have a good evening. from. >> and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm tony harris here is a look at the top stories. a federal judge says the national security agency collection of telephone data is not only legal he called it a counterpunch to terrorism. the ruling conflicts to another judge's ruling earlier this month that said the conduct is likely unconstitutional. congress let unemployment benefits lapse when they left on vacation. president obama will present it to them when they return to work next year.

blast in beirut, mohamed chatta, an outspoken are speaker,. south sudan, said they would step in if the two sides failed to end the fighting in four days. another 72 u.n. peace keepers arrived in south sudan's capitol on friday, joining thousands who are already there. those are the headlines, america tonight is next. >> on "america tonight", bis buzz, behind a legalized cash crop now hit a new high. >> at the end of the day, it makes me a little bit giddy. also tonight the arc of greatness in our everyday lives.

how we take for granted these extraordinary views. and the artists behind them. >> it's almost as if they were dropped here from the 14th century building some of the greatest buildings our country has ever known. >> and footsteps. >> tracing the past, an ancient art and the experienced spirits aging to lead its rebirth. good evening, thanks for being with us, i'm joie chen. in the state of colorado, recreational pot smokers,

beginning on wednesday marijuana users will be able to buy the drug legally without having to show any medical need. about 20 pot shops half of them in denver are expected to open for business with more following in the next few weeks with local approval. america tonight's lori jane gliha takes a look at some of the unique enterprises that are springing up to provide recreational pot products. >> watching paint dry is a good thing for owners of this denver, colorado factory, it means they are nearly ready to open their doors to the recreational pot market. he won't be selling marijuana, he will be testing it. >> there is a needle that comes up, sucks up a little bit of the solvent plate trip. it's those molecules and the eye

ionization of them. whether it's a canabinoid or a pesticide. >> although the state says testing right now is voluntary for retailers growers and the maker of pot-infused foods it will eventually be mandatory. evans wants to be ready. >> part of our marketing is being able to give our customers a label that they can put on their product to say this is what it is. this is the concentration of these different things. mold-free. this is part of what they want to actually do to sell the product because people are interested in that. >> reporter: evans concocted his idea for his business in a unique part of the world. the chemist once provided similar testing services for u.s. army in afghanistan. >> they would bring in insurgents. they would literally empty these guys pockets, run that ore to the chem lab, we would analyze

it and find things like marijuana, heroin and things like this, and if we d did they could question these guys further. i thought when i get back to the united states i want to open a marijuana test lab. >> the state is still deciding how much testing will be required. >> whether it is every crop or every 10th crop, what they're testing exactly and all that is still being decided. yes, everybody will have to be tested and products will have to be labeled. >> it is all part of an effort to tighten up criminally's marijuana intervention, marijuana is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government but the feds said they won't crack down in colorado as long as strong regulations are in place. at first, only established marijuana businesses in good standing will be allowed to open. norton norbellis owns one of

them, the medicinal marijuana grow house doubled production in anticipation of influx customers. each rfid tag will be entered into the federal database. to allow tracking from seed to sale. >> our seed the to sell system will be an rfid system, the same sort of system that walmart uses for inventory. they will be able to walk in and with a beam of the gun, understand and log for the inventory in the particular facility. >> his security is tight too, as money and product exchanges hands. >> anywhere there is a plant there has to be a camera. >> arbella says the state will be able to look too. >> they will are able to log in, know what goes in, goes out,

ensuring that there is a closed use of growing and distribution. >> business owners in other states -- >> i wouldn't have guessed in a million years that the food i put on my table is eventually funded by medical marijuana. >> this disofltion the material out of the plant material. >> like vanilla, mint and this cayenne pepper. >> you literally dump this into your machine and you end up with that? >> yep. >> but his machine which sells for between $18,000 and $100,000 a pop, also extracts comibs cannabis oil from marijuana. >> what did you feel when you found

out that your machine was being used to extract cannabis from the plant? >> i'm the farthest thing from a drug dealer. >> ramps up production for retail sales. on this day the cannabis oil is going into a chewy chocolate candy that will look a lot like a toot se sie roll. >> no matter who you talk to, it's a $2 billion industry in the state of colorado alone. >> in the past two years, he sed says his company has grown from two employees and one protect to products. >> this is certainly the most fascinating exciting opportunity i've ever been involved with. at the end of the day, it makes me a little bit

giddy. >> marijuana producers all over the straight say they feel the same way. waiting for marijuana retail to become a reality. and this process has gone right up to the last minute. this is the first week joy that the state has sent out licenses to allow these to be used. >> what are they expecting to be seen? the rush for the doors? >> the demand and the anticipation, it's there but the state has only in reality approved 348 possible licenses. but they have to go get their municipal license as well. as of right now they only have ten people, ten stores that have their pipelines that are ready to open. i think the parolee boom is going to be probably july, since

that's whether they will open it up to people who are not in the industry. >> i will be in denver on january 1st. it will be interesting to see how the state reacts to it. is there a lot of buzz about all this or do you feel like colorado has better than involved in this thilging for so long? >> there is from is a lot of buzz, making sure that everybody is following the rules and got the regulations in place and there's even things like the tagging situation, they've got that downed, it's not all completely set yet, so i think it's going to be interesting to see how this all pans out. >> thank you, very much, lori jane gliha, for us. 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?

>> 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 >> if you've ever gotten lost in a book in boston public library or hustled through grand central station, you may have missed the opportunity to take in a great scene. the story behind these great and brilliant works, here is america tonight's

christophe putzel. >> the new york public library, grand central terminal, the national history museum in washed. these iconic buildings have a secret. to discover what it is, you have to look up. these vaulted buildings were designed by a father and son, they're method sparked a revolution in architecture. >> it was almost as if they were dropped here from the 14th century into early 20th century u.s. in building some of the greatest buildings our country has ever known. this is really an immigrant story of the unflamed talented master craftsmen who made our great country, made you are our grade buildings possible but haven't been celebrate. >> in 1881. rafael tbvmentuastavino and his son brought an

old worl masonry technique. >> it was fire proof, it was incredibly strong. and it could be built with no support from below during construction. almost like magic. >> we're right between the outer dome and the inner dome. unbelievably thin, four inches thick. >> just four inches? >> yep, remarkably thin. >> yardagely forgotten by the -- largely forgotten by the public. they are getting their due. >> lost to the public. john oxendorf is the cure parity. scale model appears to defy logic. no support from below but

somehow it can hold tens of thousands of pounds. >> feels solid. >> very solid. the key is getting the geometry right. and they were masters at getting geometries that were very strong. and so that was what they brought from the old world. >> their designs weren't just strong, they were also beautiful. but few people have ever seen their masterpiece. city hall subway station hidden in downtown manhattan is often referred to as the mona lisa of subway stations. >> when it was first opened it was called an under ground cathedral. skylights, chandeliers, beautiful color tile, and sadly it's been closed to the public for about 60 years. and so it's a kind of mystery space under the streets of new york today. masterpieces. >> at the height of their popularity, the farther and son duo had offices all around the country.

part of their success had to do with timing. >> many of our great cities in the 19th century were made entirely of wooden buildings. in chicago in 187119,000 buildings the he burned at once in the great fire of chicago. so you can imagine if your city could go up with a match, there was a lot of interest in how can we find a way to make buildings that won't burn down. >> architects relied on the fire proof approach as they rebuilt cities across the country and the demand for their work skyrocketed. >> it was an architectural movement at the time, grand buildings inspired by classical buildings of the past. >> as labor became more expensive, and architectural techniques changed, the guastavinos faded. >> the 30s and 40s that

really helped to phase them out. >> today though their buildings still stand the guastavino name is unknown. >> we are trying to document their works to raise awareness of them to try help prevent them from being damaged or torn down. i realize their buildings were all around me. >> to prove his point, john took me hunting around washington, d.c. >> so where are you taking me right now? >> i'm taking you to one of washington's oldest firehouses. inside there's a humble example but there's a quastavino vault. >> this is a tourist attraction but not for the ceiling. >> this little example in your ceiling here is a small example but it shows how their work was valued for it being fire proof and durable and long-lasting. >> had you guys ever noticed this before? >> no, definitely not before. >> you ever notice it?

>> i mean i've noticed it but i didn't know i.t. was such a history behind it. >> well, while it may not seem like it in the station, oxend offeringsrf says, they're on the hunt for more sites, he created an interactive map to keep track of the discoveries. >> how many do you estimate are out there? >> right now we're at about 650 and climbing in about 40 states across the united states and several countries as well. auditorium. this is 80 feet across. it is impossibly flat. a ceiling like this should not be possible. i expect to spend my entire life continuing to discover projects and that's really exciting. >> fantastic, and christophe says curator will buy you lunch if you can find one he hasn't spotted.

we'll meet a revered pair of role models just ahead. next week on "america tonight", risking it all to find love online. >> one out of 10 americans have gone online looking for love. but it's not always a bed of roses. >> there was this hotie, he was a cutie patutie, he dated seven of my friends, and me. >> women are professional with angles. they can be all skinny and their bootie sticking out when you see them they look like bubba smith. >> what are americans doing wrong? >> mistaking chemical reaction to compatibility. >> the darking side of online dating. >> physically he wanted to pay

me $30,000 to pay in his beverly hills mansion. he was going to let me have a bently, i had to live with him and two other girls. >> is it a form of prostitution or the man always pace? >> pick out whatever you want. pick out one thing, whatever you want and she picked out a purse, a coach purse. >> america tonight, unmasks

>> it's a classic art form that originated centuries ago, but still revered today.

sheila macvicar sat down with two performers. >> thanks toll anchor us line. the image of indian dance that most of us have is to sequinned indian dancer. when people arrived at the shakespeare theater recently, they hoped to see one of india's most sought after performers. they probably weren't expect 70-year-olds. >> you have been dancing for how many years? >> almost 60 years. >> and you not quite that long? >> yes. one year senior to him. >> 61 years. >> yep. i started in 1952.

>> v p. and shanta are performers in fall festival of indian arts . >> very common in indian dance to see older dancers. we've had five nights of the festival and the youngest dancer was about in his late 30s. but everyone else was over 60. >> in sharp contrast to the short careers and early retirements of ballet dancers in indian classical dance, age only brings more reverence. >> the expressive part becomes very much more important and the experience in life, the more you experience life, it brings more maturity to your expression on stage.

>> we have the frontal. we have the diagonal. >> marody is often called the barisnikof of indian dance. she began dancing at age 4. that was nearly 60 years ago. >> you don't have to finish when you are 30. you only start when you are 45, in a way. we're very much with the gravity. you know, we work with the force of the gravity. we stamp out the rhythms, the concept of rhythm is very, very strong. and enunciating the syllables through the tapping of the feet. what is very special about indian dance is the use of facial expressions and hand gestures. >> and as the body becomes frail. >> communicate with your facial expressions, all sorts of, you

know, like crying . or anger or slaying a tiger. everything we can sit and do with the eyes and all that. so even at the age of 90 and 95 or 100, if your eyes, facial muscles can be moved, you can communicate by sitting and the people will enjoy it . >> that's not the only reason older performers find so much success in classical indian dance. >> you have to know the music, you have to know the rhythm, you have to know the improvization on stage. it's

almost like a jazz musician. you spend years learning the scales. in your 50s and 60s you finally master it because it takes so long to get there. >> so the donnageons partners in dance and in life , as diverse as ravi shankar, the love story of radu and krishna. show me now what you think is the most important part of the communication that you will show the audience tonight? >> subtle expressions, the experience that shows us what is love. >> show me. >> show? now there is a small sequence here. we say, she is very annoyed because krishna comes late. ♪ ♪

>> get out, out you go, i don't need you anymore. you've been a cheat . give up your sweet dog. please open your mouth. won't you turn your face and give me a small kiss. won't you do that? yes, okay, then let's go together like that. >> that's wonderful. your eyebrows are fantastic. they have a life all of their own. that's wonderful. >> even if i do the story every day, every day, i still feel there fesh, every time i go on stage .

>> for shanta and dp, who met when they were going to the same teacher,. >> we performed together, decided to marry. it's been part of growing. i just didn't know anything other than dancing. that was like breathing. >> retirement? their fans won't let them. >> well, we wanted to actually retire . the invitations came more and more and they say, we want to see you. >> great performance, with "america tonight"'s shive. that's it for "america tonight". cs if you want to see anything here, log on to our website, aljazeera.com/america tonight. we'll have more of "america

tonight", tomorrow.