welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. and here are the top stories. police say paper tossed into a campfire sparked a wildfire that has burned more than 1700 acres in california. a new type of lethalen injection was used to kill an inmate in ohio. it took 15 minutes. the military is investigating the third fatal chopper accident in the past eight days. a hard helicopter landing killed one soldier and left two more

injured. the victims belong to an elitoff ration unit. another spy scandal. according to documents published in the guardian, the nsa collects up to 200 million text messages a day. tomorrow president obama gives a major speech proposing new reforms for surveillance programs. those are the headlines. i'm john siegenthaler. i'll see you back here at 11:00 eastern, 8:00 pacific. "america tonight" is coming up next with joie chen. i'll see you back here at 11:00. on "america tonight," our exclusive look at the surprising story behind the film that has captivated hollywood, and taught all of us about a grim time in

our nation's history. from the family of the man who was held 12 years a slave. >> it is a history of america that has been swept under the rug for way too long. >> also the man who helped to tell that story. the oscar nominated screen writer of 12 years a slave and what it means for african-americans on and off the >> it is a story about the human spirit. and fierce santa ana winds ignite flames. the latest on the wildfire and who officials think may be responsible. ♪ and good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. we begin tonight with a look at

history, about what we know and don't know of our communities, families, even ourselves. what has provoked special interest in the past for us tonight is a film making big waves today when the oscar nominations were announced one film was honored with nine, including some of the big ones, best picture, best actor, best director, best adapted screen play. the screen tells a story of sol lom born free in the time of slavery, while on a business trip, he was drugged, kidnapped and sold. >> salomon is an expert player on the violin. >> i was born a free man until the day i was deceived, kidnapped, sold into slavery. >> well, boy, how do you feel now? >> my name is salomon, i'm a free man, and you have no right

whatsoever to detain me. >> you are no free man, you are nothing but a georgia run away. >> salomon was reunited with his family in 1853, but generations later not even all of his desendants knew about his history. but all of the details are coming to light for at least one of them. his great great great grandson. he took christof putzel on a walk in the footsteps of his grandfather. >> reporter: for 15 years clayton has been in search of his great american ball park great grandfather, but also in search of himself. i thought i knew who was at a young age. i knew my history and my grandmother, but that's as far back as i could go.

and thinking i know who i am, and then reading this and realizing there was more to me than just two generations back, because it's harfor african-americans to trace their history because of the slave trade, to me was a missing piece of my life that i didn't even know was missing. >> step after step, his autobiography, 12 years a slave, now a major motion picture served as a road map. i accompanied clayton down pennsylvania avenue in washington, d.c., where he began retracing his steps where salomon spent his final free days. >> this is where he stayed at when he came to washington, d.c., this is also the place he was kidnapped and brought down

to the williams slave pen to get sold into slavery. >> this was the last place where he was a free man. >> this was the last place where he was free, and this is my first time ever being at this spot in all of my childhood in washington city. >> i felt like i was right there next to salomon. now i could see in his eyes what he was seeing before he was even kidnapped. >> after he was drugged by two kidnappers at the hotel, he woke up just a few blocks away in shackled at the williams slave pen where the faa building stands today. >> which direction is the capitol? >> the capitol is right down this way. right now the air and space museum is in the way of the view that he would have had. >> but that means that this definitely is the corner,

because he stated in his book that when he regained consciousness and looked out the window at others that he directly saw the u.s. capitol and that's how he knew he was still in washington, d.c. and wasn't at least yet sold down south to slavery. >> i want to go back to my family and my home, and now you tell me all of that is lost. >> just a few days later salomon along with other men who had been kidnapped was taken to louisiana where he would endure the next 12 years as a slave. >> salomon's story is part of american history. it is the history of america that has been swept under the rug for way too long. i'm just making sure that his story is not known just to his fami, but we're getting his story out to the world, because his story represents thousands of cases.

we are proud of salomon for our history, his perseverance, his faith, his love for his family, and just letting him know it has been passed down the generations, and make sure that my children know, and i know they are going to make sure that their children know as well. >> clayton said he attempted to watch the movie through times, but was so every whelmed with emotions he was never able to make it to the end. when he read from an original copy of salomon's book, it became clear why. >> he states my narrative is at an end and i have no comments to make upon the subject of slavery. those who read this book may form their own opinions of the prekul lar institution. what it may be in other states i

do not profess to know. what it is in the region of the red river is truly and faithfully delineated in these pages. this is no fiction, no exaggeration. i hope hence forward to lead an up right, though lowly life. and rest -- and rest at last in a church yard where my father sleeps. so in his book, his last request was when he died to lay right next to his father, which is a gave site i have visited many times, but unfortunately salomon is not there. his last request. hopefully this movie will shed

some light as to where he is now. 60 years of research we still don't know. and if we could figure out where he is to transfer his body back to baker cemetery to his final wish could come true. >> one of the most powerful aspects of watching the streets with clayton, was the realize there is no monument marking the remembrance of slavery. >> i didn't realize -- i think most of us who work here right along the mall and the millions of tourists who come to washington every year, don't have any sense of what that is.

thank you so much for introducing us to clayton and i wonder how he feels about this when he sees the oscar nominations the golden globes, how does he feel about this? >> we spoke to him today and he had been overwhelmed. he could barely speak. he was just overwhelmed with every aspect of it. but he is incredibly happy, though. >> yeah, i'm sure he must feel this is an opportunity for his family to find out where salomon is. >> he just really wants the story to get out there. he knows how inspiring it is. but he does feel it is his duty to try to fulfill his last request, and maybe people will be inspired by watching the

movie to help. >> thank you so much. as incredible as all of this is, the story could have been lost were it not for the screen writer who adapted his original memoir. that writer is now celebrating his oscar nomination. but earlier today he visited our studio here in the museum in washington. >> do you know where you are? >> do i know where i am right now? >> right now. >> i'm in the united states of america -- >> you are in the museum which is at 6th and pennsylvania. >> which? >> is where salomon looked up and looked to the capitol. >> i -- no, i did not know that, and that is really pretty awesome. and just to see the capitol here

in this panorama, yeah, that's actually pretty awesome. i didn't imagine what it was like for this gentlemen who was born free and find himself in a slave pen and wonder why he was separated from democratsy. >> and wonder if he was ever be free again. >> yeah. i'm a man living in 2008, and there were so many -- elements of this that were specific to a different time and error, and i did not want to add to that and suppose i had a better idea of what it was like in that era, and it has been very difficult when people say i saw the film and i'm thankful for that, but i

just know that salomon's words have been so much of a guide. and had this just been a creative film maybe it would have been that good, but the power in things like that, it's honestly because of -- he was able to communicate his life in a way that was very essential, and to sit here now and be comfortable and speak with you, where that happened is -- i wasn't expecting that. i really was not. >> later in this hour we'll hear more from john about bringing salomon's story to the screen. the screen writer leaving northop's great great great grandson for the first time at the sight of the former hotel where salomon northopwas

kidnapped.

out west neighbors in glendoera creating a fire break to protect their homes. the out of control brush blaze erupted early wednesday morning. more than 700 firefighters on the front line this hour. police have arrested three men and charactered them with recklessly starting the fire. red flag warning which means conditions are right for wildfire will remain in effect through friday. 90% of all wildfires are caused by human beings. in california an estimated 7 to 12% of wildfires are caused by the work of an arsonist. and with the red flag conditions authorities are on the watch for

more trouble. john mcclain is with us tonight. of course you have written about the very tragic fire and others as well. what is it that inclines investigators to think that arson could be involved, a case like this, how can they track that? >> well, they have a list and they eliminate other causes. and if you go down the whole list of fire alarms and cars, and tossed matches, and there is nothing left, you end up with arson. in this case it was pretty straightforward -- it was ledge people who said yes, we did it. but in deliberate arson where has set out to cause trouble it can be a lot more difficult to determine who did it.

>> arson can apply to both people accidentally starting a fire or deliberately. >> it can be reckless in some cases or deliberate in other cases. >> is the dry circumstance that we find in southern california now, and this is such a repeated occurrence out there, you could think people would have greater attention to the red flag warnings and everything else. >> sometimes that's what brings people out. it excites the criminal arsonist to come out. it's very easy to set a fire. you can have this enormous effect. you have control over the emergency services. you can see thousands of acres burning because of it. >> and there are people who have been known to be firefighters, and have gotten involved in causing a fire themselves. >> that's a stereotypical case that is true sometimes. there was a really bad problem a

number of years ago especially in the volunteer services with a lot of fires being set. people who were attracted to fire for the wrong reasons would set fires and point it out to fellow firefighters and be heros for having discovered it and so on. and what they did to cut down on that is background checks. people like that often have criminal backgrounds. you can check on their earlier years and find out a lot about them. but it does happen simply because somebody likes fire and tries a fire department and is a fireman does not make them a criminal, but when it happens it gets an awful lot of attention. >> the fire you have written about in your book, is one that struck so many hearts, can you replay for us how this one occurred. >> it was started by an arsonist

at about 1:00 in the morning. and it got a real footing before it ever could be fought. it happened very close to where this one sprung up. and a number of forrest service engines wentdown on a lightly settled area and set up to defend homes. the santa ana winds picked up the fire and turned it into an infern know. the area where they set up camp, was engulfed and five were killed. there were people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost their lives as a consequence. the arsonist was arrested in less than a week, which is

extraordinary. and he was tried, convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. that was the first time that that has ever happened for real where you had someone who had actually set a fire, really was an arsonist, was prosecuted for murder, and was found guilty. it's not the last time, there has been one other case since then. >> but it does not happen often? > it does not happen often. it is extremely rare and truly horrible and tragic. >> appreciate you being with us shawn mcclain. >> thank you. and now we find there is more to it. into the death of carey hunt dunn the young mother who was stabbed to death in a texas hotel room while her daughter tried desperately to get help for her. the 9-year-old daughter tried to

dial 911, from the hotel, but didn't know she had to dial 9 first. >> reporter: we were told that the systems hadn't been updated since the incident. but what we wanted to find out what would happen if you just dialed 911 from the room. you get a busy signal. it's because of that busy signal that henry hunt wanted to make a change. in the week since his daughter's death hunt started an online petition to pass a law requiring services. >> my nine year old granddaughter told me that i tried and it wouldn't work. i felt guilty, and i felt like as adults it was our job to make sure it didn't happen again. >> the owners of hotel told

ght" . . . and there are options. joining us here is sec commissioner who was moved by carey dunn's story. you know, it seems like such a simple concept, but all of us, i ink about in our office situations, hotel, hospitals, universities, everybody has got this nine thing. is it something that can be changed? >> i think it can. and that's the great tragedy of the dunn situation is it's such a simple fix. it's ushlt -- usually just a matter of reprogramming the technology. and if her daughter would have been able to reach an outside line there is no telling what could have happened. >> you reached out, you talked to carey dunn's father yourself,

what did he tell you? >> he told me that he never expected this issue to get such a public response when he started his position on december 17th. he was hoping for maybe a hundred signatures. his petition is now at 422,000 signatures. and he said he was very grateful to me for taking interest in the issue. and i told him this is our obligation, the sec's primary goal is to protect the property through communications. >> how did you come to know about this? >> the public safety communications expert named mark fletcher sent a letter to the sec in late december alerting us to the case, and i read the story and i could not believe that this poor girl had to witness such a terrible situation. and she tried to dial four times 911 and never reached anybody. so i reached out to mark and

asked him to come to my office, and he described the issue, and so i announced on monday i would start an inquiry to try to figure out what the facts are. i sent a letter to the top ceos of the top hotel chains and ask them some questions. >> but can the sec mandate that change? do you have any authority to control what these individual hotel companies or any other institution that uses dial 9 first? this >> well, as mark pointed out in his letter to the sec the greatest barrier is just awareness. the manager who from the suite down from marshall -- >> a woman stepped forward and said -- >> exactly. and just becoming aware of this

issue was enough to incentze her. hotel operators -- hotel guests all over the country, it's so a no-brainer to implement the fix on her own, so hopefully awareness is going to be the tonic that we need. >> so this neighboring hotel just went in and immediately reprogrammed their phones. >> right. >> we have seen a number of places -- we saw in a number of parts of countries, these dead zones, so it's not just a matter of the hotels having a problem but there are places where 911 is just not available. >> that is a basic belief that you dial 911 and someone can help you.

and we are working on making sure there are no more gaps. we still need to have that core functionality that people have come to expect. >> we heard from one of the experts the other day that some of these areas are remote. they might not have cell service. there might be reservations. or national park areas. will the sec be able to mandate that kind of change? >> i think it's crucial to make sure all of the communication technology at our disposal are put to good use. i went to a rule town in alaska, very remote. some places they don't have cellar service or even wire line service, and an am broadcaster may be the best person to reach. >> well, we'll see what happens. and we'll ask you to followup

with us and tell us what you were able to do. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> after the break. new woes for wal-mart, why even the federal go believes the world's largest retailer went too far in cracking down on its workers. ♪

now a snapshot of the stories making headlines on "america tonight." al-qaeda forces in iraq are spreading messages in fallujah. handing out pamphlets urging residences to take up arms against rebel forces. a north texas man who paid $350,000 for a permit to shoot an endangered black rhino now says he is getting death

threats. the new jersey state assembly votes to continue investigation into the bridge gate scandal. they will now try to determine whether the lane closures of the george washington bridge were part of political payback. it has already issued 20 subpoenas in his probe. the nsa may be facing big changes. president obama has been looking into the agency's controversial spying programs, including the collection of phone records of millions of americans. glen greenwald appeared on al jazeera "the stream." >> i think the public at this point has heard enough about what the nsa does and how invasive it is, and they are going to need more than just a

pretty speech by president obama to feel their concerns are addressed. there are a couple of proposals that are decent ones, like putting an advocate in the fifa court, but the history of the united states in the last 50 years, and the history of president obama in particular is when there is some sort of controversy the approach is to pretend that you are changing things to placate public anger and not actually change it. and i think it's a really big mistake to look at tomorrow as the end of this process. at the most it's just the beginning. no president wants to give up surveillance power. he has to be forced to do that. so the key is for public pressure to continue to build, and demand that more changes happen to look at this as a first step and not a last one. >> james you have written many

books about the nsa, its powers and failings as well. what is your expectation about what the president is going to say now? >> well, what i have heard is he is going to be very moderate in the reforms he is going to approve. the panel that he appointed came up with something like 46 very good recommendations, but i think he has had a tremendousment amount of push back from the intelligence committee. the director of national intelligence and the director of the nsa, and i think he'll listen to them more than his own pane panel. >> what is the thinking of the international optics. we just heard from glen greenwald, and there is so much attention on edward snowden, and the campaign to get him pardoned. >> i think there is a big push

to get him pardoned. i think he is a courageous whistleblower. what we did was pass information about illegal u.s. activetive to a news organization. i would be all in favor of having the government grant him pardon, but i don't think that's what this administration will do. >> how far will this administration go to change things? >> i don't think they will go very far. the obama administration has never known any indication it wants to reign in the intelligence community. quite the opposite. it pumps lots of money into the intelligence community to expand it. >> as i said before, i consider you something of a canary in a coleman on the nsa, you have been so clued in over so many

years, in some way do you feel vindicated that all of this is coming to light? >> i don't really feel vindicated, what i feel is that some of the people that i have interviewed, the whistleblowers that came to me are vindica because they were telling me some of these same things over the course of years. and every time they came out and said something like this, they would say that's nonsensef1 o are a disgruntled worker, or whatever. and that's one of the reasons that snoweden decided to walk out with 1 million documents or whatever it is. because once you have the documents you can't say you are a disgruntled worker. and that's what happened.

>> by your estimation, is this a problem of design in the formation of the nsa, in the formation of the fisa court? is it really a design problem that there would always be the potential for these kind of abuses. >> the fisa court was set up in 1978 there weren't any problems for 30 or so years, it wasn't until 2001 when president bush decided to bypass the law, and once they did that, then they started to dismantle a lot of the reforms that were created after the committee in 1975. >> james's latest book is shadow factory. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. retail giant wal-mart, we

agency filed a lawsuit against wal-mart for firing 60 workers who walked out. in a statement to al jazeera america, wal-mart said we believe we acted respectfully and lawfully. wal-mart has a strict no retaliation policy. aniant any participants that were terminated were terminated for violation of other policies including attendance. >> i got a call from a brother from ufcw and told me he was making change at wal-mart, and i was all in. i knew that we wasn't a problem, wal-mart was. >> green spoke to newspapers, appeared on tv and attended

rallies, but it wasn't until she marched with thousands of other wal-mart workers and supporters that she heard from her boss. >> and after speaking out about the conditions in my store, six days later, i was terminated through the mail. >> she says she was fired for protesting. >> i'm here to support other workers. >> brandon garrett says wal-mart fired him for protesting at its headquarters. and these former employees claim they were also let go for speaking out. >> my name is barbara collins and i'm from california, plaserville, and i'm here even though i got fired, i'm still going to stand up for what is right. >> i work at store 3455, i was fired two weeks ago for standing up in what i believe in.

>> i'm from orlando, florida. [ inaudible ]. >> each of the activists worked for wal-mart, each were fired for what they say was their right to protest. >> we have a right to protest and demonstrate and use our voice and collective power to alter and shift the economy so it works for us, and that's what we're doing. >> most workers don't earn enough money to support households. >> we need jobs that people can live on. jobs where people can enploy the american dream. >> we are joined by a former wal-mart worker herself. what did the company say about what you did? >> i got fired for a no-call, no-show for june 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and that's considered job

abandonment, but they knew i was going out on strike, and -- >> so you called in this sick or -- or whatever? did you call in? or what did you say? >> i faxed over the information not only to the store, but also to home office, and my nt didn't respond to me calling in. >> how much money were you making at wal-mart? >> $11.05 an hour. >> and how does that do for you a single mom?> single mom? i'm just struggling to survive. that's what exactly all of the workers are doing is just surviving. >> at $11 an hour, i'm asking, you know, is that something that you can live on? is this really a challenge for you to make it on $11 an hour? >> it really is a challenge, because even though i was full-time i wasn't getting 40 hours a week, i was getting retaliated against for being a member of the organization, so

my hours got cut down to 8 hours for one week, 16 for another. and yeah, it's a challenge and a struggle and you just -- not only learn how to survive but -- >> yeah. you are now on welfare? >> no. >> no. what is working for you now? >> i get unemployment and i get help through family and -- some really good friends. >> but it's still a challenge? i mean that's kind of a sacrifice to say well, i'll lose that job, because you certainly underthat that was a risk. >> risk for standing up and doing what is right? i mean, everyone is still pushing [ inaudible ] and standing up for our rights and we're not breaking the law. so a risk i'm willing to take, and if i had the chance to do it again, you bet ya i would. >> would you go back to working at wal-mart again? >> yes.

>> under what circumstance? >> to get reinstated with my full-time status, and start showing all of the workers the respect that they deserve, respect to the communities that they are in. >> so it isn't necessarily that you are demanding a specific wage, a specific dollar amount, you -- you could live on the $11.30 if you were working full-time? >> no, we're also just started asking for $25,000 to start for all full-time associates, and any part-time associates, give them the option to be full-time. >> you know, you understand that there are a lot of folks who say well, at least you had work, you know? and you did understand that if you didn't show up there was going to be some possibility that you wouldn't have a job w would you respond to that?

how would you say, look, you know, this is all i can do. other people have stayed on the job, right? >> other people did stay on the job. but i also have the federal labor law that says i do have the right to speak out, to organize in my workplace, to talk about bettering our work, and without the fear of retaliation. that's what the federal law is there for. government is looking into now. we appreciate you being with us barbara collins. thanks very much. >> thank you. ♪ when we return, cruel and unusual? an ohio execution, and why it's raising concern for the condemned. ♪

coming up on "consider this," shocking scenes of marines apparently burning any bodies of iraq's insurgents that emerged ten years later. also targeting text messages why is the nsa collecting almost 200 million text messages every day from around the world. and brad taylor fills us in on the threat of terrorists

tracking our gps system. 15 minutes is how long it took to complete the execution of convicted kill erdens any mcguire earlier today. one of the longest executions on record in ohio, and it is raising new questions about the use of lethal injection all across the country. ohio recently switched to an drug manufacturers banned manufacturers from using the drug for executions. they denied the accusations, but

the results today after the drugs were administered, mcguire convulsed and gasped for air several times before it was all over. staff attorney with uc berkeley school of law death penalty clinic joins us at this hour. why was this of such great concern? >> well, i think that there is two things of great concern. the first is that ohio made the decision to use two drugs that had never been used in an execution, drugs who's purpose was not to bring about death. the second is reports that came out of ohio this morning after the execution happened which indicate that mr. mcguire experienced some amount of suffering, and it look, as you alonger for him to die than in previous ohio executions.

>> there are people who would argue that cruel and unusual might not apply to someone who was a convicted killer, and convicted i believe also of rape. how much cruelty is defensible? that -- that -- and i'm sympathetic to the people who feel that way. but the fact of the matter is. we have a constitution. the 8th amendment is there for a reason, and if we are going to carry out executions in a civilized society we need to comport with the requirements of the 8th amendment. >> and that has to do too with previous executions methods that were useded. those were methods that went away in favor of using these drug protocols. >> absolutely. but that doesn't negate the fact

that we need to do these things in aen maker that is constitutional and humane. >> and the drugs in this case -- this is a new version -- and it does have to do with the use of a new protocol, because the drug suppliers were not doing so for various reasons, but they are not providing them to these states that do want to carry out executions. i mean, what is the solution for the state? >> well, i think that -- you know, we have seen a number of states go in different directions. from we have seen from ohio is they chose two drugs. the experts for the state weren't even able to state clearly how long it would take for any inmate to die once the drugs were administered. so i think it raises serious questions about how much due diligence the state did in researching which drugs they would switch to and the effect they would have prior to using

them. >> is there an approved drug that has been researched that is not under limitation. >> there are a number of drugs that could be used, but it's a matter of consulting with experts to make sure the drugs will be effective in the manner in which they are being used. >> what is going to happen in this case to the conversation about the death penalty in the united states? >> i think the question that it raises is are states turning to drugs either questionable drugs in the terms of their effectiveness, or drugs of questionable sources which we ha seen in other states. this is the second questionable execution that we have seen in the last week or so. we saw out of oklahoma an exclusion what we assumed to be compounded drug, but from an

unknown pharmacy. we saw an inmate in the middle -- or towards the beginning say he felt burning all over his body. so i think the questions that this execution raised are the same that came out of oklahoma, are we going to allow the department of directions to sort of hide where they are getting drugs or use drugs that can't explain their efficacy in an execution. >> thank you so much for being with us. in our final thoughts this evening, john ridley, the screen rider, his passions, emotional turns, and what his screen play means for the african american community. ♪

♪ final from script to scene 12 years a slave was a memoir. the scenes and sub text to give it character and even more life. we watched it evolve into an

oscar nominated as of tait, film. john is the screen writer and earlier i spoke with him about what it meant to be the african american story teller of 12 years a slave? this >> it's interesting in the unofficial phases it didn't really hit me as hard. certainly when i read the memoir i thought it was a singular document in terms of the precision of the writing and elevated nature of product. but when i saw the film for the first time, particularly with an audience, and -- you understand how this group of people has taken a piece of history and rely given it life and put it on its feet. and when you are with 200 people and they move as one, and they are touched as one, that's when i really started to realize how powerful the written word can be. and i don't just mean my written

word, but when somebody leaves something behind, and it can last and survive and find itself in time, that was really powerful. and that was really a strong moment. but equally powerful are moments when i travel with this film around the world, and it's not just black american history, it's not just american history, you know, this is the history of all of us, it really is. and for -- as an american who -- who has watched films that have been about tragedies or seminal moments in other countries, it's really interesting to have someone who is not from america, come here, find something, lift it up, and say how come you folks aren't paying attention to something zig -- significant like this. >> this is a diverse cast. it represents so much of a change of what we normally think

of in the hollywood machine. >> yeah. it is one of those things in retrospect you realize the responsibility across the board of trying to take a document that is very personal and not mess it up and take these individuals and put them into the mix and not mess that up. but for me, i tried to be reductive about it. i have two boys. i have two young men, and if i were going to leave something that i wanted them to be aware of, you know, what is really the measure of a man or a person, an individual, the characteristics in this book, in this story, that's what i wanted them to be aware of, for my kids, anybody kids, that cuts across all races and demographics. but for me if i go i'm going to preach to the world that is awesome, but if you look at the person next to you and say what can i say to you in some small

way, that's what i was blessed with. business and this time for african-americans, the kinds of movies we have seen in the last year, extraordinary films, not just yours -- >> yeah, but extraordinary films representing african-americans that i think you have to aggress are new to the hollywood machine. >> they are certainly new for the hollywood machine. but if you look at some of the films in there like think like a man, like best man holiday, it's not just these high-minded films, it's regular films for regular folks that are entertained, and i think there has been a shift in the perception of the marketplace, because there has always been a

diversion audience out there that want to see movies like >> thank you very much. >> thank you. before we leave you a programming note. join us friday for an "america tonight" investigates. fallout from fukushima. michael travels to japan for a is coping three years after the deadly tsunami. if you would like to comment on any of the stories you have seen here tonight, log on to our website, aljazeera.com/america tonight. good night, we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. ♪

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york, and here are the top stories. a new lethal injection was used today to kill a man convicted of the rape and murder of a pregnant woman. dennis mcguire struggled for 15 minutes before he died. waging wildfire outside of los angeles, california may have been started by a scrap of burning paper. that's what investigators say now. three men have been arrested and charged in connection with that fire. so far it has engulfed more than 1700 acres and consumed at least five homes. in georgia one soldier is dead, and two