Transcripts For ALJAZAM Your World This Morning 20151218

Diplomates meeting this morning at the u. N. Trying to hammer out a plan to end the war in syria. They hope today to get International Agreement on a roadmap to stop the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. Welcome to your world this morning im stephanie sy. And im del walters and meeting bringing key players except Syrian Opposition and as we are told there seems to be some Sticking Points as well. This is being pulled together as you know on quite short notice. Reporter the last two rounds showed a new found result among powers. Build on the burst of diplomatic momentum and seeing they will lead down a path again to a political transition. Reporter the groups third meeting will continue to try to nail down a realistic nationwide ceasefire in syria whi negotiating a political resolution. The ultimate goal is to hold u. N. Nationwide elections to allow the Syrian People to choose their next leadership. Translator key points no matter how strange it seems corresponds with the plan and vision proposed by the United States. Reporter russian president Vladimir Putin a staunch ally of president Bashar Alassad met with john kerry this week to smooth over differences. We want the same outcomes and see the same dangers and we understand the same challenges and we all believe that a united, nonsectarian syria represents the future and we also agree that it is a future without daesh. Reporter as u. S. Policy on aisle known as daesh has hardened the white house maybe softening its line that assad must go before negotiations begin. Basically its up to the Syrian People who should make a decision about the future of president assad. Reporter i. S. I. L. And any alqaeda affiliated groups like alnusra will not be part of talks but agreed upon Syrian Opposition leaders looks poisons to become further engaged and u. N. Secretarygeneral ban kimoon says a nationwide ceasefire possibly at the beginning of the new year is the essential first step to deliver humanitarian aid to 13 million syrians in urgent need. Syria is an open sore on the middle east and wider world. Reporter nearly five years into syrias war this is the furthest any Ceasefire Initiative has gone and within 17 countries including the u. S. And russia involved, it may have the best chance for success. Court any with al jazeera. Talks could determine the fate of millions of syrians forced to become refugees because of the war more than 4 million syrians fled the country, one of them arrived in michigan on thursday along with what is left of his family. His story went viral on the Facebook Page humans of new york and he was a scientist now battling cancer and lost his wife and one of his daughters in a missile attack on his home in syria and last night at a press conference with the Selective Group of news out lets including al jazeera he said he hopes he and his two kids can begin a new life here. Translator i plan to be a good citizen here and give back to the Community Working with other syrian communities here, we dont want to be looked at as a refugee only and syrian refugee but looked at as a good citizen of michigan. Reporter took very few questions and hundreds of people offered to help him on line and norton raised 40,000 for him and his family. Cannot figure out how to deal with refugees flowing in the continent and leaving brussels after another summit vowing to secure the borders and like the summit like others before it failed to come up with concrete steps to do it and we are live in brussels, belgium this morning and what is so controversial that Member States cant seem to come to a consensus on this issue . Migration goes to the heart of the summit certainly on thursday it was an issue that seemed to polarize opinion and people said the freedom of movement is intrinsic and treaties that govern the European Union and they said the idea of impinging upon that freedom of movement was could not happen because freedom of movement was sacrosanct and others say actually the flows of migration into europe this year 2015 have been unprecedented and indeed the document that emerged yesterday evening talked about how to stem the migratory flows and one potential solution suggested to be a stronger border force with police and coast guards to police the external boundary of the zone and that zone is the basically the European Union countries that do not and where the borders are no longer controlled and obviously that is very problematic this year with many, many migrants and refugees coming across borders to try to get access to the European Union and then on the other side of countries who say there shouldnt be Border Guards like that and say actually the Better Solutions need to be found and give you a sense of perspective how difficult it has been this is the brussels newspaper and the 28 means the European Union countries hunting, searching for an unfindable solidarity and saying in effect there will be no agreement and further down it welcomes, to retain or detain the migrants and that to a certain extent cuts to the chase here and gives you a perspective there are some governments who say so many migrants have come, that something has to be done, a block has to be put in and others say no that cannot happen under existing eu treaties and so difficult to find a solution that everybody will accept. Dominick this raises the question what happens now and where do we go from here . Well, in the document that emerged last night or early hours of the morning they say they call for the council should adopt a position on the European Coast Guard and not must do things and clearly there are things in terms of registration and process and documenting of refugees and talk about Member States intensifying efforts to welcome those it can and also talks about needing to perhaps put quota down but all of this is aspirational as you alluded to in the introduction, there was no concrete proposal as such and that is because actually the president of the council mr. Donald the European Council that is came out and said he thinks july is more like july 2016 is more likely to be a date where we can see more concrete proposals and indeed solutions if of course the eu can agree upon them and so far as this particular issue is concerned. So again you have the sense that people came here with a great wish list of things that they wanted to have achieved but effectively people have gone away with nothing really tangible having been achieved merely just an aspirational list of things that have been discussed but no solutions as it were. Dominick cane live in brussels belgium this morning and thank you very much. One of the worlds most famous missionaries will become a saint and the vatican announced the pope had a miracle needed to make mother theresa a saint and cared for the poor and sick in india and could be officially cannonized next year two decades after her death, a fast track to saint hood and we are live in new deli and what is the reaction there about the news of mother theresa becoming a saint . All around it has been welcomed as good news this fast track to saint hood as you mentioned the chief minister of west bongul the cap of the of the state where mother theresa lived and work extended her good wishes to the missionaries of charity the organization that mother theresa founded and the organization itself said it heard the news and its very excited. We should say however throughout the course of mother theresas work in india certain sections of Indian Society did raise questions about the religious under tones of her work and that will certainly be a talking point in the months ahead as they prepare for the cannonization of mother theresa and official saint hood. Is there any idea when mother theresas cannonization might take place . That is right we are hearing september next year and the date is debated at this point in time and hearing a number of dates but the month seems to be september and its also the jubilee year of mercy as the pope has announceed and particularly special. In 2003 when Pope John Paul talked about mother theresa hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attended and the reception will be the same again particularly from many millions of catholics in india. Pope francis of course had himself met mother theresa while he was archbishop and in common on behalf of ministry of the poor. Thats right. Well, in terms of mother theresas work similar to pope francis she in the indian context perhaps put the spotlight and global spotlight as well as attention on object poverty and illness in the city of culcutter and 1994 when pope francis then archbishop met mother theresa he described her as a woman he developed great esteem for as a strong woman, a woman able to give courageous testimony and certainly an interesting cannonization Going Forward with the pope and the work he is looking to do around the world. Live in new deli, thank you. Stephanie congress could today give final approval to 1. 1 trillion spending bill the tax part of the bill passing thursday in the house and heads to the senate and extends billions of tax breaks to average americans and big business as well, the white house says it supports the deal and president obama preparing to wrap up his year at the white house and hold the traditional year end News Conference later today and heads to hawaii where he will vacation with his family and will stop in San Bernardino and plans to meet privately with the families who died or wounded in the attacks. The president spent the week trying to reassure nervous americans who might fear another attack and mike reports on thursday the president talked about potential threats and the governments response. Heading into the heart of the Holiday Season president obama again sought to reassure an anxious public. At this moment our intelligence and Counter Terrorism professionals do not have any specific and credible information about an attack on the home land. Reporter at the same time mr. Obama warned of the difficulty in unearth iing plot by lone attackers. Because they are smaller, often self initiating and self motivating they are harder to detect. And that makes it harder to prevent. Reporter with security topping the list of public concerns, the president has taken heat from republicans both on the campaign trail. He leads from behind. Reporter and in congress. With the present policy and lack of strategy there will be other attacks on the United States. Reporter in 2009 critics said the white house was unprepared when the so called underwear bomber tried to bring down a plane on Christmas Day while mr. Obama was on an annual Family Vacation on hawaii and prepares to leave friday on the same trip and awake of the attacks on paris and San Bernardino and president obama held a series of events to reassure the public, a Rare Oval Office address, a trip to the pentagon to meet with National Security team and thursdays visit to the national Counter Terrorism center where agencies across the federal government share intelligence and information in an effort to thwart attacks and f. B. I. James comey who counseled employees spending time with family and friends over the holidays to tell them they should not be afraid. I. S. I. L. And other terrorist groups do not pose a threat to america, a message echoed by the president. Anyone trying to harm americans need to know that we are strong and resilient, that we will not be terrorized and prevailed over much greater threats than this. We will prevail again. Reporter mike with al jazeera, washington. That man who told authorities he was the friend of the San Bernardino, california attackers is waking up this morning behind bars, investigators saying Enrique Marquez purchased the weapons to kill them and plotting other attacks with his long time friend syed farook and Al Jazeera Jennifer london has details from los angeles. Reporter Enrique Marquez is the first person charged in connection with the mass shooting in San Bernardino two weeks ago that killed 14 people and a friends and former neighbor of syed farook was arrested and charged with three criminal counts, one of the counts alleges that he and syed farook conspired to commit an act of terrorism in 2011 and 2012. Neither one of those acts were carried out but the pair allegedly planned to attack a freeway during rush hour and the pair also planned to attack either the library or cafeteria at river Side Community college where they were both students at one time. A second charge is the unlawful purchase of two assault weapons, these are the long guns, the rifles that were used during the deadly attack. The third charge claims that Enrique Marquez engaged authorities with the sham marriage with a member of syed farooks family, the affidavit says that four days after the attack at the Inland Regional Center Enrique Marquez spoke with investigators and cooperating fully and we understand he waived his miranda rights and waived his right to remain silence and Enrique Marquez has reportedly admitted that yes he did, in fact, buy those two semiautomatic rifles that were used during the shooting, that being said Enrique Marquez has not been charged with direct participation in the attacks on december second and Authorities Say at this time they dont believe Enrique Marquez had prior knowledge that an attack was going to take place. Arrest of Enrique Marquez comes a day before the president is scheduled to visit San Bernardino, this is the president s first visit to the area since the shooting and understand the president and first lady will meet privately with family members of the victims and then the first family will travel to hawaii for their holiday vacation. That is jennifer london reporting and Enrique Marquez will be back in court on monday and arraigned on january 6th. A new york man could be facing 20 years in jail after admitting he helped recreate i. S. I. L. Fighters, 31yearold fj from rochester and used 23 Facebook Accounts to convince people to go to syria to fight for i. S. I. L. And sent money in yemen to help him get to syria and scheduled to be sentenced in march all right turning to weather now it has been a warm week in the east and now the temperatures are getting back to normal and lets bring in Nicole Mitchell and assume it means they are dropping. After you have been 20 degrees above average normal feels a little bit of a shock to the system so as we continue across the United States this is the front that is finally causing those changes for places that have been so well above average and another system in the northwest and get to more on that in the next half hour and disturbance through the great lakes and kind of big players through the day today and this is a front that is changing things for a lot of folks still bringing some rain right to the coastline and more of this will clear out through the course of the day and the northeast has cleared out of this and back behind this we have a combination not only of a wind flow change but a little disturbance coming through the great lakes so mostly right now this is just some light snow that we will clip through but as that wind pattern sets up one behind the front and then with this kind of reenforcing it it will set us up for lake effect in the next couple days especially the eastern side of the lakes we will watch for some of these areas and lake effect snow advisories and warnings could be starting tonight and cranking up and if you fall under the ban 6 not out of the question, some places more than that, possibly up to a foot, decent snow but temperatures dropping through the day. This new york at 51 is the morning temperature. Some of the temperatures will fall in the 40s through the course of the day. And tomorrow even chilly and back to average with more of those temperatures in the 40s, 20s in the midsection of the country but the warm up will return after that, a couple days at normal and then right backup into the 50s possibly some 60s later in the week so its really been a mild december. Not anything white and thank you very much. Investigators from the house and senate looking into Defense Ash Carter using of work mail account to send email and quick admitting the mistake thursday after the news broke. Particularly someone in my position and with the sensitivities about this issue should have known better and there were plenty of people during the time that you are taking office and so forth who explain to you what rules are about email so its not like i didnt have the opportunity to understand what the right thing to do is. I didnt do the right thing. This is entirely on me. Reporter carter is in afghanistan today after going to turkey and iraq to discuss the fight against i. S. I. L. And says he stopped using the personal account a few months ago and insists that no classified material was ever sent from his private account. History is being made in new orleans as the city takes action to break with confederate past and signed an ordinance to remove the four confederate monuments including a towering statute of confederate general of robert e lee and approved by the City Council Last Night and city plans to put the monument in a warehouse until officials decide where they should be placed permanently. Similar in richmond as well how quickly the tables have turned. Ending the war in syria. Question powers meeting at the u. N. Trying to broker the deal and stop millions of refugees from leaving their homes. Reassuring the public and president obama talks big about the u. S. Efforts against i. S. I. L. Trying to calm nervous americans. European leaders leaving brussels without a plan to address the growing refugee crisis. A proposal to create a unified force to control borders of eu and countries concerned it will infringe on sovereignty and threatening to leaf leave about migrants in the country. Fleeing war in syria and u. N. Diplomates from a dozen nations today are gathering to talk about a political solution to the fiveyear war. There is disagreement about which members of the opposition should be included in the talks and there is division over the fate of president Bashar Alassad and we are with the syria campaign, she is among those trying to build International Awareness and bring an end to this war and she is in beirut this morning and thank you for being with us. If you could say anything to the meeting of foreign diplomates in new york today what would it be . Thank you for having me. I would encourage negotiators at the talks today to focus on three outcomes and these three outcomes all have to do with protecting civilians in syria that means stopping the air strikes that are happening against them every single day on homes and schools and hospitals, it means lifting the sieges keeping one Million People away from the adequate medical care and the food they need and encourage them to focus on a way to free the 100,000 or more detainees that are right now being tortured in assad prisons. Two out of the three of the points you just made youre referring to the assad government, in fact, your organization focused on the civilian deaths in syria and the west more focused on i. S. I. L. , who is the greater threat in your view, assad or i. S. I. L. . To syrian civilians the threat is clear 95 offensive yanukovich deaths according to the human rights are from the assad regime that is because the assad regime has air power and i. S. I. L. Does not. 65 of these deaths are coming from the air. That is from barrel bombs and missile strikes and from mass imprisonment so to the Syrian People assad is the bigger threat. Your organization stated mission is to advocate for accelerated progress towards a peaceful and democratic future for syria with the opposition factions there so fractured how do you see a democratic transition playing out successfully . I think that the riyadh talks happened in the past week to bring opposition together are a step in the right direction but should have included Civil Society group and kurdish factions i think once there is political will to solve the crisis from the International Community then the Syrian Opposition can unite. Frankly the opposition has been divided and fragmented over the course of this conflict because the International Community had made broken promises and backed different sides, as soon as that changes the opposition will come together in order to negotiate a peaceful transition. How do people in your organization feel about the u. S. Led military campaign and how do they feel about the debate that is happening in the u. S. Over whether it should accept Syrian Refugees . Frankly i think that the first thing that we should bear in mind is that air strikes probably will not defeat i. S. I. S. And the u. S. Has been striking i. S. I. S. For over a year now and what happened is the group has only gotten stronger. Any real antiterrorist strategy that the u. S. Has for i. S. I. S. Has to include the protection of civilians because its strong syrian communities that are going to be able to drive i. S. I. S. Out from their homes and not being able to do that while they are fending air strikes from assad and russia. In terms of air strikes i think that is how most syrians feel. In terms of the refugee crisis i think everyone in the world has to shoulder the burden and have to welcome syrians with open arms because syrians have been through so much. But in order for the refugee crisis to be addressed, the war in syria has to end. We survey refugees that have left syria and most of them say they want to go home. Yeah, thank you so much for your insights joining us from beirut this morning. It is the most complicated problem. Yeah. That this generation has. And her organization wants the world to focus on is the fact there are people caught in the middle of the conflict and many civilians. People who could not afford to leave syria like the ones we see flooding europe these days, when we come back trouble for Bernie Sanders. The democrat president ial candidate is in hot water this morning just a day after snagging a major endorsement. The syria effect and World Refugee numbers on the rise and talk about the humanitarian crisis and the toll it takes on neighboring countries. Were following stories of people who have died in the desert. The borderland marathon. No ones prepared for this journey. Experience al jazeera americas critically acclaimed, original series from the beginning. Experiencing it has changed me completely. Follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. Its heartbreaking. Im the enemy. Im really pissed off. All of these people shouldnt be dead. Its insane. Welcome back to your world this morning, now 7 30 eastern time. World leaders meeting in the United Nations trying to find a political solution to the war in syria, finalizing a deal for a political transition in that country. Votes of planned today in the house and is not over a 1. 1 trillion spending bill which will give tax breaks and decrease in federal spending. President obama will meet at the victims of the San Bernardino attack. The president then heads to hawaii. That is where he will spend the holidays on vacation with his wife and family. The president spent the week reassuring the public over the threats facing the homeland on thursday, going to the natural Counter Terrorism center, once again addressing the public after receiving a briefing from his National Security team. Anyone trying to harm americans need to know that were strong and resilient, that we will not be terrorized. Weve prevailed over much greater threats than this. We will prevail again. Robert shlessinger at the manager at u. S. News and opinion and author of white house ghost, president s and theyre speechwriter. Thanks for being with us. There is that old saying that if at first you dont succeed, try, try, try again. Did the president achieve on this third attempt to calm the fears of a nervous nation. This is his third families, he spoke from the white house, and the pentagon and National Terrorism center. He is trying dew communicate from a position of weakness for three reasons, the first is the bully pulpit which was never as potent as people would like to imagine has become marketed less effective in the age of mass communications. Poll numbers show he doesnt have the credibility to just be able to just say calm down, weve got this, which is basically his message. Poll numbers show that there was a pugh poll yesterday that show the 57 of people disapprove of the job hes doing handling terrorism. The third problem as i said is that his message is basically keep calm and carry on, were going to do what weve been doing and people have already decided they dont like and dont trust what were doing. Then let me ask the question this way. F. D. R. Did not have 24 Hour News Networks for social media for every president obama saying dont worry, there are a accident candidates saying we are on the brink of disaster, of course im exaggerating, but getting the next big sound bite, what are the words the president can and should say . You exaggerate, but only just barely. If you watched the republican president ial debate tuesday night, every one of them was saying that were doomed and, you know, the terrorists pose an existential threat to the country, the most capable terrorists weve ever faced, which would probably come as a surprise to the families of the victims of the 9 11 attacks, so and not only do you have does the president have to deal with that. Unlike when f. D. R. Gave a speech, everyone tuned in into on the radio, that was what they could listen to. When president obama gave his oval office address, 54 Million People watched the address, but people had the option to watch that or they can watch a few hundred other things on their cable or satellite. What he has to do is find some way to punch through and find some new fact to get the attention of the people. How does he do that . The bottom line is youre correct, people now are watching almost what some say is a reality show where one side is saying whatever it wants to say and the white house has to be the one that is the voice of calm and measured reason. How does measured reason win when there is a candidate like ted cruz saying we have to carpet bomb isil until the sand glows. Never mind ted cruz doesnt actually know what carpet bombing i guess or that donald trump who wants to kill the family members of terrorists doesnt know what the Nuclear Triad is. The president is no drama obama. The thing is that sometimes in moments like this, national communications, you need some element of drama. It doesnt have to be panic and waving your hands around and emulating, doing what the republicans are dog, but it does mean finding some new fact or some new data point that you can punch through the noise with and grab peoples attention, whether its a new you know, it doesnt have to be a totally new strategy, could be a very specific recent success, it could be a new wrinkl in the strategy, but something so that people can get a sense that its not simply the same old same old, but its actually, you know, there is the new element that they can grasp on to here. Thank you very much. The campaign for democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders is no longer allowed to access his partys voter database. The Sanders Campaign took advantage of a Software Error to access Hillary Clintons private campaign data. According to reports, at least one member of sanders staff ran searching through that database. He has now been fired. Sanders and clinton take the stage tomorrow for a debate in New Hampshire. Clinton is given a 31 point lead in one poll. David shuster reports. At the community occasion workers of america, one of the nations largest unions, it is the boost Bernie Sanders had been hoping for. We endorse the next president of the United States, senator Bernie Sanders. The c. W. A. Will now dispatch thousands of that, they will go door to door make phone calls and help the Sanders Campaign turn out the vote. God bless the United States. Eight years ago, the c. W. A. Chose not to make an endorsement in the Obama Clinton nomination race. This time, the members decision was a landslide. They voted decisively for Bernie Sanders. [ cheers and applause ] even sweeter for the vermont senator, on thursday, he also received the endorsement of the million member group democracy for america. Earlier this year, d. F. A. Organized the movement to draft massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. Warren, sanders and most progressives share one major concern. While the middle class continues to disappear, almost all of the new wealth and income being created in America Today is going to the top 1 . Thats not what our economy should be about. In a speech thursday, sanders said the anger across america is understandable, and he took a shot at republican donald trump. The challenge of our time is to make sure that we do not allow demagogues to use thatting a tore divide us up. Our job is to brick our people together to attack the real issues, the real problems facing this country. Those problems, according to sanders are income inequality, skyrocketing costs College Education and a political system that favors corporate elites. Hillary clinton has issued proposals to try to tackle those challenges. In america, if you work hard and you do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. While analysts say her plans are not as progressive, the effort seems to have helped her campaign. The latest polling average of democrats in New Hampshire indicate she is gaining ground, though sanders maintains a lead 4843. In iowa, the polling average puts clinton ahead 5235. Clinton Campaign Supporters are sometime nervous. All the polls indicate sanders has a huge advantage with Younger Voters. He was on with jimmy fallon. Feel the burn. Feel the burn the traditionally, Younger Voters are the least likely to show up and vote, but not always. The key is a large Ground Organization and organization is now something Bernie Sanders can count on. David shuster, al jazeera. A Controversial Drug Company c. E. O. Out on bail, Martin Shkreli became famous for raising the price of a life saving drug. Hes been labeled the most hated man in america. Martin shkrelis arrest has nothing told with the drug prizing controversy that thrust him into the spotlight. Prosecutors allege that the 32yearold used money from a bio pharmaceutical firm as a personal piggy bank to pay off debt from his hedge funds. Shkreli ran his company like a ponzi scream, using each Subsequent Company to pay off investors from the prior company. He pleaded not guilty. The company he founded in 2011 sued shkreli in august, seeking 65 million. It replaced him more than a year ago because of what a Company Spokesperson described as serious concerns about his conduct. Shkreli is more widely known as the poster boy for poster greed after raising the price of deraa prim to 750 a pill this summer. It treats h. I. V. And Cancer Patients with weak immune systems to fight a parasitic infection. After public pressure, shkreli backed down saying hed lower the cost. Earlier this month as a Forbes Health care summit, he talked about second thoughts, but not the kind you may think. I probably would have raised the price higher, is probably what i would have done. Why . I think Health Care Prices are ineelastic. I could have raised it higher and made more profits for my shareholders, which is my primary duty. No one wants to say it, no ones proud of it, but this is a capitalist society, system and captain limb rules and my investors expect me to maximize profits, not minimize them or go 50 but go 100 have the curve. Shkrelis Current Company did announce in november it would discount the price of deraa prim to some hospitals by 50 . Doctors and hospitals denounced the move saying the drug price was still far to high. He didnt seem phased at scrutiny. He has been spending time Live Streaming daily activities and bragging about paying 2 million for a rare album taunting critics by writing on twitter should one of my companies change its name . Lawsuits be damned. He summed up his answers to critics this way. Try to be a c. E. O. Yourself, see how it goes. Try to maximize profits and not get kicked out of a company and let me know how that goes for you. Mary snow, al jazeera. For the first time in more than six decades, guns killing as many people as cars. According to new numbers from the centers for disease control, the statisticsnd out last year. A little more than 10 out of every 100,000 people died from firearm related deaths, the same number die in car accidents. Officials say gun deaths have gone up as Motor Vehicle death rates are falling. Worldwide, a Record Number of people forced to three their homes this year, more than 60 Million People displaced in 2015, most of them from the Syrian Civil War and other conflicts. 22. 000000 of refugees. 34 million are displaced inside their own countries. That report also addressing the affect of the flood of refugees and the threat on the countries forced to take them in. Most of them clothing to get to europe. We talked to those who find themselves stranded. He is two months old. His parents want to take him and his four siblings to greece. They tell me they know the risks and they can all die. We have no other alternative, no chance to live here or in afghanistan. We cant stay here. We want to go to europe. We have to go to germany. Sick, tired and cold, some have been here for days, waiting for a call from the smugglers. They have to be ready all the time. Outside, there are more children and adults. They sit and wait. Its cold here and the winds are strong. All determined to cross the aegean sea to get to greece, which seems close but remains out of reach. Why i am coming here is because we have lots of problems in afghanistan. We are faced with a lot of challenges. They are not good for the young generation in order to learn something. We cannot guarantee our life. Every morning, they hope the sea is calmer. Greece is a short distance away, with you crossing the aegean sea is risky. The journey to the greek island could take up to an hour depending on weather conditions, but this is a dangerous journey. The International Organization for migration said many people have died this year crossing to greece. Many were children. In the last weeks, 15 children have drowned in the aegean sea. The recorded death of refugees using two other routes in the mediterranean have reached over 2,900. Since october, more than 70 children have died crossing the aegean sea, according to save the children. At the Meeting Point on the coast, as the right moment came, the first overloaded cheap dingy sets off, carrying refugees happy to leave, but risking it all. Others wait as the smugglers prepare more boats. At the small shop, sos rely on the nations to feed the refugees but feel helpless to persuade them not to take more risks. You feel terrible, and so we bring hem to hospital another day ago, because they were really hot and they all sick. And one day after, they will die in the sea later on. Back on the shore, those who didnt make it this time feel disappointed, waiting their turn to seize their chance between life and death. Al jazeera, on the aegean sea. For the second time in two weeks, beijing is under a code red pollution alert. Officials warn the Chinese Capital will see dangerous smog through this weekend. It limits cars, factories and even construction. As we have been reporting, portland ruer gob getting hammered with bad weather. 2,000 homes losing power last night after the latest storms, heavy rains causing floods and trees were down and of course the traffic was snagged, the street loads went out. In one city west of portland, a sinkhole swallowed a car. Several homes were evacuated. Lets bring in Nicole Mitchell. This has been almost a a two week event, storm after storm. A little bit getting into Northern California now. Some of this could make it to southern california, not the heavy rain, the lighter stuff. The heavy stuff stays on the coastline. If yod a up today through sunday through the rest of the weekend, there are some especially coastal areas that could see four, five, sixinches of rain. That is our primary threat. You can see the snow side with all of this that, too. Were definitely going to see that in Higher Elevation and even wind warn ins, windy and rainy especially where we see the wind warnings, winds of 40 to 60 miles an hour. In wyoming, theres a couple little spots near laramie is one of them in wyoming where theres whats called a ground blizzard. The winds are so high its blowing whats already out there making visibility treacherous. I mentioned more moisture gets into southward tomorrow, needed rain in places like california where wed much rather have a break from the rain in washington and oregon. For the next couple days, little breaks from time to time, but you can see more just off on the coastline. In the meantime, the midsection of the country gets a little bit of a break for the next couple days until sunday, thats when this ends be and you can start to see some of that moisture finally pull out, but it is not drying out anytime soon. You are very busy the last couple of weeks. Did you see the star wars weather cast. I did. Someone challenged me to do it. Straight ahead, today is the day, may the force be with you. They were soggy star wars fans flocking to theaters across the country for one of the most highly anticipated movies in history. If you look farther west, you will see a glimmer of sunshine, however there will be a fairly light breeze. Tonight, the weather strikes back and the deep area of low pressure creates storm like conditions for Northern Ireland and western scotland. Dont be a trooper, please take care on the roads, could be difficult driving conditions. If youre forced to awaken early tomorrow morning, it will be on the dark side but fairfield with temperatures in double detects. Youre never more than a few youre never more than a few minutes away from a check of away toward the south of england theres new hopes of sunshine developing later this afternoon. That was the forecast on britains channel 5 and yes, there were a lot of offense, my favorite being if youre forced to awake be. Star wars, the force awakens officially opens at midnight setting more records. Fans lined up for hours to get into those early screenings. It has made already 14 million overseas. Its expected to earn hundreds of millions of dollars more this weekend and fan dang go sold more tickets to it than any other movie in history. Star wars is bringing peoe to multiplexes. Theater concerns have a real concern about security. Its a major concern. Large crowds serve as mag nets for those who wish to do harm. With the recent attacks in paris and San Bernardino, theaters having to tone things down, even issuing rules for what fans can and cant do. On the a. M. C. Theaters website, it says policies are much the same at other theaters showing the film. Disney studios hasnt commented on security. Los Angeles Police are offering the same assistance as they would for any film openings. Terrorism analyst says it makes sense for large cities to be on alert. Los angeles being the central magnet for the Entertainment Industry would tend to be a much more attractive target for a terrorist whos looking to maximize their impact and visibility. Here on hollywood boulevard closed to traffic and heavily secured, costume fans dont seem that concerned. We all understand whos who, even without a mask or light sabre or blaster, whatever. Throughout the premier, they had metal detectors for four blocks each way. For this, i expect something similar. I am going to have so much sun, irregardless, they could tell me to come neighborhood. Isaac maya said to remember this. We need to keep in mind that terrific is still a very small percentage of the threat that we face at any point in time. Al jazeera, hollywood. I have to say it, in a galaxy not so far away, scientists discovering what looks like a light sabre. The hubbel telescope captured this star light years from earth producing energized gas that looks like the double lighted light sabre from star wars. It does. Ahead in our next hour, working toward an agreement to end the war in syria and russias military campaign could be the see to getting a deal done. Conspiring to plan over attacks, the friend of the San Bernardino shooters now facing charges for alleged terror plots. Stephanie and i are back in two minutes with more of your world this morning. Stay with us. Every day is another chance to be strong. I cant get bent down because my familys lookin at me. To rise, to fight and to not give up. Youre gonna go to school, so you dont have to go war. Hard earned pride. Hard earned respect. Sunday, 10 00 eastern. Only on al jazeera america. A rare show of cooperation, world powers close in on a roadmap to end the war in syria, but the opposition wasnt part of those talks. One of the most talked about Syrian Refugees arrives in the u. S. The town promising to help despite calls to keep syrians out. A friend of the San Bernardino shooters arrested. What prosecutors say he also planned. The miracle worker is becoming a saint, pope francis paves the way for Mother Teresa to be canonized. Good morning, welcome to your world this morning. Im del walters. On im stephanie sy. World powers promise to hammer out the most concrete plan yet to end the war in syria. Diplomat gathering this morning hoping to reach con sense on a political transition and set a time table for ceasefire to end five years of fighting. Al jazeera has more. This is being pulled together as you know on quite short notice. The last few rounds of vienna talks showed new resolve among world powers. We hope to lead down a path to a political transition. The groups third meeting will continue to try to nail down a realistic nationwide ceasefire in syria, while negotiating a parallel syrian led political resolution. The ultimate goal is to hold u. N. Monitor nationwide elections to allow the Syrian People to choose their next leadership. In key points, no matter how strange it seems, correspondence with the plan and vision proposed by the United States. Russian president Vladimir Putin, a staunch ally of syrian president Bashar Al Assad met with secretary of state john kerry this week to smooth over differences. We want the same outcomes. We see the same dangers. We understand the same challenges, and we all believe that a united nonsectarian syria represents the future and we also agree that it is a future without daish. As u. S. Policies on isil, also known as daish has hardened, the white house may be softening its line that assad must go before negotiations begin. Basically in principle, its up to the Syrian People who should make a decision about the future of president assad. Isil and any alqaeda affiliated groups like alnusra will not be part of the talks but an agreed upon consortium, a Syrian Opposition leaders looks poised to become further engaged. U. N. Secretary general ban kimoon said a nationwide ceasefire possibly at the beginning of a new year is an essential for a step to deliver humanitarian aid to at least 13 million syrians in urgent need. Syria is an open soar on the middle east and the wider world. Nearly five years into syrias war, this is the farthest any Ceasefire Initiative has gone. With 17 countries, including the u. S. And russia involved, it may have the best chance for success. Al jazeera. Our guest told us last hour that there has to be a unified effort to bring an end to the war. I would encourage negotiators at the talks today to focus on three outcomes and they have to do with protecting civilians in syria. That means stopping the airstrikes that are happening against them every single day on homes, schools and hospitals. It means lifting the sieges that are keeping 1 Million People away from the adequate medical care and food that they need and i would encourage them object a way to focus on the 300,000 detainees right now being tortured in assad prisons. Your stated mission is to advocate for accelerated progress toward a peaceful future for syria. Would the opposition there so fractured, what do you see . The talks to bring the opposition together are a step in the right direction although they should have include Civil Society group and kurdish faction. I think once there is real political will to solve the crisis, then the Syrian Opposition condition unit. The opposition has been divided and fragmented over the course of the conduct because the International Community has made broken promises, and has backed simple sides. As soon as that changes, the opposition will come together in order to negotiate a peaceful transition. She adds one of the clearest ways to reach peace in syria would be to remove the assad regime from power. European leaders leaving brussels after another summit on air yess war and the growing refugee crisis. They failed to reach any deal to handle either one, all vowing to secure the borders of the europedown but like the summit before it failed to come up with concrete steps for how to do that. Al jazeera has more on whats Holding Things up. The issue of migration is one of the main themes at this e. U. Summit in brussels, how to deal with what the European Union itself calls unprecedented migratory flows into the continent. It went further and said how to stem those flows. One idea floated was a stronger border force, police force, coast guard to police the external boundaries of the shangen zone of the European Union, that zone is the countries who have decided to lower their borders to each other internally and the bad issue was opposed by some countries who say the idea of policing a border and denying freedom of movement is something that is an athema to the treaties that say that is an intrinsic right. Then there are countries saying that is necessary because of the nature of the flows that have come into the country. The agreement reached upon was very much aspirational. The document has emerged talked of the need for the council to do things it should implement forces but not must do. He expected more concrete solutions to be achieved perhaps by july of next year, giving a sense that people came to this summit with a great wish list of things that they wanted to have achieved but insofar as migration is concerned and border control, there was not anything finite that actually was agreed upon, flashed out by all 28 countries. That is dominic cain in brussels. The u. K. Threatens to leave the union if britain cant put limits on migrants coming into its country. A friend of the San Bernardino attackers is waking up behind bars today. Enrique marquez purchased the weapons used to kill 14 people. He is charged with plotting other attacks with his long time friend, sayed farook. We have the details from los angeles. Enrique marquez becomes the first person charged in connection with the mass shooting in San Bernardino two weeks ago that killed 14 people. Marquez, a friend and former neighbor was arrested and charged with three criminal counts. One of the counts alleges that he and farook conspired to commit an act of terrorism in 2011 and 2012. Neither one of those acts were carried out, but the pair allegedly planned to attack a freeway during rush hour and the pair planned to attack the library or cafeteriad a riverSide Community college where they were both students at one time. A second time is the unlawful purchase which two assault weapons. These are the long guns, the rifles that were used during the deadly attack. The third charge claims that marquez defrauded immigration authorities by encaging in the socalled sham marriage of farooks family. The affidavit said four days after the attack, marquez began speaking with investigators and cooperating fully. We understand that he waived his miranda rights, meaning he waived his right to remain silent, and marquez has reportedly admitted that yes, he did in fact buy those two semiautomatic rifles used during the shooting. That being said, marquez has not been charged with direct participation in the attacks on december 2, and Authorities Say at this time, they dont believe marquez had prior knowledge that an attack was going to take place. Now the arrest of marquez comes the day before the president is scheduled to visit San Bernardino. This will be the president s first visit to the area since the shooting. We understand that the president and the first lady will meet privately with the family members of the victims and then the first family will travel to hawaii for their holiday vacation. Marquez was ordered back in court monday for a bail hearing. He will be arraigned january 6. Most americans are still worried about another attack on american soil. The president trying to reassure the public that the homeland is safe. Heading into the heart of the Holiday Season, president obama again sought to reassure an anxious public. At this moment, our intelligence and Counter Terrorism professionals do not have any specific and credible information about an attack on the homeland. At the same time, mr. Obama warned of the difficulty in unearthing plots by lone attackers. Because they are smaller, often self initiating, self motivating, they are harder to detect. That makes it harder to prevent. With security now topping the list of public concerns, taking heat on the campaign trail. He leads from behind. And in congress. With the present policy and lack of strategy, there will be other attacks on the United States. In 2009, critics said the white house was unprepared when the socalled underwear bomber tried to bring down a plane on Christmas Day, while mr. Obama was on his annual Family Vacation in hawaii. As he prepares to leave friday on the same trip, and in the wake of attacks in paris and San Bernardino, mr. Obama has held a series of events. Good evening. Designed to reassure the public, a Rare Oval Office address, a trip to the pentagon to meet with his National Security team. Good morning be everybody. And thursdays visit to the national Counter Terrorism center where agencies cruet the federal government share intelligence and information in an effort to thwart attacks. Among the officials present, f. B. I. Director james comey ho councilled employees spending time with family and friends over the holiday to tell them they should not be afraid. Isil and terrorist groups do not present a an existential threato america. They need to know that were strong and resilient, that we will not be terrorized. Weve prevailed over much greater threats than this. We will prevail again. Mike viqueira, al jazeera, washington. House and Senate Investigators are now looking into defense secretary ash carters use of personal email to send work messages. He quickly admitted his mistake thursday after the news broke. Particularly someone in my position and with the sensitivities over this issue should have known better. There were plenty of people during the time that youre taking office and so forth who explain to you what the rules are about emails. This is its not like i didnt have the opportunity to understand what the right thing to do is. I didnt do the right thing. This is entirely on me. Carter is in afghanistan today after visiting turkey and iraq to discuss the fight against isil. He says he stopped using his personal account a few months ago. He insists no classified material was ever sent from that attack. It is warm in the east but now all of that is changing. Good morning again, Nicole Mitchell, how are you . Atlanta a couple of days ago in the 70s, this morning in the 30s. I found one report of snow. Snowflakes going by. That wakes you up in atlanta, regardless, much less 70 degrees a couple of days ago. This is the moisture going through. Most rain has now hit the coastline but a little less, the one report i saw was just a couple of flakes on the west side of town but if you saw it, its always a special treat. Heading through the Northern Tier of the country, we have a pattern bringing moisture through the great lakes. Well talk about that in a second, but as i said, most of this is still rain and most of it is still right along the coastline. You can see that through the northeast has already cleared out so starting to see drier conditions. On the backside, the combination of behind the front and the wind flow and then also enough of a little disturbance kind of coming through the region to bring moisture into it means the main open . With a little clipper system not too much, but when we get the wind pattern set up, some of our lake effect areas on the eastern great lakes could be winding up tonight. These areas in blue, getting si. If youre set up under one of those bands, could be over a foot of snow. What most people will note is the temperature cool down. Atlanta in the 30s this morning, 48 today. Last couple of days, we were in the 70s and 60s yesterday. New yorks 51 is more of the morning temperature going down through the day and the colder day is tomorrow, but there is relief in sight. Temperatures rebound almost within just a couple days, so only a couple days even at normal. They are in 24 hour storm coverage in atlanta right now because of that one snow. One snowflake. [ laughter ] one of the worlds most famous missionaries will become a saint. Pope francis has approved the second miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint. The nun caring for the poor and sick in india could be officially canonized next year. If you look at how many saints india has, once Mother Teresa is canonized and raised a saint, we expect this to happen in september next year in the jubilee year of mercy. She will be one of a handful of indian saints. We should say she was born in what is now macedonia but gained indian citizenship in 1951. Just putting this story into numbers, there are around 24 million christians in india, and 20 million of them are click. So just a much anticipated amount of news for those who are clicks in india and more generally across india, there have been good feelings about this story throughout the day. It is a good way to end the week, the chief minister of the eastern state has expressed her happiness, keeping in mind calcutta is the capital of west angola and she extended her good wishes to the missionaries of charity. The missionaries of charity are excited and waiting for this to happen. There is another side to this story. Over the life work of Mother Teresa, the years in calcutta there were sections of Indian Society that did raise concerns about the religious undertow of her work, a particularly sensitive issue in india. That is going to be a talking point as we move forward, but lots of anticipation if it is september of next year that she is declared officially a saint. Pope francis met with Mother Teresa when he was an average bishop. Congress could give final approval to a 1. 1 billion spending bill. It now heads to the senate after passing the house. It contains tax breaks for millions of americans as well as corporations. One man is welcomed in michigan after throwing the violence in syria all because of social media. The effect of those airstrikes taking effect on isils economic power. Jewel Syrian Refugees are being resettled, brought in by a private resettlement agency, the department have social services telling another family it is approved for resettlement in the state. The federal government didnt tell them in advance, the gone has asked the secretary of state not to place any Syrian Refugees in her state. A refugee arrived in michigan along with whats left of his family. His story went viral on the Facebook Page humans of new york. He was a scientist and is now battling cancer. He lost his waive and one daughter in a missile attack on his home in syria. Last night, he told a small group of news outlets including al jazeera that he hopes he and his two kids can begin a new life here. I plan to be a good citizen here, give back to the community, working with other syrian communities here. We dont want to be looked at as a refugee only, but as a good citizen of michigan. He answered very few questions. Hundred was thousands have offered to help him on line, including actor Edward Norton who raised 400,000 for him and his family. A student at the university of michigan is one of the many other people who have offered to help the family. He joins us via skype from ann arbor michigan. Alex, thank you for your time. How did you hear about the familys story and what drove to you want to help . Good morning. So i heard about the story on the humans of new york website and it was just very meaningful to me, because my father actually had cancer a few years ago. My friends, when i lived in switzerland growing up were refugees coming from yugoslavia. Are you in a position to help this man with cancer . Not personally, but some of my family friends, one in an oncology doctor at a university hospital. I felt like i was in a position to try to reach out and my office is five minutes from the cancer center, it would be very easy to go and try to help out. If you have a chance to meet him or his children, what would you want to say to him . Well, i would wants to him that i cannot begin to comprehend the sort of things that he says been through, but that its an honor to meet him and an honor to call him i would want to call him a friend and a fell michigander. He post that had he can be discouraged by the negative comments that his story is drawing. What do you say to the people who dont welcome the refugees here because they believe they pose a Security Threat . I really wouldnt think about it as a Security Threat really. Its just if i were in the position of a refugee, i would want others to open their hearts. Im sure if other americans were in the position of refugees, they would also take kindly to people putting their hearts and minds and country to be a place of peace. You were talking about your upbringing in switzerland. Is that what formed your opinion about these refugees and welcoming them and how did homs of new york, the Facebook Page propel that thinking forward for you . I would say it was really my parents who in still in me values of being a decent person, and trying to help your neighbor. I would say that the humans of new york pages are very i mean its a very meaningful project that was started, especially because, you know, it tries to bring out the lights in mankind. It has a message that has a tendency to get lost nowadays. Thank you for joining us from ann arbor. A Record Number of people now forced to flee homes around the world this year according to the u. N. Refugee agency. More than 60 Million People have been displaced in 2015, most from the syrian war and other conflicts. 20. 2 million of refugees alone. 34 million displaced inside their own nations. Back in this country, in new orleans is preparing to take down several monuments honoring the citys confederate past. Al jazeeras Jonathan Martin has the story. The decision to take down four confederate monuments came after contentious debates that erupted thursday. This is not a rally. City leaders called you a special meeting to vote on a plan to remove the statues, including the towering figure of confederate general robert e. Lee and another of confederate president president davis, all erected more than 100 years ago. We will not protect monuments to on some of the biggest criminals in u. S. History. We are back here judging people from 100 years ago. None of us would withstand that. The mayor called for removing the statues this summer, saying for many they represent White Supremacy and oppression. I believe we can do better. We deserve better and we must do it now. It has been a sad and sorry spectacle. 30,000 people signed a petition opposing the plan with many defending the history behind the statues. Thursday, one Council Member suggested keeping two of the statues up with plaques attached to explain their history. That plan failed. I am not prejudiced in any way, i just believe that we cant rewrite history. There are other people in this room who look at same monuments and only see their ancestors hanging in trees, shackled in chains and being whipped to death. After three hours of debate, all but one Council Member voted in favor of removing the statues. One of the things that ive shared is to fight side by side with white americans, defending a symbol. That symbol right there behind us, that flag. Symbols count. The vote is considered one of the most sweeping moves by a city to cut ties with confederate history. Where a we did was further the conversation and articulate where White Supremacy comes from so the next generation gets to sit in a deeper and bigger seat. Al jazeera, new orleans. Filling isils coffers as airstrikes hit. No methods of funding getting cut off. Bernie Sanders Campaign accused of taking a peek at a rivals secret files. Welcome back to your world this morning. It is 8 29 eastern. Taking a look at todays stop stories. A missionary closer to becoming a saint, pope francis approved the second miracle needed to make Mother Teresa a saint. She could be canonized next year. A friend of San Bernardino shooters is the first charged in the attack. He gave weapons to sayed farook. He is also charged with planning other attacks. World powers are meeting in new york this morning trying to find a political solution to the war in syria. Theyre hoping to finalize the deal for a negotiated ceasefire and democratic transition in that country. Lets go live outside the palace hotel where some of those talks are taking place. This meeting bringing together allies and enemies at the same tail, russia, the u. S. , iran, saudi arabia, all differ on how to end the war so whats the end game . Del, the end game is still far away. This is the beginning of a long diplomacy. The springboard was the two vienna talks that all of these Foreign Ministers attended, 17 countries represented here today, including the e. U. , the u. N. And arab league. Like you said, saudi arabia, iran, russia and the u. S. All at the table. Russia has been playing a key game here. They have always maintained that assad isnt going to go, that that wasnt the first part of the deal, it looks like the u. S. Is softening on that stance. What theyre all trying to come to agreement today is first a nationwide ceasefire in syria. Second, what it would look like, who would be part of it and who wouldnt be part of it. One Sticking Point is who is part of the negotiations and which rebel groups are going to be left out. Can you see any regional foes coming to an agreement on anything . That is what they are trying to agree upon, now the last time when they met in vienna, they agreed to put jordan, gave jordan the task of coming up with the socalled terrorist list, who is part of the ceasefire, who is still considered terrorists. Youve got hezbollah, Iranian Revolutionary guards, extremists, isil. That list is still being worked out. Today, the Iranian Foreign minister had this to say about it. We havent seen the list yet, but we believe that card carrying members of alqaeda do not satisfactory the conditions that we set for members of the opposition in vienna. I believe opposition to be serious and it should be inclusive, so that they could engage in a serious talk. Its going to be a long day here. Things are just underway. Youve got the secretary of state john kerry going to the u. N. Security council which he will share. They will hopefully give a nod to what people hope will be the start of an agreement to start a nationwide ceasefire. The one person we havent heard from is Bashar Al Assad. He did speak to television, saying they told me to pack my bags, unpack my bags, am i going, am i staying. We will see if he will stay or go but that isnt really whats on the table today. Sadly for all parties involved, no laughing matter, courtney, thank you very much. Last night the Security Council approved cutting off size as i wills finances. Airstrikes taking aim at the oil fields isil controls is starting to have an impact. U. S. Airstrikes, targeting isil oil fields, refineries tanker trucks and border foot holds force black market oil trade. A strategy aimed at a pillar of isils economy and which analysts say is starting to bite. In the last few weeks, weve seen the price of oil in raqqa doubling. We see new agricultural taxes imposed a couple of days ago and weve seen other creative measures of raising new revenue from the population. Analysts at i. H. S. Estimate isil brings in 80 million u. S. Dollars a month, 43 from oil sales and 53 from extorting taxes toll and protection money from civilians in the areas it claims as a state. Thats a very large number for a terrorist organization but a pretty small number for a state. One that has to pay and arm fighters while providing basic Services Like electricity and education in territories that encompass half of syria and a third of iraq, budget pressure that is help explain why isils oil revenues have been squeezed, the population it controls has been squeezed even harder. The Islamic State has now started to charge people a fixed rate for leaving the caliphate. That goes up to about 900 for young men of fighting age and its a little bit less for anyone else. An exit tax resulting from a Coalition Strategy designed to degrade the group from the bottom up. The elite leadership lives like kings, the regional leaders like barons and local military commanders and their forces live a whole lot better and are paid a whole lot better than the average citizen. In the long run, that feudual structure could bring downice as i will from within. In the short term, the group that muscle to make up from the loss of revenue by financially pummeling the civilians it controls. Patricia sobga, al jazeera. A new york man could get more than 20 years in jail after admitting he helped recruit isil fighters. The man from rochester pleaded guilty thursday. He used 23 Facebook Accounts to convince people to travel to syria to fight for isil. He sent money to a man in yemen to help him get to syria. Sentencing is scheduled for march. The number of attacks on mosques in the u. S. Hitting new highs. The council on islamic relations said there have been 29 since the november 13 attacks in paris. 14 after the San Bernardino shootings that happened back on december 2. In virginia, a school near charlotte will be closed today after outrage over a class assignment. It was part of a world geography class that asked the students to practice da leg rave. The phrase said there is no god but allah. The campaign for democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders is no longer allowed to access his partys voter database. The Sanders Campaign took advantage of a Software Error to access Hillary Clintons private campaign data. According to reports, at least one member of sanders staff ran searches through that database. He has now been fired. Guns are killing as many people as cars according to new numbers from the c. D. C. The statisticsnd out last year. Ten out of every 100,000 people die from firearm related deaths, the same number in car accidents. Officials say gun deaths have gone up at Motor Vehicle deaths are falling. That infamous drug company c. E. O. Is out on bail facing security fraud charges. Martin shkreli denies the claims. He became famous for raising the price of a life saving drug. This case deals with work he did earlier. A ceo has been labeled the most hated man in america. Martin shkrelis arrest has nothing told with the drug prizing controversy that thrust him into the spotlight. Prosecutors allege that the 32yearold used money from a Biopharmaceutical Firm as a personal piggy bank to pay off debt from his hedge funds. Shkreli ran his company like a ponzi scream, using each Subsequent Company to pay off defrauded investors from the prior company. He pleaded not guilty. The company he founded in 2011 sued shkreli in august, seeking 65 million. It replaced him more than a year ago because of what a Company Spokesperson described as serious concerns about his conduct. Shkreli is more widely known as the poster boy for corporate greed after raising the price of daraprim to 750 a pill this summer. It treats h. I. V. And Cancer Patients with weak immune systems to fight a parasitic infection. After public pressure, shkreli backed down, saying hed lower the cost. Earlier this month as a Forbes Health care summit, he talked about second thoughts, but not the kind you may think. I probably would have raised the price higher, is probably what i would have done. Why . I think Health Care Prices are ineelastic. I could have raised it higher and made more profits for my shareholders, which is my primary duty. Again, no one wants to say it, no ones proud of it, but this is a capitalist society, capitalist system and capitalist rules and my investors expect me to maximize profits, not minimize them or go 50 but go 100 have the curve. Shkrelis Current Company did announce in november it would discount the price of daraprim to some hospitals by 50 . Doctors and hospitals denounced the move saying the drug price was still far to high. He didnt seem phased at scrutiny surrounding him. He has been spending time Live Streaming daily activities and bragging about paying 2 million for a rare album taunting critics by writing on twitter should one of my companies change its name . Lawsuits be damned. He summed up his answers to critics this way. Try to be a c. E. O. Yourself, see how it goes. Try to maximize profits and not get kicked out of a company and let me know how that goes for you. Mary snow, al jazeera. Questions over that album led the f. B. I. To tweet this, that it hasnt seized any of his physical assets, including that album. Only one copy exists and shkreli said hes not interesting in sharing. Giving a 100,000 bonus to each worker, almost 1400 of them. It is a privately held oil and Gas Exploration companies in the u. S. It is ranked 20th on forbes best companies list. You think our bosses or listening . Were small her than that company. Expectant mothers and fathers will get eight weeks of paid leave and be eligible for eight weeks bonding time. It applies to adoptions. That begins january 1. Homes losing power after heavy rains causing flooding, trees down, tasks snarled, street lights out. In one city west of portland, several homes had to be evacuated. A sinkhole swallowed a car. Lets bring in Nicole Mitchell. Where are the storms heading from here. They stay confined to the west. It takes them a while to get across the country, so maybe your holiday gift is warm weather depending where you are. As we head toward stealth, this is the fact for the next few days. Every day, we have chance for rain, running above average, we had mild weather a couple of weeks ago but definitely that has changed now. Heres all that moisture. You can see it was really heavy at the beginning, slightly lighter now over the next few days. Northward toward the coast would be the heaviest amount, four, five, six imps of rain, so not as heavy as previous rounds. The Higher Elevations, that is areas of snow. The system is packing a lot of wind with it, those are some of the Different Things that were going to have to monitor. Because of that wind, you can see just a couple of isolated areas of red in wyoming. A ground blizzard warning in effect, because the winds are so high. Its not even new snow so much, its just blowing around everything thats out there. Those are some of our concerns. Into the day tomorrow, more moisture spreads into portions of california. Southern pores of california lighter but needed rain. It moves interior. By the time it finally gets to the midwest in the central portion of the United States, were talking more likely into sunday, so break for the midsection for a couple days. They are saying the warm weather is putting a damper on holiday sales, because people around buying warm sweaters and coats because it is just too warm. There will be great sales after the holidays then. Smog invades beijing again. The effects of climbs change taking their toll across the pacific. Beijing is under a code red pollution alert for the second time ever. The chinese capitol is warned it will see dangerous fog through the weekend. China issued the first alert a little more than a week ago. Scientists find the affects of climbs change in unexpected places. North of san francisco, oyster farmers are in a fight against the ocean growing more acidic. Fill torres reports. This is the bay in california, a little slice of heaven about 90 minutes north of san francisco. This is where you come for the freshest oysters. Order for missy. Served straight out of the bay. This is also one of those places where the future is now. Climate change is a reality here. All along this bay, oyster farmerles are fighting a hidden enemy, Ocean Acidification. This is an Ocean Acidification monitoring system. Tessa hill is associate professor at u. C. Davis laboratory and this is her makeshift lab. Cant get any closer to the action, right inside the pump room at one of the largest oyster farms here, the Hog Island Oyster company. So that actually gets so bad that oysters will dissolve. Right now, its getting bad enough that the oysters are stressed by it or its not easy to make shell. Techno first came to the bay and Hog Island Oysters in 2013. Weve come back to the bay to see if anything has changed. Hey, guys. Were heading on to the bay to check out a potential solution tessa and the team is researching. Sea grass is actually getting closer to the surface. Turns out sea grass is showing promise mitigating the effects of c. O. 2 in the water. Sea grass, because it is taking Carbon Dioxide out of the water. It is removing it in a local area andburg against the impact of Ocean Acidification in a very small area. In los angeles, im phil torres for al jazeera. You can catch the rest of phils report tomorrow at 5 30 p. M. Eastern, 2 30 p. M. Pacific. One person working to stop Climate Change is the son of jacks cousteau. My grandfather was present at the 1992 rio conference which laid out the mandate and was the first step in definitely object the United States framework on Climate Change which is the mechanism through which all of these conferences are convened. I like to think about my grandfather first and foremost as a problem solver. That is the legacy that i inherited whom my father and grandfather, jacque. It is a tremendous threat to this planet and people. If we keep Global Warming beneath two degrees centigrade, that is the first time that weve had that kind of global con sense, it sets a clear goal for the global community. Water is the greatest crisis we face and its only being exacerbated by things like Climate Change, but also our growing population. When my grandfather was born in 1910, there were 1. 6 billion people on this planet. In 100 years, weve gone from 1. 6 billion to about 7. 5 billion. Thats an incredible increase in people. We are facing a crisis of Epic Proportions unlike anything the human race has ever had to face before in its history. The oceans have become so acidic over the last 150 years or so, that if you, our human bodies have p. H. Balance. This our bodies become as acidic as the ocean has already become, we would be suffering from a condition called acidosis and we would be in the hospital. I look for opportunities in the ways and levers that are most effective and impactful to create change. Thats why we started Earth Echo International when i got out of university as really the youth strategy for the environmental movement. Young people are the best tool and mechanism that exist out there to change society and to change the behavior of duties. I see kids that dont nope the meaning of no, that raise their hand and say why cant we do this, im going to change this, pass a law, work here, do this. It gives me the hope to believe that the human spirit and the human will will triumph over the challenges that we face. He is doing so much to carry on his fathers legacy. I remember as a kid watching the calypso. The wait is over for millions of fans. Star wars, the force awakens hits theaters and it is already paying off big and not just for the studios. A collision sports side ending one fans night in cleveland. If you didnt notice, star wars the force awakens officially opened at midnight and is setting more records. Fans lined up for hours to get into early screenings. Its expected to earn hundreds of millions of dollars this week. Fandango sold more tickets to it than any other film in history. Not just the studio going to be making big money. A lot of people were seeing green even before opening day. Fans filled theaters to watch old star wars movies. Im really excited to see it on the big screen. They are buying old star wars toys and a new one. This is kind of what every entrepreneur waits for in their professional career, the time where you have a product that the whole world wants. Jedi arobics, anyone . Before anyone saw a minute of the new movie, a lot of people were cashing in. Disney bought looks film. The new film cost 200 million to make. This movie alone just in theaters has the potential to earn over 2 billion worldwide. Ed a to that the potential for merchandising. Down the road, the home video component, some people are saying it will be over 10 billion in revenue based on that 4 billion investment for disney to buy looks film, thats a good bet. Experts say the big bucks for the new film should roll in immediately, no film has ever made 100 million in a single day, but the force awakens broke that barrier on presails alone and could take in more than 250 million on its opening weekend. I think that were on the verge of potentially one of the biggest single days in Box Office History for any movie with the force awake bees. For theater owners hoping to get us off our couches and into the theaters, the new film is a great Holiday Season gift. Collective goose bumps is going to translate to big dollars and just a love for going to the Movie Theater to see great films with other people who are like minded and want to have a great experience outside the home. While any star wars movie would be much anticipated, there are overwhelmingly positive views. Its had 97 positive reviews. The force awakened overseas before here in the u. S. How is it doing so far . Doing well. It set opening day records in belgium, finland, norway, switzerland and netherlands earning more than 14 million so far. Stronger forces with this one. Im speechless. In a galaxy not so far away, roll the tape, scientists found what they think is a light sabre. I cant believe you did that. Capturing this image of a young star located 1300 light years from earth, the star produces jets of energized gag that i think John Henry Smith has been inhaling. They say it looks like a light sabre from star wars. The wife of p. G. A. Champion jason day was crushed as lebron james dove for a loose ball. If you ever met lebron james, you do not want to be crushed by this man. It happened as the Cleveland Cavaliers played the oklahoma thunder. After the game, he expressed regret for what happened. Going for a loose ball, trying to keep a possession going and hating the result. She was treated at a hospital and released. James later tweeted i hope youre doing ok. My apologies. Hope you come back to another game soon. How would you say this next line . The force is strong with bolt of you. How about that . Pretty good . That works. Thats it for us here in new york. Im stephanie sy. Im del walters. Coming up, more on that summit at world powers try to find a political solution to ending the word in syria. For the latest news at any time, go to aljazeera. Com. Have a great day, and a great morning. Talks an syria get underway in new york as world powers try to find Common Ground on a way forward. Hello, this is al jazeera live from doha. Also ahead, outgunned and under pressure, kurdish fighters in iraq appeal for more help in the fight against isil. The u. N. Said refugee numbers are at record levels and millions more will soon be on the move. A Dutch Court Rules that oil it. Shell can be sued in the netherlands for oil spills