And we begin this hour with breaking news. Israel says it has foiled attacks. Lisa stark is following developments for us in washington, d. C. Lisa, good to see you. What do you know . Reporter tony, the israelis said they arrested three men. Two are from east palestine, one from the gaza strip. Their plan was to attack the u. S. Embassy in tel aviv and an International Conference center in jerusalem. The men were recruited through the internet by a group in the gaza strip with connections to alqaeda. Were told that the recruiter actually told these men that he was working behalf of al wahiri. That is the first time that alqaeda is directly linked to an attack inside israel. The attack was to be carried out by five unidentified men who would fly into israel with russian passports. The israelis are saying although the attack on the convention center, the potential attack was further along in its planning stages, they dont think the group would have been able to carry out the attack on the u. S. Embassy. Very interesting. What is the u. S. Reaction so far, if any . Reporter well, the state Department Said it has been in touch with the israelis, as you can imagine. At this point there are no plans to change security at the embassy. Employ a wide range of security measures for employees who work around the world, and certainly here. I defer you to the government of israel for the specific miswe dont discuss all of our security measures. We already have high security at our facilities there. If we need to take additional measures im sure people will. Im not aware of any. Harf also said that they cannotthe u. S. Would not independently confirm what the israelis are saying about this plot, but she did say they have no reason to believe that its not true. These men were arrested way back in december on the 25th. But the gag order was just lifted. Thats why were finding out about it today. Lisa stark for us in washington, d. C. Thank you. The atmosphere was anything but peaceful today at the conference that is aimed at ending syrias threeyearold civil war. Representatives from the Syrian Government and option met face to face for the First Time Since the conflict began. They have different views for Bashar Alassads future. The u. N. Envoy on syria said he will meet with each side individually tomorrow to see if they can sit down for talks on friday. Secretary of state john kerry said peace efforts are far from over. What you see between the opposition and the assad regime will not be the full measure of effort being extended in order to try to find a solution here. Without going into detail i would say to you that lots of different avenues to be pursued, including continuous support. Nick schifrin joins us from montreux, switzerland. My good innocenc goodness, therp difference on day one. Reporter Bashar Alassad refuses to consider stepping down from power. Hes even talking about running again even though the stated goal of this conference, the goal that his delegation has accepted is to remove him from pow and turn in a transitional government. Hes dismissing that idea. U. S. Officials are pushing back against that. Given the gap, given the difference between these two sides the u. S. And others are having a hard time to find small steps towards peace. In a conference, two sides yelling at each other. The man is a pro government journalist, the woman is antigovernment. This may be one moment outside of the conference, but in the Conference Hall the differences are just as divided. There is no way, no way possible in imagination that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain legitimacy to govern. One man and those can no longer hold an entire nation and region hostage. In response the syrian foreign minister said assad had no intention of stepping down. He delivered a speech that many call incendiary and waved his finger at the u. S. No one in the world has the right to give legitimacy or withdrawal legitimacy from legitimate government in syria but syria. Reporter the government is accused the torturing proteste protesters. Opposition said its true emptitive of the syrian people. The millions displaced from their home because of the bombings from wa warplanes, artillery and scud missiles. The opposition in the u. S. Called the assad regime intrangegent. I want to finish my speech. Then i have to give more time you give opposition groups. You live in new york. I live in syria. I have the right the syrian version here in this forum. Yes, of course, this is my right. The opposition held a mock demonstratiodemonstration of a. Just blocks away protesters chanting loyalty to assad. So far theyre as far apart as ever. Given that gap, u. S. U. N. Return officials who are leading this official are trying to lead in small baby steps. Theyre trying to swap prisoners so the u. N. And u. S. Can reach the millions of people who need basic things like food and water that they havent been able to get. Or theyre trying to get localized cease fires. The idea of the two sides talk together and maybe that local ceasefire would expand. The two sides are very far apart. Very difficultwhile were talking here the violence in syria continues unabated. So were going to watch these talks unfold over the next few days here, and im wondering where are the leverage points, the pressure point. We always hear secretary kerry talking about pressure points. Lets talk about the syrian opposition. Does it have any leverage an at all in these talks . Reporter this is a key question, who can convince russia and assad that he cannot continue this violence against his own people. Who can convince him that he cannot act in impunity. There has been a threat of military action, that Macon Vince Assad that he cannot do. But you have kerry talking about pressure points, trying to isolate assad, trying to convince the syrian delegation here his allies and assad himself that he cannot act with impunity, and if he does diplomatically it would be too difficult for him to survive. But it has failed so far, and so the u. S. Is trying to scrounge for other tools whether its with the opposition or themselves, but the opposition doesnt have it right now. Nick, appreciate it. As always, Nick Schifrin in montreux, switzerland. Lets go to a professor of modern middle east history. Let me gauge how you feel overall about this process. On a scale of one to ten, ten being very useful, how useful is this conference . This conference is basically on the part of the americans that they have no policy at this point. There is no function that this is going to fulfill. The problem is this everyone is coming to this conference with a different set of expectations. Syrian government is saying, okay, were going to come to this conference to discuss the terrorism that were subject to from the opposition. The opposition is coming in saying we want immediate transition of assad. The americans and russians coming to the conference saying we want the implementation of geneva one, of the protocols signed in 2012. But even that, the protocols mean there will be an internal negotiation process, dialogue. The americans say there will be a transition, and of course the iranians are not there. At least theyre in the same city. Maybe theyll be in the same room later in the week. At least theyre in the same city. Theyre not yelling at each other from their various capitols. Theyre in a room. Is there a chance that in spite of the differences that youve outlined. There is really nothing useful coming out of this. The only way that this could possibly work is if both sides in syria, the opposition and government look at each other and say my god, were helplessly stalemated, and there is no solution. The major outside players, United States, russia, saud saudi arabia, iran, etc. There is no way to win this, we have to negotiate. Under those circumstance there is a possibility of a negotiated settlement. Were not at that point yet. The opposition is in disarray, even if there was an attempted ceasefire, the last time there was a ceasefire it was immediately broken by the jihadis. So were not going to get very much out of this conference at all. What is your view of what secretary kerry is doing here in the role that he is playing in this entire process and beyond that and the optimistic tone kerry is driving with these talks . Frankly, i dont know. I think there is a debate going on in the people who are watching, the state department and in particular kerry. The debate is does kerry have something up his sleep, which we dont know, or if hes delusional. Hes trying to do this in syria and in the case of the israelpalestine question, both are immovablel immovable. If the United States stops playing twodimensional chess and starts playing threedimensional chess. What does that mean . Review the iranian position in this, a win for iran is a loss for us. A win for us is a loss for iran. Its a zeroplus game. To say, look, were not going to talk about syria or the nuclear option, everything goes. Were going to talk about syria, the nuclear option, sanctions and afghanistan and the gulf. Were going to bring iran in this process and negotiate this. This is freaked out the gulf states particularly saudi arabia, so therefore professor, i have to jump in because our window with you is about to close. Thats terrific. I cant thank you enough for that. Professor james, professor of modern middle east history. Thank you very much, sir. Protesting ukraine had turned deadly, and now opposition leaders are asking for a 24hour stop to demonstrations. At least three people were killed in clashes with police in a crackdown of people disobeying antiprotest law. Barricades were built in a protest, and we have more were kiev. Reporter a new fight for old ukrainian veterans. For weeks they have kept the peace here. Now there is a new threat. Laws that give Police Powers to dismantle the protest on independent square. Their commander said theyre ready. The government should be afraid of these new laws. Weve already been scared. Were ready to stand to the very end to have the life we deserve. Even when protests turned violent on sunday, the veterans did their best to calm the crowd. Back at the main camp its not just veterans planning barriers. Theyre afraid to give names. He juggles his regular job with standing guard here every day. This protest camp is the only piece of free land in the whole of kiev. Its the only place the government has passed are not legal. Reporter this week they started carrying bats and sticks getting ready for possible vaults. Defenders say this is a criminal time that the new laws are coming in effect. Theyre reinforcing the barricades and with standing the bitter cold. This is slick ice, making it difficult for the police to approach. They have beefed up patrols, while they emphasize a peaceful approach, they are ready for trouble. I will fight. If the police bring a fight, let them know that im ready to give them the same. There is camaraderie as the men go out for another long, cold night to watch, wait, and possibly defend an area that represents freedom here. Jennifer glass, al jazeera, kiev. Protesters in ukraine have been using everything from headgear to fight against riot police. Their main course of communication is through social media. Reporter i just want to show you some of the messages coming out of ukraine. These are what the protesters are using. Theyre using shields, some have ben taken from the police. Theyre using masks and helmets, here theyre using also wood for shields. Theyre using these barricades as well as bags with sand and rocks in them. And barricades are forming them, take a look at this, saying any and all metal that can be found to reinforce the barricades. No billboard is off limits. Theyre also using the snow. This says in ukrainian snow being used for barricades. We want to show you this catapult that was built. I spoke to someone who is helping with the communications on the ground there. He said that they have some engineers that were able to put this catapult together. Youll see had here. It says right here is where the catapult is at nighttime. Through their main source of communication is through, of course, the internet and social media. Theyre using this to communicate throughout the day and evening. Ill tell you the evening is the most difficult time around 3 00 or 4th in the morning. Thats when the folks are the most tired. Thats when the clashes usually occur. Appreciate it. Thank you. Another chemical revealed to be in that spill in West Virginia. The Company Responsible ordered to disclose everything. Was the hazard worse than first reported . Australia set to launch a giant great white shark hunt in response to fatal attacks, but it is already causing a lot of controversy. Conditions. With oceans arm, its feared the welcome back to Al Jazeera America. New developments in the West Virginia chemical spill. A second chemical found its way in the elk river. Its an insolvent that could be toxic to the skin. Were joined live from charleston, West Virginia, where jonathan has been covering the story for a week. Jonathan, why are we just learning about the pph, and why wasnt it disclosed earlier . Tony, thats the big question. Health officials and state officials want to know why theyre just learning about this. We have learned that they dont believe there is any new health risk, but theyre going around and doing testing on some of the tampsamples to see if it is detectable in the water. Officials are still saying they believe the water is safe to drink. A second chemical pph leaked from a soldier tank along the elk river part of the same spill three weeks ago. When i saw that there is this new chemical, one of many, im sure, nothing at this point can surprise me, and i will never use the tap water here again, ever. State officials apparently didnt know either. They found out about the pph when they received a document tuesday afternoon from Freedom Industries. About 300 gallons of pph were in the tank. The mixture of mchm crude used to clean coal. The secretary of West Virginias department of environmental protection. According to the folks from freedom who revealed this to us yesterday, they thought they had stopped mixing that material and recently discovered it was in the tank with the mchm. Many are not convinced that theyre seeing the truth from the company or the state. They have not withheld any information. Were making as much of it available as soon as we possibly can. Now serious questions are mounting. When they knew about the second temcal, and why it took so long to notify the state. That causes the credibility to take a huge hit. Absolutely. They are fully responsible, Freedom Industries because it was their watch, their tanks. And we have repeatedly reached out to Freedom Industries to ask about the spill itself, the bankruptcy and other issues, but they have no comment at this point. The state has ordered freedom to turn over any new information. Anything that they havent told us needing to turned over by 4 00. It is now 4 30. People are now using their tap water again. Is this new information causing people to rethink that decision . Reporter some people say theyre using the tap water to wash dishes and clothes but theyre not drinking it. Thats what weve heard from the majority of the people. Some people say after the news of this chemical theyre going to wait long for drink it becausbecause they do not trustt theyre hearing is the truth. Jonathan, appreciate it. This area of West Virginia has been nicknamed chemical valley, and there have been a number of dangerous incidents. Monsanto paid for clean up after testing found a byproduct of agent orange. In 2010 a series of gas leaks in a dupont plant. And in 2008 two workers died when a pesticide waste tank exploded near dunbar. On wall street its deja vu all over. The dow fell white the nasdaq rose. Blue chips losing 41 points. Ibm was the big drag on the market its shares sinking 3 after a disappointing sales report and a breaking news from netflix. The streaming Video Company said it added 2. 3 customers in the Fourth Quarter and sales jumped to more than 1 billion. It looks like air Traffic Controllers in switzerland were able to do something diplomats have tried to do for years now, bring israel and iran together. Bloomberg news took this picture of an israeli and palestinian jet parked side by side. Leaders from both countries are attending the conference in davos. Staff took pictures of each other and even talked with one another. Well bring an interview with Hassan Rouhani right here. Hope for detroit. Well tell you about the new plan to save pensions and the citys Art Collection and the push for a lastminute appeal for mexican man set to be put to death tonight in texas. The case sparking protest in the u. S. And mexico. Every day, someone leaves their home searching for a better life. Two hours in, we come upon a body. Now, in a Breakthrough Television event, Al Jazeera America takes you beyond the debate. Experience first hand the tragic journey of these migrants. A lot of people dont have a clue what goes on until you live near the boarder. Six strangers with different points of view. I dont believe in borders. Our government is allowing an invasion. Get to experience illegal immigration, up close and personal. Its very overwhelming to see this many people that have perished. A lot of families that dont know where their babies went. I want to make sure that her life, its remembered. What happens when lost lives are relived. The only way to find out is to see it yourselves. On borderland. Only on Al Jazeera America. Any of you guys want to come to the United States . Heres a look at your top stories at this hour. Analysts say this is the first time alqaeda leadership has been collectly involved in plotting an attack inside israel. A rocky start to syrian peace talks, and there was a clash over the future of president Bashar Alassad. It almost derailed