>> the top stories are next. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. a federal judge ruled that some of the tactics used by the national security agency probably are unconstitutional. he says the nsa phone call surveillance program could be a violation of privacy rights, former nsa systems analyst edward snowden issued a statement supporting the judge's rulings. sailors have cancer and may be their rescue mission following the fukushima melt down after tsunami in japan. the leeder of ukraine is

heading to russia to ask for helps. weeks of protests, by europe's poorest country on the edge of collapse. president obama will meet with leaders of apple, google, twitter and more. perhaps about the health care website, healthcare.gov. i'll see you back here tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern and 11:00 eastern. >> on america tonight, the largest appeal ever for victims of syria's war. the numbers staggering. and so is the need. also, tonight, not in my backyard.

a controversial community, for sex offenders. >> my neighbor is a sex offender. my best friend is a sex offender now. i feel more safe than anywhere else. >> and steeped in american tradition. is there a future for america's historically black colleges. >> built to do, serve those underserved and represent those underrepresented. >> and good evening. thank you for joining us, i'm joie chen. a desperate plea from the united

nations urging the world to step up. as the syrian crisis reaches catastrophic levels. $6.5 billion. an epic exodus is underway, millions more forced from their ohomes within the country. officials say one year from today more syrians are likely to be in need of humanitarian aid and those who are not. america tonight's sheila macvicar reports. >> it's not just winter, and the middle east has already seen its share of white. wind storm alexisa dropped snow and ice from turkey far south to the sinai peninsula. for some that meant snow balls and snow angels. for syrians caught up in that civil war and refugees right shoes or clothing living under canvas or more makeshift

shelters a harsh reality became more harsh. >> my husband is sick and the cold weather is hurting us, we are getting sick from the smell of the stove. >> in this informal refugee camp. marian had to put shoes on the fire to keep her stove burning. others are burning plastic bags. the choice here is stark. freeze to death, or risk illness from the smoke of the fires. even in neighboring jorched jordan where the u.n. has been allowed to set up this refugee camp. home to 120,000 syrians conditions are hard. ib rahim and his family. >> gas stove but no gas canister. >> u.n. officials say there will be more help. the winter weather is one of the

hardships the united nations 6.5 billion effort will help. how to reach the millions of people forced from their homes, but still inside syria. >> we are not doing, as an international community what we should do for all of the people trapped in this horrific weather, inside syria. >> reporter: the u.n. will work with ngos and others to help reach people inside syria. most recently camishly in northeast syria. so remote aid agencies had trouble driving in convoys. now shipments will be flown in from iraq. both the syrian government and aid agencies are accused of block humanitarian assistance even simple stoves that can keep people from freezing to death. >> the big message is let the humanitarians us do our work to

get to millions in a desperate situation. inside syria i can see the snow clad mountains in there. people are going to die from the freezing cold there. >> and civilians are still dying in government attacks. the latest in the city of aleppo aleppo. >> we have not rested since morning. more than ten different areas of aleppo came under bombardment. as you can see this is the only equipment the civil defense team has. we don't have any other tools or equipment. >> reporter: rebel forces report 125 dead, 28 of them children. the toll is impossible to verify independently. little or no protection and the cold could also prove just as deadly. in recent days activists claim as at least nine children have

died inside syria because of the cold. across the region the weather has brought seasonal colds and flu. especially in syria now, little or no medical care. sheila macvicar, america tonight. $4.2 billion of the u.n.'s amount goes to syrian refugee. >> massive need, massive suffering. we're talking about 2.3 million refugees, syrian refugees in the region. jordan, turkey iraq and egypt, we're forecasting 4 million refugees, by the end of 2014. roughly the population of los angeles.

>> going from syria to the neighboring countries. people. what is the most immediate need you have? >> the needs are massive. everything from protectionto from shelter, everything from blankets. there's a polio outbreak that is taken place in syria so there's a massive vaccination campaign with our ngo partners to vaccinate children against polio. everything from protection in refugee camps and settlements, in the host communities. all these host communities have kept their borders open as thousands of refugees have fled across the border. this is a wonderful thing they've done to allow -- >> it is not easy for the countries to accept refugees. >> oh no. the numbers, we are talking about 3,000, 5,000 fleeing

across the syrian border every day. >> coming across the border every single day? >> every single day. the staggering thing about this crisis, that's why this appeal is so large, is the speed in which it was developed. compared to last winter we've seen a five fold increase in the number of syrian refugees. >> five times the refugees from a year ago? >> from a year ago yes. >> you are thinking this is going to escalate rapidly by the end of the year, end of new year? >> towards the end of 2014 we're talking about a figure of 4 million refugees. at the moment it is 3.4 million. over a million are children and 75% in fact of the syrian refugees are women and children. >> bear in mind this is already an unusual winter in the region. what has this been like for them? >> absolutely this has are added more misery. we have

planned for winterization many months in advance. we have been for many months getting things ready. we've distributed in jordan, lebanon, in the settlements, everything from blankets, shelter, everything from emergency supplies -- >> this isn't enough. >> it is not enough, it will never be enough. it has to be a political solution within syria. >> and within syria itself, substantial number of displaced persons. >> relief flights the u.n. children's fund went in yesterday with hundreds of tons of supplies for those in syria itself. so that's also, there are millions of internally displaced within syria added to the ones within the region. >> thank you brian hansford, u unncr.

joining us tonight is dr. soohil salu from the syrian million society. doctor good to see you again i'm sorry, under such circumstances. we have just heard from mr. hoon hansford. what are they seeing, how bad is it? >> thank you joie for inviting me but what we are seeing in syria and doctors are seeing, witnessing on a daily basis is beyond description. i cannot really express what they are seeing. i expressed today and yesterday about some of the children who were bombed in aleppo about these barrel bombs, barrels stuffed by tnt and nails and the purpose is to cause as much harm as possible. indiscriminate shelling, in aleppo. the doctors we are sending are risking their lives every day

because they are trying to save lives. they do not have enough equipment, they do not have enough medication, or ct scans to diagnose. and they are working in terrible conditions. >> you underscore that point, there has been an attempt to control chemical weapons but these conventional weapons are clearly very damaging as well. >> definitely. that's what's causing much of the death to the population. the recent studies from england showed that there's about 12,000 children who are killed in syria, by the way, 75% of them were killed by explosions by missiles by barrel bombs. only 3% of the children killed in syria were killed by chemical weapons. by the way, the number of children killed surpassed the number killed in genocide.

this is the equivalent of 120 million americans. we are not talking about only los angeles because you have to take into perspective the total population in syria. what we are witnessing in syria is beyond description and the international community is not doing enough to stop the carnage. the united nations has the ability to protect women and children and they are not doing that. putting a band-aid on the person who is bleeding will not stop the bleed. that is what the u.n. has done since the beginning of the crisis. just showing concern and giving aid for the refugees that is not ending the crisis that is making it worse. >> the money they are asking for will that make an impact? >> definitely not. i know if i have a patient in the icu who is bleeding to death, if i give that patient a band eighth or some pills or ointment, that will not be enough.

what the u.n. is doing we need to stop bombing and shelling of neighborhoods. we need to establish humanitarian corridors that are safe for humanitarian organizations like ours to give aid. >> and give aid. thank you very much dr. zahir society. >> thank you joie. >> after the break on america tonight, there goes the neighborhood. a florida community of castoffs. why they're not welcome anywhere else. consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete?

while you were asleep news was happening. >> here are the stories we're following. >> find out what happened and what to expect. >> international outrage. >> a day of political posturing. >> every morning from 5 to 9 am al jazeera america brings you more us and global news than any other american news channel. >> tell us exactly what is behind this story. >> from more sources around the world. >> the situation has intensified here at the border. >> start every morning, every day 5am to 9 eastern. >> with al jazeera america. >> a controversial community has sprung up in -- controversial community has sprung up in south florida. convicted sex offenders to find now. al jazeera's natasha ginea takes us into the village.

>> there is a 23 acre patch of tiny neutral colored run down homes. a no trespassing sign greets visitors. this is miracle village, population, 200. 115 residents are sex offenders including one woman. wives, girlfriends and kids live here too. >> why call this place miracle village? >> all the miracles, first thing we've seen guys change. hopeless, they are hopeless, they come here and there's light in their life. >> patrick powers co-founded miracle village, founded this in 2008. the property a 45 minute drive from west palm beach was once home for employees working for a sugar cane company. 28 retirees such as day-year-old maria stayed.

after all the company pays their rent. >> i was concerned but now that i know them i've not had any issues. >> powers knows how hard it is for sexual offenders to find a place. >> living here, they don't put posters up or fliers up about you. >> they have formed a band with ten singers. no serial rapists or pedophiles are allowed. you don't have to be christian, there are some jews and muslims. but powers says, you must embrace god. >> i don't care what you look at as your god, if god is in your life your chances for success are a lot higher. >> 22-year-old christopher dawson, is the youngest. >> i had sex with my girlfriend, she was 14. i did not know her age.

i thought she was 17 turning 18. i was 19. i didn't think anything about it, normal boyfriend and girlfriend having sex. >> dawson was convicted of having lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. but he felt after getting out there was a bull's eye on their home. >> there was a poster that had my picture on it, every detail, the crime i did. the fear of knowing what could happen to us. >> dawson moved here in february. he admits despite the isolation and the fact that he been unmoored from his family, he has been set free in miracle village. >> my neighbor is a sex offender. i feel more safe than i ever could be anywhere else right here. it gives the people who have

been labeled sex offender the chance to give bam in a normal environment. >> his neighbor chad stauffer said, even after sex offenders do the time, they are labeled with the crime. >> i think that tattoos pecularity is on your forehead. >> he inappropriately touched one of his students. >> you feel stigmatized. how do you feel here? >> i have peace, i have hope, i have a sense of. i feel loved. so it's all those -- a collection of all those things that make this place great. but it would also be great if we didn't need a place like this. >> sort of like the community of ostracized peoples, right? >> tamera lathe has researched extensively. the law professor says residency restrictions have made it difficult for sex offenders to

start over once they leave prison. >> making them feel isolated, to find work, to be with their families, all those things. homelessness, all those things, make it certain that the person will lapse into being a criminal. >> here underneath the julia tunnel causeway, state laws prevent sex offenders living 1,000 feet from where children congregate. that distance has increased to 2500 feet. >> state lobbyist ronald book, this is a personal mission. his daughter lauren was molested the by her nanny for years. >> one in three girls and one in five boys will be molested by

the time they're 15. 90% of the individuals that suffer from the developmental delay will be offended against in their lifetimes. we got a pandemic in america. we got to do everything and anything we can to protect our kids. >> book says the residents of miracle village created lifelong nightmares for their victims and their families. he ultimately helped move the people living under the julia tuttle cause way into affordable housing. >> having affordable housing built for ofnedders and predators away from the general population is a good thing to have happen. but see what they want you to believe is that the are residency restrictions what are created their problem. that's not what created their problem. their criminality, their sexually deviant behaviors created the problem. >> doesn't believe he's guilty.

>> butt the problem of housing persists. village residents say they receive 100 applications a month. officials interviewed pablo, days away from release, he couldn't liver with a friend due to the residency laws. village officials ended up rejecting pablo. >> if you can't admit to it, we can't help you. you can't help yourself. >> the sex offenders we spoke to say they don't want to live in miracle village for the rest of their lives. what they want is to live freely. >> why wouldn't you want us to become normal? why don't you want us to come back into society? >> we say we're throwing you away. >> miracle village officials say one day they hope this place doesn't exist but for now they have plans to expand across the state. they say other states and even other countries have reached out

to them. they view their village as a model for creating society's ultimate outcasts. natasha guinane, miracle village, florida. >> joining us are tamera lay, i'm struck, quite conflicted, i can understand a need to find housing but it also feels that these folks are ex island a exiled as it were. >> your conflict is in place, these residency requirements, one of your guests said that sex offenders are so dangerous, they would continue to reoffend forever. and in fact that's not what studies show. i think it's good that there's a place that exists for these people but these residency restrictions are wrong headed

and irrational in my opinion. >> what is the outlook for these individuals who are, long term, living there? >> when you say long term living there what's happening politically i don't see there's going to be any change in residency restrictions. in florida to even have a chance of losing the classification of being a sex offender you have to have been off of spriptio supervision or out of custody for 20 years. you can't be arrested for anything during that period of time any misdemeanor or felony. then you only have the right to apply to be removed from the classification of being a sex offender. so unless there's a political chaip change which seems unlikely, i think these people are probably going to there for a while. >> but a conviction of a sexual offense, that's certainly -- other people have approached the

problem in different ways. but what is the avenue? what is the avenue that provides the chance for remediation and yet provides a sense of security and protection for the community? >> well, i think it's really important, in answering this question, to begin by addressing the fears that people have, and i understand those fears. but the fears are in fact not grounded, in what we know about sex offenders. so study after study has shown that most sex offenders do not recidivate. which means once they've paid their crime they're very unlikely to commit another sex crime. in fact all offenders other than murderers, sex offenders are the least likely to be rearrested for their same crime. in other words robbers are more likely to be arrested for robbery, arsonists for arson, et cetera. as sex offenders become older just like other kind of criminals they become less likely to offend. the fears that people have that

sex offenders are going to reoffend are less likely in reality. nor do i mean to say there aren't sex offenders who commit sires crimes. there are as well. buttists very important to realize that according to the fbi the uniform crime reports which collects data across the country, forcible rapes, reported forcible rapes have been falling since 1990. you can go to health and human services on substantiated substance he of sexual child abuse have been -- >> we do hate to interrupt you but we have to go. tamera we appreciate you being with us today. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> ahead on the edge , ukrainians, square

>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america night with the combatants in their training base.

>> and now a snapshot of stories making headlines on america tonight. a federal judge has ruled the nsa spying habits may be unconstitutional. citing a fourth amendment ban on unreasonable search, the judge issued a stay of his own order while the government appeals. prove i.t. says the -- prove it says the fda. some studies have already said that antibacterial soaps do more harm than good. fidel castro on camera, the cuban leader speaking with a joirnlt, in a good mood and health. a deal which could tip the scales between cold war rivals.

tens of thousands continue to gather in koran's capital kiev. used to call it kiev. started out in november after the koranian president yanukovych, on tuesday he and the russian president putin, are supposed to ink a deal to ease economic problems. >> we hope as we spoke a few minutes ago, that the koranian peopl koran ukrainianpeople will be able to. >> crack down on protestors could lead to u.s. sanction he. talking more about the trade

deal and supporting the ukrain ukrainian position, we appreciate you being here. >> thank you. >> let's talk about the outcome and what is ahead here. there is a plan for mr. yan coafn mr. putin. >> there are many facets to an agreement that gets signed and president yanukovych traveling omoscow is under a lot of pressure. he needs 10 plus billion dollars default. it is preemptive as to what type of agreement to speculate what type of agreement will be signed or if anything there could be some type of condition, some type of accord -- >> which is a big concern for the protestors. >> which is very big for the protestors, if you have the hundreds of thousands of protestors that came out yesterday, i would expect there would be more if this thing

comes into reality tomorrow. >> the custom union is completely oppositional to the eu. >> completely oppositional to the eu. >> for ukraine if you go one way, there is no way to split the baby on this. baby. in fact what the protestors are asking for, this is not just a revolution about the economics, it is the revolution about the values of the country. a thousand plus history within europe itself is and should be solidly within europe. this is very upsetting to obviously the population of ukraine, the majority of the ukrainians. >> we have emphasized in the news the issue of the trade deal and what might come out of a forth.

at this point for the protestors we have seen this grow and grow, is it possible that any trade deal will be satisfying to them at this point or does mr. yanukovych just have to go? that. in the beginning it was obviously in terms of the values itself where ukraine stands as a country. the corrupt society within the ukraine, the government corruption as well, it has gone so far, it's either yea or nay, that ukraine falls within another sphere of influence. >> you are oppositional to the government as well. when you talked to the u.s. leaders we saw senator mccain and murphy in ukraine, when you talked to them, what was the outlook, would it take a really violent crack down to force sanctions or do you think there's some other environment in which there might be sanctions?

>> first of all, my organization what we are advocating is for a better future and that better future obviously for most of the ukrainians as they take to the streets is a future in ukraine. given the united states government we're very pleased with statements such as secretary kerry that so far discussed, in all essence secretary of states have not gone that far. sanctions would be the best bet. >> michael saku, thanks very from the ukrainian association of america. ahead, tough lessons for historically black colleges and universities. >> how important is the future of manufacturing industry? >> you're talking about something that's very complex.

>> made in america equals jobs in america. >> welcome back. you're watching scenes from the documentary, made in the usa, a 30-day journey, it's a look at the workforce and consumers, and john paid that documentary, and he got interested in where the goods we buy come from after a plant closed in his hometown, and welcome to the show. >> thanks for having me, appreciate it. >> so talk about how the closing of that plant impacted you and the community. >> well, the film sparred from century aluminum shutting down in my hometown in virginia, and 650 people lost their jobs, including my father-in-law, david nelson, and as time went on, it destroyed our local and regional economy. >> from our headquarters in new york, here are the headlines this hour. >> al jazeera america is the only news channel that brings you live news at the top of

every hour. >> a deal in the senate may be at hand and just in the nick of time. >> thousands of new yorkers are marching in solidarity. >> we're following multiple developments on syria at this hour. >> every hour from reporters stationed around the world and across the country. >> only on al jazeera america. >> the grambling state university not nor publicity this year than it has been for years by just not playing a game. historically black colleges and universities like grambling have

faced mounting problems. recruitment. are hbcs relevant and should they be saved? america tonight's sarah ohio reports. >> it is the forest anniversary of the bayou classic. the legendary opening act, the battle of the band, garnered as much attention as the game itself. the staunch rivals, both historically black institutions have competed in the bayou classic in new orleans since the '70s. the first of such gridiron bouts dating back to the 1930s helped the playing fields, barred from white-only stadiums and teams. but this fall, grambling's team

a former football powerhouse made national headlines for a different reasons. players boycotted. the conditions, moldy walls and ceilings. but this is a story about much more than just football. this is the story of a fight for survival for historically black colleges and universities dubbed hbcus in the fast changing landscape of higher education. >> it was never really solely football. it was never, ever, solely a weight room or the floor in the weight room, or mold, somewhere on the campus. >> grambling's president frank pogue said the curtain was pulled back on hbcus. >> the hurdles we have faced are more public now but

there has always been hurdles. i don't know of a single hbcu that was ever funded at the very beginning, or even now we are not equally funded now. so we have always had to make something out of nothing. >> according to a recent ford foundation study, 9 hbcus have had their accreditation threatened since 1979. while a handful of hbcu presidents have resigned this year alone. left amid a down graded credit rating and a drop in enrollment. >> i definitely think howard its position as one of the top if not the very top hbcu, has a ripple effect on every single hbcu.

what howard does so does other hbcus. it is important that we do what we're able to do serve the underserved an the underrepresented. >> educating blacks who are prohibited by law from attending all white institutions. until the mid 1960s, hbcus were the only college options for most blacks. today they remain steeped in legacy and tradition. although the 105 hbcus represent less than 5% of the colleges and universities across the united states, they graduate 20% of all blacks earning undergraduate degrees. while the financial unraveling, has sparked a conversation about their continued

relevance. >> they see historically black institutions, american racism for you, right? what i typically tell people is they are absolutely relevant. i can give you a great example. if you were to get rid of historically black colleges tomorrow you would immediately have a huge drop in the number of scientists, black scientists, black nurses black doctors black pharmacists. because black colleges disproportionately prepares students in those areas. >> otherwise get left behind. >> there are many hbcus that are taking valedictorians and students that are highly sought after. but in many other cases there are hbcus that are taking students from areas of the country that we forget, detroit would be a good example.

maybe some areas of north philadelphia. students that others think it's too hard to educate them. that society gives up on. >> seli soto could have easily slipped through the cracks. soto and a student who was unaware of the steps necessary to get into college. wounded up working at a fast food restaurant, after graduating high school. but paul quinn college wound up contacting her. >> i got this scholarship, a private scholarship from the school. if it weren't for paul quinn i wouldn't be here, receiving an education, i wouldn't be changing my mind and people's minds so they can improve their communities their families their business their city over all

this country. >> soto says she's proud to be part of this college. >> you see me here. i'm not african american, i'm hispanic. they are bringing this new face, they are evolving from what they were. and they are serving new minorities. >> paul quinn college may offer a model for way forward. in 2007 when president michael sorrel stepped on the campus, the college was about to close its door. he knew he had to clean house. he tore down abandoned building, upped the enrollment requirements. did the unthinkable in the lone star state. where football is religion. >> got rid of the football program, people make a big deal because it's texas. we lost every game. it wasn't like we were playing

for the rose bowl. you know? i never forget how angry some of the students got. >> it cost $800,000 a year, a hit the distressed college couldn't afford. >> this used to be the football field. >> it is where the fighting tigers used to play their game and we converted to it an organic garden. post. did you forget? >> we had a sense of humor. we don't want to forget our past. >> the we over me symbol. >> glory is good to great. i don't think that's very impressive but if i can take you from never believing that you even have a shot to be average? and inspire you to greatliness?

well now, you have -- greatness? now you have done something that is worthy of being discussed. worthy of being emulated and is worthy of a legacy and the shoulders that you stand on. >> one of the biggest hurdles for college presidents like sorrell is racial disparity continue to exist. blacks earn less, blacks own less property and blacks are more likely to be unemployed. 71% of students at hbcus earn pell grants. at paul quinn 90% of students have pell grants but sorrell's measures have turned things around. for sorrell the challenge isn't cutting back, it's expanding. >> we're here, we're going to be here. our issue now, we are working

the most aggressively on, is figuring out how to get 2,000 of our kind of kids. >> at the classic, school pride is on full display with the winning team southern university's ronltd university's ronald mason, is working on fundraising and alumni. >> we are generally speaking the weaker part of the higher education herd. we generally serve the low income, black folk for years. so it's difficult for us to generate wealth. and we haven't been able to accumulate wealth. so that when these tough times come, and you need a cushion in order to get you through the tough times so you can wait until the better times come back around, it's hard for us to do that. >> and if there's one thing the presidents agree on it's that

hbcus will not go down without a fight. >> and at this stage in america's history we need as much human capital as we can muster. it's not just a black issue, it's an issue for all of america because we have more to do than we have capital to do it. >> sarah hoy al jazeera new orleans. >> the hbcus face an uphill battle to stay relevant. sarah baskerville. sell me on the idea, that we need hbcus today. >> i certainly disagree with your premise that they need to fight so stay relevant. they are more relevant today than ever before. the projections in students in the pipeline, 2019, 2020, 40% of the students who are seeking to go to college will be

traditionally underserved minorities. they will be low income first generation families, black and brown families. hbcus educate large percentage of underserved students there. >> so there's a need there. >> absolutely. hbcus are just 3% of colleges and universities, they are graduating 40% of african americans who are in the science technology engineering and medicine, cannot realize the goal of having the richly deserved excellent teacher force in stem without hbcus. when he talks about having a nation that's built to last, a

highly technological nation he cannot achieve that goal and have a diverse workforce, a workforce reflecting the growing population without hbcu. may i tell you the other reason is the cost. hbcus on average, a private hbcu is 10,000 per student less per year than historically white college or university. >> we are talking about income disparity jump. take it this way, not all hbcus are successful, thriving, a lot of them are struggling, significant portion of them are barely staying afloat here. is it possible that some of them need to be culled out? >> well, many of them are struggling. and their struggles are owing to a number of things. the growing recession hit them hard because of the disproportionate number of

african americans going to hbcus. african americans lost a tremendous amount of their welt in the recession. wealth is normally what you use for college. and so -- >> but still and yet there are some programs that are not sustaining themselves. is it possible that some of those will just have to fall by the way side? >> each one of the campuses and their alumni and if they're public, the states in which they're located will have to assess whether or not there need to be different models. so today we're looking at whether we make better use of distance education, whether we general. whether or not there's some right-sizing so that in states where you have large numbers of hbcus and other colleges and universities, where you share some front office services. but we are looking at a wide range of things to shift into the land scape.

>> or whether you turn the football program into an organic garden. >> which is what professor sorrell did at paul quinn. >> in our final segment this hour, nelson mandela gives one south african a reason to make the stream is uniquely interactive television. we depend on you, >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> the stream. weeknights 7:30 et / 4:30 pt on al jazeera america and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

(vo) al jazeera america

tñ >> finally from us tonight after ten days of mourning and celebration, nelson mandela has been laid to rest in hi boyhood village in south africa. today a statute honoring him was u unveiled at pretoria. allen schoffler has the story. >> he was to the indian ocean and rolling grasslands of the transskai region where he grew up. >> does it look the same as it did when you were a kid, when

you were a boy? >> no. >> our driver took us on a south african road trip, 750 miles, two days, one fabulous sunset. it was a look inside the country, challenges through one man's eyes. he took us home. >> i miss my area, i miss my home. i love my home. >> he lives for now outside johannesburg. a boy who moved to the big city when he was 16. search for work wiping out any hope of schooling. >> looked for more than ten years but i have got nothing now. >> south africa's unemployment rate is 25%, far worse in the townships like alexandria, and the squatters camps which are getting bigger. unemployment is bad in his age group. he took us where he was scared to stop and we drove through. >> you sold your car?

>> i sold my coor yes. >> to pay the bills? >> to clear all the things that were in account of everything. >> nelson mandela's funeral gives quanele a reason to go home. >> two minutes. >> he sees his family only once or maybe twice a year. it's a long expensive trip. >> that's my mother. >> the family greets us warmly. and his grandmother leads us in song and prayer. [♪ singing ] >> amen. >> amen. >> she owns the land where hes extended family lives. 15 people, about 25 acres. >> see my garden. >> it's beautiful but it's not much here for a young man who needs a job in a sometimes corrupt system. >> if you don't know people like

in the high positions, so i'll never find a job. so more special people like me who had to work were not educated. so no job at all. >> the mood is one of celebration and reflection as the world says good-bye to nelson mandela, buried in nearby qunu. like so many south africans, suffer by comparison. >> there is nobody like him. nobody replace mandela, i don't know if it's a grandson or his son, whatever, no, no way. >> quinele watches the funeral proudly , quietly, proud to be of the same tribe at mandela. this is outside the compound. >> good to see him coming home where he was born.

>> he was just 9 when mandela walked free from prison and the village celebrated. >> this old man what did he do that people like him so much? >> he understands how much south south africa has changed. that the older generations have again denied. still he has never voted. >> he would be spoid if he knew i had never volted. if you want to vote. >> he's grown cynical about the state of the country and thinks mandela would be disappointed too about about the faltering economy. >> if we stay poor, get rimper, that's what i say in south africa. >> the future it's there he says with no real enthusiasm. his main focus now is just closing his personal circle. >> very, very, very happy.

>> in his inaugural address, nelson mandela says there's no easy road to freedom. for quinele, there is much work to do to make the future mandela dream come true. allen schauffler, al jazeera, south africa. >> that the it for us. if you want to comment, on any stories you have seen here. log on to aljazeera.com/america tonight. join the conversation at twitter or facebook. we'll have more of america tonight, tomorrow.

welcome to al jazeera america. the nsa phone call surveillance program is said it could be a violation of privacy rights. edward snowden say the ruling vined indicates him. >> dozens of sailors who served on the uss ronald reagan are suing the owner of the fukushima plant in japan. the president of ukraine is heading to russia to ask for economic help. weeks of