Transcripts For ALJAZAM Your World This Morning 20151215

Good morning and welcome to your world this morning im del walters. And im in for stephanie si. Secretary of state is in moscow this hour to narrow the differences of syria, overnight meeting with russian counterparts Sergei Fedorov kerry saying they are committed to ending the civil war. Even when there have been differences between us, we have been able to work effectively on specific issues. Reporter and later this morning kerry will be meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin and their discussion could set the tone for fridays meeting on syria at the u. N. And washington and moscow have been at odds over the future of Bashar Alassad and what role he may play in a political transition in syria. This morning i. S. I. L. Is leading a counter offensive in the central iraqi city of ramadi. The group has launched at least a dozen suicide bombs there killing several iraqi troops and the government has been battling to retake the city and days ago officials said the army was making gains and al jazeera has more from irbil in northern iraq. Getting details of at least 12 separate suicide car bomb attacks on Iraqi Security forces and the progovernment sunni tribals in northern, eastern part of ramadi. If you remember ramadi is the place where the Iraqi Government last week said it made major gains and pushed back i. S. I. L. And trying to consolidate itself but looks like the i. S. I. L. Has now started pushing itself back into the arena by counter attacks and attacking not just forces but these are very deliberate attacks that are targeted against convoys bringing in reenforcements to the front lines by various tribal leaders as well as Iraqi Security forces and while this is happening there are Coalition Air strikes against i. S. I. L. Targets but speaking to military analysts and say the strategy by i. S. I. L. Is to disburse itself into smaller groups to carry out hitandrun targets so to speak where it gathers intelligence about various specific convoys, where the troop movements are and where it would attack. This attack, these series of these attacks at one place is significant. Just east of ramadi which is close to a military base the Iraqi Security forces and base and used by american trainers and forces so they are still putting up a fight and making it hard for the iraqi forces who have been trying for months to take ramadi bearing in mind that the i. S. I. L. Fighters took over ramadi in may and they have been infringed in urban centers ever since. Ramadi has been an i. S. I. L. Stronghold in iraq for months as the capitol of Anbar Province which borders syria. Pressure on turkey this morning to do more in the fight against i. S. I. L. And ash carter is in ankara today to drum up more support for the u. S. Led military campaign and carter saying turkey needs to tighten borders with syria with the 60 mile stretch that i. S. I. L. Uses for trade and shuttle foreign fighters to and from and the u. S. Embassy in turkey is scaling back consulate today in response to a potential security threat, americans have been told to be on high alert on a high level of vigilance and to avoid the embassy at least until wednesday. Overnight saudi arabia announced a new military alliance to fight what it calls terrorist organizations. The 34 Country Coalition is being called the Islamic Alliance with turkey, egypt and pakistan as well as several african nations that have been battling groups like i. S. I. L. Including nigeria, mali and chad. Iraq and syria both at the heart of the conflict are not taking part. A ceasefire in yemen is just a few hours old but it may already have been broken. There are reports Houthi Rebels carried out attacks in at least three locations in yemen after the truce deadline, the week long truce declaration coincides with talks underway in switzerland aimed at ending nine months of fighting between the saudiled military alliance and military rebels and zaina reports. Reporter the u. N. Envoy released a statement urging both sides to go with the alliance and violations of the ceasefire and we understand they are minor violations and in general the ceasefire is holding. Those negotiations have now started the warring sides sitting together in one room which is undoubtedly progress in itself. The last time the warring sides were expected to hold talks in late may the talks collapsed even before they started. So talks are underway. The u. N. Saying that they are working to find a durable settlement to this conflict but this will not be easy. The warring sides really have differ erring views with the government that expects their enemies the Houthi Rebels and allies to unconditionally implement a u. N. Security resolution and calls them to lay down arms and territory they captured and Houthi Rebels want broader negotiations on a power sharing deal and unlikely they will give up power without a fight and neither side really holds the upper hand on the ground to dictate their solution, their own political solution, what we understand from the u. N. Agenda the resolution will be discussed but as well as humanitarian issues because the humanitarian situation in yemen, deteriorating conditions for civilians is one of the reasons why so much pressure has been exerted to find a solution and the closed door meetings are being held away from the press and will last as long as necessary but the International Community seems very determined to try to get some sort of agreement. We heard the white house say i. S. I. L. And groups like alqaeda have been exploiting the security vacuum in that country. Zaina reporting and according to the u. N. Violence displaced two and a half Million People in yemen and 5700 people have been killed since fighting erupted in march. No trial for bergdhal for endangering troops and could face life in prison if he is found guilty, the 29yearold walking off an army post in afghanistan back in 2009 spending five years in captivity as prisoner of the taliban before he was finally released and baltimore jurors return in just about an hour for a full day of deliberations in the freddy gay case and baltimore is bracing for the verdict and the riots back in may fresh in a lot of minds there and al jazeera is live for us in baltimore and they are cancelling leave this weekend in anticipation for a verdict and what else is the city doing . Cancelling all police leave and all officers working 12 hour shifts and saw one coming in headquarters and he is in riot gear and starting his shift and the police have been speaking to local media and say we expect protests after this verdict comes in but we do not expect them to turn violent and wont say what they will do, what the plan is, if they do turn violent but to be fair to the police in all fairness they have been working very, very closely with the local community here and in a very transparent fashion since the freddie gray riots earlier this year to try and avoid a similar situation. Over and above that the Baltimore County School District is not sending kids into the city on school trips until at least friday and School District written to parents saying any student disorder or violation or demonstrations will not be tolerated and consequences and the violence started last april at the mall when students came out of school and began the protests which turned nasty pretty quick and over above that the mayor of baltimore was activated the Emergency Management center here just in case. And john the jury getting the case on monday after some very passionate closing arguments so what about the jurors, what do they have to consider . Well, the jurors listened to two very passionate closing arguments as you say beginning with the prosecution, now the prosecution set out to show that officer William Porter lied on the stand when he was here last week testifying. There are real differences they say between what he said on the stand and what he told the Police Originally. And they set the jury a test and said what would any reasonable officer do in a similar situation . Thats the test that you have to meet. Now we have a graphic to put on screen to further illustrate the words of janis who is the prosecutor, she says credibility, responsibility and criminal reliability three words i want you to think about when you are reviewing the evidence, he, porter, doesnt seat belt him, doesnt call a medic, doesnt check on him, that is a complete disregard for human life and that is manslaughter and went on to urge the jury to convict porter of all charges against him. Briefly the defense as you imagine painting a different picture asking them to avoid all emotion in the trial and look in a dispatch it in fashion and the defense Attorney Says there is an abundance of reasonable doubt and absence of evidence by the state against officer porter, del. John briefly before i let you go is the jury sequestered . No, it is not. And this is very interesting as you know some juries are sequestered and the defense certainly wanted this one to be but the judge ruled against it so the jury goes home every night and sworn an oath not to listen to radio and Television Broadcasts and read newspapers and only take into account what they hear in the courtroom. Del. John for us live in baltimore and john thank you very much. Justice Department Says it will investigate the Police Shooting of an unarmed black man in tennessee. 19yearold stewart was detained in memphis during a routine traffic stop last july. Police say he attacked officer connor with a pair of handcuffs prompting the officer to shoot and kill him. After a local grand jury did not indict him for the death family attorneys and members of Congress Called on federal authorities to look into the case. There is new video of a Police Shooting in texas that has critics asking why the two officers are not facing any criminal charges, the video showing two san antonio deputies shooting and killing 41yearold gilbert in august and a texas grand jury decided not to indict the men and said he was waving a knife and wife and children were bleeding when Police Arrived and learning about the wife who opened fire in San Bernardino and missed warnings that Tashfeen Malik supported jihad before she moved to the United States and sent at least two messages on facebook indicating she wanted to join the fight posts in 2012 that is two years before she was granted that fiancee visa to marry syed farook. Seattle mayor says he wont sign the newest ordinance that has uber and lift to unionize and there are several flaws in the legislation including the unknown cost. The City Council Unanimously passed the ordinance monday. It does not require the mayors signature to become law and drivers are considered independent contractors which doesnt allow them traditional benefits. I want to give the drivers some leverage in negotiating with uber and lift, whoever it is so they have some say in what their employment looks like. The legislation is seen as a test case for the emerging gig economy workforce, uber and lift oppose the ordinance and say it violates labor and antitrust laws a Court Challenge expected. Snow moving in the rockies this morning and show you live pictures out of denver and commuters waking up to this, snow covering the roads and Salt Lake City being hit hard as well 18 of snow accumulating in some areas. Officials there urging drivers to avoid the roads until later this afternoon. A Winter Weather warning is in effect for several states in that storms path. Good morning nicole here we go again. Yes, well recently it has been rainstorms not snowstorms because we have been so warm unless you have been in the higher elevations, this one is a proper snowstorm a little more typical for december but still causing a lot of problems and looking at colorado including denver, watch for 23 today and winds gusting over 20 Miles Per Hour and blow it around as well and make visibility rough and all of this is going to be pulling out into the midwest and seems like this one out of duluth are going to be a memory pretty quickly. Yes, you can surf on Lake Superior and it has been warm enough this month that people have done just that. The temperatures this month have been in the 30s and 40s and might not sound warm where you are but the average is 22. So this has been 1020 degrees above average and the temperatures will get more to normal toward the end of the week but here is all the area we saw from the last round have flood watches and warnings ahead of it but with the new round is all the Winter Weather adviso advisories including a winter storm warning and places south dakota and nebraska and wyoming and the heaviest snow up to a foot in some cases and all of this moves its way across the country so that is that last storm coming in but behind this definitely more of that snow is going to be on our doorstep over the next couple days so here is the new one as it moves its way across the country today into tomorrow and then moving a little bit more in canada, southern ends of this could get areas of rain, more on that coming up. Here is the tomorrow forecast then as i said rain hitting to the south but the core of this snow today into tomorrow also the wind and in some cases 30, 40 Miles Per Hour and mentioned denver in 20 Miles Per Hour range but that is going to blow all this as it continues to move along. Ski slopes are miserable because there is nothing. It will get colder and a chance to make it and talk temperatures coming up. Talk very much. Diplomacy in moscow. Secretary of state john kerry and russian president Putin Meeting to discuss syrian conflict and the future of Bashar Alassad. A city divided, voters in San Francisco about to decide whether to approve financing for a controversial new county jail. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and thats what were doing at xfinity. We are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. And this includes our commitment to being on time. Every time. Thats why if were ever late for an appointment, well credit your account 20. Its our promise to you. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. Secretary of state john kerry is in russia this morning and wants the meetings with russian president putin and Sergei Fedorov to make progress to try and end the war in syria and meet at the u. N. For a third round of talks on conflict and u. S. And russia failing to reach an agreement of what role Bashar Alassad will play in the political transition. Peter shark is live in moscow this morning and kerry spoke of Real Progress he wants made but what is your assessment and will they be able to pull that off come friday . Well the talks are going on now for five hours. There were some mildly encouraging remarks talking about Common Ground between Sergei Fedorov and john kerry but in reality its going to be a difficult nut to crack. Kerrys job is really to try and find some way forward to bring about a third round of talks. There are talks pencilled in on friday in new york and remain to be seen and the first question to be asked when the meeting is over whether those talks are in fact going ahead. At the moment both sides agree on one thing and that is that momentum must be kept up. Weve had two Peace Processes so far, one in november and one in december but the momentum must be kept up. The u. N. Under secretary for human rights has basically just been in syria and on monday summed up the situation there in the following figures. Quarter of a million dead and in four and a half years of war, four and a half Million People displaced inside syria and another six million on the road and we know that from what is happening in europe with the migrant crisis there. So there is great incentive to try and get this whole Peace Process underway just as soon as possible. Peter the Syrian Campaign is not all going putins way not by a long shot and most noticeably took credit for the downing of a liner in egypt and shot dunwoody by turkey are the russian people or an indication the russian people are concerned about putins strategy in syria . 90 of the russian people get their news from state television so its obviously coming to them with a pretty kremlin stance. A month into the bombings putins Approval Rating was, get this, 89. 9 . Now, the war was sold to the people or the intervention was sold to the people by the kremlin as a shortterm television friendly engagement. The strikes and russian air strikes in syria are sort of viewers interest on the t. V. Everyday but russia is now starting to get marred down in it and had 35 just to start with and now brought in 25 super sonic bombers. They have Cruise Missile sub in the station on the coast and moving into two unused air bases in the areas occupied by assad forces so it is going on. We have seen the first casualties that you say coming home and although analysts here will say there is no means that russia is getting overwhelmed there there seems to be no clear exit strategy. The case in the middle east and middle eastern strategies you can really get bogged down and peter sharp in moscow thank you very much. James is the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University and he was the ally commander for nato and is in massachusetts and as always thanks for being with us and the president taking to the air waves saying significant gains are being made in the fight against i. S. I. L. , is he right . Its a mixed picture. Certainly there has been some reduction in territory held but at the same time we are seeing i. S. I. S. Expand its global reach and conduct militarystyle operations in paris, influence events in the United States, down airliners, et cetera, et cetera and may be shrinking in territory but their reach seems to be growing. President is sending ash carter defense secretary to the middle east and john kerry to moscow and you heard peter sharp trying to put together the grand coalition will the president succeed . I think he has a reasonable chance of building a Stronger Coalition than currently exists against the Islamic State. It really has to include russia at the end of the day. The key to that will be a political diplomatic solution to the assad regime. Hence secretary of state working the typical diplomatic in moscow, secretary of defense carter going to the middle east to build the campaign, its the right division of labor. Admiral you once served as the commander to nato do you trust Vladimir Putin and let me couch it by saying have we forgotten crimea . I think we continue to focus on crimea but without sufficient energy against what is a clear violation of international law. But the fundamental question is can we make a deal with putin involving syria. I think the answer is yes. He is a very transactional individual. Now we are not going to change his philosophical views of the United States which are negative or nato but we can find Common Ground i think in attacking the Islamic State and political ground in ultimately changing this illegal assad regime. Admiral turkey is a thnato member and if turkey were to get involved and put boots on the ground would it be game over and if it would be why is turkey still sitting on the sidelines . Well, just a slight correction, their army is about 500,000 active troops and do have another several hundred thousand in reserve, they are conscript troops and not an overwhelmingly Capable Military force. But the fundamental point is right. No other nation has as much combat power, trained power as close to the scene of the action as turkey. If turkey got involved at scale in syria it would be game over. So i think that is a very viable idea but its not going to happen. Because the turks are very focused first of all over their kurdish internal problems. They hate assad but they really hate the idea of syria breaking apart and creating a kurdish home land. I think therefore they will be supportive of the political diplomatic get rid of assad but coming in a heavy way on the military side and i think unfortunately is unlikely. Let me ask the question this way because this has become a political hot potato in the United States how much of a role should the United States have in trying to find a solution to the crisis in syria should there be u. S. Boots on the ground, should there be a no fly zone and is the president taking the right course or is he as some have suggested weak . I think he is too incremental. He is not moving rapidly enough toward what in my mind would be the military side of this solution. The military side is not 150,000 boots on the ground as we had in afghanistan or in iraq. The solution is around 15,000 boots on the ground. Today we have about 4,000 so its a significant up jump. We need to get our allies to put about 57,000 troops, that would give us 2225,000 troops who could do the Training Mission with the land forces, the peshmerga in the north, Iraqi Security forces in the south and buff the bombing campaign, add the special forces, i think that is what we heard yesterday in the pentagon, he has to pull the trigger and move forward on that, its not an overwhelming role as we had before but it would be a significant one. Let me ask the question this way three months ago had there been body bags coming back from the conflict of the United States would have tolerated that . No. And i think what has changed is the San Bernardino attacks. When the American People see attacks here in the United States clearly Islamic State inspired if not funded and directed, their attitudes change and we are seeing that in the polls. So the American People are willing to go into a war and willing to have some body bags but its got to come from perceived real threat here. I think that is rising. That is why the president was in the pentagon. That is why he is going to the National Counter terrorism center. Admiral as always thank you very much joining us from medford massachusetts. Coming up, gop show down. Talking about politics what to watch for tonight when the republican candidates take to the stage in las vegas for the last debate of 2015. The force was great in hollywood, star wars fans get a first look at the new film, no spoilers. There is so many changes in my life. I was ready for adventures. From burlesque dancer to acclaimed artists. Art saved my life. Reflections from her new memoir. No no no no no. Im way to dysfunctional to have an ordinary job. See what lies ahead for molly crabapple. Who emerges from life unscathed . I lived that character. We will be able to see change. Welcome back to your world this morning, exactly 7 30 eastern time. Secretary of state john kerry is in moscow, he hopes to find Common Ground with russia on ending the war in syria, meeting with Vladimir Putin and secretary Sergey Lavrov. He said he will meet with Vladimir Putin in about two hours. Both sides disagreeing on what role syrians president should play in a political transition in syria. Saudi arabia has created a new alliance to battle isil. The 32 country Member Coalition is called the i. S. Alliance. Countries with large armies plus several north african nations are part of that coalition. Syria, iran and iraq are not. There are reports this morning of several ceasefire violations ins yemen already hours after the truce in a nine month long conflict was scheduled to begin. The ceasefire was to begin as u. N. Brokered peace talks got underway between the saudiled military alliance and houthis there. The fed signaled that it is going to raise Interest Rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Opinion is divided over whether the economy is Strong Enough to handle a hike. 321. After nearly seven years of near zero Interest Rates, the Federal Reserve is primed for lift off. The u. S. Economy has recovered substantially since the great recession. In testimony before congress this month, fed chair janet yellen described an economy ripe or an Interest Rate hike. With the labor market adding 13 million jobs since 2010 and Unemployment Rate thats been cut in half, rosy numbers, but not the whole story. Unemployment has fallen in part because the percentage of people participating in the labor force has shrunk. Theres still millions of people working part time hood rather have full time jobs and though there are early indication that is wages are picking up, most americans are still waiting for a meaningful raise. Evidence of a labor market that still has too many workers, chasing too few jobs and which could get even slacker if rates go up. Do you think the Federal Reserve is justified in hiking rates for the first time in nine years . I think the Federal Reserve really needs to wait until the labor markets, American Labor markets become tighter. Amy is a senior policy analyst. The larger concern right now really is full employment and we are not there. Yellen is concerned that waiting too long could force the fed to raise Interest Rates abruptly. Such an abrupt tightening would risk disrupting Financial Markets and perhaps even inadvertently push the economy into a recession. Does janet yellen have a point . The reality is that the American Economy still isnt delivering for american workers, and choking off job creation at this point, thats a real danger, as well. American firms already reeling from slowing exports are also likely to suffer from an Interest Rate hike, because it will make an already strong dollar even stronger, making u. S. Goods that much more expensive to buy abroad. While other Central Banks around the world are holding rates down and cutting them, janet yellen signaled the fed will press ahead but cautiously emphasizing it will race rates gradually. Today is the last day for americans to sign up for Affordable Care act, obamacare. The Obama Administration hopes to sign up 9,000 people through the Affordable Care act this year, bringing the total number of people covered to about 10 million. According to this mornings New York Times, officials are describing it as unprecedented demand. A chicago judge acquitted a Police Commander on charges that he showed his gun and shoved his gun down a mans throat despite evidence showing the alleged victims d. N. A. On the gun. The judge said there were inconsists in the victims testimony. The verdict comes at a tense time in chicago where protestors dont believe people treat everyone equally. We take a closer look. Weekend after weekend, shooting after shooting, chicago has become infamous for its gun violence. In chicago, turn people are dead, at least 54 others injured. It has dominated the headlines. In chicago, seven people were killed. Giving rise to the citys nickname, chiraq. Violence in the windy city is a catastrophe. And yet the city is safer than decades past. Overall, Violent Crime is down. In 1991, two were 900 homicides in the city compared to 400 in 2014. It starts from the top down. He is fed up. He took the day off to protest. It always has been divisions, always been two chicagos. Weve known that our whole lives. We hear shots almost every night. Everybody is on pins and needles away president of a period of time, you become numb to it. I dont want us to be numb to it anymore. Chicago is americas most segregated city with Violent Crime concentrated in mostly poor clack communities and neighborhoods. The most dangerous neighborhoods are on the south and west sides. Critics say more effort goes into making sure the more affluent areas remain safe and undisturbed from the relentless violence in the more socioeconomic areas. I wish the mayor would be mayor for all of the city and not just for certain parts of the city. Cook county commissioner, a vocal critic of rahm emanuel said the disparities are undeniable. There ought to be the same protection for austin, east and west garfield, englewood, lawndale, these communities have been devastated by gun violence. Some analysts say the two chicagos cannot be equalized without a concerted effort at the community level. The people in charge are not going to change anything within those communities. Those communities need to have an entire effort to try and bring the change, and as long as you have areas where there is very little hope, you have youll have gangs, guns, youll have crime, youll have murders. Are you going to deny White Privilege . The schism came to a head in recent weeks, protests erupted after the release of dash cam video showing a White Chicago Police officer firing 16 shots, killing a black teenager. If one of us civilians murdered someone, well be in prison the next day. Its a tale of two cities, one thriving in safe, the other in poor and perilous. Our week long special five days in chicago continues tonight, airing at 7 00 p. M. Eastern time. In politics, another new National Poll gives donald trump his biggest lead yet. The newark to know post poll shows trump support has grown by six personal points in the past 30 days. Republican voters say they overwhelmingly trust him to fight terrorism. He is gaining ground over ben cruz and marco rubio, we preview the debate. We have very, very stupid people running our country. In a campaign dominated by Donald Trumps bluster and personality, tonight is a chance to shift to knowledge and worldliness. This is the first debate since the attacks in paris and california, the first chance for self described serious candidates jeb bush and Chris Christie to speak facetoface to trump about this. Donald j. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. New jersey governor christie has been matter of fact. You cant paint everybody with the same brush, you just cant. For all individuals, and even though some of us may look the same or sound the same, some of us may practice the same faith, were hardly the same. Jeb bush has pointed to the complexity of the war against isil while simultaneously calling trump unhinged. Hes not a serious person, a serious candidate. Were living in serious times and his proposals are completely unserious. One of the most anticipated debate moments could involve texas senator ted cruz. Our friends here have encouraged me to criticize and attack donald trump. Im not interested in doing so. The latest poll of Iowa Republicans indicates cruz has jumped into the lead, but the trend has made the the accident senator a huge target. The way hes dealt with the senate, where he goes in there like a, you know, frankly like a little bit of a maniac, youre never going to get things done that way. Florida senator marco rubio is attacking cruzs voting record on defense spending. Rubio may have the most to gain from tonights debate, emerging as a favorite of republican establishment figures, but rubios own inexperience and visual ticks have become a point of ridicule. Every time hes under pressure, he starts to profusely sweat. All of the campaigns tonight to focus on security at home and abroad. Its a topic fraught with political opportunity and potential peril seven weeks before the voting begins. Donald trump still polling strong, many of his fellow c. E. O. s have been watching the Campaign Mostly silently from the sidelines. The National Business reporter in the Washington Post joins us, thank you for joining us this morning. Thanks for having me. In the wake of trumps call to ban muslims entering the u. S. , Mark Zuckerberg wrote that muslims are always welcome at facebook. Weve he seen another offer to ship trump into space. C. E. O. S are not coming out publicly making comments about trump. Why is that . Its kind of a standard Corporate America playbook. They dont like to play politics because their Main Business is keeping customers happy, keeping them coming, keeping controversy out of their business spotlight. You know, they have been ok to let this sort of talk fly and sort of stay on the sidelines and not get too mixed up in this entire trump mess. Trump is polling high with republicans and many Business Leaders are republicans. Given trumps comments on that immigrants, on women, on muslims, has he alienated too many consumers and potential customers to really leverage his National Base within big business . Yeah, thats the main question for his entire Business Enterprise going into the next couple months. He has made so many different groups of people so mad and yet he has a really strong base that has supported him and that has only liked him more as the time has gone on. Trumps Main Business is donald j. Trump selling his own name and his own brand. This has been fantastic for him. Hes selling more books, his name is on p. B. All the time. He is, i dont think sweating this a lot, you know, when he talked about his Main Businesses, whether its in hotels or real estate, his Main Customer is the people who are treating these things in the first place, developers and people who want to license the trump name to get grandeur. People are still paying him a lot of money. Whether this will create long term damage, people to think of his name as less a luxury brand and more tied to all these Dangerous Things remains to be seen. Lets look at trumps rhetoric, namely his policies. He promised to lower the u. S. Corporate tax rate to 15 . Businesses are going to love that, because the current rate is 39. 1 . Yeah, its lovely. A lot of the candidates have promised really sweeping changes to the Corporate Tax code. Carly fiorina said she would get the tax code for everybody down to three pages. It is thousands of pages now. This is a long term thing with the gop, lowering the Corporate Tax rate and the idea they are fostering growth and giving businesses more toys to play with, but, you know, how that resonates with voters, you know, im not sure. Trump has had a sort of oddly kind of populist following and yet people sort of overlook the amount of money that have goning into the enterprise and just how proud of a, you know, multimillionaire he is. Its one of the sort of interesting contributions in his entire platform. You mentioned populism and its interesting, because while trump has promised to close hedge fund loopholes and that place brilliantly with the electorate, his tax code is a bow nancy in a for 1 es, promising to eliminate the death tax and top Capital Gains to 20 . I mean, do you think theres been enough digging into these actual tax plans and what it means for 1 es . Yeah, for 1 es, they should be partying in the streets. When you look at it. That will be a core issue, because thats a really important point and how the country makes money and how we tax our people and the one percenters are going to be having a good time. Well, bill cosby is striking back this morning. Hes counter suing seven women who have caused him of sexual misconduct. Cosby says they are lying about him for financial gain. His lawyer calls them opportunistic and inflammatory. More than 50 women accused cosby of Sexual Assault or misconduct. Much of the east will enjoy another day of unseasonably warm weather. That is not good news for ski resorts, they are seeing way too much green on the slopes instead of their cash registers, making it difficult to maintain the snow machines. They hope the mercury dips in time for christmas and the holiday break, which is usually a big week for skiers. Do you promise the temperature dip . I dont promise that. They will dip to average, not below average, so its not a huge cooldown. Its just getting closer to what it should be. This is system one hitting the east coast now. Well have system two in the rockies lind that. It wasnt until we got these two systems that we had a pattern change for a lot of the country. The first system, before we had that, about a third of the country way above average. This has cooled down temperatures, the Second System well reinforce the cooler air. This his the pattern now. We definitely have a dip, a trough in the west coast. That has cooled temperatures and in some cases below average. Ahead of all this, a little bit of a cool down with the front that hit the east coast, but still tropical air bringing temperatures 30 degrees above average. Here are our temperatures for today. You can see that dividing line, 27 in denver, versus memphis at 39, a big gap between that and just to put a couple of the averages on here, the lighter numbers, almost 20 degrees above average in new york versus 12 degrees below average in phoenix. Not often you gets to new york city is warmer than phoenix. That trend over the next couple days with these new storms starting to come through, well finally get some cool down, but look at boston, the average is 41. We dont even get to average until saturday. Not as warm as it has been. There will be a cool down, but it just brings us to normal. Its going to be hard to make the snow and as we get up through the end of the year, that kind of stays in place where were a little warmer in the eastern half of the country. Those palm trees growing in central park . I heard the cherry trees are are trying to bloom in d. C. That happens all the time. Star wars is back, premiering in hollywood last night before a starstudded audience. Fans cheered theyre favorite characters, including Harrison Ford and hans solo. Star wars, the force awakens is expected to smash all Box Office Records when it opens nationwide friday. I am tempted to go on line and see some things about the movie but i dont want to. No spoilers, del. Cheating. When we come back, well talk about the First Mission to space. A russian en route to the International Space station is an historic trip for the united kingdom. The word of the year has yet to be announced. It turns out it really isnt a word at all. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and thats what were doing at xfinity. We are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. And this includes our commitment to being on time. Every time. Thats why if were ever late for an appointment, well credit your account 20. Its our promise to you. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. A successful lift off took off right on time from kazakhstan, it is on its way to the International Space station. Britons First Official astronaut is onboard. It is expected to dock with the space station this evening. Its official, nasa is now hiring, the space agency began accepting applications yesterday for the next generation of astronauts. Your advanced degree is not necessary, but you will need an advanced degree in hard science. The moor shower last night, the annual moor shower lasted two hours, reaching its peek last night. Both hems fierce could see 100 meet years per hour. Pete rose will reportedly plea for mercy when he addresses the media today. The move comes one day after Major League Baseball denied his third request for reinstatement. Mlb commissioner said rose has not been completely honest about betting on the sport. The former Cincinnati Reds allstar was issued a lifetime ban in 1989 for gambling on baseball as a manager and a player. Today, cuba will take the unprecedented step of welcoming four baseball stars who defected to the u. S. To play in the majors. Theyll go to the island as part of a major league good will tour. Its yet another milestone in the thawing relations between the two countries. They are Major League Stars and veterans, all four had to defect from their native cuba to realize their major league dreams. Now they are about to become the first defectors welcomed back as active players, as Major League Baseball holds its first event in cuba since 1999. Its exciting. Hall of fame manager joe torre leads the delegation. Its a good will trip, you know, since cuba has been opened up, weve sort of been taking baby steps. Only 28 cuban born players were on Major League Rosters last season, but improving u. S. Cuba relations has prompted more than 100 players to leave cuba in the past year. Major League Baseball reportedly wants more access to those talented cuban players and those baseball crazy cuban fans. For their part, cuban baseball officials reportedly want to stop losing the nations best players for nothing. Instead, they envision a day when Major League Teams pain the cuban government for access to good cuban players. A u. S. Entity is now going to be negotiating with a Foreign Government so that they can ultimately sign a contract with a private individual. That could mean smaller meteorologist lying pay days for the next wave of cuban stars, compared to the paydays enjoyed by cespedes, puig and tomas. Tomas said the payoff for cuban defectors who miss home might just be worth it. Since both governments or looking for ways to have ties, of course its easier. Of course id like to have my family here with me. The 10 players going down will conduct youth baseball clinics and holding a charity event. This i guess the interesting things you were pointing out, these players are going to make less money if Major League Baseball pays cuba, why . Theres a bidding war. Teams bid against each other for the services of the best cuban players. If the two sides start working together, then the players will be subject to the mlb draft, which means the teams will hold their rights and be able to pay them a loss less. Sports illustrated sports person of the year, she is on the cover of the magazines december 21 issue. As you can see, Serena Williams i also the first solo athlete to be honored in 30 years. The magazine is using the term supports person rather than sportsman or sportswoman. The dictionary chooses its word of the year based on what people look up the most. There was a irate of searches with the suffixism. It was named word of the year. So ism isnt a word. Ahead in our next hour, there are fears a verdict in the freddie gray case could spark more protests. Pushing the penaltys isil strategy to two unlikely military partners. We are back in two minutes with more on your world this morning. Well see you then. You cannot leave, you have to save this village. The human cost of climate change. Were a people, were not animals. Forcing alaskans to flee. You cant adapt anymore, you just got to get out of the way. Fighting to save a way of life. Thats like asking us to quit being a people. We really need to figure this out now. Communities living in danger all over the world. Only on al jazeera america. John, lets start with how baltimore is preparing for the highly anticipated verdict. Yes, good morning to you. All police leave has been canceled, officers working 12 hours a day. Weve just seen the officer coming into work carrying his riot gear just in case. The police have said to local media we expect protest to come in, but we do not expect them to turn violent. They will not say if protests turn violent. To be absolutely fair to the baltimore police, since the riots of last april, theyve worked closely in a transparent fashion to show the community what they are trying to do to reform as a Police Service and avoid a repeat of what we saw last april after freddie grays death. Over and above that, the School District is not sending kids in to school trips for the city until at least friday. Theyve written to parents saying teenage violence or demonstration will not be tolerated. It started in the malwhen kids came out of High School Early and it went south very, very quickly. The mayor has activate the Emergency Management center just in case. While everybodys waiting for the jury to decide, they were treated to some rather passionate closing arguments. Can you tell us a little bit about those . Yeah. Well, freddie grays wagon was a casket on wheels. That was one coat from the prosecutor. She tried to show officer porter lied on the stand. There are real inconsists to what he said to the Police Originally and gave evidence here. She said i want you to think about reviewing the evidence, went on to say that he didnt belt him in, didnt call for a medic, didnt call on him properly, a complete disregard for human life. She urged the jury to convict officer porter on all charges. For the defense, a very different kind of presentation. Here is the defense attorney asking the jury not to be swayed by emotion. We have a graphic to show you his words. The prosecution september the jury a test, saying you must ask yours what would a reasonable Police Officer do in similar circumstances. Just quickly, the jury gets underway here at 8 30 this morning. They asked to come in early. They wanted to get a start on the day early. What that means we dont know, but they deliberated the three hours yesterday and will be starting shortly. We know youll be on hand for whatever the jury decides. There is another Police Shooting video from texas. It has critics asking why the two officers dissolved around facing criminal charges. It shows two san antonio deputies shooting and killing Gilbert Flores back in august. Earlier this month, a texas grand jury decided not to indict the man. Police say flores was waving a knife and his wife and child bleeding when the officers arrived. The Justice Department will investigate the shooting of a black man in tennessee. He was held during a routine traffic stop in july. Police say he attacked the officer with a pair of handcuffs and prompt that had officer to shoot and kill him after a local grand jury didnt indict him for the death, the family attorneys and members of Congress Calling on federal authorities to look into that case. New details about the female shooter in the San Bernardino attacks, including on line posts call for violence in the name of islam, as al jazeeras John Siegenthaler reports, those red flags may have prevented her from ever coming to the u. S. Three background checks didnt reveal what Tashfeen Malik apparently didnt try hard to hide, that the woman who along with her husband carried out the San Bernardino mass shooting, supported violent jihad and wanted to be a part of it. The New York Times reports she made her view he is clear on line as far back as 2012, and up to a year before entering the u. S. In 2014 on a fiancee visa to marry sayed farook. If they checked her out more, maybe should wouldnt have gotten a visa. Maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive. Social media postings arent routinely checked for people seeking entry into the u. S. At that time, officials are not allowed to view social media as part of a screening process. A former top official at Homeland Security says the department was concerned about Civil Liberties and public perception. The primary concern was that it would be viewed negatively if it was disclosed publicly, and there were concerns that it would be embarrassing. So with her social media accounts never checked, malik passioned a screening process including an interview at the u. S. Embassy in pakistan and with officials in the u. S. , the department of home land security says a Pilot Program to check the social media background of individuals is underway but not yet policy. Some lawmakers are pushing for change now. I am asking to immediately initiate a program that would check the social media sites of those admitted on visas to see if they are using words and talking about things like jihad, explosives, mash shootings. Its outrageous that this isnt already done. The f. B. I. Says neither malik nor farook ever appeared on its radar. Sunday, the f. B. I. Wrapped up its search of a lake in San Bernardino looking forego clues in the shooting rampage. While not disclosing what divers found, reports say they were searching for a computer hard drive that belonged to the couple. John siegenthaler, al jazeera. There are talks underway this morning in russia with secretary of state john kerry. He is going to be meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin in about two hours. Kerry is in moscow trying to find way to say narrow the differences over syria. Overnight after meeting with his russian counterpart, kerry emphasized that both sides are committed to ending the civil war. Even when there have been differences between us, we have been able to work effectively on specific issues. Kerrys meeting with the russian president this morning can set the tone for a meeting on friday about syria at the United Nations. Washington and moscow differ on the roles syrian president Bashar Al Assad should play in any political transition. Al jazeera has more from moscow. I think despite the encouraging remarks from both sides before the talks got underway, no one is underestimating the difficulties that lie ahead, both russia and United States will try and narrow down their differences over the next set of diplomatic talks. Basically, the future which president assad and also trying to bring together opposition politicians and militias who are prepared to sit down at the table and continue the process. Now, that is set on paper, any way, for friday in new york. It seems unlikely that that will time scale will be met. The opposition groups are saying it is unacceptable that assad will be present at those talks and they will not continue the talks if he was not going to remove himself before the transitional period. That is our peter sharp in moscow. Coming up a little later, we look closer at secretary kerrys efforts to find Common Ground with russia to end syrias war. There is pressure on turkey this morning to do more in the fight against isil. Defense secretary ash carter is in ankara to drum up support for the u. S. Led military campaign. Carter said turkey needs to tighten its border with syria, pointing to a 60mile stretch isil uses to trade and shuttle foreign fighters back and forth. The u. S. Embassy in turkey is scaling back its consulate operation little again today. Officials saying this is in response to a potential security threat. Americans in the area have been told to maintain a high level of vigilance and avoid the embassy at least they say until wednesday. 65 people have been killed in ramadi this morning and isil leads a counter offensive. The group unleashed a dozen suicide bombs there. The government has been battling to retake the city with help from Coalition Airstrikes, days ago, officials said the army was making gains. We have the latest. E. They are getting details of at least 12 separate suicide car bomb attacks on Iraqi Security forces and the pro government sunni tribal militias by isil fighters in northern, eastern and western part of ramadi. If you remember, rimadi is the place where the Iraqi Government said last week its made major gains, pushed back isil and is trying to consolidate itself. Looks like isil has now started pushing itself back into the arena by counter attacks and attacking not just forces, but these are very deliberate attacks that would target against convoys that were bringing in reinforcements to the front lines by various tribal leaders as well as the Iraqi Security forces. While these attacks are taking place, we are getting reports of Coalition Airstrikes against isil targets, but it looks like the strategy by isil has been to disperse into smaller groups that can carry out hitandrun targets, where it gathers intelligence about various specific convoys, where the troop movements are and where it would talk. This attack, the series of these attacks at one place is significant just east of ramadi which is close to a military base, the Iraqi Security military base but also used by american trainers and forces. They are still putting up a fight and making it hard for the iraqi forces who have been trying for months to take ramadi, the isil fighters took it over in may and have been entrenched in urban centers ever since. Rimadi has been an isil stronghold in iraq for months. Its the capital of Anbar Province which borders syria. A trial date has not been set for bowe bergdahl. The decision means he could face life in prison if convicted. The 29yearold walked off an army outpost in afghanistan in 2009. He spent five years in captivity as a prisoner of the taliban before being released. It is being called the showdown on the strip. Republican president ial hopefuls facing off in las vegas tonight. It will be their time debate of 2015. The most real estate polls showing senator ted cruz has become the number one rival of donald trump. Jeff green field is a political analyst, author and emmywinning journalist. He said part of cruzs appeal is the challenge he presents to the republican establishment. He came to the senate as a guy determined to be a bomb thrower in the sense that he said when he ran im not here to legislate, im not here to compromise, the whole system is corrupt and everything hes done as a senator has been to argue to the base of his party that he is within and believing that not just democrats and liberals in the media, but the republican establishment itself is part of the problem. So, how much the republican insiders hate him is for ted cruz not above but a feature. Its part of what he argues and above of his candidacy and hes premised his candidacy on the idea that the Republican Base and should he win the nomination lots of people not republicans are so fed up with the system that they like the fact that he doesnt play ball. Trump represents a whole other kind of outsiderness. Hes the guy who has broken every single rule i thought i understood about politics not just in terms of the what he says, but intel practicement, character that i thought the kind of person that the American Voter liked was the john wayne, gary cooper type, not a loud mouth, but again with trump, thats just a sign for supporters that he is on to all the corrupt losers that have been running the country, and look, if we brought if we went into a time machine and brought somebody back who covered politics 20 years ago and showed them this campaign, they would think we were making it up. He went on to say the Republican Party is extremely disillusioned and that has helped outsiders like cruz and trump gain traction. Congressional leaders are close to reaching a final agreement on the federal budget, but time is running out. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he expects the spending bill to be completed today. That would clear the way for a vote in the house thursday. Some lawmakers are still hung up on several policy issues that have been tacked on to the bill. The current funding measure expires at midnight thursday morning. Consider this fact, yesterday i saw something with flipflops on in new york, now heavy snow already on its way in the rockies. These are live images out of denver, already there. Salt lake city getting hit hard, as much as 18 inches of snow accumulating in some areas, city officials urging drivers to avoid the road until this afternoon. Nicole mitchell, we used to say the whether was divided between north and south, now east and west. Weve had a definite dividing line with temperatures, who is getting rain and snow. Finally these last systemed ad cold air, we are more likely to see the snowstorms. Heres that widespread area. Yesterday, some of this got as far south as upper elevations in new mexico, arizona. Today, pulling out of colorado a little bit more into the midwest and northern plains, so, youre still going to get the snow. We mentioned denver, through the rest of the day, plus wind blowing it around. Ive seen visibilities go as low as a quarter mile. That makes it extra treacherous. Weve had different winter storm warnings. Ahead of all this, we still had flood concerns from that last heavy rain that went through with the last system that initially cooled the temperatures. Eight to 12 inches of snow in parts of nebraska up into south dakota and wyoming. That would be the core of the heaviest stuff. In between interstate 80 and 90 in that section of the country is what you need to watch. Wind gusts could go 2030 Miles Per Hour, even more at times. Watch for that. It will continue to blow and reduce visibility. Heres the heaviest stuff through today and into tomorrow, north of great lakes, south will start to get more rain once again in some of that section that will stay warm. Ill talk more about those warm temperatures, because the contrast is really outstanding, coming up. Thanks a lot nicole. Getting russia onboard. Secretary of state john kerry arriving in moscow looking to build support in the fight against isil. Saudi arabia unifies most muslim nations to combat the armed group, but not every country is onboard. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and thats what were doing at xfinity. We are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. And this includes our commitment to being on time. Every time. Thats why if were ever late for an appointment, well credit your account 20. Its our promise to you. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. Ive ordered new actions to intensify our war against isil. These actions including morning fire power and special Operations Forces are well underway. President obama outlining the latest movers in the fight against isil was speaking at a pentagon meeting of his Homeland Security teams. The president offers no new plans but promised a more invigorated fight against the group including allies working directly with the u. S. Not included in that group is russia, that is where secretary of state john kerry is today for talks on isil and the future of syria, overnight meeting with foreign as he can Sergey Lavrov. He will speak with pet pat and their discussion could setette phone for the meeting on syria in the United Nations in new york. They disagree on future role Bashar Al Assad may have in a post civil war syria. The professor of International Anniversary and senior fellow at the world policy institute, nina, thanks oh for being with us. Can there be an International Coalition to defeat isil with both putin and assad at the table. I think it will probably have to be. You know, when your headline goes getting putin onboard, putin basically said i am not on your board, we can fight together, but its not going to be an American Coalition and that is what putin is pushing for is to have an International Coalition under the auspices of the United Nations, not under the leadership of the United States. It seems to me that must be some sort of bridging of those gaps, because secretary kerry had apparently very successful conversation with Sergey Lavrov. In fact, kerry was so enlightened by the conversation that he went shopping on the major shopping street in moscow. He talked to the russians, so it seems to be very cordial. Well see how the meetings goes. Does putin want his name on it saying this is a Russian Coalition versus a u. S. Led coalition. Are we talking about semantics here . Semantics and action. Basically putins message for the last two years, even three years was that i am an independent entity, im not your attachment. Im not joining your coalition, you can fight it with me, we can be partners in that. That is then a question of how partnership with Vladimir Putin can go. He is saying im not really behind you and carrying your coattails. Its as he machine particulars but putin demand the recognition as an equal power to the United States. This military alliance seems like history is repeating itself. Is this the same type of coalition that we saw with roosevelt, church hill and stalin in world war ii . I think the leaders were grander at the time and countries grander at the time. We dont understand that yet, but i think the threat is probably as big if not worse as nazi germany, its just a different kind of threat. Thats another indication, thats why john kerry is in moscow trying to bridge gaps, because ultimately something putin has been saying, isis is a bigger enemy than i am, so you want to talk to me if you want to defeat isis. In our last hour, it is said that the president s strategy seems to be right but the time table into slow. How much of a factor was turkeys downing that russian jet and how much did that delay seeing what we are seeing now . It was a very big moment for all the parties, because i also think that secretary kerry probably will be talking to putin and maybe talked to lavrov about that actually. He did talk about that as well to bridging gap witness turkey now to forging some sort of better relationship right now, because nato and russia and United States and all the countries that are interested in defeating isis should once again get onboard. I think turkey was a very, very important dividing line, because it could have been a break up of nato, because turkey acted strangely, frankly, but also, you need to six Vladimir Putin that president erdogan is not his enemy, isis is. Thanks for being with us this morning. Overnight, saudi arabia announced a new military alliance to fight what it calls terrorist organizations. The 34 Country Coalition is called the slack alliance, including countries with large armies, as well as several african nations. Al jazeeras gerald tan reports. It was a rare News Conference from the Saudi Defense minister, the announcement was the creation of a new military alliance of mainly islamic nations. There shag be an Operations Room in riyadh for the coordination and supported efforts to fight terrorism in many parts of the slack world. This announcement comes from islamic world judge lens so it can be a partner as a group of countries in fighting this disease. The socalled disease is widespread. The alliance will confront isils growing influence in iraq and syria. It aims to combat the rise of armed groups from libya to afghanistan and pakistan, among others. 34 nations a part of this coalition includes established military heavyweights such as pakistan and egypt, as well as economic ones, qatar and the u. A. E. Iran is absent from the list. It is saudi arabias main regional rival. Iraq and syria are also not part of this, so how strong is the alliance. Turkey is also significant, theyre a significant military power, member of nato, so yes, i do think it sends a very, very crucial signal that the muslim word, particularly the sunni muslim world now is united against this sunni led group, isil. The saudi government is leading a separate military campaign in yemen. Its been engaged in nine months of warfare against Houthi Rebels. The United States has indicate that fire power might be better served if channeled toward defeating isil. This latest coalition could very well be the first step. Gerald tan, al jazeera. When we come back, politics, donald trump pulling ahead in polls, but his rivals of gaining ground. Well look at the influence of evangelical vote. Ride sharing services likes seattle saying seattle broke the law in agreeing to let drivers join the union. Im off the coast of hawaii. We are on the Tipping Point of an ecological disaster. This coral is not dead. Techknows team of experts show you how the miracles of science. This is what innovation looks like. Can affect and surprise us. I feel like were making an impact. Lets do it. Techknow where Technology Meets humanity. Welcome back, 8 30 eastern time. The jury is in baltimore deciding the fate of the first of six Police Officers charged in the death of freddie gray, the 25yearold dying from injuries he suffered in the ride of the back of a police van, his death sparking days of protest, police canceling all leave in anticipation of the verdict. Secretary of state john kerry is spending the morning in moscow. Overnight, he met with foreign as he can Sergey Lavrov and will meet with russian president Vladimir Putin. The talk is on ending the civil war in syria. A new ceasefire brokered in yemen trying to end the fighting there. Houthi rebels carried out attacks in at least three locations inside yemen. The week long truce coincides with talks underway in switzerland. A new National Poll gives donald trump his biggest lead yet. Support for trump has grown by six Percentage Points over the past 30 days. Ted cruz is gaining ground over ben carson and marco rubio. Now of course, the candidates taking the stage tonight, eyeing iowa in just 47 days, the voters finally get to speak out and those caucuses, our Political Correspondent Michael Shure traveled to iowa. In an unprecedented surge, texas senator ted cruz is now at the top of the most recent iowa polls. It is historic. Its amazing. Jennifer jacobs is the chief politics reporter for the des moines register. In a newly released poll, cruz moved up 21 points. People just started realizing that there are some weak insists for donald trump. They dont necessarily think he has the tell are ment to be president. They dont like some of his stances honest abortion. Abortion along with Marriage Equality and what they call religious liberty are utmost importance to the strong evangelical voting block in iowa. Is there any wiggle room on those issues for these voters . For the evangelical voters . No. I dont think there is a lot of wiggle room. The pastor leads the Christian Life assembly and 300 parishioners in dough money. While some other evangelical ministers try to influence on politics, he doesnt see making decisions on voting as part of his job or pulling pit. Give them tools, i try to suggest ways to help them, but will he tell them who you are voting for . No, theyd never here that from me on purpose. He does welcome candidates to his church if they call, something ted cruz and Carly Fiorina both did recently. He saw it as an opportunity for his Church Members to form opinions of their own, which brings up the issue of separation of church and state. Its crazy for us to think that any of us can be separated from our faith, our values when we enter the political process. In 2008, Mike Huckabee on won and in 2012, it was rick santorum. Both loft the nomination and this year, both are not polling well enough to make it on to the main debate stage. The movement to Coalition Politics in iowa can trace roots back to the upstart candidacy of Pat Robertson in 1988, the founder of the Christian Coalition finished second in iowa that year, alerting the party to an untapped and vital voting block. These are very, very faithful caucus goers. They really show up. Theyre not going to miss the caucuses. They dont often miss church on sunday. Republican candidates know that very well. Michael shure, al jazeera, des moines. While cruz gains in iowa, trump is number one in the National Polls. Drew harwell is the National Business reporter at the Washington Post. He says if frump doesnt win the nomination, hes still benefiting from the primary race. He has made so many different groups of people so mad and yet he has a really strong base that has supported him and that has only liked him more as the time has gone on. Trumps Main Business is donald j. Trump, selling his own name and his own brand. This has all been fantastic for him. He is selling more books. His name is on p. B. All the time. He is i dont think sweating this a lot. When he talks about his Main Businesses, whether in hotels or real estate, his Main Customer is the people who are creating these things in the first place, developers and people who want to license trumps name for grandeur. He still has grander and people are paying him a lot of money. Whether people will start to think of his name less as a luxury brand and more a brand tied to all these Dangerous Things remains to be seen. A lot of the candidates have promised really sweeping chains to the Corporate Tax code. Carly fiorina said she would get the tax code down to three pages, its thousands of pages now. This is sort of a long term thing with the gop, lowering the Corporate Tax rate and idea they are fostering growth and giving businesses more toys to play with, but, you know, how that resonates with voters, you know, im not sure. Trump has had a sort of oddly kind of populist following and yet people sort of overlook the amount of money that have gone do his enterprise and just how proud of a, you know, multimillionaire he is. Its one of the sort of interesting contributions in his entire platform, you know, becomes a more democratic versus republican fight after we shake out some of these candidates, maybe even during this debate. This will be a core issue, because thats a really important point in how the country makes money and how we tax our people and the 1 es are going to be having the best time in this compare tax code with that. Today is the last day to sign up for the Affordable Care act. According to this mornings New York Times, government officials are describing what they call unprecedented demand. There is new information this morning in the search for a cause of autism. There could be a link between anti depressants used during pregnancy and out mix. University of plant trial researchers tracking for more than a decade found anti depressants appear to increase the risk. Critics say early studies found no such risk and that more research is needed. The Federal Reserve kicks off a crucial two day policy meeting this morning. The fed has signaled it will raise Interest Rates for the first time in nearly a decade, but the opinion is divided over whether the economy is Strong Enough to handle a hike. After nearly seven years of near zero Interest Rates, the Federal Reserve is primed for lift off. The u. S. Economy has recovered substantially since the great recession. In testimony before congress this month, fed chair janet yellen described an economy ripe for an Interest Rate hike. With the labor market adding 13 million jobs since 2010 and Unemployment Rate thats been cut in half, rosy numbers, but not the whole story. Unemployment has fallen in part because the percentage of people participating in the labor force has shrunk. Theres still millions of people working part time whod rather have full time jobs and though there are early indication that is wages are picking up, most americans are still waiting for a meaningful raise. Evidence of a labor market that still has too many workers, chasing too few jobs and which could get even slacker if rates go up. Do you think the Federal Reserve is justified in hiking rates for the first time in nine years . I think the Federal Reserve really needs to wait until the labor markets, American Labor markets become tighter. Amy is a senior policy analyst with a think tank. The larger concern right now really is full employment and we are not there. Yellen is concerned that waiting too long could force the fed to raise Interest Rates abruptly. Such an abrupt tightening would risk disrupting Financial Markets and perhaps even inadvertently push the economy into a recession. Does janet yellen have a point . The reality is that the American Economy still isnt delivering for american workers, and choking off job creation at this point, thats a real danger, as well. American firms already reeling from slowing exports are also likely to suffer from an Interest Rate hike, because it will make an already strong dollar even stronger, making u. S. Goods that much more expensive to buy abroad. While other Central Banks around the world are holding rates down and cutting them, janet yellen signaled the fed will press ahead but cautiously emphasizing it will raise rates gradually. Employees for uber and lift say they want to be treated like other employees. We have the story from seattle, where the City Council Just voting to let those drivers unionize. At uber, business is booming, just six years into the ride sharing mobile app business, the company has more than a million Drivers Behind the wheel in 250 cities in more than 50 countries. Driving for uber and other Similar Services in seattle. I have a schedule. Its good in the schedule fluctuates. I like driving for people. Most dont receive traditional workplace benefits, because theyre not employees, theyre independent contractors who get a predetermined cut of each fare. The company sets the rates. Theres no precedent under federal labor law for contract workers too have collective bargaining rights and those who support United Statessing the ride share industry say its time to challenge that. I want to give drivers some leverage in negotiating with uber, lift, whoever it is, so they have say in what their employment looks like. It would be a first in the u. S. Not just for drivers but any contract workers. Employment law says congress should probably take a look at how contract workers are defined and compensated, that uber and competitors created a new Employment Model and federal labor law may need updating. Still, he sees a long fight ahead. Federal law has preempted the area of private sector unionization for more than 50 years. I do not believe that seattles testimony theyre trying to create will ultimately be upheld by the court system. Its not clear exactly how many drivers want to unionize and nobody is forcing them to work for uber or similar service. He wants more control over his workplace conditions, and wants legally backed input into how uber sets rates and hires and fires its contract workers. We like uber, we like lift, we like how the app works, but what we are saying is just treat us in human way, treat us fairly. Al jazeera, seattle. As parts of the midwest and plains brace for snowy weather, warmer temperatures in the east are keeping those conditions youre never more than a few youre never more than a few minutes away from a check of away, but apparently not for long. Lets bring in niche mitch. It depends where you are, because weve had two storm systems this week that weve been following, the first one that is now off the east coast definitely rain, because we had a lot of warm air in place. If you have warm air, its going to be rain versus snow. That one behind it brought cooler temperatures enough that in the midwest, this system has been more a snowstorm than rainstorm, reinforcing cold temperatures. When temperatures are 20 to 30 above average, even a cooldown doesnt really bring us below average, so its been a warm month. Heres the pattern now. That last system dipping the jetstream even more, bringing in that cold air, all the way into parts of arizona, ahead of this, though, we still have this hold up of some warmer air and the pattern is going to stay such that we dont really, well get little dips, but not really too much below average in the eastern half of the country. Heres that contract for today. You can see the dividing line right in the midsection of the country with warmer air. Heres how temperatures vary. Somewhere in new york, 20 degrees above average. I picked out a couple of cities to do that with, where as phoenix, 12 degrees below average with the cooler air. That trend continues. We are mentions snow resorts in the northeast, temperatures might get to average, but not really cold. They might be able to make snow but not a lot of snow in the forecast. Thank you very much. The winning design of new zealands potential new flag is in. A silver fern could replace the British Union jack. It is worn by many new zealands sports teams, including the all blacks rugby teams. Those supporting the change say it refers to a colonial past that already be left behind. Others argue its an expensive political stunt. A vote on whether to change the flag will be held in a march. Residentsing hong kong are sharing how they see one of the worlds busiest cities by the year 2050. We have the story. Hong kongs high rise believe testament to one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Its architecture reflects a colonial past merging with an uncertain future. The participants were asked to visualize 2050, three years after hong kong fully integrates with mainland china, losing its semi independent status of one country, two systems. The next generation needs to way to communicate thoughts and thinking. Some thoughts needing interpretation, such as casey wongs exhibit featuring mint plants, a disco ball and mow heat toes. This is a reflection about what we are going through right nowing hong kong with senatorship and kind of collapse off the government leaderships. Its really, really chaotic. I can project 30 years from now it might get worse. The artist based his vision on how the government handled last years pro democracy protests. He says the transform bar provides an escape from reality. Other projects were not so abstract in depicting the protest movement. The crater of architecture protest spent nearly two months on the streets with demonstrators. The core that you see, they are likely construction made by protestors on the streets. I wanted to recreate that am bence so people can feel the same situation and think about what they were doing on the street. Other exhibits stayed away from politics. This structure was made by 3d metal printing. New Technology Using lightweight metal can be used to build homes in the future with a Computer Program to design Living Spaces according to what the whole owner envisions. Our hong kongers may be living in living pods. This robotic chinese ink painting perhaps is the most straightforward depiction of the stiff, a urban jungle with a skyline that keeps going upwards, al jazeera, hong kong. A heated debate on housing in San Francisco, specifically criminals. The city wants a new jail, critics argue the millions could be better spent. Bill cosby fighting back, heading to court this time trying to defend himself. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and thats what were doing at xfinity. We are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. And this includes our commitment to being on time. Every time. Thats why if were ever late for an appointment, well credit your account 20. Its our promise to you. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. We are following a developing story out of nigeria this morning. Activists say the army has killed hundreds of shia muslims in an ancient town following a military offensive over the weekend against the slack members of nigeria. Nigeria said hundred was shia muslims tried to block the Nigerian Army chiefs convoy and tried to kill him. In San Francisco, voters today will decide whether to spend more than 300 million to build a new jail. As al jazeeras melissa chan reports, the controversial project has the city divided. For opponents, it symbolizes the industrial complex. We are not going to support a stand alone prison to continue to lock up africanamericans and latinos in this city. And its unnecessary they say when the number of inmates in the city has dropped in recent years. We want to build a system that will make texas safer. We know that the jails do not make our communities safer here in San Francisco. The mayor and Sheriffs Department argues that the current facility is unsafe in earthquake prone San Francisco and a new building can better serve those with Mental Health problems. Its a jail that has gone way beyond its time. I was a captain there at one time, worked there at one time. I was also here during the great overcrowding of the late 1970s and early 1990s, what were looking at today is really replacing 1200 unusable beds with 384 targets beds that are going to be safer and a much better fit for the population that were left with in the jails. The political tussle is taking place in the context of californias general battle to reduce prison population in a process called realignment. Critics of the plan say that instead of a new jail, the city should focus on Mental Health programs and drug treatment centers. To commit to spending more than 300 million at this time in our history is simply wrong. With so many supervisors opposed, it looks likely the project will not pass, which mean the pressure is on for those who didnt want the jail to follow up with working better alternatives. Melissa chan, al jazeera, San Francisco. Bill cosby is fighting back, counter suing seven womenle accusing him of sexual misconduct. Esther lying about him for financial gains. His lawyer said the womens accusations are malicious, opportunistic and inflammatory. Returning home after defecting to the u. S. Major League Players backing cuba for the first time after leaving to follow their baseball dreams. A landmark liftoff, a rocket carries astronauts into the International Space station, making history for the u. K. An update now on that High School Football coach in texas who admitted to encouraging his players to tackle the ref. Two players from the high school in san antonio blindsided the ref in september. The former assistant coach now pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault charges. His sentence of a year in jail was suspended. He now faces 18 months probation. Prosecutors plan to file charges against the players now. All time hitter pete rose will plead for mercy when he addresses the media today. He is speaking out one day after Major League Baseball denied his third request for reinstatement. Mlb commissioner said rose still has not been completely honest about betting on the sport. The former Cincinnati Reds allstar was issued a lifetime ban in 1989 for gambling on baseball as a manager and a player. Today, cuba is rolling out the welcome mat to four Baseball Players lieu defected to play in the u. S. They are visiting the island as part of a baseball good will tour. Its another major milestone in the thawing of relations between the two countries. Yasiel puig and jose abreu are stars, two are veterans, all four had to defect from cuba to realize their major league dreams. Now they are about to become the first defectors welcomed back as active players, as Major League Baseball holds its first event in cuba since 1999. Its exciting. Hall of fame manager joe torre leads the delegation. Its a good will trip, you know, since cuba has been opened up, weve sort of been taking baby steps. Only 28 cuban born players were on Major League Rosters last season, but improving u. S. Cuban relations has prompted more than 100 players to leave cuba in the past year. Major League Baseball reportedly wants more access to those talented cuban players and those baseball crazy cuban fans. For their part, cuban baseball officials reportedly want to stop losing the nations best players for nothing. Instead, they envision a day when Major League Teams pain the cuban government for access to good cuban players. A u. S. Entity is now going to be negotiating with a Foreign Government so that they can ultimately sign a contract with a private individual. That could mean smaller major league pay days for the next wave of cuban stars, compared to the paydays enjoyed by cespedes, puig and tomas. Tomas said the payoff for cuban defectors who miss home might just be worth it. The tour going into cuba this week will have a Charity Tournament and also conduct camps with the youth around cuba. You mentioned in your story that one day the j may pay cuba, Major League Teams for the Baseball Players, but how close is that day when cuban Baseball Players will be able to freely come to the u. S. To play . Right now, the embargo still exists. The trade embargo is there and the Republican Controlled Congress does not seem inclined to change that. As long as it is there, it is going to be tough, but things have a way to change. Cuba may add a team to the m. L. B. A successful lift off took right on time from kazakhstan. The spacecraft is on its way to the International Space station. The u. K. s tim peek is onboard, britains First Official astronaut. It is expected to dock later this evening with the International Space station. That is it for us from new york. Coming up from doha, the ceasefire in yemen, that fragile truce hopes to end the war in the gulf nation. Your word is back tomorrow morning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. For the latest anytime, go to aljazeera. Com where the news never stops. A shaky ceasefire in yemen as peace talks get underway between the warring parties in switzerland. This is al jazeera, live from doha. Hello, also ahead, the u. S. Defense minister ash carter has welcomed the formation and alliance of mainly muslim nations to fight what saudi arabia calls terrorism. In the war in syria, a new attempt to find Common Ground between the u. S. And russia gets underway. And lift off. A new mission to the International Space station