of mammogram screenings has been refived. a canadian study shows that it does not lower the risk of women dying of breast cancer. those are the headlines. i'm thomas drayton. >> on "america tonight," the ice, the snow, the flooding. extreme weather of every kind. why all of this could be our our new normal. >> the next 48 hours will be tough in the carolinases. >> extreme whether is too common and frequent. >> also, from upstart performer to a raft of corruption convictions. in a city well-known for political implosion, the verdict against the new orleans former mayor rocks the

biggeesy. >> the behaviour doesn't reflect the heart and sole of the people of new orleans. the rest of the nation knows that. >> from the sea a delicacy and aphrodisiac is kicked out of china. what it could mean for an american community that counts on it.

>> there is a lot of reading done into the prosecutors remarks and the defense attorneys remarks. one of the things brought up is

whether or not this young man had any kind of weapons, a gun or anything else in the vehicle. do they know for sure? >> you have the defense saying one thing, prosecution another. the police did not find a weapon, we heard that, that is on the record. dunn swears he saw inches of a barrel, "i have reason to believe this kid had a weapon", that's his story, and he's sticking to it. >> "america tonight" sara hoy, this. >> joining us for a closer look is criminal defense attorney and prosecutor joining us from davey florida.

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>> a snapshot of stories - a sink hole collapse, nature of the national corvette museum. the hole opened up, swallowing eight cars. setting off an alarm and tears. it was 40 feet across and 30 feet deep. >> the white house agenda is adding is a visit from binyamin netanyahu. lately the israeli leader has been critical of a u.s. deal

with iran and its nuclear program. aside from binyamin netanyahu, the president will meet with the kings of jordan and saudi arabia. >> class action lawsuit over the n.s.a. phone collection has been failed against president obama. the lawsuit claims the n.s.a.'s amendment. >> he is was a famous politician, the face of hurricane katrina. now former new orleans mayor ray nagin is facing 20 years in prison. a jury convicted ray nagin on 20 counts of corruption in a louisville federal court. "america tonight" correspondent laura jane reports on the developments. mobbed by media cameras, ray

nagin walked out of federal court stone faced and quiet. without addressing the cameras. the counter new orleans mayor say. >> there was a loud cry from the courtroom that the behaviour will not be tolerated. the behaviour does not reflect the heart and soul of the people of new orleans. now it's time to look forward, and we'll continue to make great strides that we have made in recent past. >> a jury found ray nagin guilty of 20 corruption-related charges for committing bribery and fraud in 2004. he's guilty of a kickback scheme delivering him hundreds of thousands in the form of cash, wire transfers, personal services and free travel, including a vacation with his family to hawaii. and free cell phone services. >> in exchange city contractors received business deals with the city, worth millions over the

span of several years. the conviction is a fault in ray nagin's political career, when he roared into office promising to implement reform and clean up corruption. >> there are too many who thought that city somehow go in a different direction. the people have said they like the direction we are going in. >> in his first months as mayor, ray nagin launched an assault on corruption, seeing entire city government departments suspended. a sting operation resulted in 80 arrests, and the voiding of numerous contracts he considered to be sweetheart deals. his approval rating hovered around 80%. everything changed on august 25th, 2005. more than three-quarters of the city was flooded during nasser al khatter -- during katrina. hundreds died. people were displaced.

ray nagin lashed out: many residents blamed ray nagin, the federal government accused the mayor of the same crimes he campaigned against. while on the stand testifying in his own defence, nagin continually pointed the finger at other people, saying most of them were lying and confusing facts. after seven days of testimony, a jury sided with the prosecution. >> laurie jane. what is n. for louisville politics this is a big one. clancy rejoins us. you know, this is quite remark i believe. 20 out of 21 charges he was convicted on. what does that tell us? what

was the one charge he was not convicted on? >> the one charge he was not convicted of was the one involving his sons. i'm speculating. while the mayor was on the witness stand, at one point when the prosecution was cross-examining him, he kind of threw his sons under the bus saying "i didn't do that, they did that on their own", and another time he blamed his sons for not filing impact tax returns. i suspect the jurors were discertaining in spiriting his sons from him. i think he might have gotten sympathy for his sons. his sons were not on trial. they separated the actions of the former mayor's sons to the mayor's own actions. the the 20 counts relate to actions taken by ray himself. >> ray nagin was a charmer. i mean, he fitted into the mould of louisville politics, charming his audiences.

what was he look in the course of this trial. him. >> to whatever extent he had charm, it wore off. after katrina and the look of recovery, most voters, people, around here had enough of ray nagin. whether people liked him or didn't like him or thought he was guilty or not sure. most people in this area - and i've talked to a lot of him - they want him to go away. the city is moving forward as the mayor said in a story we saw. he's right. the city is moving forward. we want to put the chapter behind us. this does close one of the sadst soriest chapters in the long kat reapa saga, a chapter dealing with ray nagin and his incompetence, and according to the jury his corruption. >> do you have a sense that he recognised what transpired here,

and how much his legacy was tinged by all this. >> it's a good question. i said for a few years, that i think ray nagin is a narcissist and they will never look in the mirror and acknowledge his faults, he'll put it off on someone else and never want to be held accountable. i can't read his mind, but i have known him for 20 years. he was comparisoning and i think it has worn off. he has to man up. >> you know, part of what is left is the sense that he tried to use that it was someone else's doing. >> again, it's classic naas six. a few people. i was one. is he going to charm his way out. i thought he would get one,

maybe two jurors to say "maybe there is some doubt here", and get a hung jury. as we saw, it didn't work. there was no counts on which they were undecided. the prosecutors, by the way, put on a strong case. >> sentencing doesn't happen until june, what is the prediction? what will he serve? >> this is a good judge, i think she'll wait to see what the report is from the probation depp. we need to see -- department. we need to see that. their recommendation comes out, then the prosecution and defense argues about it. they'll argue for lower points on the scale of the federal sentencing guidelines and they may argue for upping the points, i would be surprised if he had less than 15 years, possibly 20. >> thank you very much for rejoining us.

coming up on "america tonight." >> i know what violence does. i know the consequences of violence. i see what women do through, and how long it takes to recover from one incident of violence. >> seeing red - a call to rise for justice. a powerful valentine's day movement next. >> and his future... >> i wanna make movies and tv shows that reflect the new america. >> russell simmons up close

and personal... talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera

you know her as the author ever "the vagina monologues", she is the founder of one billion rising, a valentine's day global activist movement to end violence of all kinds against women and girls. the united nations says one in three women will be raped or beaten in their life times. sheila macvicar sat to talk about the rise for justice. . >> all around the world on friday, women and men will rise for justice. whether women need laws to be passed or cases to be heard, or schools where women want boys to be brought up differently, and

have a different vision of mann hood, and masculinity so we don't get to violence. >> what drives you to do this? this is now a more than full-time occupation. what is your motivation? >> i think it's simply. i want to end violence against women and girls. as a survivor of enormous violence - i grew up in a violent house. my father was the perpetrator. i was sexually violated and beaten by him and, you know, thrown against walls and had my nose punched on a regular basis. i know what violence does. i know the consequences of violence. i see what women go through, and how long it takes to recover from one incident of violence. how it isn't an act, it's a life. i imagine what the world would be like if women were free and safe, and we weren't always living under the siege of

violence. we are so used to the siege or our cage. we can't walk where we want to walk, we can't wear what we want to wear, we can't do what we want to do, we can't travel the world freely. we have accepted the boundaries of the cage of violence. i imagine a day where women wake up and put on what they want to, or don't, and don't worry that someone attacks them or grabs them or hars ass them or puts them down or comes into their bedloom uninvited or jumps on them when they've had a few drinks. what would our world be like. 7 music ♪ ] >> of all the one billion rising most? >> the ones that moved me were women risking their lives. there's an organiser in somalia. we had an african summit. in the middle she stood up and

said, "i'll do a rising in magga dish u", we knew the risk she'd face. on february 14th, they rose in the streets of mogadishu. before that there was a case where a woman pressed charges against a government official for rape, and the woman had been arrested. after the prosecuted. >> she was released? >> yes. we are seeing how the energy of rising, the energy of dancing - it's electric. it's contagious. it's beginning to create a kind of world energy that is giving people enormous courage, creatisty and allowing them to press forward in ways they haven't been able to. it legitimizes them, protects and energiesizes them. we have seen women traumatised and raped, often they don't feel safe in public space.

i cannot tell you how many women wrote in to say dancing in a public space changed them. that they could be in their body, feel safe, in community, and that began to change so much of their lives. they came back into their bodies. we know drama removes us from our bodies. it's the landscape of pain. >> what dancing and a movement of dancing does is allows women to come back into their bodies, allowing us to think, to begin to envision, allows us to imagine, and allows us to connect with everything and everyone around us. from. >> that's "america tonight" sheila mcvicar. "the vagina mono logs", and its author raised over a million to help stop violence against women.

she hopes friday over one million will take to the streets and dance for justice. >> ahead - in the markets for a savoury, crunchy and banned from entering china. why. we'll find out when we dive for that seafood next. opening possibilities. taking the impossible from lab ... to life. on techknow, our scientists bring you a sneak-peak of the future, and take you behind the scenes at our evolving world. techknow - ideas, invention, life. on al jazeera america

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>> do you know the gooey duck? it comes from the native american work meaning "dig deep." one country is refusing this lucrative strange delicacy after a botched shipment. as al jazeera science and technology correspondent jacob ward reports, it is becoming a cosley loss for puget sound in washington. >> sinking down, a diver seeks a rare prize. it's buried deep into the saidiment, hidden to all but the trained eye. it's called a gooey duck. while it's rarely seen in the united states, it's prizes as a

delicacy in china. essentially a giant clam they are an unlikely source of wealth, especially for washington's state's coastal tribes who by law are entitled to half the seafood harvest and specialize in exporting gooey duck. it is a cougheted job. the tribe limits the work to 25 lottery. >> how much can a diver make in a year? >> lucas would maybe 150,000. cody is a new diver. >> going out one day a week? >> yeah. >> that's $150,000 a year for a single diver working just one day a week.

>> finding the gooey ducks themselves hard? is that a thrill? right? >> yeah. >> yeah. it's like a dollar bill sign there. you seattle groove and then once you hit the ground, you will see it sink, and you know that that's a gooey duck. >> china's appetite is so voracious in 2012, the u.s. expected $68 million worth. once a responsible tribal food for 1200 zukuamis, now a valuable industry. >> what part do you eat? >> this here, you want to plant this in the water or you can eat it as a sushi. this skin peels out. this is all edible here so you don't really waste nothing. >> washington state exports 90% of its gooey duck harvest to china. as china's prosperity has climbed, so has the tribes'. in december, a shattering setback. chinese officials said they

found a shipment contaminated with arsnic and banned imports. divers are collecting samples contaminants. >> i am always concerned about any kind of pollutants going in here. i dive in the water. i swim here with my son. i eat fish out of puget sound all the time. >> lydia sago has been diving for gooey duck. one of only two women divers. >> the income is huge for the tribe and it's a big part of our budget which is why the gooey duck ban worries my tribe because we use that for my tribe's elder's check. 40% goes to the divers and the 60% goes into our tribal budget to give our elders a monthly check to help them pay their bills. so we are all kind of up in the air wondering what's going to happen now. >> behind me

is the facility whe where the demands is met. the plan was to replace the building twice as large. >> tony forceman is the manager. >> were you surprised by the ban government? >> it's unprecedented for us. we have never seen anything like this happen. >> how much revenue do you imagine you have lost so far because of this ban >> i would suspect we are down dollar. >> in january, washington state's department of health tested samples from the area and found them to be safe for consumption. state officials say they have sent the results to chinese officials but china's response is hard to predict. in 2003, china banned beef imports after a case of mad cow disease in the u.s. 10 years o the u.s. still can't export beef into china. >> if this ban continues and you can't dive for gooey duck, is there something else you can do with this boat?

>> we were actually looking into doing you aurchins but they are not going to clear a lot of money. >> how does the price of gooey duck compare to other seafood? >> it doesn't compare because the gooey duck is so lucrative. >> tony forgeman said he has been able to buy a new overseas buyer in other asian kuntz trees. but learning the global market is new for this tribe. >> the market thing is still uncertain. i mean something could happen next week that disrupts it or anything. so, you know, we are trying to, you know, take the best advantage of it we can. >> what was once an almost impossiblebly lucrative business is held hostage between two kuntz trees. bad luck for a tribe that built modern life on an unlikely piece of good fortunate called the gooey duck. suquamash washington. >> that's it here for us on "america tonight." if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen here

tonight, log onto aljazeera.com/americatonight. and please join the conversation with us on twitter or at our facebook page. good night. we will have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. welcome to al jazeera america. here are tonight's top stories: to go to jail... >> al jazeera america presents... remarkable documentaries

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