>> good morning, this is aljazeera. these are stories we're following at this hour. after spending a year and a half in prison, egypt's long time leader mubarak could walk out today, out but not free, facing the prospect of house arrest. >> jury deliberation are set today for nidal hasan, just one day after he caught the prosecution by surprise. >> one of the countries beloved landmarks is burning, an out of control wildfire near yosemite national park has forced thousands of people to flee. >> 100-foot freeze were just

bobbing and would sink. >> a sinkhole threatens an entire community in the louisiana bayou. >> egypts former long time leader mubarak could be released from a cairo prison at any time. the 85-year-old has been held in maximum security since he was forced out of power two years ago during the arab spring uprising. wednesday, an egyptian court ordered his release. he'll be placed under house arrest awaiting retrial on charges he ordered the killing of hundreds of protestors. we are joint live from cairo. jonathan, has there been any indication when mubarak will be moved from prison to house arrest? >> that is the big question this afternoon, rochelle.

we understand that the lawyers are inside that prison south of cairo discussing the circumstances and case. as you mentioned, a court yesterday cleared the way for

the massive revolution in 2011. >> we are showing live pictures of the

there has already been such loss and blood shed that people are concentratinging on more urgent matters. >> the fort hood gunman has been acts as his own lawyer, which surprised many when he rested his case wednesday without calling a single witness. he faces execution if convicted of 45 counts of premeditated murder. >> wildfires continue to burn across much of the western united states. right now, there are more than 50 of them burning in 10 states, including at least nine new ones that were first reported wednesday. the flames have sovereigned

thousands of acres of land and the fight to contain them cost over $1 billion. melissa has more on one of the most stubborn fires. >> we've been told what is called the rim fire has spread a little today, but the containment number at 5%. that means firefighters did make some progress in another part of this 16,000-acre wildfire. it is still very much a wild wildfire, 5% contained. the local county board of supervisors have asked the governor to declare a state of emergency, seeking state assistance. the firefighters here today are from the federal level. what we've seen is a situation called p.l.5, preparedness level five, meaning the federal government is stretched to its limits in terms of resources. there are 18,000 firefighters fighting fires across the western united states at the federal level and they've spent this fire season about a billion dollars so far.

>> the u.s. forestry service exhausted all but $50 million of its annual firefighting budget. the agency plans to cut services to shift additional money to the fund. >> there are no calls for the found that nations to take action after an alleged toxics gas attack outside damascus wednesday morning. they claim hundreds of people killed and say this video shows people being treated afterwards. the government denies chemical weapons were used and it has not been independently verified. the u.n. security council issued happened. we nations security council

meeting wednesday night. many countries and even international bodies and organizations expected a stronger reaction or statement from the council, however, that did not come out. as you mentioned, it came out a statement saying that it's going to seek more clarity and look into the incident and stopped short of c

the government. >> what are we hearing from the thursday with rockets and heavy mortar rounds and air strikes, there is still no indication of how many casualties were in this area, but they are coming under heavy bombardment by rockets a day after the rebels and jordan,

thank you so much for your reporting on this. >> in tennessee, four former vanderbilt university football players have pleaded not guilty to gang raping a woman. they were form ally charged, accused of raping an unconscious woman back in june inside a campus dorm room. a fits student and football star was charged as an accessory for trying to cover up the attack. >> three oklahoma teenagers are accused of committing a murder because they had nothing better to do. on friday, 22-year-old australian student christopher lane was shot to death while scrogging. police later arrested three suspects, ages 15, 16, and 17. investigators don't believe they knew the victim and said the killing was apparently motivated by boredom. two teens were charged with first degree murder at adults,

the fourth charged with being an accessory to murder. >> san diego mayor bob filner reached a settlement with one of the women accusing him of sexual harassment. it remains to be seen whether he will step down. we have details. >> we do not know details of the tentative agreement nor do we know if that agreement includes filner's resignation. friday afternoon, the council will vote on the proposed agreement. if that vote is passed, then details will be made public. filner has spent the last three days behind closed doors in mediation talks with the city, this following his release from an intensive two week in-patient behavioral treatment therapy program that filner admitted himself into. when he made the announcement that he was seeking therapy, he said that he had failed to respect the women who work with him and work for him. he said he was embarrassed by his actions, but at that time, he said he was not stepping

down. this comes amid growing accusations from now 18 women who claim sexual misconduct by filner. this past sunday, a petition drive to recall filner was launched in san diego. this amid growing cries from within his own party to resign, including the d.n.c. and u.s. senator barbara boxer. he does have supporters, groups in san diego say he is being denied due process. the 70-year-old filner was elected mayor in 2012. he previously served 20 years in congress. >> a san diego council's vote on filner will take place during a closed session meeting tomorrow. >> good morning. i'm meteorologist nicole mitchell. i hope you are off to a fabulous thursday. let's take a look at the one active area of weather we have today. very easy to pick out this front

roll boundary through the midsection of the country. as this rolled through in parts of minnesota and iowa, created areas of severe weather into wisconsin, as well. that watch box was from yesterday evening as you can see as this pops through the area. also wind damage. that's a threat into today as that line continues to move on, possibly a little more into michigan with that particular threat. otherwise, temperatures have cooled slightly, kind of took the edge off the 90s as this moved through, to look for places like minneapolis to be 84 today, still well above average for this time of year, but not quite to oppressively hot. temperatures above average in the northeast ahead of this front. toronto, usually mid-70's, 83 is what we're expecting today. as that system moves in, not a ton of moisture with it, but parts of the east coast, just that chance for a shower or storm into today. not a washout in many areas.

across the country, we are not locking at a lot of mommy over the next 48 hours, even that tap of moisture in the southeast has dried up. still, enough moisture for afternoon showers or thunderstorms, but not what we had over the last couple days. now, as we continue, so pretty dry skies right now in the heat of the day, enough moisture that we might see pop up stuff, but kind of nice to see the sunshine in cities like atlanta, just those chances for storms. temperatures will remain in the 80's for the next couple of days. where we've been able to use the moisture, but haven't been getting a lot of it, the day is predominantly dry, a monsoon flow to the south. in the southwest, i will talk about that flooding concern coming up in the next half hour. for here, we're going to have another dry day. this doesn't show everything into california, but you can see especially into oregon and idaho, we're under those red flag fire warnings again today. that's going to be a concern with the wind helping to drive

the fires and lower humidities. >> a dramatic 911 call from the georgia school shooting. >> it's going to be all right, sweety. i want you to know that i love you and i'm proud of you. that's a good thing that you're giving up and don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. >> a heroic school employee who convinced the gunman to turn himself in. >> a massive sinkhole threatening to suck everything underwater. >> is google ready for football? why the search engine giant maybe looking to tackle the nfl. than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, can fracking change what you pay for water each month? have you thought about how climate change can affect your grocery bill? can rare minerals in china affect your cell phone bill? or how a hospital in texas could drive up your healthcare premium? i'll make the connections from the news to your money real.

>> just eight months after the school massacre at sandy who can elementary, there's been another school shooting, a gunman walked into an atlanta area elementary school firing shots. the school's bookkeeper managed to get him to surrender. parts of their incredible conversation were captured on a newly released 911 call. we have more. >> antoine tuft. >> he went outside and started shooting. >> can you get somewhere safe? >> i've got to go. call me back. >> instead of fleeing, the school bookkeeper stayed to talk to the suspected shooter,

20-year-old michael brandon hill. >> i want to let you know that you do not try to harm me or do anything, that doesn't make any difference, you didn't hit anybody. >> school children rushed to safety. police say the shooter entered the academy on thursday at noon, carrying 500 rounds of ammunition and an a.k.47 assault style rifle. the gunman told tuft he was off his medications and had nothing to live for. after firing rounds at police. tuft asked hill to drop his gun and ammunition and lie down on the floor with his hands behind his back. >> it's going to be all right, sweety, i want you to know that i love you. that's a good thing that you're giving up. don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. >> police confirmed he has a history of mental illness, arrested earlier this year and

charged with trial to kill his brother. >> i had a feeling that he was going to eventually one day do something stupid, but not this magnitude. >> he faces charges of aggravated assault on a police officer, terrorist threats and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. even though no one was injured, the incident hit home for two new town connecticut parents, who's kids were killed at sandy who can elementary. >> we are a nation in denial, and one day we're going to look back at this moment in history and say we should have acted earlier, because no parent should ever have to worry about getting their child off a bus when you've sent them to school. >> both parents say their determination is to protect

other parents from living the nightmare. >> in the wake of the shootings in new town, many schools did beef up security. why does this keep happening? joins us is matthew home land security department and founder of clps cultancy group, a school safety and consulting firm. matthew, thank you for being with us. i hadn't planned on asking this, but i caught your reaction as we watched and listened to that 911 call. what is your reaction to that? it's pretty dramatic. >> it's difficult to watch, because every time these shootings happen, people act surprised and say well, i can't believe it happened here, or what's going on with our youth. it's alarming, but i think people need to start really preparing for these types of events and trying to prevent them at best we can or we're going to see more of these. >> were you surprised or not surprised that we saw this happen? >> i'm not surprised. it troubles me as a father of three children.

i, like millions of other americans send my children to school every day, jen trusting their safety to school officials. i think it's important school officials, you know, do what's appropriate for their school to make sure that the kids that are in their school are safe while under their care. >> when you say what is appropriate, is appropriate simply more security, more bodies? what do you consider appropriate? >> there are three main areas i would concentrate. one is the mindset of the officials, the superintendents, principals. oftentimes people like to live in normalcy bias, a mental state where people don't want to prepare for things, because they don't think it will ever happen. school officials have not gotten past that. we've had a number of these incidents that they are now prepared to take steps. we are past stage one. stage two and three really has to do with security. one is physical security, and the other is preparing the faculty to respond before the police can get to the school. those are very, very important

in keeping children safe. >> as i'm sitting here listening to this, just the idea that we have to do this with our schools, i think sometimes that is still difficult for for people to digest. would you say get over that? >> i would say it would be -- our children are our most prized possessions and they are so valuable and there's nothing more important than protecting them so yeah, get over it, do what's appropriate. don't think it can't happen, but try to prevent it. if it does happen, we need school officials ready to make quick decisions to mitigate an incident so there's not more damage done when one of these i wants do occur. >> trying to minimize it. >> yes. >> thank you so much. we appreciate your insight. >> you're welcome. >> deep in louisiana's cajun country is a community being swallowed by a massive sinkhole. it's forced many residents to evacuate their homes.

the state of louisiana is suing a company they say is responsible. aljazeera's robert ray reports. >> people who haven't seen bayou corn, it really and truly is a paradise. >> one year ago, people in the small community of bayou corn began to sense something was wrong. >> you could not walk and you said. it was horrible. >> the smell of natural gas and crude oil was swirling around. the ground was trembling. >> it was may 30, 2012 that dennis landry and his wife noticed these bubbles coming straight up out of the water, natural gas, and then to the left, 500 feet down this bayou, a sing hole was forming. >> what used to be a beautiful marsh was now being sucked into the depths of the earth. >> 100-foot trees were just bobbing and they would sink. >> last summer, scientists from

around the world, state and federal government regulators arrived. assumption parish ordered the pond tear evacuation of the residents of bayou corn while officials tried to figure out what was happening. >> to our knowledge, it has never happened anywhere in the world. this is an unprecedented event. >> the state of louisiana say that houston based the accident brian is responsible, the drilling and extracting of salt from the deep camps over the years caused a collapse of the earth, as you canning the life of the above into the depths and creating danger on the surface. >> she was three when we were evacuated, now she's four. >> for karla, her paradise is gone, as she and her family left home last august. they now are part of a federal class action lawsuit against the company, seeking damages, as their lives have been shaken. >> it was hour lifetime. we planned that, and now it's gone. >> one year since the disaster, almost half the people here have

left, taking cash settlements from texas brian. for those who still live here, signs and frustration. venting wells installed to release the natural gas lurking and spreading below the community. >> the biggest danger is the gat. explosive, it's methane. >> that's the main reason people left. >> we wish we had a magic wanted to change everything. it happened and we tried to respond in an appropriate way. >> state officials say it could take three to five years to vent all of the gas, as the sinkhole now the size of nearly 20 football fields continues to grow. sliding over this man made disaster, texas brian told us thenar will dictate what will happen here, yet state officials have real doubts that bayou corn will ever be the same. for residents who have stayed. >> paradise isn't lost yet, it might be damaged, blemished, but

it isn't lost yet. >> the state is suing the company. >> >> could the nfl be headed on line? according to the los angeles times, google may be seekle a deal to stream the games on the web, prompted by roger's visit. the contract expires after the 2014 season. the nfl and google declined to comment on the story. >> ahead on aljazeera, we'll focus on china's biggest political scandal in decades, an accusation of abuse of power. >> a woman whose entrepreneurial spirit is helping people in need, one stitch at a time.

>> i'm john henry smith. a player so great, you know him by his first name. ichiro's big accomplishment, coming up on aljazeera sports.

what happens when social media uncovers unheard, fascinating news stories?

it drives discussion across america. share your story on tv and online. hi, my name is jonathan betz, and i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm an anchor for al jazeera america. i started in a small television station in rural arkansas. it's a part of the country that often gets overlooked. but there are a lot of fascinating people there, a lot of fascinating stories there. i like that al jazeera will pay attention to those kinds of places. what drew me to journalism is i like the idea that we are documenting history. al jazeera documents it like none other. and to be a journalist, and to be part of a team like that? that's an incredible blessing. >> welcome back. i'm richelle carey. >> must be maybe freed from prison. he will wait under house arrest

to be retried on charges he killed protestors during the arab spring. >> an out of control wildfire near yosemite park has forced thousands to flee. it is one of the more 150 fires burning in 10 states. >> san diego mayor bob filner has a tentative deal with the woman who filed charges against him. more than a dozen women came forward, accusing him of inappropriate behavior. >> nidal hassan spoke three words, the defense rests. >> the military judge deemed his argument irrelevant. he was limited to addressing the facts of the case. facts the accused agrees with. >> most observers would call

this a very unique trial. not only is hassan representing himself, he also told the jury on day one that he is the shooter. >> hassan is charged with 13 murders, 12 of the victims were soldiers. one was a civilian, who used a chair to rush hassan to try to top the shooting. in its case, prosecutors painted a scene of both heroism and chaos during the attack. 89 prosecution witnesses took the stand, a retired staff sergeant, who was shot seven times, a police officer who shot the attacker in the hand, preventing him from reloading and allowing her partner to take him down. one by one, the victims walked past hassan in his wheelchair, some looked him in the eye and all described him as the shooter. hassan declined to call any defense witnesses. he declined to present a case. hassan, a former army psychologist says he wants the

jury to consider capital charges and not lesser penalties. the former army major has said he would still be a martyr if executed. >> lawyers for army staff sergeant robert bales have begun making their case for leniency during the sentencing portion of his military court martial. he admitted killing 16 civilians in afghanistan last year. a military judge is hearing testimony on whether he should go to prison for life with no chance of parole. prosecution called witnesses, including an afghan man who lost six of his seven children in the massacre. bales' brother testified on his behalf, calling him a good father. >> once a rising star in the communist party, standing trial for corruption, bribery and abuse of power. he is not the only member of the family with serious legal troubles. his wife was convicted for the 2001 murder of a british

businessman. we are in hong kong with more on the story that's being followed so closely in china and around the world. craig, what happened in court today? >> he appeared in court in a white shirt flanked by two police officers. he heard the charges against him, the bribery of 4 million u.s. dollars, corruption and abuse of power for the murder or covering up the murder perpetrated by his wife against kneel hayward. he provided a very feisty and spirited defense, which wasn't expected. this trial is being seen as an opportunity by china's state party to prove to the population at large that it is rooting out corruption at the very highest levels. this was pure theater, but we didn't expect him to actually

engage the witnesses to the degree that he did. he even performed his own cross examination. we're seeing a very spirited defense here, and that is unexpected. >> what are we to make of the fact that we know so much about what is happening in court, the fact that it has been to publicized? >> well, for the first time, a micro block is being run from the court that no foreign media are allowed in. there are about 200 foreign media covering this outside. inside the court, we have 19 state media, we have five of b.o.'s family members and 84 other people. there is a micro block similar to twitter giving transcripts of the court case. what we're hearing has been very carefully censored as it's come out of the court. nevertheless, we are hearing something that we weren't to expect and that was this isn't being a very clear cut, that

b.o. is rigorously defending the charges. >> this is a very interesting, high profile case. keep us posted, craig. >> a rare glimmer of cooperation between north and south korea. they have agreed to open a factory zone located in the north, but 50,000 so you koreans work there. both countries agreed to resume operations. >> the younger biden had a biopsy last night after doctors found a brain mass. he felt week and disoriented during a family vacation last week. in a statement, the vice president said bo is in great

shape. >> pope benedict says he he stepped down because god told him to. according to the catholic wire service, benedict said god did not visit him or talk to him. he described it as more of a mystical experience. benedict now lives in a secluded house in the vatican's gardens. new orleans is taking steps to avoid some of the problems caused by hurricane katrina, rolling out the safety sculptures. they'll show which roads to take to get out of harm's way. they'll replace the signs that were so hard to find and so hard to read. >> well, always good to be preparing in hurricane season, and especially this time of year, because late august, early september is the peak of the season and we have just been so phenomenally quiet out here. my other job is air force

reserves with the hurricane hunters and i leave to do that next week. i might not have anything to do. nothing going on. usually we have about three storms in the month that form up in august. so far, we've had one that was really off to sea, so there haven't been any concerns through the month. as we continue off to the eastern pacific, relatively quiet here, too. you will see that system that we'll watch off of mexico. it could ahead northward and cause impact. the one other system that we did have, and you can pick that out pretty clearly as it spins in, a typhoon making landfall yesterday in china as it did that, causing with the terrain in that area, some areas of heavy rain and flooding and wind damage. so, getting back to the united states, we are going to see frontal boundary very clearly delineated through the midsection of the country. with that is front rounds of showers and storms. that's going to be one of our threats again today. we've got the monsoon flow into the southwest. enough of that that occasionally

with the heavy downpours, you can get flash flooding, but the majority of the reason is very hit and miss, so not looking at that. it's a concern getting that in areas that have had fires, because that ground really gets dried out and there's not a lot of absorption in the ground. midsection of the country is where we have the concern. we had watches up last night, and there's areas with hail, today that would be on going concern, as this area moves, state of michigan could be in the risk. afternoon and evening hours, watch for the wind and hail threat potentially in this region. >> coming up, a look at the southeast where we are finally start to go dry out, at least a little bit. >> thank you. the national archives released 340 hours of knicks so that white house tapes and thousands of pagion of documents that have never been seen, revealing his relationships as well as what he

was thinking about as the watergate scandal unfolded. stephanie has more from the nixon presidential library. >> nixon's presidency was defined by watergate, but as hours of new audio tape reveal, he didn't let it distract him as a mission as a peacemaker. >> we have got to build peace in the world. >> the tapes were recorded between july and april of 1973 during the height of the watergate scandal, painting the picture of an era marked by social change. a president driven by women's issues, ending the vietnam war and word peace. >> it was a change in american society that was going on, and he happened to be the president during this tremendous change. >> during one conversation with his treasury secretary, john conley, nixon talked about

disarmament. >> in one clip, nixon is speaking with brezhnev in the oval office. it was the only summit meeting ever recorded on a presidential taping system. >> between brezhnev and president nixon, it was very close, warm. they met four or five times. the president invited him out here to the western white house. >> one of the more poignant moments was recorded in april, 1973, after nixon gave a speech on watergate. then california governor ronald reagan called to show his support. >> i just wanted you to know that for whatever it's worth, i'm still behind you. you can count on us, we are still behind you out here. i wanted you to know that you're

in our prayers. >> the final recording was on july 12, 1973. the taping system was eventually dismantled when a nixon aide told congress about its existence and the president then shut it down. nixon resigned a year later in august, 1974. aljazeera, lorba linda, california. >> providing shelter and jobs for the homeless. her incredible atory, straight ahead.

>> welcome back. a new york "the young turks" reaches a mile scope, moving alongside pretty elite company. we have all the details in sports. good to see you this morning. >> good to see you. ichiro suzuki became the first japanese position flier make the leaf to major league baseball. many thought he proved too frail to survive. he has proven himself to be one of the greatest contact hitters the game has ever seen. he reached a milestone. he collected his 4,000th career hit in professional baseball. the fans gave him a standing ovation as his teammates congratulated him. ichiro has logged just over 2700 of those hits, by the way, in the majors. the rest came while he played japanese professional baseball. suzuki would likely have to play at least two more seasons to collect 3,000 major league hits.

>> tuesday at the little league world series, the team from washington state advanced to the finals game. wednesday, the teams from connecticut and california play for the right to get there, too. california was down six, nick mora carrying a big stick, the long flyball over the wall, second home run of the game. 3-2. later in the same inning, the pitcher gets past his catcher. michael gaines races home to tie the game at three apiece. top of the ninth, 6'7" atoned forgiving up a three-run homer by hitting one of his own, the game winner. california win 6-3, advance to play washington in the american championship game. >> aljazeera is in williams port and caught up with him before wednesday night's game. you will see why he is head and showed above the rest. >> he has stood out in more ways

than one, 6'4" at 13 years young. grant, you've had an amazing word series, threw a no-hitter and hit a grand slam. >> it's been a great experience, being some of the few kids that get to come here. getting to hang out with your friends is awesome. >> i know you want to bring home the title. what is your most memorable experience. >> probably the first game, hitting the stuff on to the field and to play our first game was awesome. >> not only do you have to concentrate on baseball, but a lot of tea teammates and yoursef have to do homework. >> yes, our teachers haven't given us as much, but it's something different that other teams don't have to do. >> finding so much to look up to at the little league world series. >> robert griffin iii did go

full speed a week after he ran 49 plays against the team defense. so far, his surgery repaired knee is holding up fine. >> maria is pulling out of tennis, her shoulder isn't holding up. >> we are about to introduce you to a woman with an amazing entrepreneurial zeal. she is helping those in need and sewing the seeds of opportunity for people down on their luck. >> downtown detroit on a warm and beautiful summer day, for the sun seekers here, the biting chill of a michigan winter seems very far away. but in the warehouse about two miles from the city's center, that's exactly what they're focused on, nine

seamstresses working eight hours a day to turn out winter coats for particularly vulnerable population, the homeless. >> this is the empowerment plan. it is a non-profit that employs women who have been homeless or living in women's shelters. their job here is to sew winter coats that are given to the city's dispossessed and destitute. it's founder is 24-year-old veronica scott. the idea grew out of a design class project. >> we were given an assignment to design to fulfill needs. this coat came out of that. it came out of that class project. >> her research took her to the city's homeless shelters. he she tried to figure out what people on the street really need to survive. she concluded that some kind of heavy duty garment to protect them from the elements was what they could use the most. she eventually came up with a

hand sewn prototype. >> the reaction to that first one was it's a great idea, but looks like a body bag. >> she took that initial idea and kept improving it, working on the coat and returning to the she willer for feedback. one night, veronica got into an angry confrontation with a woman at the homeless shelter. >> she said we don't need coats. we need jobs. she was angry about it. she said i'm not going to let you get off the hook with creating a bandaid. a coat on its own is not going to change everything, but figure in and hire the people that are in the shelters that would be possibly on the receiving end of these instead of just giving them the coat and hiring them. >> the empowerment plan was born. >> below zero temperatures. >> after making up a rough business plan, her college dean introduced her to the c.e.o. of a clothing giant, carhart. it went well, remarkably for a

20-year-old that lived in her grandparents basement. >> the next day, i get calls from their plant in tennessee, kentucky, mexico, saying we have two tons worth of equipment, industrial sewing machines, hundreds of yards of fabric, needles, thread, zippers, everything being shipped and we have them for this home address, is that ok? they were all being shipped to my grandparents house on two freight trucks. >> after that initial treasure trove, including these water resistant outer shells, veronica got a surprise call from general motors, offering her another key ingredient for her design. >> inside and in between,ed red and the black is this insulation. it's recycled from g.m.'s scrap made from the stuff that's put inside the g.m. door panels to insulate and sound deaden the whole car. >> this is the result, a transportable water resistant heavy duty winter coat.

it closes using velcro. it has a sleeping back built in that, entered caught taking the coat off. it's big, allowing for layers of clothing or possessions to be kept underneath. to sew it all together, that i guess where the ladies as veronica call them enter the picture. all are single moms, living in shelters, desperate to work, none with seamstress experience. >> we bring them in. we do a month of basic you are sitting in front of a machine that is basically a car motor attached to a needle. i know it's intimidating, lets just get you comfortable with with it. >> the women earn between eight and $12 an hour, interestedding on their experience. as they built their competence and confidence, many are able to leave the street life and afford places of their own. already, 15 have worked in the program. one of the newer hires is tee a

21-year-old mother of two, she ended up living in a shelter. she was separated from her children and desperate to reunite with them when a social worker mentioned the empowerment plan. she went for an interview. >> when i went in, i saw veronica and saw this is a possibility. i filled out an application and i told her don't forget my face, because you'll see me again. >> tia got the job. since starting, tia has moved out of the shelter and into an apartment with her kids. her life is very different now and even 3-year-old a tamaya understands. >> my daughter tells me all the time, mommy, i'm proud of you. she told me on the fourth of july i'm so proud of you mommy. i said why? she said because you love us and you're always taking care of us. i said how old are you?

>> detroit may be bankrupt, but very ran da is determined to show it has a heart, knowing that people will suffer this winter just like the last. the ladies will cut and back stitch and hem every day and deliver at least 4,000 of these sturdy coats to the people that need them most. it's their way of helping the homeless, and helping themselves out of poverty along the way. >> veronica scott is the founder and c.e.o. of the empowerment plan. she's joining us from detroit ve. >> skype. i want you to know how excited the team here is to speak with you and thank you for joining us so early. we appreciate it. how are you finding your workforce? how you are connecting with them? >> we are -- well thank you for having me, very excited to be here, as well. we are actually going into she willers and interviewing people that have no idea we exist and putting applications in front of dozens of individuals every couple of months.

>> fantastic. so you're interviewing dozens of people to gather your workforce. how many coats, roughly, have been produced with this amazedding workforce you're finding? >> last year, we did about a thousand coats, and distributed that number just last winter. we are halfway to our goal of hitting 4,000 coats. we actually can be possibly making close to 8500 next year with the same number of ladies. >> you have big goals and you've already accomplished such amazing things. we've heard g.m. mentioned, so there's obviously some donations involved, but where's your funding coming from? >> it's actually from mostly interactive individuals, from private donations. we were fund the for the first nine months purely by people donating $5, $10 on my pay pal button before we were even a

business. it has been private individuals and recently, more corporate sponsors. people like to be able to hand out coats in their areas, so companies from across the u.s. will sponsor 300, 400, a thousand jackets to give out in their communities. it's been very exciting to watch it expand, and watch our reach grow because of it. >> did you ever imagine it could be what it has become? >> not in my wildest dreams could i imagine what it has become. i'm going to paris in a couple weeks to talk about bringing the model and the educational system there, and we have three cities that are even in the u.s. that are really excited and want to scale to that point, and just the talking of that is mind-blowing, so i couldn't imagine. >> where do you go from here? where does this fantastic program go now? >> we're looking to become sustainable. we're lucky enough to have a

product. we don't want to depend on people's donations every year, because we have something that people want to get. we get requests all year round. we're actually going to launch a buy one get one of shoes. going to do a little tiny test launch this year, and hopefully be able to depend on that in the future, and rely on just that and ourselves. slowly, we're going to be doing disaster relief. those are two things on the docket that are exciting. when you factor in our new 3-d printer and modeling program, this is bigger than i can imagine. >> we absolutely believe in you. veronica scott, best of luck to you and thank you for your time. >> here is some of what we are covering this morning. former egyptian penalty mubarak will be placed on house arrest. >> wildfires force thousand to

say flee. >> san diego mayor reaches a tentative deal with a woman who filed a sexual harassment suit against him. >> jason heyward got struck in the jaw with a pitch, his jaw is broken. he will mission the next four to six weeks. >> we have storms in the midwest rolling toward the great lakes. i'll tell you who could be in for severe weather later today. >> aljazeera continues. i'm back with you in just two and a half minutes. thank you for your time. this is the 900-page document we call obamacare. my staff has read the entire thing. can congress say the same?

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>> good morning. it's thursday, august 22, and these are stories we are following at this hour. after spending a year and a half in prison, egypts long time leader mubarak could walk out of prison today, buffetses house arrest. >> jury deliberations begin today in the court martial of nidal hasan. one day after he caught the prosecution by surprise resting his case without calling a single witness. >> one of the countries beloved landmarks is burning, a wildfire near yosemite national park is threatening homes and forcing thousands of people to