olympic games in california. headlines are next. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. >> police say paper tossed into a campfire sparked a wind-driven wildfire near los angeles. thousands of people were forced from their homes and several schools were closed. so far the fire burnt more than 1700 acres and is 13% contained. more n.s.a. documents have been leaked. this time involving text messages. the n.s.a. has been collecting millions of messages. collecting and saving data, including locations contact and credit card details. >> a lethal drug combination was

used to execute a killer. dennis maguire was convicted of rape and murder. witnesses say he struggled for 17 years. >> a senator in oklahoma said he will not serve out his term. the 66-year-old will leave at the end of the current session. he was diagnosed with cancer but says the decision was not about his health. >> those are the headlines for this hour. "america tonight" is next with joie chen. the latest news on al. i'll see you back for prime trial news tomorrow night.

and mr. the best of all of us. >> and fears santa ana winds ignite flames. who officials think may be responsible. >> and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen.

we begin with look about history what we know and don't know about our communities, our families, even ourselves. what's provoked special interest in the past for us is making big waves today. when the oscars were announced, one film, 12 years a slave, was honored with nine of them. best picture, best actor, best adapted screenplay. the story was of simon northrop. drugged, and sold. >> i was born a free man. lived with my family in new york. until the day i was deceived. kidnapped. sold into slavery. >> well, boy, how you feel now? >> my name is solomon northrop.

i am a free man and you have no right whatsoever to detain me. >> you not a free man. you're nothing but a georgia run away. >> solomon northrop was reunited in 1873. more than 150 years later now hidden details in the story are coming to light for at least one of them. north prop's great great great grandson, clayton adams. >> nba commissioner-- >> clayton adams has been in search of solomon northrop, his great great great grandfather and also in search of himself. >> i thought i knew who i was at a young age. i new my history, i knew my grandmother. but that was as far as i could

go as far as my descendants. thinking who i am and realizing this and realizing there's more than me than just two generations back. because it's hard for african americans to check their history because of the slave trade. it was a missing piece that i didn't even know was my history. >> many 12 years aslave was his road map. i campaigned clayton down pennsylvania avenue in washington, d.c, where, for the first time, he began retracing the steps where solomon spent his final days as a free man. >> this was the actual gapsea hotel where solomon stayed when he came to washington city and this was the place he was

kidnapped and brought down to the william slave pen to get sold into slavery. this was the last place he was a 43 man? >> this was the last place he was free and this is my first time ever being at this spot in all of my travels in washington city. the book is so detailed that i felt that i was there, right next to solomon, seen through his eyes what he was going through, sold into slavery. now i could see through his eyes what he was seeing before he was even kidnapped. >> after solomon was drugged by two kidnappers at the hotel, he woke up in the william slave pen, where the faa building stands today. >> which direction account capital? >> the capitol is right down this way now. the air and space museum is in the way of the view that he would have had.

>> this means this was definitely the corner. he said in his book when he regained consciousness, that he directly saw the u.s. capitol. and that's how he knew that he was still in washington, d.c, and it wasn't at least sold down south to slavery. >> days ago i was with my family. in my home. now you tell me all is lost. >> but just a few days later, solomon northrop, along with other men who had been kidnapped, was taxicab to louisiana where he would endure the next 12 years as a slave. >> solomon northrop's story is part of american history. it is a history of america that has been swept under the rug for way too long. i am just knowing that his story isn't just known to his family, but getting his story out to the

world because his story represents thousands of cases. we are proud of solomon northrop for his strength, his perseverance, his strength his love for his family, i want to make sure my children know, and i know they're going to make sure that their children know, as well. >> clayton said he attempted to watch the movie three times but was so overwhelmed with emotion he was never able to make it to the end. when he read from an original copy much solomon's book it became apparent why. >> at the very last page of his book 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 pecular institution. what it may be in other states, i do not pro fest to know.

what -- 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 upright 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 die, to lay right next to his father, which is a grave site i have visited many a time. but unfortunately, solomon is not there. his last request [ crying ] and hopefully, this

movie, will shed some light as to where he is now, the 16 years of research, we still don't know. and if -- if we could figure out where he is, to transfer his body back to baker cemetery so his final wish will come true. >> one of the most powerful aspects of walking the streets of washington with clayton was the striking monument, no monument to mark the tragic history of slavery, what millions of tour iforts don't realize -- tourists don't realize that washington was home to the most active slave depots in the country. many people wouldn't know this. >> motion people wouldn't know, the -- most people wouldn't know, don't have any sense of what that is?

is. thank you so much for introducing us to clayton of course and i wonder how he feels when he sees the oscar buzz, the golden globes, all this attention suddenly being brought forth here. how does he feel about all of this? >> we spoke to him today and he was incredibly overwhelmed. all of the attention has been a lot. but he said he didn't have the words. he could barely speak. he was just overwhelmed with every aspect of it. he's incredibly happy though. >> i'm sure he must feel this is an opportunity for his family to find out more, to find out where solomon northrop is. ask there any indication they are going to get something out of this? >> not now but mainly behind this, he wants the story to get out there. he knows how inspiring it is, he hopes maybe people will be inspired by watching the movie to help.

>> christophe, thanks so much bringing us that report about solomon northrop's descendants, as it is. as incredible as it is, solomon's story could have been lost to the dust bin of history, were it not developing his memoir, writer john ridley, now celebrating oscar nomination, we told him something he didn't even realize. >> do you know where you are? >> do i know where i am right now? >> right now. >> i'm in the united states of america, in the district of columbia. >> at the museum. >> which is at sixth and pennsylvania. >> sixth and pennsylvania -- which -- >> is where solomon northrop woke up and looked at the capitol. >> i didn't know that. that is really pretty awesome.

to see the capitol here in this panorama, you know it's actually pretty awesome and i can't imagine what it would have been like for this gentleman who was born free, to find himself in a slave pen. and look at the rise of the symbol of democracy and wonder why he was separated from it. >> and whether he would ever be free again. >> yeah. you know, it's one of the very difficult things about working on this project was, i'm a man living in 2008. and there was so many elements of this that were so specific to a different time and a different place and a different era and i did not want to be additive in that story. i didn't want to suppose i had some better perspective about slavery or freedom or what it would have been like in that era. and it's been very difficult when people say, you know, i saw the film and it's a really great script and i'm thankful for

that. i just know that solomon's words have been so much of a guide. and i could not have -- had this just been a creative film, maybe i'm a good writer in that regard but the power and 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 right now and to be comfortable and to speak with you and have an opportunity to speak to a lot of people and know that this is the spot where that happened, i wasn't expecting that, i really was not. >> later in this hour we are going to hear more from john ridley about bringing solomon northrop's story of his 12 years a slave story to the screen. the screen writer meeting northrop's great great great grandson for the first time here at the "america tonight" studio, and the area where solomon northrop was kidnapped.

>> it's so good to meet you, it really is.

>> out west neighbors of glendora, a suburb of san diego, more than 700 firefighters on the front lines this hour. police have arrested three men and charged them with recklessly starting the fire. the men said they sparked the blaze, throwing newspapers into a fire. red flag warnings, conditions

ripe for a fire, will remain in effect until friday. 90% of all fires are caused by human beings. with the red flag conditions, authorities in southern california are on the watch for more trouble. john mccain, author of the esperons of fire, is with us tonight, of course you have written about that 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 could they track that? >> they have a list and they eliminate other causes. if you go down the whole list of power lines and cars and tossed matches out of car window and all the press of it and there's nothing left, you wind up with arson. sometimes it is very simple. this point, appears to be very straightforward,.

>> it was spoken up -- >> spoken up and said we did it. but in deliberate fires, deliberately to cause trouble, could be more difficult to find. >> arson fires, that could apply to people accidentally started a fire or deliberatary. >> it could be reckless and negligent in some cases and deliberate and intent to cause harm in other cases. >> is the dry situation in southern california, so many times you would think that people would have greater attention to the red flag warnings and everything else. >> sometimes that's what brisd people out when you get red flag warning and santa ana winds it excites the criminal arsonist to come out. it's very easy to set a fire. you have enormous effect, control over emergency services, you see thowls thousands of

acres burning because you started it. and this turns some very sick people. >> and there are people who have been known to be firefighters and involved in causing a fire itself. >> that's stereotypical and true some times. there was a very bad time a long ago in volunteer services with a lot of fires being set, people attracted to fires for the wrong reason would volunteer for fighting, be heroes in discovering it and so on. what they did to cuk that out was background -- cut that out were background checks, very simple. you can check on their early years and find out a lot about them and eliminate a lot of that problem. but it does happen. simply because somebody likes fire. joins the fire department. and is a firearm does not make them a criminal. but when it happens it gets an awful lot of attention.

>> the esperanza fire, the one you have written in your book this is one that has struck so many hearts, so disturbing that fire. can you replay for us how this one occurred? >> it was started by an ar connist in the -- arsonist in the middle of the night. it mapped very close to where this one has sprung up. and a number of forest service engines went down on th on to a lightly settled area and set down to save the homes. the santa ana winds came up and turned into it a hideous fire. the fire line was set up where they thought was perfectly is safe, they were killed, five people were wiped out, they 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 was extraordinary. there was some really great police work done especially by one guy. and he was tried, he was convicted of murder, in the first degree, and sentenced to death. and that's the first time that that's ever happened for real, where you had someone who would actually set a fire, really was an arsonist, was prosecuted for murder and was found guilty. it's not last time, there was one other case since then. >> it certainly does not happen often. >> does not half often, extremely rare, truly horrible and tragic. >> hopefully people will learn from that. appreciate you being with us mr. mccain.

>> terry hunt, stabbed in a hotel room, while her daughter tried to get attention, dunn's nine-year-old tried to dial 911, but didn't know she had to dial 9 first. sair ray hoy brought us the story from marshall, texas. >> we tried to dial 911 and were told that the system hasn't been updated since the incident. we tested what happened, you get a piz signal. it's because of that busy signal that henry hunt wanted to make a change. in the week since miss daughter's death, he wanted to past an online petition.

>> my nine-year-old granddaughter said i tried 911 but it didn't work. i felt guilty. i felt like we shouldn't let that happen again. >> this is an industry association, the windham said, to better understand issues and potential option he for addressing them. there are options. fcc commissioner ayit pi who was moved by carey dunn's story. mr. apai, it seems like such a simple situation. but in this situation, hospitals, universities, everybody has this 9-situation. can it dealt changed. >> it's such a simple fix it's usually just a situation of reprogramming the technology that already exists as opposed

to buying new technology. had bree anna dunn been able to reach an outside line, there's no telling what would have happened. this is replicated every single day. >> you reached out and talked to kerrie dunn's father. what did he say about this? >> he said he never thought this would have gotten such a public response. he was expecting to get about 100 signatures and his petition is now at over 400,000 signatures. this is our obligation under the communications act, the fc's primary groal is to protect the safety and life of property through communications and this tragic case hopefully will have a silver lining of raising awareness of this issue. >> how did you become aware of this? >> a public safety expert named mark fletcher, cent us a letter

and got in touch over twitter. i read the story and i could not believe this poor girl only nine years old had to witness this situation. >> tried to get help. >> tried to dial 911 four times and never got any help. he said we don't know the scope of the problem. i announced on monday that i would be starting an inquiry to try to find out what the circumstances are. i sent a letter to many many four of the highest ceos of these large corporations. how can we fix this situation? >> can the fcc mandate that change? do you have any authority to control what these individual hotel companies or any institution that uses dial-9 first? >> as mark pointed out in his

letter to the fc and i believe myself the greatest barrier isn't regulation or law as much as just awareness. the greatest example of that is cj clayton who manages staybridge suites -- >> the woman step forward and said -- >> just to become , is enough motivation to want to change the situation. it is a no-brainer for them to implement the fix on their own that hopefully awareness is going to be the tonic we 92 need to solve the problem. >> this neighboring hotel just actually went in panned immediately reprogrammed their phones. >> right. >> we have also seen a number of places, in our earlier report we saw a number of places in our country have these dead zones. so it's not just a matter of the hotels being at issue but there are significant parts of the country where 911 is just not an option. what do we do there? >> that is one of the key gaps

in our telephone network. one of the basic functions that people expect out of the communication systems, when you dial 911 you can reach someone who can help you. make sure there are no more gaps especially in the 21st century. as technology is evolving, the internet and other technologies are becoming more you a ubiquit. >> some of the areas are remote, they might not have cellular service, there might be reservations, there might be national park areas, will there be additional adjustments, will the fc be able to man that kind of change? >> i think it's crucial to ensure that all the communications technologies at our disposal are at our use. rural town in alaska, 60 people, very remote, no cellular service, maybe no wire line

service, an a.m. broadcaster is a person they might need to reach, we are such a vast and diverse country geographically. >> we will see what happens and we will ask you to follow up with us and tell us what you're able to do. aji beingsptai, fc commissioner. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> why the federal government believes the largest retailer went too far in cracking down on its workers.

>> now, a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight". al qaeda forces in iraq are spreading, familiar flets in fallujah. al qaeda militants received control of fallujah in recent

weeks as a challenge to central government. a person get purchase being a permit to shoot an endangered african black rhino is getting death threats. continuing investigation into the bridge-gate scandal. specialty committee will try determine whether the lane closures of the george washington bridge were part of political pay back. the commission has said it's already issued 20 subpoenas in the probe. president obama has been looking into the nsa's controversial spying programs including the collection of foarch records of millions of americans. on friday he's expected to announce plans to rein in the powers. glen greenwald, secret

surveillance, earlier greenwald appeared on al jazeera america s "the stream. identity. >> are they going to need more than just a pretty speech from president obama to make sure their concerns are addressed? afternoon advocate in the fisa court so no longer the government is the only side that shows up when it's determined whether or not a warrant should issue. but the history in the past 50 years and the history of president obama in particular is when there is such a controversy, the approach is to pretend changing things to placate public anger, rather than really change it. i think it's error to think of tomorrow as the end of the process. at the very most it's the beginning. of course there is not serious

change proposed by president obama, no president wants to give up surveillance power. he has to be forced to do that. for private industry to feel the pressure and to demand, we should look at this as the first step not the last one. >> james banford, a writer about the nsa and its powers, failings as well. what would be your expectation about what the president is going osay now to reassure us given all that we have learned? >> what we have heard is that he is going to be very moderate in the reforms that he approve. the panel that he came up -- appointed came up with 46 very good recommendations. he has had a push back from the national intelligence agency, the director clapper and keith alexander. i think he's going to listen more to them than he is to his

own panel. >> what is the think on the heard from glentics? greenwald, edward snowden, and a campaign of course to try get him pardoned. >> i think there is a big push to get him pardoned. i think a lot of people think he's a hero for what he did. i think he is a courageous whistle blower. i don't think he's a tray or what he did was pass information about illegal u.s. activity to a news organization. that makes him a whistle blower. so i'd be all in favor of having the government grant him pardon but i don't think that's what this administration is going to do. >> how far will this administration go to change things at the nsa? >> i don't think they are going to go too far. the obama administration has not shown much indication that it wants to rein in the nsa.

quite the opposite, pumped money into it to expand it, sending drones around the world to blow up from the cia and so forth. >> you are sort of a canary in the coal mine, so observe ant over so many years, are you vind caitded that all this is coming to light? >> i don't feel vindicated, the people i interviewed, the whistle blowers who came to me are vindicated because they were telling me some of these same things over the course of years. and every time they would come out and say something like this that the nsa was doing this, the director or someone from the agency would say that is nonsense, exaggeration, disgruntled worker or whatever. that is one of the reasons from what i understand that snowden decided to walk out with you know, a million documentation or how many many it is. because once you have the proof,

once you have the documents then they can't say you're making it up or you're just a disgrunt manied worker. that's what happened. there is no way they can deny these allegations when they've got the documents sitting in front of them on the first page of the newspapers or or the tv screen. >> by your estimation, is this a problem of design in a formation of the nsa, in the formation of the fis rampleisa court, was ths the potential for these kinds of abuses? >> if the law was are the bay there would have been any problems. the fisa court was set up in 1978. but president bush decided to bypass the law, once they did that they started to dismantle a

lot of the reforms that were created after the church committee in 1975. >> james banford, latest book is shadow factory. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> retail giant walmart, wage protests by its workers. we told you yesterday, a federal agency filed a formal complaint against walmart, the cases spanned a year, leading up to the big black friday shopping day just this past thanksgiving. in a statement to al jazeera america, walmart said we believe we acted respectfully and more importantly lawfully. walmart has a strict no retaliation policy and hits conducted in the many lawsuit were including attendance. some who are named in the complaint. >> i got a call from a brother

from uscb and told me was making change in walmart and i was all-in. i knew that you know we wasn't the problem, walmart was. >> green spoke to newspapers, appeared on tv and at rallies protesting working conditions at walmart. but it wasn't until she marched with thousands of other walmart 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 and stand up for what is right actually. >> brandon garrett said walmart fired hrm for protesting at its headquarters in arkansas. and these former walmart employees sa they were fired

for speaking out. >> i'm from placerville and i'm here even though i went on a usp strike, i'm going to stand up for what's right. >> i work at richmond store 3445. i got fired for standing up for what i believe in. >> walmart sued me, it's time to go on, fight back. >> each of the kates worked for walmart, they were fired because of their right to protest. >> we have a right to protest, demonstrate, use our voice, collective power to alter and shift the free market economy so it works for us and that's exactly what we're doing. >> most walmart workers, the suit says, don't earn enough money to support a household. >> we want the worker to enjoy the american dream. >> barbara collins joins us, she

participated in a number of the strikes, including the one brought about the nlrb complaints. barbara what did the company say you did? >> i got fired for anew call no show, for june 1, 2 and 3, for they knew i was out on strike. >> you called in sick or what did you say? >> i faxed over the information not only to the store but also to home office. and my management didn't respond to me calling in. >> how much money were you making at walmart? >> $11.05 an hour. >> how does that do for you single mom? >> single mom i just learned to survive. that's what exactly all the workers are doing, just surviving. >> at $11 an hour i'm asking you

know is that something that you can live on?úis this really a cr you to make it on $11 an hour? >> it really is a challenge. because even though i was full time, it wasn't -- i wasn't getting 40 hours a week. i was getting retaliated against by being a member of the organization. so my hours got cut down to eight hours one week, 16 for another. and yeah it's a challenge and a struggle and you just not only learn how to survive but -- >> you're now on welfare? >> no. >> what's 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 there to say all right, well, i'll lose that job because you certainly understood that that was a risk? >> risk for standing up and doing what's right? i mean -- everyone gets their

pushing point, i guess. and standing up for our rights, so a risk, i'm willing to take. and if i had the chance to go back and do it again, you betcha, i would. >> would you go back to working at walmart again? >> yes. >> under what circumstance? >> to get reinstated with my full time status. and start showing all the workers the respect that they deserve, respect the communities that they are in. >> so it isn't necessarily that you're demanding a specific wage, a specific dollar amount. 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 did -- if you didn't show up there was going to be some possibility that you wouldn't have a job after not coming to work. how would you respond to that? i mean how would you say look, you know, this was all i could do, other people have stayed on >> yes, other py on the job. but i also had 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. >> and that is what the federal government is lookinnow. we appreciate your being with us. barbara collins. thanks very much. >> thank you. >> when we return: cruel and usual? an ohio execution and why it's

raising concern for the condemned.

>> 15 minutes is how long it took to complete the execution of convicted killer dennis mcguire today. one of the longest executions in ohio, and it's raising questions about the use of lethal injection all across the

country. ohio recently switched to an untested protocol. mcguire's lawyers warned that the protocol could cause air hunger, something that would create a gasping for air. mcguire gasped for air several times before it was all over. >> you followed this case, you understood what was at stake here. why was it of such great concern? >> well, i think that there's two things that were of great concern. the first is that ohio made the decision to use two drugs that had never been used in execution, drugs whose purpose is not to bring about death. and the second is the reports that came out of ohio this morning, after the execution

happened, which indicate that mr. mcguire experienced, you know, some amount of suffering, experienced a lack of air, gaspedas you say longer for him to die than in previous moi hoist ohio executi. >> there may be people who would say, how much cruelty is defensible? >> well, i understand those -- that, and i'm sympathetic tot people who feel that way. you know but the fact of the matter is that we have a constitution, we rule unit the rule of law and the eighth amendment is there for a reason. if we are going to carry out execution necessary a civilized society we need to do so in a manner that comports with the eighth amendment.

>> previous execution, used firing squad, hanging and the electric chair those are methods that went away in favor of using these drug protocols. >> yeah, absolutely. but that doesn't negate the fact that we is had use a manner that is constitutional and humane. >> 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're not providing them to the states that do want to carry out executions. i mean what is the solution for the state? >> well, i think that, you know, we've seen a number of states go in different directions. what we've seen from ohio is that they chose two drugs. you know, the experts for the state weren't even able to state

clearly how long it would take for the inmates who die once the drugs were administered, so i think it brings to the inform how many due diligence the authorities universit used. >> is there no shortage or access to what they would have access to? >> there are a number of drugs that states could choose but it is a matter of the states doing the research with the medical experts in ensuring that the drugs are going to be effective in the manner in which they are being used. >> what's going to happen as a result of this case in the conversation of the death bent in the united states? >> i think the question it razors is, are states turning to drugs, either questionable drugs in terms of their effectiveness, or drugs with questionable

sources which we've seen in other states? this is the second questionable execution that we've seen in the last week or so. we've seen out of oklahoma an execution using what we assume to be compounded pentabarbitol, a different drug than in ohio, but from an unknown pharmacy, the inmate say he was feeling burning all over his body. if the experts cant explain their efficacy in executions. >> thanks have much for being with us. in our final thoughts this evening, john ridley will return to that screen writer, his passions and the emotionally

turns and -- emotional turns and what his screenplay means for the african american community.

>> finally, for us this hour, long before 12 years a slave resonated with movie goers, it was a memoir. then a quite talented screen writer turned it into a script to give it more life. watch it nominat turn into an ok nominated film. what it meant to be the story teller of 12 years a phase. >> it's interesting. in the initial phases, it didn't really hit me. i thought it as a singular document in terms of the eleva elevated level of the writing. but it was a cool move, mathematics making a script move, honing that narrative. but when i saw the movie for the first time particularly with an

audience you understand how this group of people has taken this piece of history and put it on its feet and you are with 200 people and they are moved as one and touched as one, that's how much i realized, how powerful the written word can be. and i don't mean just my written word, but when somebody leaves something behind and it can find itself in time, that was really powerful and that was really a strong moment. but equally powerful are moments when i've traveled with this film around the world and it's not just black american history, not just american history, this is the history of all of us, it really is. and for -- as an american who's watched films that have been about tragedies or seminal moments in other countries, it is really interesting to have folks from anoth come here to america, look through

the dust bin of history, lift it up and say how come you folks aren't paying attention to something as significant as this? >> right under your feet. not only for you, but for other members of the cast, this is a diverse cast, represents so much of a change of what we normally would think of in the hollywood machine and it's a big responsibility. >> it's one of those things where in retrospect you realize across the board of trying to make a document so important, and not mess it up, take these individuals and not mess them up. it's awesome that in a way i try to be redeductive about it. i have two boys, 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 that were in this book, in this story, that's what i wanted them to be aware of and that's for my kids. that's for anybody's kids, that

cuts across all races all demographics. for me, if you look at the people next to you and say, how can i affect you in some way, that's what kept me focused, those two young men that i was blessed with. >> talk a little bit about the movie business and this time for african americans, the kinds of movies we have seen in the last year, extraordinary films, not just yours but extraordinary films representing african americans that i think you would have to agree are new to the hollywood machine. >> they are certainly new to the hollywood scene. you look at the butler, fruitvil station, red tails, put that in, but also the films that are in there, think like a man, best

man holiday, it is not just this wonderful high minded aspirational films, i think that's great. there's a shift in the marketplace or a shift in the perception of the marketplace. there's always been a diverse audience out there that is hungry to see people like them, stories like them. >> congratulations thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. >> the film, 12 years a slave, the screen writer, john ridley. join us friday night for "america tonight" investigates, paul okku travels to japan, thre years from the event, how the country is coping. please join the conversation on twitter or on our facebook page, we'll have more of "america

tonight", tomorrow. >> this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas dreton. a scrap of paper might have caused the wildlife burning in los angeles. thousands have been evacuated and schools closed. fire tore through more than 1700 acres. british media reports that the nsa has been collecting text messages and cdc details. the mill tri is investigating its third fatal chopper incident in the past eight days.

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