it's been four weeks since the malaysia flight 370 disappeared. headlines, i'm richelle carey, "america tonight" is up next. >> on "america tonight." reigniting citation is in ukraine. -- reigniting crises in ukraine. ratcheting up tensions and nato stakes. also tonight. the most corrupt town in america. cash that disappeared. records lost in a swamp, along with a city car? >> you believe that, i got some warm land in florida for you. >> and the town manager, in jail. >> if you believe them doesn't mean they're honest.

>> a legendary speed trap, a place so bad, the state vowed to wipe it off the map. >> you can't make that stuff up. >> and the best place for the worst to happen. how boston survived the attack on its beloved marathon. what made the difference on those critical hours and every day since. >> tragedy has made the city even tighter, if possible, made boston even a smaller city than it was before. >> one year latter, tracking the steps that made boston strong. and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. the crisis in ukraine reignites with more signs the u.s. is being pulled into a more direct role. president obama spoke just a few hours ago to the russian

president, vladimir putin. after bloody crashes in eastern ukraine. the two vowed to talk before talks on thursday with european union, but not keeping up with the diplomatic approach. ukraine is experiencing unrest in a number of towns and cities, a situation that's closely monitored by nato. one of the nations, in horlivka. increasing government nationalists, pull back or face government troops. ukraine's acting president held out the possibility of a referendum on the future shape of ukraine. something activists are calling for in the russian speaking east. the kiev government says it is continuing to seek a political

crisis, a cries it believes is being driven by russia. >> everything can be solved through negotiation. but as soon as we come to a consensus they, the separatists, leave the room to make phone calls. that means their control center is not here, but somewhere else. >> the pentagon accused moscow of provocative and unprofessional action as a jet made close passes offer the u.s.s. credit "donald cook" this weekend. weighing new sanctions against russia. the u.s. echos the russian hand behind this. >> the only entity in the area capable of these coordinated actions is russia. >> a possibility of violent confrontations grows, many fear the force he russia amatsed on the border is imminent.

russia say they are there merely to conduct exercises. closer ties to russia, russian foreign minister sergey lavrov says the breakup of ukraine is not in the country's interest but warns against protestors. >> we made it clear that any force against demonstrators would seriously affect the settlement of the cries i in creunl. >> desperate to end the unrest, ukraine has asked the united nations to are send peace forces to ukraine, european debated further crises, but said ending it was crucial. >> it is absolutely vital that we find a suitable way through this that is going to find peace and stability to the entire country. >> nato, describes

men with russian weapons and uniforms without are insignia a grave development. george benitez, appreciate you being here. a call between mr. putin and mr. obama and earlier over the weekend with an aircraft buzzing ukraine. do you see an indication that russia is trying to draw the united states more directly into this? >> i think it's a signal that russia is trying to are push united states further away from ukraine. >> further away? >> that the u.s. should not become involved. >> what about bringing in calling having a call directly with mr. obama? >> well, one of the things that we learned from the phone call from the kremlin's website is that mr. putin told mr. obama that he's the one that has the power to tell kiev to prevent bloodshed in eastern ukraine. he's trying to use obama to tell

the government in kiev not to use, not to clamp down on the russian soldiers that are there that have seized these cities. >> this situation is somewhat different, somewhat similar to crimea but somewhat different, why? >> it's different because in crimea it was primary an ethnically russian island with a lot of troops on the military base he there. >> and a lot of history. >> yes, eastern ukraine, there are a lot of russian speakers but most of the people there are ukraine. they want to be separatist an their rights are being offended, the polls that we've seen of international media show the majorities of eastern ukraine want to be part of a free and independent ukraine. >> an for ukraine this is also a disturbing development in that this is an important industrial center in ukraine, correct? >> it is. not only to ukraine but a lot of the industrial cities produce

key parts for the russian economy and the ukrainian economy that's why putin is trying to gain access to these things. >> what additional measures can be taken to limit the evidence of these russian forces or paramilitary forces moving forward here? >> i think that's where the crimea example is what is illustrative of what we're going osee in the future. we're going to see step by step taking over more control of them, we have seen they've already started to set up roadblocks to prevents these cities from gaining access to ukraine and they're going to declare independence and ask to russia. >> this is a very important step and we appreciate you being with us george benitez. >> thank you. >> after the break, ever think you were trapped in a florida speed trap?

one they moved the city limits >> after you got there they trapped you. >> the town that's trying to track its missing money, not to mention its missing water. and one year later, boston turns the corner. >> by the time i got to the finish line, it was amazing. almost every single victim had someone helping them. >> the tragedy that could have brought the marathon city to a halt, boston ready to run again. >> aljazeera america presents a break through television event borderland... >> are you tellin' me it's ok to just open the border, and let em' all run in? >> the teams live through the hardships that forced mira, omar and claudette into the desert. >> running away is not the answer... >> is a chance at a better life

worth leaving loved ones behind? >> did omar get a chance to tell you goodbye before he left? >> which side of the fence are you on? >> sometimes immigration is the only alternative people have. borderland only on al jazeera america

real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> what excites me about detroit is the feeling of possibility... >> the re-birth of an america city >> we're looking at what every city can learn from detroit, >> the industrial revival entrepreneurs driving growth communities fighting back... >> we're fighting for you and we're taking these neighborhoods back, for you. >> a special look at the moves adding fuel to the motor city five days in detroit only on al jazeera america.

there. >> do you know this place? hampton florida, it's been called the most corrupt town in merrick. about there's missing money, there's missing water. and records appear to be lost in a swamp. to wipe hampton from the map, what happened next might surprise you. "america tonight"'s correspondent sheila macvicar visits hampton and brings us this southern gothic tale of sin and redemption. >> reporter: over the tracks, past the swamp. this is hampton, florida. population 477. incorporated in 1925. a town dripping in moss. way off the beaten track, a town where everyone knows everyone, and their business, too. >> it's like maybury, like ma

mayberry u.s.a, a one horse town. >> but this town is deeply plierd in allegation of -- mired in allegations of cronyism and corruption. years long imlek and a web of scandal that prompted politicians upstate in tallahassee to credit threaten to wipe hampton off the map. >> former mayor jim mitzel. >> run their way, it was ran their way or it was a highway. nobody, there again i'll say it again. nobody rocked the boat, nobody paid attention. >> it was so real it was almost make-believe. because you say that really can't be happening. but you can't make that kind of stuff up. >> gordon smith is the county sheriff investigating the

going-on, where one important clan with deep roots controlled city hall and had five family members on the payroll, the city's entire paid workforce. >> it appeared they used the city coffers as a pocketbook. it appeared over long periods of time to be are a lot of money. what's it been spent on? we'd like to know what it was spent on but all that was destroyed. >> city fathers tried to make sense much what happened to the are finances. one of the town's major income streams, the water system just seemed to veap evaporate. for years the state audit found water bills went uncollected. some residents weren't billed at all. checks sat around and cash like records just disappeared. >> people would come in and pay a check or cash.

some would pay would get a receipt, some wouldn't get a receipt. >> an astonishing 46% of hampton's water was simply unaccounted for. >> he claimed he lost the water book in the swamp he wrecked the city vehicle and the water book ended up in the swamp and he lost it in the swamp. >> dan is an i don't remember dain ordained credit pastor. >> it would be reckless to keep meter books in such a way, they could get lost. >> disappear into a swamp. >> why would you drive a vehicle into a swamp in the first place? >> if you believe that, i got some swamp land if arizona to sell you. the water book ended up in the swamp he lost it.

that's a good one on me, man, that's a new one. >> then there's the rest of hampton's revenues. hundreds of thousands of dollars simply vanished. i went to see another former mayor, elected last year, as a reformer. he's now living at what the sheriff like to call bradford county's only gated community. it's jail. barry moore is awaiting trial on charges he was dealing drugs. did we mention, he was elected as a reformer? >> according to the audit, you know there was $27,000 spent at walmart on a credit card, nothing to show for it. the city doesn't have a lawn mower, doesn't have an edger, doesn't have a shovel, where did all this money go. >> it turns out before he was arrestthe mayor was actually trying to -- arrested, the mayor was actually trying to clean up

the town and follow the money trail. and that brings us to hampton's biggest money maker, a notorious speed trap. >> license and registration. >> when he was mayor, jim mitzelel said the city proposed annexing part of the highway. >> it was his idea and i supported it. we were trying to generate speeding tickets. once we got out there, it kind of snowballed from there. all they did was sit out on 301 and write ticket after ticket. sirens going crazy, absolutely crazy. an officer would wear ak 387 and everything. he thought he was rambo,

everybody nicknamed him rambo. >> hampton 's force grew to 19, in a city the size of can 500. this didn't pass a smell test for the mayor. >> he said we need the money. i said we don't do traffic enforcement for money. traffic enforcement is for safety. >> if that wasn't bad enough the sheriff couldn't figure out if all those cops out on 301 were processionally credentialed. he asked but the police chief send him this, a handwritten fax with four names claiming the other 15 were, quote, undercover and confidential. for anyone who asked questions and tried to fight city hall. >> they could really get you, make your life miserable, taunting you, harassing you, turning your water off. the police sitting outside your house every time you moved. those type things could really happen.

>> and did they happen? >> absolutely they happened. >> all a big family affair, you know. >> i don't care how you try to justify it, how much lipstick you put on a pig, it's still a pig. >> trouble was, no matter how many traffic tickets the rk police officers wrote, hampton still, who knows. it's now defunct hampton police department as part of the ongoing investigation. they're still looking for police cars. >> for the last two or three months you hardly didn't see any of the are police either. they were like sprayed roaches, everybody disappeared. it was crazy the, it really was. >> the bradford county telegraph, the findings so damning, threatened to do away with its government and wipe hampton off the map.

>> people finally realized this could become a reality check. we might not be a city of hampton anymore. that's when the city fathers said, we need to take back our town we do support our town. >> the people of hampton proposed moving the city limits back from the highway. no more speed traps on 301 and offered up a new slate of city leaders until elections this fall. >> the basic good people are still here. one of the things that this situation has done is, it's energized a lot of folks. >> it's very upsetting to go through all this with city hall . >> hampton residents like dien ann clinger are -- die ann clinger are checking with the water on their water bills. >> we should be up to date now right? >> yes ma'am. >> there's a new city clerk. hampton's police department has disbanded. the chief's office at city hall locked. the county will now patrol

hampton. >> in time, hampton perhaps could become a model on how people take back their town and try to make a positive change. >> is there a lesson here do you think? >> yes, a very big lesson. do not put blind trust in people. just because you love them doesn't mean they're honest. our trust was misplaced. it's sad, really sad. >> small town politics the good old boy system don't work anymore. >> the moral of this story is: pay attention. go vote. make a difference. because you can take on city hall. this little old town has shown you can make a difference by speaking up. >> people in town say they hope hampton's days as the most corrupt town in america are behind it. but the sheriff says he's still digging and those in town acknowledge there's probably more dirt to be found . us.

this is most incredible story. just when you think you've heard everything there's more to this. >> we didn't even tell you about the charges at the local convenience store where somebody wrote up $138,000 of stuff which included beer, cigarettes and soda. >> the convenience store? >> the local convenience store. >> they can't account for this. >> no. >> how can they get themselves back on the clean side of the map? >> everybody in city hall is now gone, all under criminal investigation and that investigation today we are told is still continuing. there is a new team there. there will be a special election held this fall. people are talking about do they want to be a candidate, who are the best candidates, what's did best way forward for the town? the most important thing is this little town way off the beaten path, off the internet, has now discovered a pride in itself. they have some really good

school, interestingly enough they have some nice parks that were paid by state grants, and people are saying you know what, preserving. >> it is a beautiful community. it is quite a tale, sheila macvicar for "america tonight," thanks. >> thanks, joie. >> coming up next. hate in the heart land. a vicious attack on kansas city's jewish community and the killer who broadcast his hatred long before he fired. also ahead, what makes boston strong, a year after terror struck the marathon. also how this city prepared for the unimaginable. al jazeera america gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com. follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on

facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. well it's official...

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is. >> now, snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." there hasn't been any sounds detected from the black box of missing malaysia flight 370 a subis on the search for the wreckage, could take seven days. leaking 300,000 pages of

state department are to wikileaks, manning was giving prison time for his crime. 16-year-old alex reibel stabbed 22 people, classes at the school outside pittsburgh are set to resume on wednesday. hate crimes, this attack happened at a jewish community center and a retirement complex on sunday. the suspect, a former ku klux klan leader and known white supremacist, could be charged with first degree murder. are "america tonight" correspondent sarah hoye with the latest. >> nobody imagination this would be happening to you or your family. it takes no strength of character, no backbone, no ethics, all it takes is an idiot with a gun. >> reporter: what should have

been a morning of prayer and reflection turned deadly. >> today plarks th marks the death of three people. a sad day in the city of overland park. in the last 22 hours we've learned that the acts that this person committed were the result of beliefs and -- were result of beliefs that he had and that he was trying to hurt somebody based on their ethnicity, race, religion, there's a whole number of categories under a hate crime. >> reporter: the suspect, 73-year-old fraser glen dross was first deadly shooting took place in a parking lot of a jewish community center, where children and their parents had gathered for a singing competition. >> it was really scary. people were calling everyone.

>> people say cross who goes by the name glen miller, shot another person a few blocks away. are cross yelled nazi slogans as he drove by. president obama offered condolences to the families of the victims. >> we've got to stand are resolute, we have to keep coming together across faiths, to combat ignorance and inattorneys including antisemitism that can lead to hatred and violence. >> according to the southern poverty law center a nonprofit that monitors hate groups cross is a known white supremacist. in 2005 he went on the record with the local news station in kansa kansas. >> we're fed up white people believe me and we're going to

take our country back. white people are third class citizens now. >> not shy about highs views, he had this to say to radio host howard stern in 2010. >> we've probably said you are one of the candidates who are running, you don't like jews you don't like -- >> they are all corrupted to the core. >> cross held without bond is scheduled tuesday. sarah hoye, al jazeera. >> who is a suspect and are there more out there like him? mark potok, preecial your being here. when we think about this, this comes as a surprise but not to the splc, you are quite familiar with him. >> yes, we have been following this fellow for the better part

of the last 40 years in fact. we really wrangled with what used to be known as fraser glen miller before he changed his name back in the '80s. he was head of a few groups, carolina knights ratify ku klux klan. operating in a paramilitary fashion illegally. we sued the groups. we had a long back and forthwith glen miller, essentially he agreed to stop those activities then broke that agreement. ultimately was found in criminal contempt of court. became a fugitive at that point and was finally discovered in 1987 in a trailer, in missouri, filled with plastic explosives, grenades and other weapons as well as a plan to assassinate the founder of the southern poverty law center morist des.

dedees. >> he did two tours in vietnam and so was a man very well trained in weapons. violence. >> with respect to his relationship to the jewish community in particular, you said that he had been threatening to african americans in the south earlier but when did he shift to jews? is there something specific, is mind? >> i don't think there really was much of a shift. i think for most of his life he has seen jews as the primary enemy. he was a member of a very early neonazi group, and almost all the groups that he's founded have been really thick with antisemitism. at one point in fact he wrote that he saw jews as 1,000 more times as pernicious and evil than black people. so i think that has always been his primary enemy and that of course seems to have been reflected in his alleged

killings. >> you say groups. there are others out there like him working with him? >> no, i don't think there's any evidence at all to suggest he was working with anyone. everything we know seems to point to another lone wolf attack which is the classic domestic terrorist attack these days. however it's true there are hundreds and hundreds of other groups out there similar to the carolina knights and the white patriot party and within that milieu, fairly regularly, we see one of these come out shooting. perhaps it's worth noting that about the time that obama was elected last time, someone attacked the holocaust mutually and murdered a guard there. and the madison sikh temp near milwaukee

and killed -- temple near flawk an milwaukee and killed a guard there. >> mark potawk, appreciate having you with us. >> thanks for having us. >> another terrorist attack, it has been one year since the boston marathon bombings, when three died and 260 were injured. what was stunning was boston's unique strength. the singular set of skills, resources and resourcefulness, that equipped boston to face the crisis in a way no other city is. we met one of the survivors dr. vivik shaw to consider what made boston strong. >> it started in the evening, the weather was perfect and it

was my best rund so far, i -- run so far. i came down boyleston, my hands up and i felt good. >> and then -- the unthinkable. >> first i didn't know what it was. i think when the second explosion went off spectators started running towards us and that's when we knew that something was wrong. >> amid the chaos his first thought: his family. where were they? >> my wife has met me at the finish line for every marathon i've run. i just started running towards where the explosions went off. i found them in front of the old south church after i had helped a couple of people and knew there were plenty of emergency personnel, i kept looking at the side and luckily they didn't

leave like they were toll to. they were where they knew i would be looking for them. the amazing power of adrenalin, i don't know how but i think the fear of what could happen with your family and the desire to help gives you a lot of strength. >> his own family safe, he which quickly shifted into doctor mode. he's an orthopedic surgeon. he found himself shoulder to shoulder with an army of medical professionals. >> you don't even think. i think we have so many hours of training and having done things like this before that you just run towards wherever the issue is, and you assess it and then you start treating the injuries. by the time that i got to the finish line it was amazing. there were first responders,

police officers, the emergency personnel that usually volunteer at the finish line and everyone was there and almost every single victim already had somebody helping them. >> the compassion and care after the explosion were more than a community's grand gesture. but a phenomenon that's come to be known as boston-strong. >> there were a lot of spectators who were helping. there were a lot of runners besides myself who were running. holding people's hands or talking to them trying to do what they could. >> maybe it would only happen in a city of ivory towers but hferre hferre harvard researchers dug deep. yes, some of it was luck, but the marathon medical tests,. >> the medical testless are just past the finish line for a lot of the runners who are exhausted or fatigued after the race.

>> but there was more than boston-strong than just luck. the city is better equipped for disaster than just about any other. the most badly hurt were quickly dispatched to boston's eight level 1 trauma snrers. >> i did my internship in about eight blocks down boyleston street, a level 1 trauma center. in many ways we were lucky there were so many capable emergency medical personnel there, it's amazing. talking to those i know in the stiff boston they prepare for disasters like this. not only do they handle them but they reviewed their responses weeks later to make sure that if there was anything they could have done better they did it, or work on improving it. from the time of the explosions to the aftermath, i think people took it seriously and are still preparing for what could happen

in the future. boston-strong. >> all right, boston. >> what i learnt about our society is we can do aplaysing things and we just have to not -- amazing things and we just have to do it not at the time of tragedy, but on a daily basis. and if it takes this to make us realize we can do it on a detail basis, this is something that brings boston together already, the city of boston is tighter than ever before in terms of how close people are. >> bent but unbroken. boston has turned its corner like again. >> i don't think there's much choice. like i said it was supposed to be my last but i certainly don't want that to be my lasting memory of the boston marathon. >> for more on dr. shaw's story

and those six other runners who crossed the finish line on the 12 second gap between the two bombs can go to our website and find out what those credit 12 seconds meant over the months. after the break, the battle in jamaica inside the deadly >> results of analyses were skewed in favor of the prosecution >> the fbi can't force the states to look at those cases >> the truth will set you free yeah...don't kid yourself >> the system has failed me

there's more to finical news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, can fracking change what you pay for water each month? have you thought about how climate change can effect your grocery bill? could rare minerals in china effect your cell phone bill? or, how a hospital in texas could drive up your health care premium.

i'll make the connections from the news to your money real. >> just last year, more than 1200 people died in killings in jamaica. and police were responsible for one in five of those deaths. the government and police say they're in the grip of young gangs. human rights defenders say, gang culture has said it's become engrained in their country. rachel levin reports. >> police officers on patrol in a kingston neighborhood brought over by warg gangs. heavily armed they, look for gang members and guns.

officers search those they suspect without warning. among the people they are here to protect there's more fear than faith in police. these women tell me police killed two men as they slept in their home. killings by police have been increasing. there were 258 in 2013. so common they are sometimes filmed by eyewitnesses. in this amateur video an apparently unarmed man is shot dead in broad daylight. eviaan levy was gunned down just before christmas. he had left the gang life behind. >> i have been living in the ghetto for 36 years now. i don't think anything is going ochange. >> evian was unarmed.

officer was killed nearby. after his haircut evian came here, used the bath rom and when he -- bathroom and when he came out there were up to 15 policemen, they were all masked and shot him dead. in the inner city of kingston. kids join the corner crews. there are over 300 such crews and many were run by organized criminal gangs. this 25-year-old asked not to be identified. he's seen at least 15 of his friends killed. >> violence. >> he sells drugs to support his family. many commit violent crimes for their crew and this battle for territory, that's what they call themselves. not a gang. >> you think what is really a gang you know, a gang is an organized group of criminals you know. you understand, where as you can

see here, just you understand, if i get you are not going to make somebody that is going to take over your door. >> there's no denying the strength of jack jamaica's gangs. they kill and extort. capturing gang bos christopher dudas coke. who is in prison in the united states. the murder rate is rising. a man murdered outside a school after dropping off his son. authorities say at least 80% of such crimes are gang related. this neighborhood is known as the gaza strip for its reputation of violence. you can see bullet holes in this door and residents tell us for the last two months things have been so bad they've heard shootouts nearly every night.

the government says it's locked in pooh battle with heavily armed gangs who don't shrink from taking on police. the ministry acknowledges it must work on gang violence. >> there is no sort of tolerance or coverup of any alleged extra-judicial killings by the administration. every case is investigated. in many cases where the evidence leads policemen have been charged criminally. >> he wants to break the gangs, outlawing membership and recruitment. >> we are about the norms of subculture of violence over many decades which we have to address. >> that includes targeting popular music too. song lyrics are deemed to

insight violence or promote gangs. sandy, a crew member since he was 17, say these target crews, she robbed and stabbed for her crew, until she went to jail. afterwards, pregnant with no work prospects she found a program, but opportunities are drying up. >> we need more opportunity to come in our community, i we believe we have nowhere to go. >> she says gun fire is a daily sound track to her community that with few life lines many believe only death or prison offer an escape. ploghts likmothers like her ande says they will try to break the cycle for their children.

dejon which heard the gun shots which killed his father never talks about it. >> because they have been traumatized from stuffer in the younger age. he is doing very well in school. so i'm trying my best to keep him ton right track. >> her hope is that her son has a chance to carve out a life very different than his father's rachel levin al jazeera, kingston, jamaica. >> after our break, an art walk, south of the border. artful gourmet and lyrical 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.

>> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

>> and finally this hour, we look south of the border to an unexpected, turn around, turn about.

on monday officials in san diego andity and tijuana report, are lori jane gliha, reports, tijuana is in the midst of a renaissance. >> you're looking at the art scene south of the border. ity jua tijuana, mexico. as sculpt or thes show off the twisted he met am they formed. and abandon ed warehouses into art galleries. even el morto. >> even this place would be

unimaginable, swept up in a brutal drug war. many residents fled tijuana. now tijuana is experiencing what is called a rebirth. led by a vanguard. >> what was the atmosphere like? >> it was a place where a lot of hood lumhoodlums would hang out. some of the shop owners abandoned the place and they left a lot of goods. >> how would you characteristic the ar transformation of tijuana? >> we didn't even think about it. every ten, 12 years it reinvents itself. >> this latest reinvention is an unlikely one. when the tourists and party

goers left, a home grown renaissance took place. >> tijuana used to be supported by people coming from other places, especially tourism. at one point with the violence that erupted here in the city, it all went away. >> roberto mendoza is one of the most famous musicians in mexico, mendoza is a lifelong resident of tijuana. >> what has changed in the last few years when it comes to the art scene? >> tijuana is happening especially with local people. it's really interesting. you don't see a lot of tourists but a lot of locals. from the clubs bars, restaurants, new faces and generations growing up and people just enjoying the city. that's like the biggest difference between now and before. >> it's almost like some of the tourism that had gone away, you know, at first maybe that might

have seen like a detriment or a bad thing. but seems like what you're seeing now that there's more community -- >> yeah, i don't know how to say the but exactly, it's like that. >> the danger hit pretty close to your home. >> oh yeah. have there were hard times at one point because even though we are especially in a very quiet part of town in the city, it's like, right just like two blocks from here, they used to have a hostage house like where they bring the people that are being kidnapped. and we even didn't know about it until police raid the place. it's a point where you think of really leaving the cities. but we just hanging in there. >> if there's anyplace that symbolizes tijuana's trmghts

tijuana's transformation it's this place that sits over a tunnel. hidden down a small side street the area is now an enclave for artists. mikada cheatham, is the head of this art place. >> i.t. went over where the tunnel came out. >> where the cars are? >> yes, where the cars are. it's kind of eerie, the people that went through there, the coyotes. that's why we want to turn it into positive. >> maria is the director at the center. >> as an artist we love met aforce. everywhere in the worth there's good and bad.

a lot of the bad has been magnified way out of proportion. >> casa del turno, the music is cube afternoon, a style that attracts people from both sides of the border. >> when i first moved here in '92 it almost felt like the harlem renaissance. i was completely amazed by the quality and quantity of art and the level of art and the level that people were educated about art. and the drug wars that ensued was truly tragic to see. but the youth really stood up. it's coming back. the kids and the youth have taken over. they've taken over with art and culture. and that's the way it should be. it's not border that it used to be. totally different than the americans coming getting drunk. no, that's the same old tijuana.

it's totally different. >> i'm a merchant. i've been here for many years on this same street, maybe 30 years. >> not everyone is convinced that tijuana is back. raymondo owns this on his street, avenue revolution. american tourists were his best customers and without them he still struggles. >> we welcome them, on the street of life, that way american tour i or the other foreign tourism, they see and they begin to come again. >> i was hearing of shootings all the time, sirens, police, ambulances every day. like a war zone. >> it's not just the souvenir shops that depend on free spending tourists

. javier has a new restaurant mission de la nueve. >> we decided to open this up when tijuana was going through very harsh times. i probably heard or saw shootings three, four times a week. >> placencia and his family own several high end restaurants in tijuana. a few years ago, they tried to kidnap one of his brothers. they made a decision. >> my whole family, my father has been in this business for 46 years in the city. he told us i never seen or experienced anything like this. people started to ask, just is the la sencia family going oclose their restaurants? i felt sort of a coward for leaving. i wanted to do something about it.

i was reading the news, newspaper seeing how these bad people were taking over our city. >> now, mission de nueve is getting rave reviews. each evening, the dining room is filled, still only locals but a trickle of visitors. it's a start. >> i feel very good about what we did, i feel lucky to be living at this time, how the future looks. i feel very excited. >> how does the future look? >> very, very bright, i love the city and couldn't be happier. >> that's "america tonight"'s lori jane gliha, reporting from tijuana. that's it for "america tonight." if you would like to comment, log on, on

aljazeera.com/americatonight or join us at our twitter or facebook page. join us, we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> snoo remacist >> the fatal shootings in kansas raise concerns about hate groups in the u.s. and violence. a pulitzer prize goes to coverage of the edward snowden's revelations. that's a backlash from congress. why would is a school turn a boy being bullied over to place because he was trying to gather proof? if you are late in filing taxes, why you might want to blame your ancestors. i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this" much here is more on what is ahead.