaimer, some of this actually happened. Nowhere near the truth. Reporter mel weinberg is the real life swindler played by christian bail. Did he a great job. I only spent three days with him. And he had me down pat. Reporter but American Hustle had more drama and cleavage than weinbergs real life. There were some scenes i didnt like. One of the things that my wife, she was gorgeous. And my mistress, wasnt as pretty, i thought it was the other way around that the prison dress should have been the wife. Reporter martin took some license writing the story of philomena lees search for her son who was put found adoption. He cant complain if the movie did the same. I had conversations, it had recreated scenes and it in itself was a drama at that indication of the real life story and making the movie from the book is one more step. You have to accommodate the material to the medium in which you are telling the story. All right, ladies and gents. Reporter some stories dont lend themselves to being toll exactly as they happened. Do they even need to be accurate if they are entertainment . The problem that the studios and the filmmakers are presenting their work as truthful. And if you are going to present it as truthful on the one hand, and then once you are scrutinized and say its not that truthful, we made a lot of stuff up then you put yourself in a real predicament. Reporter mel weinberg doesnt care. To him it really is just a move. I i was never a movie person. I led the real thing all my life. Why would you want to go movies . My whole life was one big movie. Reporter now there is a character hollywood can play but never invent. Thats good stuff. All right, a brawl, i think the pictures are pretty good here. Did not stop lawmakers from approving a new budget and tight controls on opposition voices. Well, there was a little pushing and shoving. And the fighting actually broke out during a debate over this years budget. Opposition m. P. S were trying to block the vote that brings the country closer to a russialed trade union. Parliament also approved new punishments for unauthorized protests. Ukraine had weeks of mass protests against the trade agreement. Not one punch thrown, huh . When we come back, dave warren has the countrys weather forecast. Stay with us. Meteorologist i am meteorologist dave warren. The weather pat were not changing. The dry weather will continue out west. Storm tracks up in to canada with the ridge of High Pressure there. Not much changing in the west. Little farther east, though, we have this trough of low pressure, and we are getting these little disturbances going around the low and each one brings a little bit of snow and a shot of cold air and the gusty wind. So thats what we are dealing with here over the next few days. Go around this big area of low pressure, one moved to the midwest another comes down from canada. So another shot of snow and colder air is expected. The timing of this, looks like its thursday through friday. As one area of snow clears out, then friday, here comes another area down from canada in to saturday and sunday. The weekend seeing another round of snow and cold temperatures. Along with a gusty winds. The wind increase increases andg and drift i snow blizzard warnings continued along with high Wind Warnings in the northern plains. This is Al Jazerra America live from new york city i am tony harris with a look at todays top stories, more criticism for the Catholic Church over its handling of the priest sex abuse crisis. Today a u. N. Committee grilled vatican officials over allegations these protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims. And they conceded the church needs to do more to deal with the scandal but denied accusations of a cover up. Secretary of state john kerry your honors the Syrian Opposition today to join next weeks peace conference in geneva. This after al jazerra obtained a leaked letter that says the Syrian Government has agreed to attend the upcoming talks. The goal is to install a Transitional Government to help end the countrys war. President obama is meeting with more