Economic forum. Ali velshi is there. Im david shuster, and this is real money. This is real money, and you are the most important part of the show. Join in the conversation on twitter and facebook a treacherous winter storm is bearing down on much of the United States from the midwest to the northeast and a foot of snow is accumulating in some places, along the busy i95 corridor connecting washington d. C. The actions of commerce and people have been disrupted. Sand and salt used to keep the roads safe are in short supply. New jersey says they are relaxing rules for salt deliveries to get them to crews faster. Many are taking on the storm with half the budgets gone thanks to the polar vortex storm. The disruption to air travel is wider. Flight have been grounded across the country. Philadelphia international and New York Laguardia are the worst affected. 3,000 flights today were cancelled in my submission wide, 2600 delayed. According to one analyst a u. S. Airline industry lost 100 million from the previous winter storm. Its too early to tell what this storm will cost the airlines. They plan for 1. 4 billion. Still, what may be a drag for the Airline Industry could be rocket fuel for others. Bad weather causes a surge for on demand television and home flu deliveries. More americans try to stay home. Staying warm comes with its own cost. Ohio declared an Energy Emergency making it the 18th state to issue that declaration. States across the midwest issued warnings about low supplies of tax the the federal government is part of its effort extended transport orders from the last form. The goal is to exped item energy. Many people in rural areas depend on propane to heat their homes. Supplies of the fuel are low after farmers used up supplies to heat and provide corn crops. One of the States Affected includes minnesota. The High Temperature averaged zero degrees farenheit. We have this report. Living in the city is something you take for granted. You flip on the switch and the heat comes on. Miles per hour resident jeff says his family depends on propane to stay warm. Hes one of 14 Million People in rural areas dependent on propane for daily life. If i dont have the tankful, we wont have a warm house to come home to or cook our mills. Severe weather and winter storms across the midwest and northeast have caused a propane shortage. Local suppliers are panicking. We dont know when we are getting it or if we are getting it. All the propain companies are in the same boat. The u. S. Department of transportation is trying to change that. They are declaring emergencies for the northeast and northwest. It will allow strict rules. Propane prices increased more than 50 since january last year. Now the storm demanding low supply drove prices higher. Its well over 2 and keeps rising. You do what you have to do to get it done and paid for. The propane gas shortage presents particular challenges in ohio. Where 6 of households heat their homes. 20 of household heating fuel uses propane. As demand rises, the suppliers are suffering. They are running at half capacity. Craig wood who overseas day to day operations joins us from his companys headquarters. I know you are used to cold storms and winds. What makes this year different . Its been some time since we had the bonechilling weather starting in december moving into january. Its been a big problem. How are you getting the supply to the customers . We are taking supply, and limiting the amount of gallons we deliver, to help the inventories take care. The total customer base. I imagine that must irritate some customers as they run low. Or are told they have hit their quota . No, we talk to the customers and leave them with at least two, if not three weeks supply and assure them well be back to replenish their supply in a two or three week period. Explain the impact that the propane has on your business. Its our obligation to keep our customers in heat. We all have families and value what they are trying to do. Its difficult balancing the supply given the demand with the low temperatures. People burn more product, and we are making every effort to make sure that all of our customers are provided for. In addition i understand you are the president of the ohio propane gas association. What are you hearing from other suppliers, how concerned are they . Well, none of us have experienced this in our careers, so we are all nav getting the waters together, and we all have concerns about supply, because we have infrastructure issues that we are trying to deal with. We all have concerns, and the concerns are all about our customers, everyone is working diligently to provide for their customer base. What is the one piece of advice. How can they conserve propane. What do you suggest to them . They turn the thermostat down a little, keep the doors closed and if they have a fireplace, dont hesitate to use it. Craig wood, good luck this winter. We appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you. That was why the another reminder of something we talked about on the show before. Transporting fuel. It can sometimes be dangerous. On monday a Freight Train carrying crude oil derailed, unfortunately there was no fire and no one was hurt. But there is has been a string of mishappens. Last year 1. 15 million gallons was spilt, more in 2013 than the 30 previous years combine pd. The association of National Railway says 99. 9 of trains arrived safely. This is a story well follow. What you dont know about your bank account could come back to bite you. Coming up, why overdraft protection could do you more harm than good. Titans of business ali velshi is at a conference in switzerland, and well have a preview. All that and more as real money continues. American banks are making tens of millions from Overdraft Fees. These are the fees slapped op you and me when we spend more money than we have in Checking Accounts. Overdraft protection may put some consumers at greater risk of financial harm. According to analysts the decks have been stacked in favour of the banks and against Checking Account users across the nation. This mother of two learnt the hard way about the potential deng dangers of swiping her credit card. Some months i had 250 to 300 in that month. They charge me the insufficient funds, insufficient funds fees. The amount of overdraft payments that i had to make when they take out the overdraft payments, i did not have enough left to pay the rent. Shes not alone. Americans continue to rack up Overdraft Fees with 27 of all consumer account experiencing one fee in 2011. Banks make about 5 of total revenue from Checking Accounts, Overdraft Fees are a trost profit center. Last year they raked in there 32 billion. Overdraft protection allows a customer to overdraw Checking Accounts if theres no money in it. The American BankingAssociation Says its a Service Customers elect to have and provides peace of mind to know payments will be covered. Critics contend that overdraft protection is like a loan an Interest Rate as high as 5,000 . Many consumers dont know they have opted in, because the information is buried in lengthy disclosure agreements like this. In a recent survey 54 did not believe they had opted in to coverage and 75 said theyd rather have the traction declined. The form is not clear. When you open an account the banker hands you pieces of paper. If you sign away you opt in. Some banks call late Overdraft Fees is of more concern. May use traction reordering. Here is how it works. In this sample account transaction charges cause the account to beoverdrawn triggering 35. When the bank reorders from the highest to the lowest, the Checking Account is depleted, now with no money each new transaction triggers another fee. Instead of 35 the total is 140. The bank has boosted its fees by 300 . We asked several banks to tell us why they reorder from highest to lowest. Most did not respond. P c deferred to the American Banking association which said that many big Financial Institutions have been sued for unfair and fruaudulent business transactions. 14 banks, including bank of america and jpmorgan settled to the tune of 800 million. None of the banks admitted to wrongdoing. A lot of banks stopped doing this. They say they serve the right to change terms and conditions of the account at any time. While they have stopped doing it now. They can start at a later date. One bank confirmed that it processes transactions from the highest to lowest amounts, adding Congress Woman from new york wants to make banks more accountable and cosponsored a bill that requirement more transparency and regulate the fees. What i have seen is times a consumer makes three or for or five purchases, ending up with 300, 400 in Overdraft Fees. Then they are trapped with Interest Rates, keeping them in a cycle of poverty. Its a lesson jacky learnt too well. I have had it. I decided to get a bank that is safer, that doesnt do this trick. For now. The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau relates that you link check to savings act instead of opting into dangerous overdraft application plans. On twitter and facebook we ask you how do you avoid paying high fees thank you very much secretary and thank you ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi for your commitment to helping people find a knew future. I join with foreign minister Sergei Lavrov for thanking all the countries and groups around the table. I thank president and people of switzerland for making this possible. I thank the Russian Federation and mr Sergei Lavrov for his cooperation and efforts together with us, working to initiate this process. I also want to welcome the leaders of the syrian opposition. I thank them for the courageous decision they have made. Everyone here knows the pressures that existed. Today is the beginning. Its the beginning of what will obviously be a tough and complicated negotiation peace talks to end the war or a struggle like this always are tough. This is a test for all of us. All of us who support the Syrian People in their effort to end the extraordinary suffering that the world has witnessed and which continues. And it is a test of the global communities ability to come together and ultimately secure why syria where people can live in dignity and not in fear. I want to start by saying i think it is impressive, i think it is significant in and of itself, that so many countries have come together, even though we know its for one day that all the countries will be here in this forum. But all of them have come together because everyone understands how critical it is for the world to prove we have the ability to make a difference in this kind of a conflict. Lost in the daily reports of violence is the fact that this revolution did not begin as an armed resistance. This started peacefully. It was started by school boys in daara who were armed only with graffiti cans, citizens who were peacefully and limb mately calling for change. They were met almost immediately with violence. When their parents came out to protest the arrest of the children 120 people died. That was the beginning. Tragically, the Bashar Alassad regime answered peaceful demonstration after peaceful demonstration with ever increasing force. In the three years since then, this conflict has left more than 130,000 dead and its hard to count accurately, we know that. The fact is that these people have been killed by guns, by tanks, by artillery, by gas, barrel bombs, ask youed missiles. Theyve been killed by weapons almost exclusively of the magnitude not pzed by the opposition. Starvation has been used as a weapon of war. Most recently we saw horrific reports of systematic torture and execution of thousands of prisoners. This is an appalling assault. Not only on human lives, but Human Dignity and every standard by which the International Community tries to organise itself. Recognising the horrors of the humanitarian catastrophe that unfolded, the destabilization of countries and endndless exile o refugees, as a result the International Community came together 18 months ago to support the Syrian People. This has taken longer than many of us wanted to bring everyone together. We have come here to implement the geneva communique. Sergei lavrov mentioned the geneva communique. I reiterate. The geneva communique can only be implemented through the concerted effort of everyone in the room. Millions of people rely on a solution to save lives and country. We see only one option, a negotiated transition government formed by mutual consent. Now, we need to deal with reality here. We really need to deal with reality. Mutual consent, which is what has brought us here, for a transition government means that that government cannot be formed with someone that is objected to by one side or the other. That means that Bashar Alassad will not be part of that transition government. Theres no way, no way possible in the imagination that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain the legitimacy to govern. One man and those who have supported him can no longer hold an entire nation and a region hostage. The right to lead the country does not come from torture, nor barrel bombs, nor scud mice ills. Its hart to believe consent would not be forthcoming. Just as there can be no place for the perpetrate yore of violence, nor for the thousands of violent extremists who spread hateful ideology and worsen the suffering of the Syrian People. As we talk about terrorism, make no mistake it is the presence of the current introns gens of the government that makes the problem worse, creating a magnet for terrorists. Until a transition takes place, theres no prayer of reducing the increase of terror. Theres another way forward. It is what this conference is organised around. It is the geneva communique, which has the support of the International Community as a peaceful roadmap for transition, and the only thing standing in its way is the stubborn clinging to power of one man, one family. I believe the alternative vision of the Syrian People is one that can gather the report and support of people around the world. It is a place that does not force people to flee or live in fear. A syria that protects the rights of every group. We have not only an opportunity, but an obligation to find a way forward so that the people of syria can choose their leadership, know peace and for 9 million refugees, finally be able to return home in dignity. My final comment is this. There are in this room all of the players who have the ability with the exception of one or two to have an impact on the choices that are made here. People who are supporting different groups are here. These people have the ability to affect the outcome. And if we put our common energies together, we can forge a resolution that can provide peace to the region, and peace to the people of syria. I hope we will succeed. I thank his excellency secretary of state john kerry for his statement and leadership in this issue. Good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. Im thomas drayton. Here are the top stories we are following. Delegates from syria and around the world are gathered in switzerland for a longawaited conference. This is a live look at that meeting. Its the First Time Since the war that opposing sides have come together. Investigators learn of a previously undetected material that seeped from the West Virginian water tanks into the elk river. Thousands have been told not to drink the river. A storm has slammed the northeast. 3,000 flight were cancelled after five airports were hit with heavy snow. A state of emergency was declared in delawardelaware, ne jersey, and washington. Russia is searching for suicide bombers black widows. Police believe they may try to attack the games. Police have identified the women and its believed one has made it past security into sochi. Violence between police and protesters because of a law cracking down on protests in ukraine. Police fought back with tear gas. Injuresies are reported on both sides. Those are the headlines. America tonight is next. On america tonight, home alone. An indepth look on American Education takes us inside home schooling. Can it be a prescription for abuse and neglect . We hear stories of kids 10 years old that dont know their alphabet. There are kids that will fail, and theyll fail whether they go to Public School or not. Outcry after a japanese dolphin hunt. Do