i'm richelle carey and you can get the latest news online at our website. aljazeera.com. keep it here, and thank you for your time. ... on ameri"america tonight," s own defense, accused of gunning down an unarmed 17-year-old, the defendant in florida's latest self-defense shooting trial explains why he had to stand his ground. >> he is showing me a gun. he is threatening me. i said, "you are not going to kill me, you son of a bitch," and i shot him. >> syria crumbling. president obama expresses friststration and warns, the crisis could destabilize the region? >> we still have a horrendous situation on the ground in

syria. bad bites. we look at some of the chemicals in your favorite foot that are banned almost everywhere else in the world. good evening. thanks for bing with us. ijoie chen. the florida man accused shooting an unarmed teenager took the stand explaining why he had to stand his ground. there are strong echoes of last year's trial of george zimmerman in the death of teenager tray von martin. zimmerman did not testify in his own trial. but on the stand, in something of a surprise appearance, dunn said he shot the teen repeatedly because he had no choice.

the argument over loud music in a parking lot had escalated to the point where he claimed he feared for his life. >> after hearing the something, something cracker and this and that, i hear, i should kill that (bleep). and then even morelvated voice, i hear i should (bleep) kill him. now, he is screaming. when he says yeah, i am going to (bleep) kill you, i look and i am looking at a barrel. he is showing me a gun, and he is threatening me. >> as it turned out, no gun was found in the car in which davis was riding. but michael dunn is allowed to make a claim of self defense. under florida's stand your ground law, a person may be justified in using deadly force if they believe they are in danger. ken radovitz, with former

prosecute prosecutor, this whole notion of being able to stay that you had to stand your ground because you thought you were under threat if no weapon is found, how does that come together? >> .

what went through my mind is that this was like clear and present danger, and i said, "you're not going to kill me, you son of a bitch." >> reporter: i also have to point out, you worked in criminal defense for some time now. you would say that this is a defense that has to be made even if it's hard to explain why the defendant feels that he was threatened? >> absolutely. the defense attorney has basically the only defense here is self defense and when you have a self defense case, normally, you need to put on the defendant. you need to put on some evidence that there was, in fact, a situation where he had to defend

himself. so, here, the defendant had to take the stand and had to explain to the jury in the best manner that he could that he, in fact, was in fear for his life and had to defend himself. the problem is that the case rests solely on the defendant's testimony and, therefore, his credibility. so, the prosecution is going to do everything they can to present evidence to undermine the credibility of mr. dunn. >> speaking to that, it does appear that mr. dunn left the scene after shooting his fath fatherarm. he went home. there is various reports about him going to sleep. these sorts of things. and i want to play some more of his testimony today explaining his actions or at least his version of his actions after the shooting. let's listen. >> i didn't call the police at all until the following morning. >> that didn't go through your head like maybe i just shot somebody because they pointed a gun at me, i should call the

police? >> you know, you are right. it sounds crazy and i couldn't tell you what i was thinking when all of this happened. i can just tell you that i didn't do it. >> as a defense attorney, what do you do with that sort of testimony from a client? >> well, that's a big problem. it's a great -- it's a great windfall for the prosecution because it doesn't just sound crazy. it's not credible. if you are firing a weapon to defend yourself and then minutes later, your fiance's is in the car and you don't mention the fact that you had observed a firearm, that you observed a gun and that you had to shoot somebody because you observed a gun? you don't call 9-1-1? you go back to a hotel room and you order a pizza? and you don't even take the gun out of the car? you are allegedly fehrful these hood looms are going to come looking for you and going to harm you and you don't have the firearm with you in the room to defend yourself. credibility is everything when you take the stand to testify. the problem for mr. dunn is that his defense starts to fall apart

when you start examining it closely and looking for credibility because his testimony, quite frankly in my opinion, is not credible. >> one more element of that, the prosecution on what mr. dunn offered as an explanation for leaving the gas station, let's listen to this. >> mr. dunn, the reason you left the gas station is because you knew you had shot into a car of four unarmed teenagers? >> that's incorrect. >> the reason you didn't call the police is because you knew you had committed a crime? >> no, sir. >> when you heared hear all of that and you talk about credibility as you have in our conversation here, mr mr. padowitz,ing it makes me wonder: why would the defense put him up? there had been a pretty big question about whether he would appear. george zimmerman did not appear at his trial. why did they decide to put michael dunn up? >> that's a very good question and there is a very stark difference between the zimmerman case and this case.

>> difference is that the prosecutors in the zimmerman case made a serious error. they took self-serving statements of mr. zimmerman and the evidence code would prevent them from being introduced and the prosecution put those on telling the entire defense and the defendant zimmerman didn't have to take the stand after that. in this case, mr. dunn has to get on the stand. it's an affirmative defense claiming self defense. the defense has no other witnesses or evidence to show self defense. so mr. dunn has basically compelled even though he has a 5th amendment right not to take the stand, he basically has to take the stand in order to put forward this claim of self defense. so they didn't really have a choice. mr. dunn had to testify the way he has, and they have to make the argument that he was defending himself. the problem, again, is going to come back to credibility and the prosecutor can put a lot of holes in this defense. >> well, i know that as a defense attorney, you have sort

of a dual perspective here you have used the stand your ground defense to protect your clients, but you are also concerned about what the larger impact is for your state as a defense lawyer i have to use it in every case where there could be self defense. it would be malpractice for me not to do that and to use the stand your ground law but as a citizen of the state of florida and the united states, i am very, very concerned about these type of laws. they invite altercations as opposed to somebody leaving the scene if they could do so safely from an altercation, it promotes violence in my view. therefore, this law which is backed by the national rifle association in florida -- that's why it was written, is basically objected to by every state attorney in the state of florida through the florida prosecuting attorney's association. they don't like the law. it doesn't help prosecutors. it creates violence, and it

invites the type of situation that you see in this particular case. >> really interesting. i appreciate so much your perspective, criminal defense attorney, ken padowitz from florida. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> tonight and at this hour, millions of people are bracing for a major storm that could put the deep south back into a deep freezes. atlanta is being forced to shut down. this time around, though, preparedness might not be enough for a storm which is expected to last at least three days. blind-boggling, historic, catastrophic. words the national weather services uses to describe the next big one digging into the deep south. snow, sleet, freezing rain creating more problems for a region that's already proven

ill-equipped to deal with them. the president declared an emergency for the state of georgia. the last storm paralyzed the city of atlanta. georgia govern was unprepared for being unprepared before is warning this could be worse? >> ice is the big danger here ice presents a great challenge. >> with the last storm still fresh in the mind ofga angels, no one is taking chances. before any freezing rain or snow fell, schools cancelled classes. workers were told to stay home? >> stay off of the roads, you know. >> we are just grocery shopping and going to go home and relax for two days and take it ease. in north georgia, road conditions are becoming too dangerous to drive. i 75 has been shut down since

this morning due to multiple accidents. sleet has gun to fall in and around atlanta and the mayor has promised to do better to avoid a repeat of those terrible traffic scenes. we have the material that's needed for see icing in place. airlines are warning travelers to pack their patience. more than a thousand slights cancelled at the world's busiest airport, harts-field/jackson expecting to get hit the hardest 100 million people in at least 16 states from texas to new jersey are bracing now for the worst. no are those in parts of pennsylvania, this storm will only add insult to injury. they are still recovering from the last one. more than 4600 homes are still in the dark. >> this has been the longest. this is outrageous. >> congressman hank johnson of georgia is with us tonight.

he has plans, plans to go back to georgia on friday, but we are not really sure. what do you think the outlook here is? obviously, folks back home have tried very hard to get ready for it this time. >> yeah. i think everybody has gone and cleaned out all of the supermarkets, gotten all of the milwaukee and bread and pies and everything. >> in the broader since, is the state better prepared this time? is the city better prepared? you are right on the edge of atlanta? >> i believe that this time, the error will be on the side of trying to prevent people from getting out. last couple of weeks ago, we had the situation where it was busy as usual. this time, the govern has already declared a state of emergency, and -- >> i am sure the citizens are going to want to take heed but there is that concern that if you go too soon that people will start to think you are crying wolfe and not listen. >> well, i tell you, i know that

the governor will not be taking a chance this time. he will be dealing with this as if it's going to happen, and we -- it's -- we can't have children out in school buses for 12 hours. >> once again? >> even in schools overnight. parents have to have their children home. >> people spending 12 hours out on the highway. i want to point out, your plan is to go home for friday, valentine's day with your wife but you are up here in washington doing the people's visit and you have voigted on the clean debt ceiling bill. where is that and where are we because we are looking at hitting the debt ceiling in a few days? >> i am very heart earned that the speaker of the house allowed the bill to come up to the house of representatives on the floor before the last day of our solvency as a nation. so, we are doing this with

giving the treasury department plen plenty of time, giving our people across the world the financial markets a little more comfort this time instead of giving right up to the finish line. >> i want to go on to another area of interest, and that is a certain sense that some of our colleagues here at al jazeera in our company have been held now quite a long time, and in egypt, and it has been a great concern, and you have stepped up now on this and are putting pressure on the administration as well. what is your action here, and why is it so important? >> it's important that this nation stands for basicume rights and one is the ability to communicate, sand when we have the press out in the field doing their job, they should not be

subject to arrest for doing their job by a country that we are supporting. and so, i think it's -- it's my duty and obligation to recognize the fact that we have journalists and it doesn't matter whether or not they are from america sore whether or not they are -- >> australian >> freedom of the press and america it cannot be in a position of supporting a government that is in your place, abusing them for doing their job. reading mr. gretsky's account of his incarceration. >> in egypt. >> i was moved to do something to bring attention to this, and hopefully, that attention will

result in the freedom for these 20-plus journalists who are being held until egypt. >> we have a great deal of concern and appreciate your interest in the case of the al jazeera journalists who are being held as well. the broader questions of freedom of speech. we appreciate you being with us. congressman hank johnson of georgia? >> thank you for having me. >> next on america tonight, so much for peace talks. why safety remains so far out of reach, as does much hope for a solution for syria.

consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what.

>> talks between the syrian regime has happened. syrians in the city of hommes live a reality few of us could imagine. trapped, cut off, under siege, bombarded daily for two years already. now, finally, there is hope for some of them to escape the nightmare. "america tonight's" sheila mcviccer has more >> reporter: this is what a cease fire sounds like in the bereceived old city of holmes. it's dangerous to be on the street, but people are desperate to leave this behind.

u.n. and red crescent workers have beenshelled and shot at. they have not been able to deliver even the most basic aid. with threats of snipers, women, children, the old and sick and some men huddle in the shelter of u.n. vehicles to move across no man's land, for separating the warring sides. it's terrifying. clutching their children, their luggage, whatever they are able to carry with them from their homes, scrambling just 500 yards to safety. >> reporter: in the confusion, this woman screams for her son, somehow lost in the crowd. others abandoned bags. in the months they have been trapped in the city, food has become scarce. some have been eating leaves and grass. there are no medical supplies. no one wants to take the chance of being left behind.

>> what's taking a long time to negotiate these. >> we reached this unicef field office by sky in the government-drooled section of hommes. >> for those people who are still inside the old city, what are conditions like there for them? >> reporter: ? >> the conditions are very, very bad. lack food, lack of medical care, contaminated water, and, of course, insecurity. >> even once the security of the controlled sides, regime forces have taken some men, more than 400, aged between 15 and 55 and are reported to be detaining and questioning them, searching for links to rebel forces.

>> that is president guarantee that they have provided. >> in this conflict marked by reprisals, accusations of war crimes, the evacuation of fewer than 2,000 civilians through an imperfect cease fire counts as a victory. the tiniest step of cooperation between the regime and rebel forces and just about the only progress towards ending the conflict. >> we still have a horrendous situation on the ground in syria. i don't think anybody disputes that. and what is absolutely clear is that with each passing day, more people inside of syria are suffering. the state of syria, itself, is

crumbling that you is bad for syria, bad for the region action bad for global national security u.n. officials say they hope it will continue for a few more days which will permit them to bring more people out of the city and as importantly get humanitarian aid especially medical aid back in. >> isn't there a worry that you left up with the fighters left in the city, that women and children who are allowed to leave but in a sense, you would be creating an arena of more fighters left inside the city limits? >> the agreement between the government and the rebel groups and the united nations said that men between the ages of 15 and 55 would not be allowed to leave the old city. in fact, more than 300 men in that age group have left and are currently, as we said, under government interrogation. the government has given the u.n. ainsurance of safety and safekeeping for those men, but

it's not known yet what will happen to them. of course, this has been a very, very difficult situation, very bloody war, and there have been atrocities on all sides. >> that's a concern. the question about who is left in the old city, those who will be left in the old city are either those who are unable to get out because they are too weak, too ill, to elderly, or they will be the fighters. i want to bring in someone who knows the situation in hommes as well as other people of the country dr. sahloul, of the medical society. we have talked to him several times on this program. we know that you have very direct connections into hommes. can you tell us what you are hearing? >> what we are hearing right now that the evacuation was

suspended today, the situation fled indications and blood products and surgical services are not allowed in. some of the nurses who are inside the city are telling us that they are dealing with patients who sometimes bled to death but because there is not -- no blood products and no iv fluid, they were not able to treat them. of course, we prefer that humanitarian aid and medicine are allowed in instead of evacuating the whole city. we believe that this is against international law to force the civilians out. also, as we are hearing that the president of the united nations observers is, by itself, a positive step. this is something i think which should be highlighted more because it led toward the fight nothing area. >> doctor, you have teams on the ground, i understand, particularly in aleppo. you had scene quite a bit of

violence directly striking some of your own patients. >> that's really one of the unfortunate situations that is happening in syria that we know that there is war in syria, but even war has laws that have to be respected. and what's happening in syria with the beginning of the crisis is hospitals and doctors have been targeted systematically by the regime. in the last three months, we had three field hospitals including this largest trauma hospital in eastern aleppo which were bombed and destroyed by the syrian regime by fighter jets. two patients who died and unfortunately, two other patients who had brain damage because of the ventilator stopped working because of the strike. we had three staff, medical staff, who were injured and right now, we are trying to relocate the hospital. this is a hospital in a very crowded neighborhood. the civilians in that neighborhood depend upon the hospital for surgeries, for medical care and right now, they don't have any access to save medical care. >> president obama said again today, the situation in syria is

horrible. the only solution is a political solution and for that political solution, we have to look to the negotiations, which are taking place in switzerland. those negotiations are so far so unsuccessful, they cannot even agree an agenda. how are they going to talk about what they are going to talk about? >> doctor, i understand your organization has worked so hard to product the health and safety of people within syria. when you see these geoneva talk underway do you have much hope this will produce any practical solution for the people? >> unfortunately, no one is putting too much hope on the geneva conference. what we are seeing on the ground for the past three weeks since the beginning of the geneva conference, more antic -- intentionfying of the bombing, especially in the city of aleppo. the only way to stop the carnage is by forcing the regime to abide by the rules of law of war and, also, allowing cross-border

humanitarian assistance to syria and, also, making sure these areas under siege are allowed unfetterred access to the civilians there >> reporter: unfortunately, th th that has not happened. sheila mcviccer with us and dr. sahloul, we appreciate both of your insight. >> thank you. ♪ >> ahead on "america tonight," food for he knowsics, breaking down the additives, the plastic in your snickers might be in your sandwich. what's the real danger in our food?

scrimmagvinlan vigilantes rose up.

vij lan teas vij vigilantes, said it was,. >> i know you're afraid, but everything will turn out good. no more murders, no more extortions, no threats, no more beatings, and without giving the fruit of our labor to these bandits. >> soldiers into the state to try and take back control from both the cartel and the vigilantes, some vigilantes were military. in the end throw the government made a truce with the self-defense groups. now it's even directing hundreds of them into a police force, the

. now a snapshot of stories, the corruption trial for former new orleans ray nagan broke for the day because of a problem with one of its jurors. delibrations are to resume wednesday. nagan faces 21 counts. the house voted tuesday to suspend the debt limit until 2015. it did not go down without vocal opposition. republicans who voted against the bi the bill say congress has not done enough to curb spending. the measure hits the senate where it is expected to pass. a potential interruption to the under water food chain, micro beads, heeding environmentalist warnings, new york has band the plastic ex fol 80ing beads commonly found in facial scrubs and are not by 0 degradable. >> 8.7 million pounds of beef

products shipped to four states last year, the slaughter house pr processed sick animals without proper infection. this latest food scare comes on the heels of another shocking discovery in the food industry. >> it was a sandwich brate stuffed with plastic used in yoga mats and sneakers. it keeps loaves white and elastic and is popular in the commercial baking industry. but it's been banned in europe and australia because of possible links to a asthma, skin airtation and cancer. >> the numbers found are not negligible. so who needs to be taking a cancer risk when you are eating bread. it shouldn't be permitted. >> the news came as a punch to the gut across the u.s. fast food industry. >> mcdonald's bread is so full of it asakarbinomat so billions

served could be bill johns served toxic chemicals. >> the yoga mat material isn't the only risky flare flavor t it is used in gum and in gummy candies, but it also goes into cosmetics and cigarette filters. and something called tbhq, a preservative used in crackers, chips, and chips of varrnish, too. >> consumers say the government has a responsibility of keeping track of what's in our food. >> the fda has a responsibility to examine these studies very carefully. they can't just go on decades old studies that don't even meet current standards. >> but consumers are increasingly asking questions, too. >> you know, it is exciting to me that occurred citizens and bloggers are joining together to say, you know what is this stuff in my food? and why is it in my food?

and speaking up and getting companies like kraft or subway and other companies to stop using certain chemicals in their food. >> food bloggers and activists fighting back last week, vonnie harry runs a website foodbabe.com started an online petition about the subway bread. 50,000 folks signed up and she joins us now. what is the thing specifically about this subway bread? after all, we heard senator schumer say it's not just subway. there are other fast food operations and commercial bakeries that also use this chemical. >> well, the thing with subway is it has a very healthy image. they use the words, "eat fresh" as their slogan and they have winter olympics endorsements, a ton of olympic athletes as well as the recent endorsement of michelle obama's "let's move" campaign. michelle obama went inside a subway, started eating these sandwiches with kids and saying

that it had the highest nutritional standard. and once i saw that, i knew i had to do something. >> why has there been such a strong response do you think? this has touched a nerve with a lot of folks. >> well, you know, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that we shouldn't be eating plastic chemicals, you know. this is stuff that's used to make yoga mats and shoe rugger and synthetic rubber and if these chemical did are in our food against all of the other types of chemicals you just mentioned that are in our food, what is the cumulative effect of eating all of this? we don't know. as a person who eliminated processed foods who cleaned up their own diet by eating an organic lifestyle as real plant-based foods as possible, i know the benefits of eating this way. you really can dramatically change your life. i lived my whole life with asthma, allergies, skin rashes. it wasn't until i gave up these types of foods i started to get

better. you know, i had append site is and all of the doctors say this is very random. but, you know, there is nothing random about your digestive system becoming inflamed by eating inflammatory foods. >> certainly, it is unclear a lot some level, isn't it, about exactly which chemicals are a problem that create specific health problems? some of them might be gross on the surface. some of them might be unappealing to us at that level, but we don't specifically know exactly which ones are the most dangerous or pose real risks. >> well, this ingredient has been studies all over the globe. the world health organization has studied it. there is a study that shows when it's heated it reduces down into compounds that are carcinogenic. the center of public interest says there is a small cattler risk when you eat this ingredient. it's important for us to avoid this stuff. when virtually every other country around the world has banned it in their food, we should be doing that, as well.

you are right. you know, we don't know what the cumulative effect of all of these chemicals are, but we do know the fda has been asleep at the wheel. they have not studied these chemicals over the last several decades. they have not reviewed all of the generally regarded as safe ingredients that these food companies are standing behind saying that we are going to use these ingredients as long as they are generally safe. we need, as -- we need to really speak up as american citizens and take back our food. >> i have a feeling well hear more from you as well. vonnie hari. thanks very much. she is the founder of foodbabe.com. thanks for being with us. ♪ looking ahead on "america tonight," the under water money maker that is the gooey duck? >> is that hard, sort of a thrill? they are money? >> yeah. it's like a dollar bill sign down there. you seattle groove, and then on

>> a rare delicacy, an afro employees yak and a valuable commodity for a tribe until one damaged shipment threatened lively hoods. the deep dive on gooey ducks and what's ahead under water. >> still to come on tonight's program, the hope and strength that live in schizophrenia. the troubled mine in "the other america."

>> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news.

we tackle a topic that doesn't get enough attention. it should. when the subject of schizophrenia comes up in the media, particularly, it is often in connection with some rare violent event. how accurate, is that portrayal. the experience may not be all we see in the t.v. news? >> joie, as part of our series "the other america" we wanted to know what it was like to live with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. we will meet a remarkable woman who is proving it is possible to live and even thrive in spite of a debilitating mental illness that aconflicts nearly 1% of all americans. >> i had an episode in high school one day in the middle of school. i just got up and started walking five miles home. and i felt like they were sending me messages, you are special, you are especially bad.

repent. i wasn't hearing invoices. i felt likenties were putting thoughts in my head. and it was upsetting and scary. it really was. >> allen sachs was just 16. the thoughts became increasingly intrusive and her psychosis worsened? >> i frequently had the delusion i had killed hundreds of thousands of people with my thoughts. i had occasions where a man was stand raised with a knife over my head, a waking nightmare with the odd, bizarre things happ happening. only with a nightmare, you open your eyes and it goes away. no such luck with a psychologistic episode. >> she kept it from her family and graduated from college and was accepted to yale law school. then her symptoms became too severe to hide. >> i was on the roof of the yale law school having a breakdown. i said to my classmates. are your copies of the legal cases being infiltrated like mine are? my professor brought me to the

er. i was saying dangerous and scary things. >> when she threatened an attendant at the hospital, she learned the hard way how psychosis is often treated in the united states. >> they came in, and they lifted me high off of the ground and slammed me down on the bed and tied my wrists and my ankles with a net across my chest to the bed. and i just screamed at the top of my lungs. it would ner never other to me that someone would do that kind of thing to a person. it's the most traumatic thing that's ever happened to me. >> almost worse than the restraints was the diagnosis, schizophrenia. >> when i was first diagnosed, it felt like a sentence to a bleak and painful life. i couldn't believe it was true. >> but when a yale psychiatrist told her she should withdraw from law school and get a job as a cashier, something inside ellen renaled. >> i thought to myself, i have been a student all my life. i am good at it. i like it. the hours are flexible.

how much more stressful would it be to have a line of people demanding change. >> she developed strategies to deal with her illness? >> when i am focused on writing an argument or a counter argument, the crazy stuff receipts to the sidelines. structure and relationship are incredibly important to one's or to my recovery. >> she is a person with an awful illness who has decided that that i willness is not going to define her life. >> steve banke met ellen at yale shortly after she was diagnosed. it has helped her stay in touch with reality. >> she oftentimes becomes quite scared, herself, because the content of her psychologistic thinking is scary. fantasies that she is responsible for having killed many people, that there may be nuclear explosions going off in her head. there were times when i would

simply get out a book and sit with ellen and i would read, and she would sit and be with someone, i think, ellen found helpful. in and those psychologistic periods would pass. >> with the help of friends like steve, ellen graduated with honors from yale. steve, now a psychologist and ellen, still talk nearly every day and they help educate others about the misconceptions sounding schizophrenia. >> having a friend who is psychologistic once in a while makes them different. >> friends can clplay a hugely helpful role in supporting the person during those times. >> having a kind and non-judge mental person who accepts you not only for the good but the bad and the ugly is incredibly empowering. >> when ellen is becoming psychologistic, she will use me as a sounding board, and she will say, is this real?

you know, is this true? and i can say, well, you know, maybe yes, maybe no. >> i can't imagine life without friends. i thank god it's one thing i am able to do. >> but the friendship has been tested by ellen's multiple attempts to get off medication, something many people with schizophrenia wrestle with. >> one of her mottos was, the less medication, the less defective. so, i think that much of ellen's life was fighting the idea that she had an illness. >> it just was so big of a blow and hard to accept, i just wanted to prove that it wasn't true by getting off medication and doing well. >> she would just go down and go down and go down and get more and more psychologistic. i would feel, goodness, you know, haven't you tried this enough? isn't it time to make peace with this? >> so i did it over and over and over again. when i look back, i wish i had been smarter sooner, but i am glad i wasn't forced, that i

came to the decision in my own way in my own time. it worked for me. it makes my life better. and being on the drugs consistently has totally changed my life. i just have many, many, many fewer symptoms, and i like it. >> ellen has now been stable for many years. she is a tenured professor at the university of southern california and an expert on mental health law. with her symptoms under control, she has been able to focus on other areas of her life. >> i went 18 years with a couple of dates in the middle, not dating at all. i think i was too tormented by internal demons. and then, will and i started dating, and i really fell in love. i never thought it would happen. it was like the best thing that's ever happened to me to have him in my life. >> during the years i worked here for the law library at usc, she would come in occasionally come down and ask me for help with one thing or another.

later, she told me she was trying to flirt with me, which i told her had not been terribly effective? >> but then he invited me to lunch and to the then to the poppy's in lancaster. >> if you can imagine acres and acres of orange flowers covering hills, swaying in the wind. >> a stream. >> at the end of the day, he gave me a long, lingering kiss and the thought that went through my mind -- and i swear to thought, this is better than getting an article accepted. >> iliac knowledge being a bit naive about all of the implications about how well i understood the seriousness of her condition. but on the other hand, i was not at all put off by it. >> my husband deserves incredible credit for how he's interacted with me and loved me. i never thought it would happen. so, i just consider myself the

luckiest woman in the world. >> yet because she hid her illness from most people, ellen continued to feel like she was living a lie. in 2007, she wrote a book and went public with her experience of schizophrenia. >> when my book came out, on a faculty of around 40 or 45, many 10 people already knew, but the other people didn't know. so, it really kind of a kind of coming out, a kind of situation. >> she felt like keeping the secret was part of what stigmatized mental illness. it was both a therapeutic moment for her in trying to live honestly but a political act in wanting to destig matize mental illness for other people. it was really a very brave thing that she did and continues to do >> reporter: in 2009, ellen sachs won an award for helping people understand her illness. those around her understand society is a long way from

accepting those with schizophrenia. >> how to see someone as a person with mental illness as opposed to a mentally ill preacher, that's the huge question. when ellen got her macarthur award, i sent around an e-mail to everybody, and as part of that message, i said that people deal with this devastating illness. we see them on the corners every day. and it's -- we all needed to work to not be afraid of them. the u.s. has a long way to go if you take a look and you walk down a street in any major city, you are going to see a lot of folks with mental illness wandering around, no place to sleep. they are looking through the garbage can, and i want to say, wow.

look at ellen sachs. if you give someone the right treatment and the right supports, they can really be the most that that individual can be. >>, to me, is the take-home point. >> and ellen continues to speak out and educate people about her illness. a ted talk she gave went to a milli million and a half use. >> that tells us how interesting people are. telling us about the other america. in our final thoughts, in this hour, shirley temple's final bout. we reflect on the life of america's first stariling.

finally, from us this hour, we say goodbye to an american icon. 8 decades after she first tap danced her way into hollywood and into the hearts of millions of fans, shirley temple died late on monday at the age of 85 ♪ some day i am going to cry". >> before "child star" was followed by "scandal" she was america's original sweetheart charging the nation out of the darkest days of depression. with ring let's the envy of little girls everywhere, a smile as sweet as the kiddy cocktail named in her honor, she was a

star by the age of 3 because no matter how grim the times were, who wouldn't be charmed? ♪ on the good ship local p /* lollimop, it's a sweet trip to the candy shop. >> her pint-sized perform applications upbeat and unforgettable like this duet with bill bojangles robinson. temple starred in more than 40 films before she was even a teenager and beyond the screen, shirley temple became a brand. the shifrley temple doll was the best selling doll of the decade. the bright, curly locks copied by generations and races of girls trying to recreate that shirley temple look. >> thank you very much. >> after winning an honarary and appropriatelysized oscar in 1935? >> mommy, may i go home now. >> temple reretired from the big screen when she was 22 years

old. in the 1960s, she returned to the spotlight bringing her charm to the international stage. >> raise your right hand and repeat after me. known then as shirley temple black, she served as u.s. ambassador to ghana and czechoslavakia during the fall of communism? >> world peace that's difficult to achieve, and i think that all of us have to be involved, and i am proud that i am able to participate, and i am particularly proud that i have been able this year to be a united states representative to the united nations. ♪ happy birthday ♪ >> an ambassador for goodwill and good spirits always. >> i have one piece of advice for those of you who want to receive the lifetime achievement award. start early. >> still spirited indeed. by the way, you can still get that shirley temple kiddy

cocktail, of course. in 1988, 1 company tried to bottle it for the masses but ms. temple filed a lawsuit to brock that saying all a celebrity ever has is their name. she had a great one. that's in it for us here on "america tonight." we will have more of "america tonight" coming up tomorrow. snow and ice cold weather expected to move north soon.

1600 flights have already been cancelled. in

>> thousands of children killed, millions displaced. the humanitarien crisis in syria descends into chaos. after arrests in the u.s. and italy, how powerful is the mafia today? >> a former marine decides the best way to fight terrorism is to fight extreme poverty. >> despite hundreds of billions of year, the government fails the test on mental health. >> welcome to consider this. here's more on