welcome to al jazeera america. here are tonight's top stories. as the first day of the government shutdown nears it's end. congress is no closer to putting an end to it. tonight republicans put forward a resolution that would have opened national parks and monuments. withs defeated with rubs saying the republicans can't pick and choose what they are going to open. today was the first day of the the obamacare. several exchanges had problems with access to their sights and slow web pages and missing information. in syria westminster inspectors

are back to oversee the destruction of the chemicals weapons. they have nine months to complete their mission which calls for finding and taking apart an destroying the thousand ton argues nel they'll be working in the mid of the syria three-year civil war. israeli prime minister questioned iran's president's trust worthiness calling him a wolf in sheep's clothing. israel is ready to stand by itself against iran's nuclear ambitions. that is the news at this hour. get your latest on al jazeera.com. >> on "america tonight." >> feeling the pinch. >> the pain is already

being felt outside of the beltway. >> what would you say to our politicians in washington right now? >> i would say if i couldn't billion my budget i would be out of a job. >> unwelcome neighbors. an overwhelming crush on the jordan community forced to host them. and a new view south of the border. once known for it's trashy ways and tequila laced night life tijuana gets a make over. >> people are just enjoying the city. that is the biggest difference between now an before.

>> good evening and thanks for being with us. >> i'm joie chen. the two parties that could have ended the mess. one neither is willing to budge and two, it's obviously the other side's feult. >> the tea party is still insisting they can't approve the funding measure unless they can delay the obamacare. and president obama and the lawmakers say it's just not going to happen. from the rose garden he laid the crisis at his opponents feet. at midnight last night for the first time in 17 years the republicans and congress chose to shutdown the federal government. >> one fa faction of the governt

shutdown the government. >> pass the government and end the government shutdown. pay your bills. prevent an economic shutdown. don't wait, don't delay, don't put our economy or our people through this any longer. >> joie: caught in the mi middlf this the federal workers and the community they live an work in. just before the shutdown took econfideneffect at midnight thet signed a measure it to say that the military will be paid. on the growing frustrations andin anxiety in their communities here is adam may. zplanchtaberdeen proving groundn maryland is typical of army bases around the country. 23,000 people make a living on these grounds, a mix of active duty personnel and private contractorcontractorscontractorl

defense. but now because of the government shutdown the parking-lot a are empty. >> what would you say to the politicians in washington right now. >> i would say if i couldn't balance my budget i would be out of a job. >> she is one of the few working at stg they help effect military applications they have sent 100 people home and tomorrow she expects she will be next. >> a lot of my friends and colleagues they are having a hard time with it. it used to be working for the government is the most stable job you can have. we have people looking for jobs in other industries where they feel there is more stablity. >> jill is with the army aliningsalliance. >> we are worried about the

young folk. i don't know why they would want to take this job with this unstephauncertainty. will i go to work tomorrow or not go to work tomorrow. is the program i'm working on is that going to be funded. >> many believe that congress is hurting national security by failing to pass a real budget at aberdeen the shutdown has put defense projects on hold. like work on safety gear for u.s. troops. experimenting with new technology. like robotic unmanned vehicles and testing of new weapons systems. >> we want to go back to doing budgets. you have to have a budget and not a continuing resolution for new programs to get started. and so much innovation is occurring around the world and within industry. and if the military, itself, cannot continue to fund new

programs and reset it's priorities, we start getting behind the curve ball. we can't give the best equipment to our service folks anymore. >> you are saying this is putting our national security at risk? >> absolutely. it's going to have a national and homeland security impact. >> interestinthicktrickle down . >> the government shutdown has hurt tuesday's lunch business. gino's one of many local owned businesses feeling the pinch. >> jim richardson runs economic development for hartford county, maryland. 20% of this economy is tied to the proving ground. >> if there is a reduction in income we don't get the income tax and the sales tax that goes on with that. >> fears are that a prolonged government shutdown could be devastating. >> we need to get the bee budgen order and pro wha provide what s

necessary which is a plan for people to do business. >> there is a snowball effect that is going on here. some people that got paid today and may not get paid tomorrow. possibly up to 18,000 employees could be furloughed here in maryland. the same thing is being repeated across the country. hundreds of thousands of workers bracing for a loss of income. and there could be a huge riple for the entire economy. >> joie: and certainly for individual families. especially makes decisions going forward. >> it's been a tough time for people especially in the defense industry. there is a couple that is considering refinancing their home. they were about to go to closing and they decided to put that on hold right now. another person was to get

elective surgery and they put that off. this affects more than government workers. there is a trickle down effect where there is a bank and refinance situation and a hospital in that healthcare situation. it's like a spider web that will slowly creep through the economy. and the longer it goes on, a lot of analysts say the worst did can get. >> joie: here to talk more about the fall out of the government shutdown. jeff, bol both of you have been around for the previous shut downs. we are all in middle age here. we have been in the previous shutdown and the near shutdown of 2011. folks at home don't understand necessarily for federal workers it's not just today we are talking about, it's an experience they hav they have bg for years.

>> for the last years many have been furloughed and they have not had pay raises for four years. a lot of folks have been doing extra work because jobs have not been filled. and they have not been getting pay raises and they have been furloughed and now the federal work force has been furloughed because of the shutdown with no end in sight. >> joie: and there is the question of the sequester hanging over a lot of units as well. when we talk about impacts as adam talked about in that community, do you have a sense that there is a response in the heartland. the communities are recognizing this is not just to do with the bureaucrats it has to do with all of us. >> gentlemeyes because of the s. television stories of people who are suffering or who are putting off medical procedures. they see it on television and that makes it real. that could happen to me.

their reaction is one of disgust and contempt. in washington how could we as a great country run a country like this. >> joie: do the folks on capitol hill hear that or is that going on indefinitely. >> we are seeing members of the house saying we can't go on like this. we are getting too many calls and protests and people are laughing at us. and we can't go on like this. they are talking about making a concession here an restor here s programs. the house republicans but what about the tea party republicans. the tea party republicans file thefeelthey are fighting for pr. the core princple. really it's about budget. budgets is money. money is numbers. you make a deal, you can

compromise. it's a right or wrong. values can't be com compromisedd some think that obama is an ill wilillegitimate president and ty want to bring him down. >> joie: we talked about 800,000 employees being out. the riple effect the closing down the government takes money. the employees that were furloughed today went to work today. they worked a half a day shutting down. they won't get paid for that until the furloughs are over, the shutdown is over. >> joie: if then. those folks will get paid for that half day because they did work. a lot of things were going on before then. a lot of agencies have been working on shutdown plans. these plans have been in place for a while. when i was running hvmen hr fore

2011 shutdown. we spent a lot of time on what positions would come to work and what we would pay for a and whih ones we couldn't pay for. all of that was going on that we were supposed to be doing work. good productive work didn't get done because we were engaged in the shut do yo shutdown exercis. >> joie: it does make some people essential to the function of the government. that is a black cloud that hangs over you. hey bill you are not essential but you, jeff you are essential. isn't there going to be anger and hostility when they do come back. it's a lousy word to use. they started to use the words exempt or accepted. exempted are the people that can't work because they are not paid out of appropriation.

and accepted those folks will stay working. >> joie: are they guaranteed they will be paid. those folks are not guaranteed to be paid. it's up to the goodwilwill of congress. >> congress could vote on that in ten minutes. and 20 200 democrats will vote r did and probably the republicans that are getting nervous like peter king who is complaining about this. it would easily pass the house. the leadership of the house is so spooked by the tea party they won't let it go to the floor for a vote. what does that mean? it means we have a minority government. some 40 or 50 tea party republicans are blackmailing the congress and the countr country.

>> joie: holding the country whoshostage. do they understand what they are up against? >> i think everyone understands what is going on right now. i know talking to the federal employees they feel like they are pawns in a badly played chess game. they are the collateral damage. they are the ones you can sacrifice. it's not sitting well with them. there are a lot of people who have other options. there are folks that are in demand and talking about leaving government. >> there are questions about why any young person would want to enter into government. >> it's a great sales pitch. come to work for us we won't give you a pay raise for four years and come work for us. it's a difficult pitch. >> joie: that is a difficult pitch to sell. >> it is, this country is one of the few i in which government service is not highly he is est.

there was a move a couple of years ago where a woman says i am going to go to washington. her friend says, why. she says i'm going to find a husband. and she says, wait a minute everyone in washington is either gay or without a job. >> joie: can you see away out in the short term. the short term the democrats would say okay we'll delay obamacare for a year. but they can't for a simple reason. if they delay obamacare there won't be an individual mandate. young people and healthy people won't sign up for the program. we have seen a rush of applications just today. but most of those people are older and sicker people that need the insurance. if they go on the rolls and the younger people don't because they are not going to pay a fine, you will see insurance

premiums sky rocket and the whole program is going to fall apart. that is why you can't delay it without destroying the program. bill schneider and jeff neil thanks for coming in. appreciate your insight. when we return we'll look at a community of refugees. >> and challenges you might not expect.

the united states have agreed to take in the refugees. we don't know how many yet. but it's a big change to the international approach to syrian refugees. an acknowledgement that syria's closest neighbors can't shoulder the burden alone. we sent jane raft to assess the challenges in jordan. >> she is a young mom who thought she would have a middle

class life her parents had. but for thousands of others that dream has been slipping away. she a and her husband blame the syrian refugees. >> her husban her husband had his own graphic design business. >> the situation is very difficult. if i put myself in the place of any syrian family, someone like me who has two daughters, of course you would go to a neighboring country. but i feel like our country has become like a hotel. a lot of people are coming in but there is no plan. >> ama middle class life and pre-school for the kids used to cost $1,400 a month. wages have fallen a and rents he doubled. they can't afford to stay and they can't afford to move. bardice has been looking for work for a year.

she has worked in hair and make up and marketing and would take work in any of those fields. >> before i used to fine work -d work when i didn't want to work. but the situation is getting worse. i want a job but they want sir sirians. >> most of the million refugees are not in the camps. >> they are living in the cities. this chec chicken shop had four stores in d dasmascus. the owners relocated to egypt and then to imman. jordanian customers love this dish, but they don't love the effect the huge rise in population has had on their country. >> obviously the prices go up. real estate goes up an ren and t goes up. it's a bit tougher. you have places like that raise

the competition across the field. you have workers that come in, although they are taking jobs from national citizens, but at the same time, they are providing good quality work for cheaper. >> that cheaper labor is good for consumers but not for juror jordanians that can't find jobs. amar had a men's wear shop in dasmascus. here he works seven days a weeker. >> ldays adays a -- aweek. nearly ten hours a day for $350 a month. >> so does his counterpart. with so many people willing to work for less, wages have dropped across the country. syrian amar has been find four times for not having a work permit. >> can i speak honestly.

you won't get upset. i have never ever seen such prejudice in jordan. you are syrian you should not work. even when the permit man comes he says you are syrian you should not work. leave it for a jordanian. >> this is a slow day at the school in iraq. children normally sit three to a desk at the school. this is one of the sirians thist account for 10% of the student population here. only a fraction of syrian children that live here are even in school. there are even bigger problems, shorshortages of water and electricity and healthcare, and subsidized bread. >> the syrian refugees have

negatively impacted the level of services provided whether education, health or infrastructure or housing and water and health as well. we look at the population of 250,000 and it's received an influx of 8000 sirians. 800 800. >> the main hospital is having trouble dealing with an influx of refugees. many have diseases that are costly to treat. and intensive care is particularly overloaded. >> for all of our city and from the migration of syrian citizens. there are more and more and there is a shortage in a big town. >> it doesn't always seem like it but jordan is a big country and the south is the poorest part. even before the refugees arrive there were serious water shortages and over crowded

schools. there have never been enough jobs. >> the employment here is 20% and unofficially a lot more. >> the jordonians are losing patience. >> the syrians are filling up the country. they take salary and get relief and we here can't find bread. >> he says syrians getting refugee benefits live a million times better than jordonians do. >> we believe the government should take the refugees away. because jordon ya jordonian cite without homes. >> i have two children out of work. we used to make $450 a month. it was dent.

-- decent. but now they are taking over. with no sign of a conflict ending they say a country that is your viethatis yourthatithat. we'll ask how the communities in his state comment on what is happening here in washington. standby.

>> joie: now a snap shot of the stories making headlines tonight. another warning from israelly prime minister ne netanyahu not to trust iran. he says the president is a wolf in sheep's clothing. aamongst thit was launch dar obamacare. the first day americans could sign up for coverage under the

care act. so many people logged on they clogged the computer system. nasa turns 35 on the first day of the government shutdown. hardly anyone was around to celebrate. two astronauts are on board of the international space station. there was no celebration at yosemite national park. on it's anniversary the park in ordinary years was also closed. you might have noticed google's doodle did commemorate that occasion. here in washington we are adjusting to the closed echos of the malls a and museums here. we have congressman keith ellis on. ellisson. what do you hear.

do folks pay attention. >> people are focused on this day. today a number of people showed up at the social security offices. they had questions and needed help and neededde needed assistd they didn't get any. hundreds of people were turned away when they needed assistance from social security. people that work in national parks, the mississippi river in minneapolis is a designated national park too. people that work there are deal with lay-offs. it's hurting, it's hurting people and people are very concerned. they are having difficulty figuring ho out when is it goino end? how did we get to this place. obvious questions that deserve answers. >> joie: what folks really want to know is where is the end and how are you going to get there? what is your answer. >> no one knows when the end is. i believe the end is when the

house republicans ultimately put on for a vote, the senate clean continuing resolution that was passed several days ago now. >> joie: which would allow the funding for the government to go for. it would be a continuing resolution and you have other issues of debt ceiling hanging over in the balance. >> absolutely. >> joie: there was a comment by speaker b ovment boehner. i think it's clear where he thinks the blame lies why not go to conference and movie forward with talking to find a solution? >> the important thing to understand is that was a

parliamenparliamentparliamenta d with keeping the government open. when they went to conference on the cr they knew there was an hour or two before the government shutdown. and by moving the conference they refused to put it on the floor for a vote and there for we went to the shutdown. we have been asking for conferees on the overall budget since last march. boehner has refusionefusion reft conferees on the whole budget. this move to go to conference on the continuing resolution, what they are trying to do is get us to compromise on the affordable care being a. the affordable care act has been fully litigated.

>> joie: why not compromise on it. why not say we'll take a delay of a year. >> is cancer going to take a delay of a year? >> joie: it doesn't mean that the people couldn't enter it. it's just the mandate part of it. >> you need the mandate that is what makes the risk pool large enough to bring the costs down. that is why you have a big giant risk pool you have people who are really sick or really healthy you put them all in the pool and you spread the risk and that whthat is why it goes down. that is why it's a problem to yank out that single mandate. the supreme court asked the question, is this mandate constitutional? yes it is. the american people by five million people said i like that obama guy. and the republicans have put a bill on the floor to repeal

obamacare 45 times. and so now they are saying, we won't fund the government unless you get rid of obamacare. and we are like we have seen this movie before. we have done this, that's it. >> all right, back to your constituents and what you can do to serve them in these days an whoeveandhow ever long these da. what is going on up there on the hill. are you working? is your office staff? did you have to put your people on furlough too. >> no my staff is working very hard. wwe have a lot of calls on what it means. we are fielding calls on housing and veterans affairs. >> joie: aren't they asking, look congressman what you are doing personally to stop it. are members that are giving up their paychecks and donating

them, how about you? >> giving up my paycheck is not going to stop this shutdown. i'm opposed to this shutdown and i'm ready to vote in an instant to re-open the government because i think the shutdown is wrong. if i give up my pay it won't help anyone. and it will reinforce the idea that government service is not worth paying for and it's not worth very much. i haven't bought into this give up your pay concept. and here is the other thing. it's a distraction from the real issue. what is the real issue, the shutdown. why don't we give everybody back their pay. get those people back in and make sure that everybody is working. >> to me the whole pay thing is a stunt and it takes away from what we really should be doing, which is getting the government back open. >> joie: congressman we appreciate you coming over. >> thank you. >> joie: looking ahead we are going to preview the reporting

from soldad o'brien, when night fall hits haiti fear takes over. >> it's nighttime in haiti and besides our light there is no light whatsoever. which means it can be dangerous. >> especially dangerous because women are unprotected in these camps. >> america tonight special contributor. goes door-to-door on a quest to stop sexual violence. a day in the night tomorrow on this program. after the break here tonight, passing on a message. the life an death conversations faced by every family and have a start at it. news stories? >>they share it on the stream. >>social media isn't an afterthought. it drives discussion across america. >>al jazeera america social media community,

on tv and online. >>this is your outlet for those conversations. >>post, upload, and interact. >>every night, share undiscovered stories.

>> joie: the government shutdown, the budget battle, all of this ties back to the bitter bicker over the president's program to bring affordable healthcare to americans. there is another struggle over american healthcare in homes across the nation. a personal fight faced by many families over the end of life. we know that most americans want to die at home. but most of us made our end in hospitals or nursing homes how that could change might begin with a tough talk on how w how t to die. >> my name is joe nyre. i am 40 years old. i was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. it's the most dangerous brain cancer there is. the medium is 1 14 months from

diagnosis. the standard protocol is to be on chemo for life. 14 days on and five days off. i did five days on and it took me 13 of the 14 days to get off the couch and do what i love. for me it's more about quality of life than quantity. i opted not to continue the chemo protocol at all. it was too much time of feeling horrible. and very, very slim gain. >> joe spoke to his family making it clear how he wanted to be cared for and how he wanted to die. >> if i got pneumonia or something like that i would go to the hospital, if it's a treatable condition. if it's related to brain cancer i want to stay home. if it goes that route, i know

the end is coming, i don't want to be away from here. i can see and feel people going, gosh why isn't he doing everything he can? i am doing everything i can. i am doing what i think is best for everyone involved, myself and the family. >> family. i knew for me an joe i and joe e way to go. >> the kind of death joe envisions is rare. the study showing that most americans would prefer to die at home. more than two-thirds die in a hospital or in a nursing home. many after stays in an intensive care unit like this one. >> he is a o of 56-year-old decd respiratory drive. a probable bacterial meningitis and a lot more lab abnormalities. temperature is 103. her daughter is here.

her husband does not understand she is doing very badly. >> it's very serious. >> today the doctor and her team are treating a 60-year-old woman with multiple organ failure. >> this is the patient who just came in last night who became very ill very quickly. we don't know which way it's going to go. i think it's important that it's clear to the family that the patient is almost as sick as she can be. do you have any questions right now? i know it's overwhelming. we don' don't know if she will survive this. we have pushed the limits as far a sedation. we have to talk about what the patient would want. in terms of remaining on life fort fosupport for a prolonged . >> the nurse has worked here for 14 years. patients get severely ill and nobody is disgusted.

families are not ready to go. and they will stay to the staff, of course mom would want everything done and other members would be like, no she wouldn't want that done. and the way i help and a lot of us do, is to say to the family members if your mom were listening to us, what would she be telling us to do. or what was important to her in her life? i think if decisions were made by patients prior to their admissions and expressed to their family, then a lot of the suffering that goes on right now would be a be avoided. >> that is the goal of the conservation project. we want people to go to the kitchen table with the people they love and have a conversation about what it is they want. my interest in this subject really grew out of the end of my mother's life. i was faced with a cascading number of decisions for her

healthcare. and i wasn't always certain what she would have wanted. i often wished i could have said, mom, is this what you want me to do. >> is this whado? is this what you want to have happen to you. the project website has tools to help families think about and talk about what kind of death they want. >> when you ask people how they want to die, 70% of them say they want to die at home, for example. home is not a geographic place, necessarily, but it's an idea. it's away you want to die peacefully, not in pain. surrounded by people you love. not in the icu. people are not dying in the way they would choose. that is a big motive for the conservation project. >> that is how jay felt about his father's death. he and his wife decided to have

their conversation with their daughters, starting with 22-year-old kaitlyn. what did you feel went wrong with gran grand pa'spa's passin. >> when he got sick at the end i don't know if he knew who should pack the decisions. >> some family members thought grand glpa should go to the intensive care unit and some felt he should stay home. >> if something happened to me today i would not want to be kept alive by medicine if i didn't have a chance to recover or if i didn't know you. >> if there is something going on with me, you don't know how things would turn out, say is mom actually going to get better, or is she going to live or never talk to us again. >> okay ncht. >> for me what the important

thing is it's not the best medical out there and everything that can possibly be done. it's di dignity for me and -- >> comfort. >> they are using the project tools as a guide. >> it gave an outline which was helpful and important. all i could do is look back at my father-in-law or somebody i had lost and say, what would i have done in that circumstance. >> we changed the way we give birth in america. women had their feet in stir uppings and theupups an and kno. it was women in general who said, wait let's have this experience the way it should be. this is that. not only a medical experience, it's a life experience. i think if we changed the way we

gave birth in america, we can change the way we die in america. >> there are lots of hospitals where healthcare providers are eager to respect wishes. but it's been really hard to feel comfortable doing that. so they need is for the culture around them to change. how are you? >> dr. lore ra laura rock agree. she says when patient's wishes are not clear doctors often feel forced to give more treatment than necessary. >> we need to have a culture shift. it's rare we have a family that comes in that has had conversations about the type of care they would choose or their loved one would choose at the end of life. it's rare. when they have had those conversations they weren't burdened with guilt in making decisions that they think is

leading to the death of someone they love. >> that is what joe nyre has tried to do with his family, by talking to him about how he wants to die. >> it's not going to be easy for the kids or laurie but it's going to be easier if you talk it through. you know death is not going to go away but the fear and anxiety is going to go away if you are clear and you communicate with each other. it's huge. >> joie: and america tonight will return after a break. ♪ closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you.

>> joie: and finally tonight we look south of the border to a turnabout that few would have predicted. not so long ago a trip to tijuana would mean trinkets and tequila. but now it's a very different destination. >> you are looking at one of the hottest new art scenes south of the border. it's a small passage way in

downtown tijuana, mexico. the creative energy is flowing here as sculptors are showing off the twisted metal they tranltransform. and painters transform abandoned shops into art galleries. >> even the man dressed as a corpse has an elec electric vib. ♪ until recently this scene in this playing would have been unimaginable. swept up in a brutal drug war, many residents fled tijuana, tourism the city's life blood dried up. now they are experiencing a rebirth. led by artists. what was the atmosphere like when you were able to open mple. >> it was a place where a lot of hoohoodlums would hang out.

and a lot of shops were closed. they abandoned business. >> how dihow did you think of transforming tijuana. >> we didn't think of transforming tijuana. it was the idea of low rent. tijuana transform itself again. >> this latest reinvention was a unlikely one. when the tourism and partygoers left it turned into a transformed place. >> people wanted to turn it into another place especially with tourism. it all went away. >> roberto is one. most famous musicians in mexico. his former group is known around the world. mendoza is a life long resident of tijuana.

>> what has changed over the last few years when it comes to the art scene. >> tijuana is happening at the moment. but especially with local people. it's really interesting you don't see a lot of tourists but you see a lot of locals everywhere from the clubs, bars to the restaurants. you see all of these new faces and new generations growing up and people just really enjoying the city. that is the biggest difference between now a and before. >> it looked like some of the tour istourism had gone away. at first it looked like a detriment or a bad thing. but you are saying now there is more community. >> yeah. i don't know how to say, but exactly. it's like that. >> the danger hit pretty close to your home? >> oh, yeah. there were hard times at one point, even though we are in a

quiet part of the city, just like two blocks from here they had hostages and they are bringing people that were kidnapped. and we didn't know about it until the police raided the place. >> it's a point of really living in the city. and we are just hanging in there. >> if there is any place that symbolizes tijuana's transformation it's this art center. this is in tijuana's colonial federal neighborhood. right next to the border of the united states. hidden down a side street it's an enclave for artists. the tunnel starts here at the as building where does it go? >> it went over to that parking-lot. that parking-lot across that is where the tunnel came out from this building.

>> where those cars are right now. yes, that is where the cars are. >> it's erie how many people may have died, and what the struggles were around the people that went through there. the coyotes. it's very sad. that is why we want to turn it into something more positive. >> it's an incredible metaphor. as artists we love me metaphors. >> every place in the world there is good and bad. a lot of bad from tijuana has been magnified out of pro proportion. this is a cultural hub for the community. this night the music is afro cuban. a regular feature that attracts people from both sides of the border. >> when i first moved here in '92 it felt like the harlem renaissance. i was completely amazed at the

quantity and quality of art. and the level of art. and the level that people were educated about art. and enter the drug wars and it was tragic to see. >> the youth really stood up, it's coming back. the kids and the youth have taken over. they have taken over with art and culture and that is the way it should be. it's not the border that it used to be. totally different than the americans coming and getting drunk. no, that is the same old tijuana. it's totally different. >> i'm a merchant. i have been here for many years on this same street. maybe 30 years ago. >> not everyone is convinced that tijuana is back. mr. g gomez owns this stop on a tijuana street. americans were his best customers and without them he struggles. with the art scene he sees a ray

of hope. >> we welcome people to come and make away of life. maybe the american tourists they see and they can come again. >> i was here and there was shootings all the time sirens and police and ambulances. every day it was like a war zone. >> it's not just the souvenir shops that depend on free spending tourists. javier is one of mexico's acclaimed chefs. he is playing a big part in the renaissance. we met him in his newest restaurant. >> we decided to open this restaurant when tijuana was going through harsh times. >> i probably heard and saw shootings three and four times a week. >> he and his family own several high end restaurants in tijuana. a few years ago garage gangsterd to kidnap his blower.

brother. back then anyone with money was a target. >> we left tijuana my whole family, brothers and sisters and father and everybody. my father has been in business for 36 years and he told us i have never seen or experienced anything like this. people started to ask is the family going to close the restaurant? what is happening? i was thinking to myself, i felt sort of like a coward for leaving. i wanted to come back and do something about it because i was reading in the newspaper and seeing how this bad people were taking over our city. >> now they are not just getting rave reviews from local customers, but from far flung publications lik like the "new k times." he says it's a start. >> i feel very proud of what we

did. and i feel very lucky to be living at this time. and how the future looks. i feel very excited. >> how does the future look? >> very, very, very bright. i love this city and i couldn't be happier. >> joie: and that was america tonight's laura jane gliha. >> that is it for america tonight. we would love to hear from you log on to www.aljazeeraamericatonight. andvisit our facebook page

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. the government remains shutdown. on it the g.o.p. offered a measure to reopen national parks and some of the parts of the department of veteran's affairs but it was defeated on the house floor on a bipartisan float. the democrats campaign that the the--the democrats complained that the republicans were trying to cherry pick the parts they liked. >> they're using the parks as a pawn. this is about defunding the affordable care act. >> while many government services were shut