Ifill plus, a promising but still unproven approach to combating alzheimers targeting those at high risk before they show symptoms. When my father was still alive and i looked at him, all i saw was my destiny. And i was frightened for me, but i was more frightened for my family. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill bitter arctic cold gripped the midwest, pushed eastward and dove into the deep south today. Millions of people across dozens of states faced unheardof temperatures. The frigid cold rushed in on the heels of nearblizzard conditions emptying roads of traffic in parts of illinois. While in michigan, accidents littered highways in icy, snowy conditions. And st. Louis cleaned up from sundays oneday record snowfall 10. 6 inches. But the real danger was the cold. Indiana governor mike pence urged people to use common sense. If you can stay in today, stay in all day today. We ask you to heed signs about road closures, we ask you to heed the leadership and announcements of local communities. They are for your safety and its important that we take this weather event very, very seriously. Ifill the arctic air, known as a polar vortex, stretched all the way from the dakotas to the deep south. Wind chill warnings and advisories were in effect all the way to the gulf coast through tuesday. And temperatures just kept dropping, to 16 in bloomington, minnesota and with the breeze of a wind chill, makes that 40. Officials warned that frostbite can happen in just five minutes in temperatures that low. People who did go outside bundled up to ward off the sub zero temperatures. I got a heavy ski jacket and my scarf, but ive got 12 blocks to walk in downtown chicago. Ifill some plunged into the deep freeze anyway. This Green Bay Packers fan went to extremes to see sundays n. F. L. Playoff game with the San Francisco 49ers. I have four layers of long johns, two sets of snow pants, four shirts, a sweatshirt and a coat. Ifill the packers lost. Today, the cold and snow shuttered School Systems in the entire state of minnesota and in st. Louis, chicago, milwaukee, indianapolis and detroit. For air travelers, it was hard to get anywhere, with more than 8,000 Flights Canceled since friday, more than 3,000 today. We finally got on the plane about an hour late, headed out, deiced, started to deice, stopped deicing, waited, de iced again, headed for the runway, waited, and then turned around and went back to the gate again and waited, and then finally got off the plane. So there was a lot of waiting, but here we are, but what can you do . Ifill the low, low temperatures are expected to last through tomorrow, then gradually inch their way into double digits by the end of the week. Double digit temperatures probably sound good right now to both of our guests, a pair of mayors who are dealing with the very real impact of this in their cities betsy hodges from minneapolis and francis slay of st. Louis. You mayor hodges, youre known as being pretty tough people in minnesota, is this as bad as youve ever seen it . You know t hasnt been this cold in many years in minneapolis. But we we know how to handle it here in minneapolis. Weve been preparing for quite some time, especially given we know the impact Climate Change will have on our city over time. Mayor, let me ask you the same question. Theyre pretty tough in minneapolis but st. Louis you dont think of a place that is weather strictern like this. Yeah, this is a very unusual weather event. Its not so of the amount of snow we received, its the bitter cold. We havent had subzero highs temperatures for many, many years in st. Louis, so its been very, very dangerous. But weve our biggest concerns have been our oldest, our youngest, our most low income residents as well as our homeless residents in st. Louis. Mayor hodges, youre the pro, tell us how do you prepare for Something Like this . Well, i mean certainly you know we encourage folks if they need to to stay in. The governor cancelled schools statewide. Our School System is also going to be shut tomorrow. In our city we have delayed garbage collection for a day. The folks who work outside, we need to make sure they have the protections that they need, especially our first responders. You know, we make sure they have the protection they need but they are heroes. And they are doing their jobs in this cold. Ifill how do residents respond to this . Do they just say oh, its cold, we know what cold is in january in minnesota and go about their business or do they take this more seriously this time . I think its both. You know, people take it seriously but we know how to handle it. And so we, you know, our protocols come into play. Theres a lot of phrases like oh, its very brisk outside, its very brisk. Ifill brisk sounds like it is an understatement, mayor slay, you also have to worry as you pointed out by the most vulnerable among you. Do you have a homeless considerations that you have to take into effect, people without dont have shelter . We do. And weve opened up emergency overflow shelters and we have a lot of organizations here in st. Louis who have been working together, st. Louis city and county t has been very successful. We have not turned anyone down. The numbers are up. People that are attending these have been very comfortable and seem to be very satisfied. I visited one of those shelters today. The other thing were doing is for our homeless seniors, our home bound seniors, who may not have someone checking on them. We have a functional need to registry where we call thousands of these home bound seniors to see how theyre doing. If we dont hear back from them, we check on them. So were out checking on them as well. And certainly were concerned about our lowest income residents who have problems with their utility bills. We do have a organization heat up st. Louis where if someone cant pay their utility bills, its a private organization that will help pay those bills for them so they can keep their heat on and keep their family safe. Same question to you, how do you take dow take special precautions to deal with the most vulnerable among you . Absolutely we do. I mean the biggest thing we need to do is get the word out to people that this is happening. And what services are available and are provided to them. We have a very Robust Program for working with homeless folks. And we need, you know, we make sure that they get what they need as well. And kids, you know, i mean the schools were cancelled because we dont want kids waiting out in the cold. We dont want, you know, the danger to hit them if we can. But like i said were pretty hearty people this is not unusual for us. We have been preparing for weather events like this for many, many years and people are pretty familiar with what needs to be done. Ifill dow have are you hoping for or counting on the prospect of warmth any time soon, mayor hodges . Well, it seems like were going to be warming up into the 20s or 30s this weekend. Which ask about 50 or 60 degrees warmer than it is now, so that sounds pretty good to folks around here. Ifill how about you mayor slay . Warm weather is on its way. Well be in the 20s tomorrow. It looks like by wednesday it be up in the 30s and by the weekend it could be up to 50 degrees, so were looking at some pretty quick thawing, but in the meantime its still going to be very dangerous and street crews and others are out cleaning the streets still. It will still be dangerous for people to drive. They have to be careful, safe, smart. And be very patient. Mayor slay, we wish you thawing in st. Louis and mayor hodges, stay out of the briskness in minnesota, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. The senate returned from its holiday break today and took up the issue of restoring longterm Unemployment Benefits. Democrats failed to get the 60 votes needed to proceed on the issue, but they vowed to keep at it. Well explore the issue further and talk to the secretary of labor later in the program. Janet yellen won Senate Confirmation this evening to lead the federal reserve. Shell be the first woman to run the central bank, taking over from ben bernanke who is stepping down after eight years as chairman. Yellen has served as vice chair for the past three years. In iraq, Prime MinisterNouri Almaliki appealed to the people of fallujah to drive out alqaeda militants who seized control there last week. Iraqi troops have encircled the sunnidominated city, but maliki has not yet ordered them to move in. Well look into whats behind the growing conflict, right after the news summary. The same alqaeda group thats active in iraq is also at the target of new infighting among rebel groups in syria. A coalition of other factions attacked the militants on friday in aleppo and idlib province. Fighting spread today to the city of raqqa in the east. Peace talks to end three weeks of fighting in south sudan are still stalled. Negotiations technically began saturday in neighboring ethiopia, but the two sides have yet to hold facetoface discussions. In south sudan today, president salva kiir faulted the African Union and United Nations for not doing more to help his government stop a rebellion. They should have come out very openly condemning these people who took this action. There was no reason. But if they have decided to keep quiet, that means, you know, it is their failure to uphold the constitution and their responsibilities. Ifill the violence has killed more than 1,000 people so far. The Supreme Court put a hold today on samesex marriages in utah, at least for now. The hold will stay in effect while the state appeals a lower courts ruling that lifted a ban on samesex marriages. Since that decision, more than 900 gay and lesbian couples have married in utah. Liz cheney, daughter of former Vice President dick cheney, has ended her u. S. Senate bid in wyoming. Shed mounted a primary challenge to incumbent republican mike enzi. Cheney did not mention the resulting party rift today. Instead, in a statement, she said, Serious Health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, i have decided to discontinue my campaign. A pennsylvania woman known as jihad jane was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison. Colleen larose pleaded guilty to plotting to kill a swedish artist in 2009 for depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog. In philadelphia today, she told a federal judge that she is no longer obsessed with radical islam. The cost of keeping asian carp from getting into the great lakes from the Mississippi River could top 18billion dollars. The army corps of engineers gave that figure today as its high end estimate to stop the invasive species. It offered eight possible plans, from physically separating the waterways to using electric barriers. On wall street today, stocks fell to start the first full trading week of the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 45 points to close at 16,425. The nasdaq fell 18 points to close at 4,113. Also ahead on the newshour, escalating violence and unrest in iraq. Two views on the political fight over Unemployment Benefits, preventing alzheimers by taking it on early. Plus, everything from the car you drive to the clothes you wear connected to the internet. Woodruff today the Obama Administration announced it will accelerate sales and deliveries of military equipment to iraq, as that countrys government continues to fight for control of two key cities. Gunfire echoed across fallujah today, as alqaeda militants held on in the city they overran last week, while iraqi army tanks lined the outskirts. The military held off an allout assault. Instead, Prime MinisterNuri Al Maliki urged sunni tribal leaders to help remove the militants. One of the leaders said meetings were underway to try to return the city to government control. translated tribesmen are in constant communication to impose security and expel armed men out of the city. We are about to recall the Police Forces to the city to assume security responsibility after the artillery shelling stops. Woodruff but in the streets, alqaeda fighters from the Islamic State in iraq and the levant warned of retribution. translated the revolutionaries of our tribes in fallujah have resolved to punish the tribesmen who support the sectarian Government Forces. Woodruff the militants also seized nearby ramadi last week, also in Anbar Province, where sunni hostility to the shiiteled government is centered. It boiled over last april when Security Forces assaulted a sunni protest camp, sparking months of bombings across iraq. On saturday, maliki warned sunnis against aiding extremists. translated i am calling on those who are deluding themselves to reconsider. They have been involved, without knowing, in supporting alqaeda projects and protecting it in several ways, including giving media and political support. Woodruff fallujah is where american troops suffered some of their greatest losses before the final withdrawal two years ago. Yesterday, secretary of state john kerry ruled out sending troops back in. Were not contemplating putting boots on the ground. This is their fight, but were going to help them in their fight. Woodruff today, white house officials said part of that help will come in the form of new Surveillance Drones to help track insurgents. So how did alqaedalinked militants make these gains in western iraq, and what is at stake for the u. S. . For that we turn to james jeffrey, he was the u. S. Ambassador to iraq from 2010 2012 and jane arraf, shes a freelancer for Al Jazeera America and the Christian Science monitor who has been reporting from iraq since 1991. She spent eight years as c. N. Ns Baghdad Bureau chief. Glad to have you with us. Jane arraf you were telling me this is a situation building for many months. It has. I think while the west was ignoring iraq, essentially the country has become partitioned. And in fallujah, fallujah is less than 40 miles from the center of baghdad, right, but to get to fallujah, you have to pass roadblocks, the army has essentially sealed off the town, the same way they sealed off other sunni areas. Its been a year of grievances, a year of protests. And as the American Military always used to say and the american state department, theres no military solution to this. But the political solution that people feel we should have been seeing just hasnt been there. Woodruff and what has been behind Prime Minister malikis move to isolate, to seal off the sunnies in this part of the country, the an bar province. Its really easy to see this, i think, as a sectarian conflict, sunni versus shia but i think its oversimplifying it in a very complicated country, in a really complicated, increasingly complicated region. At the heart of malikis decisions, i think, having covered him for many years, is the real fear that his government is in a precarious position. Its the only a led government, essentially, in the middle east and he firmly believes that given half a chance sunnis will come from anbar and other places, tear down the barriers in the green zone and come and kill them all. Its that basic. Its a fight for survival. And that is at the heart of it. And thats so what affect has that strategy had on the sunni population in iraq. Well it has isolated them and alienated them. This would have been bearable if it wasnt forthe situation in syria. That has provided an al qaeda cousin group, the isis ground to develop themselves to dig in to receive a great deal of money and weapons and recruits from around the middle east. And theyve now united with the remnants of the former al qaeda in iraq group and what we see is al qaeda taking the offensive, really. Now the Al Qaeda Linked militants are sunni as well. How much sympathy, how much alliance is there between them and the sunni tribes in iraq . Well, its almost down to a personal level. In general the tribes who rebelled against the al qaeda controlled areas of Anbar Province back in 2006, 2007 have grievances against al qaeda that at the moment go more deep than the grievances against the iraqi government. Iraq, remember, is still primarily 80 a kurdish, a shia arab state, so there is no danger of the al qaeda people overrunning the country. The question is controlling these areas, right now maliki can causei count on the support of most of the tribes in this three way battle against al qaeda. So jane, we read today that maliki, that Government Forces have now surrounded fallujah, at least thats the way its described in the wire report. What are you hearing . And are they, are they in, and the maliki has called on the sunni tribal leaders to drive out the al qaeda militants on their own. Is that something theyre capable of doing . That is an absolutely, extraordinary statement. Because really what were talking about is people, let alone the tribal leaders, were talking about a city that in 2003 was essentially taken over by al qaeda. They had rigged bombs in a lot of the hous