@ajconsiderthis. see you next time. is. >> hello and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz in new york. john siegenthaler has the night off. takes on president obama with harsh words for the commander in chief and the west. it's happened again another near miss between two passenger planes. person of interest, a big break. tinsel town for new orleans.

russia'russia's defiant rula stern message to the leader of the free world. vladimir putin's words to president obama were not only pointed, they were an unmistakable sign. mike viqueria has more from the white house. >> there are two critical events coming up and vladimir putin's comments to the international conference in st. petersburg has to be confrontational words for president obama who had accused peupt of not telling -- putin ever not telling the truth. when he was not fomenting rebellion in eastern ukraine. that got the attention of a lot of people but perhaps more significant in putin's comments today, very conciliatory comments, towards may 25th

elections, that's the first critical moment coming up on sunday in ukraine. the west has laid down its marker. if putin were to underline those elections then broader sanctions could put into place. putin says he will, quote, respect those elections. decide whether or not to move forward with the broad sanctions they've been threatening for two months now. so putin very conciliatory comments, already said the sanctions in place were taking a deep bite out of the russian economy, not something he's said before. driving a wedge between the europeans and the united states, into imposing much harsher sanctions, putin also promising to withdraw troops, those 40,000 some troops that have been massed within russian but near the border of eastern ukraine.

on friday they have seen no sign of a mass withdrawal of those troops. back to you. >> mike viqueria in washington tonight. new attention has been made on the attack on benghazi that killed four americans. secretary of state john kerry says he will testify before a house committee. kerry's move could inflame republicans. some patients are dealing drugs, while others are being fullphysically abused. investigations into other allegations that va patients died while waiting for treatment. aaa says 36 million americans will hit the road this memorial day weekend. higher demand always pushes uf gas prices in the summer, but this year there's a reason for

the like. mary snowy explains. >> every year it's the same story. >> gas prices are higher. >> gas price are creeping back up. >> come spring gas prices surge as consumer demand increases with the approach of the summer driving season. but this year, rising prices are being driven by chevy chase style vacations. >> exporting more gasoline than it has in years and as a result we are seeing gas prices higher than most people would expect. >> as america's energy boom takes hold, gulf coast refineries convert into gasoline. but with u.s. production having slowed in years, thirsty for product from abroad. >> developing countries places like china, india, that makes

gas price he higher here in the united states. >> despite an export ban that limits u.s. exports, investors are betting gas prices will stay high. >> pretty much all of the surplus supply in the united states is being shipped overseas in the form of exports because refiners can make more money doing that. >> and yet with increasing u.s. auto sales and reduced unemployment a resurgent american demand for gasoline could push prices even higher. >> when they are working more we are also seeing more disposable income working here too. that means they're out on the weekends, doing more shopping, doing more traveling. there is a correlation between people working and people driving. >> and that could further drive up prices. aaa predicts gas prices to

average 3.75 to 3.85 this summer. that is well below prices in europe. the average price in france it's 7.50. in germany it's 8.25. >> we are catching up and paying what everybody else is. >> mary snowy, al jazeera. >> for more on the weather and how the holidays will impact it, not a great start to the northeast, kevin. >> no? absolutely not jonathan. new york, pennsylvania and connecticut, i want to show you the camera on the building of al jazeera america, the sunset, this is time lapse and the thunderstorms are pushing through. the rain caused major problems across the region, we're talking about major problems at the airports as well.

later this evening we've gone down to hour and a half to two hour delays at some of the airports. i want to go a little bit closer in so you can see what this looks like. the heavier rain across manhattan and new jersey, connecticut, springfield, massachusetts, warnings still in fact, where you see the flash flood warnings in effect. the streets are soaked, we are seeing delays on some of the bridges and a little delays in the tunnels but in new jersey there are some cars that are actually stuck in the area. if you are traveling be very aware of that. for new york over the next day or so we do expect to see afternoon thunderstorms. hopefully, nothing we see today and tonight. a little shower activity, shouldn't be too much a breaker there. new york, 83°, good day to get into central park. and temperatures look very warm

across the southeast, a lot of sun, peement park i -- peed mont park. back to you jonathan. >> thank you kevin. firefighters are struggling to get the upper hand over a fire. into a last where it can be more easily contained. what it means is that it could glow to nearly 36 square miles. the wildfire started thursday. authorities don't know yet what sparked it. federal investigators say two planes almost collided in mid air after takeoff from houston intercontinue nen inte airport. apparently an air trask controller was at fault. >> stop your climb united 601.

>> similar happened at newark last month. came within yards of a landing airline landing. >> captain jim tilman, welcome. >> thanks for being here. >> what is a pilot focused on and what kind of alarms go off when another plane gets a little too close? >> well, first of all he's totally fowkded on the decks of the flight. looking out the airplane. not looking left or right, leeing straight ahead -- looking straight ahead. he feels he's protected by air traffic control. they're the ones that are going to help him get out of there without a problem. >> we've seen three near misses in the span of only a month here. is this a trend?

should passengers be concerned when they supply this weekend? >> -- they fly this weekend? >> i think it's too soon to be called a trend. the fact they're bunched here together is a little bit of bad luck on the part of the faa. because it doesn't happen as often as it looks like it does after these last three to four weeks. particularly in terms of relatively serious flaws. >> but if you look at the numbers, the numbers have gone up in recent years of near misses over the skies of the united states. what's happened here, is this the effect of more planes in the cies is a or an overworked -- skies or an overworked air traffic control system? >> it may be a little bit of both. we have more planes flying than ever before. and that's going to increase until the airlines get a little more help. also you're going to see a little bit of challenge because i'm not sure we're fully staffed with our air traffic controllers

at this moment. i do know they have been trying to hire, you've got thousands of planned hirings coming up very, very soon. but a lot of these applicants are just not qualified to actually get into that work. so it's going to be kind of difficult for a while. i would not -- i would not expect to see this same kind of frequency of these mid air collisions, near mid air collisions coming up throughout the rest of the summer however. >> do you get the impression that these air traffic crorls controllers are overworked, perhaps not enough of them in the tower there or what's happening there? >> perhaps overworked. as you try to grow, you've got allot of the senior controllers that are spending their time training other controllers that are coming on board and the traffic loads have not lightened up. but you know people talk about the stress for air traffic controllers. i know a lot of air traffic

controllers, and i got to tell you, they eat that up. that's not even part of the issue. they signed on knowing it is going to be stressful. they are not even concerned about it and they do a good job too. >> i'm curious to know, what is the dynamic between the pilot and the air traffic controller? who bear more of the responsibility to make sure planes stay well away from each other? >> well, it's a shared responsibility. first of all, speaking in terms of the last incident where you have this houston situation, the pilots are using their eye balls to look straight ahead. and they're trusting that the air traffic controllers are going to protect them from any traffic that might be in their area. the air traffic controller is using his eye balls on a scope and he's looking at that and giving plans and turns and altitudes and all that with a kind of three dimensional feeling in his head as to where everybody is. but then there's another set of

eye balls. it's what i call an electronic set of eye balls. that's that t cast equipment that you've heard something about. it's collision avoidance control that gives the pilots an indication of what's going on around them. letting them know that there's a possibility of a conflict. giving them warning so that they will know not only that but also gives them some idea about how to avoid a collision. so you've got a lot of eye balls going on there. that's another reason i think people should relax and enjoy their holiday flying wherever they're going. >> good advice, captain jim tillman, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> in a surprising happening, donald sterling says the clippers are for sale tonight. the nba still has to confirm and

approve. >> the lifetime tax break for the owner of new york's madison square garden. a heatbattle for a piece of pristine coastline, a billionaire paid millions for a piece of secluded beach and then closed the gates. >> john brenner, appreciates the quality of the beach. at a place surfers treasure. >> secluded cove. >> secluded indeed with just one way in. >> this is the gate has that has been illegally closed. >> the than who paid $37 million for this land, venture capitalist vinod cosla, says he has the right to close this

gate. >> when there's billions of overabandons, you can do anything you want. >> the court order has been violated here. the surf rider foundation sued, alleging that when cosla locked the gate and painted over the sign that informed the public of the location, the gate has been on the property for decades and he can lock it. >> the ability to exclude oirts, is one of the -- others, is one of the essential sticks. >> it infuriates us that the rights can be denied obviously. >> what last both sides arguing so passionately in a courtroom 20 miles from here. >> the issue is so simple: can you put up private property over

a piece of property that has been used for 100 years by the public, without permission of the california coastal commission? >> reporter: this battle is similar to a fight in southern california where record mogul david gef frveghtsen tried to -- -- geffen tried to block beach access in front of his home. the judge ruled no one would be denied access. a smelt fisherman was patiently waiting for a bite. >> the ramifications are huge and they are gnarly. >> the judge last to resume whether vino -nod cosla has to t

everyone in or not. monday the usda recalled 2 million pounds of ground beef, possible cause of 11 cases of e. coli. the usda warns its list might not include all the stores that got the contaminated beef. you can find a list of the stores on the usda's website. coming up here on al jazeera america. art of the steal. the new lead in an infamous 500 million gardner museum heist. plus, texas is pulling out all the stops to lure the maker of siracha.

>> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

>> the united states has suspended 3.5 million in military aid to thailand. the money was to help pay for training and weapons for thailand's army. thailand is under martial law after the military took control on thursday. in syria, violence is spiking before presidential

elections, killing dozens of people. rul amin has these reports. >> nobody claimed responsibility for this attack but we did hear from islamist rebels based in the region that today marks a new campaign a new offensive from them to support the rebels and the fighters who are there fighting the troops of president bashar al-assad, the government has been on the go trying to gain control of many areas from the rebels to give the presidential elections due on june 3d 3rd as much legitimacy and is credibility as possible. so the results will be valued. the opposition is saying exactly the opposite, saying the country is at war, the elections are a farce and there's no way to hold fair elections in such a position. they are intensifying their attacks on government positions

and voting centers to send that message across. >> our rula amin. pope francis, during his trip to the holy land, will see historic sites. our nick schifrin visited one of those sites. >> in the holy land if you dig in the right place you might just find jesus' footsteps right under the surface. when they dug here they were trying to dig for a new hotel, but they found what might have been the part of the first church. >> i am seeing part of history. >> bible country where jesus is said to have inspired his first followers, where he is said to have healed the sick or he might have even walked on water. and on the shores of the sea of galilee, they discovered where jesus might have first preached.

>> this precise community, they are not divided into different communities. and actually it is not even divided from the jewish people. what does it tell us 20 centuries later that we have so much in common. >> for years father eamon kelly didn't know the significance. >> we were walking on a 20th century street. >> they were discovering a 1st century market for fishermen, then jewish ritual baths,. >> this is the best level. it is the purest water. you can see the steps here. it's really beautiful. >> reporter: then just a few feet away, a few impts below the soil -- inches below the soil they found this sign. >> the significance of eternal life. >> these mosaics. >> for us they're very substantial. first century mosaics from the

year 29. the fact of having a mosaic in the first century synagogue was unheard of until this discovery. >> then these benches for the faithful. >> you can imagine him sitting here in the center of this first step or this pillar, why not. >> and then this. >> wow, that's amazing. >> this was here for 2,000 years nobody knew about it. and i think this blue actually was the first they found in the country here. and this is contemporary to pompeii. >> they realized this was one of the oldest synagogues. on one side the olds menorah. and a autograph for a torah. >> rabbi is opening up his scroll and rolling out the spools here. >> it fits here. >> held in place. >> and that rabbi that father kelly is talking about. >> there's a group of people

following rabbi jesus. obviously you could say this was the beginning. >> perhaps it's understandable that father kelly is enthusiastic but to only take it from him? >> until then, nothing compares to what you're seeing down here. >> for more than a decade, fabrizio, says this is the most impressive site anywhere. >> not a single place you can look in the eyes of a pilgrim, in the eyes of christ. the first and only opportunity. seeing it come together for all the respect of rome and turkey. >> actually dedicated to the women described in jesus's life. this is mary magdalene's home. >> jesus apostles her, she's the first aapostle. >> , what father kelly admits is

a rare being tribute to women. >> here on this column we represent susanna and husanna, who married the sons of zebedi. and this is for all the women throughout history have been pillars in the transmission of the faith. >> with the sea of galilee in the background, as it was for the first christians, the faithful will pray on the seashore and a mast will be their cross. >> the preacher is in jesus's shoes and providing that leadership and providing that word that jesus gave us and this is the call to the preacher to be more deeply personally identified with jesus in his preaching. >> during pope francis's trip to the holy land he'll bless this tabernacle, he'll continue to reach out to orthodox christians

and muslims and juice. >> we ask, why did providence allow us to find this place 2,000 years later? >> it's for open our arms to more religions to be more open. >> in a time of conflict, we need this today, we need to encourage us to look for that greater commonality that we share than that which divides us. >> united as the faithful in this temple in this church. nick schifrin. temple of magdalene. why two confessed murderers have not been put on trial, six years after a brutal killing.

one of the biggest sporting venues in america. america.

>> and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz. picture this. the fbi says marcheses from a 500 million heist have been spotted many years later. a light show, sydney's spectacular show of light and music. it's been six years since the mass murder of a family in new york state. the suspects confessed, but all these years there has been no trial. allen schauffler tells us about justice delayed. >> jonathan, there's an abundance of caution in this case because two people can be put to death 50 state of are byf

washington. but the reflts shot and killed six years ago, say these tack advertise are intentional. >> michelle energy and her boyfriend, shot parents, brother and sister in lawl nieces and nephews. killing the older couple hiding the bodies then waiting for the young family to arrive for aholiday dinner and shooting all of them. five-year-old olivia and three-year-old nathan last. >> dear god, how do you do that a small tiny blond haired blue eyed baby boy in diapers? it's sick. >> pam lost her children and and

from children that night. no jury has been seated. she calls it a circus. >> has justice been served? >> no, it's exactly where we were in october of 2008 when they decided on the death penalty. >> court appointed katy ross represents joe mcen rowe. just doing what they're supposed to do trying to save their clients' lines. >> we have to get the experts that are necessary. we have to bring the motions that are necessary. a minimum of two attorneys. >> so far the defense has spent more than $6 million of county money. prosecutors estimate their spending at about a million. also county money. ross and other opponents of the death penalty say it's ineffective, expensive and that cost should be a consideration in sentencing. >> public officials should always have money on their mind, that's what i think as a

taxpayer. >> twice the state supreme court has reversed rulings by the judge in the case each decision taking months. now justices are again considering several issues including a rare request from prosecutors to have the judge replaced. law professor ann murphy calls some of the legal maneuvering unheard of and strikingly strange but still understandable. >> then you are talking about executing someone in the name of the state so they should be very concerned about that. are we going osee more of this? i have -- to see more of this? i have no doubt, absolutely. >> for pam mantle her granddaughter's schoolwork provides memories but little comfort as she seeks resolutions that could be years away. >> they need to come down on the damn defense and say enough is enough. we have waited long enough for the trial, we should have it and let's get the show on the road.

>> end of june, june 26th, we don't have a firm timetable at this point on when we might have a decision. jonathan. >> allen schauffler. tennessee is bringing back the electric chair as a method of executions. if lethal drugs are not available. the lethal cocktail is less and less available. prosecutors might be challenging tennessee's rule calling it cruel and unusual punishment. a man spent 19 years in jailed until he was recently pardoned by president obama. leading some to wonder how fair the justice system is. natasha guinane has the story. >> ricky was sentenced with no violence and no victim.

>> people did worse crimes this me got lesser crimes that me. it was hurtful. >> his crime, possession of seven ounces of crack found in a car during a traffic stop. that and two earlier cocaine acquisitions found that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars. as the father of two faced the possibility of facing life in prison, he did the only thick he could, he prayed. >> god, i know i'm a better person than how i'm living and i need your help. >> patterson was sentenced at the time when the penalties for possession of coke was harder than that of powdered cocaine. prosecutor thomas backadal notes, federal prosecutors have discretion when it comes to

implementing mandatory minimum sentences. >> we are not going to fill these prison beds, by people who are convicted of robbing and shooting, than the hypothetical soccer mom. we have the discretion to wave off minimum mandatories. >> most of the mandatory minimum sentences should be dispensed with says the prosecutor. >> because the prosecutor has discretion, black people are convicted far more than white people. >> no exception was made for inmates such as patterson. for 19 years he kept fighting to reduce his prison term. last december, president obama commuted his sentence. >> the emotions overtook me and the tears started coming and i thought wow all i can think about is my family.

>> patterson went to prison a troubled young father, with no future. he has come out a middle aged grandfather with a hope of seizing a second chance in life. it's the chance thousands are still waiting for. natasha guinane, al jazeera, fort pierce, florida. >> the system explores controversial cases in the criminal justice system. here's a preview. >> it's crazy, no matter if you fire a gun, it doesn't matter. >> in 2009, 50-year-old orville lee waller was convicted of aggravated assault in the state of florida. >> i firmly believe had i not done that day, my daughter sarah would be dead. >> this weekend's episode of the system examines america's gun laws. you can watch the entire episode this sunday at 9:00 p.m.

eastern, 6:00 pacific. >> it was the biggest art heist in lift. a quarter century later the masterpieces remain missing. some of the works have actually been spotted. >> roxana saberi has more. >> march 18, 1990. >> the isabella garn stewart museum was robbed by two men posing as police officers. >> they handcuffed the guards and locked them in the basement. within 82 minutes, the thieves took 13 works of art. vevermemeer's the concert.

>> jeff kelly has led the investigation for ten years and told reporters we believe that over certain periods of time this artwork has been spotted. there have been sightings of it, confirmed sight beings, but art historians are skeptical. >> i truly feel these paintings are not in this country, they are crated or hanging on the walls of some very, very well heeled underground art market buyer, collector. >> reporter: at the time they were stolen, the pieces were valued together at $300 million. but now they are worth half a billion. roxana saberi. al jazeera. >> two of those people have died. the one surviving man, 78-year-old robert gentile has denied any knowledge of the

heist. general motors is announcing another recall. all the trucks are at the dealerships and will not be sold until repairs are made. 30th recall this year. the company has recalled nearly 13 million vehicles in the united states alone. few brands are considered more american than har harley davidson. lately sales in the u.s. have been slumping. the company has changed the way it's doing business. david arioso has the story. >> harley davidson the motorcycle icon has dubbed itself with the road. a brand so distinctive that harley once tried to trademark the sound of its exhaust. lionized in hollywood films like

the wild one and easy rider. >> har liz's a freedom. an iconic name plate like the traditional harley davidson bar and shield and the best part of i all, chicks dig it. >> border on bankruptcy, harley's mojo took a more hit, a large loan from warren buffett. >> 2008-2009 downturn, since then sales have been bouncing back. >> despite the harsh winter, u.s. sales jumped 3% after the company cut production cost. but the real success story may be overseas where first quarter sales soared more than 20% in asia, 9% in latin america and 8% in europe. >> to win over new riders the

company is switching gears and may be switching to what consumers have been long cusmed taccustomed to in europe arounds asia. >> take downsize and price point. >> the bikes are smaller lighter and more affordable and being shipped to new markets in spain and italy as well as india, where harley is building motorcycles from scratch in overseas factories. yet roughly two-thirds of company revenue still comes from north america where baby boomers like damon have long driven up sales. the problem now is demographics. baby boomers are a shrinking part of the population. >> one of the concerns of harley, it is so big among the aging white male. as that group is getting larger is there going to be demand when

we move forward. >> sales up 6% compared to 2012. despite that surge, company sales are still low. and that led some investors to say not so fast in deciding whether harley davidson is truly on the road to recovery. david arioso, al jazeera, morning about. >> sriracha, is not drawing rave reuives in irwindale. heidi zhou-castro has more. >> so let's give a toast to denton and a toast to sriracha. if you have a bottle, hold it up. >> reporter: denton texas, a little town with a big taste for hot sauce.

when he heard that irwindale, california had declared the spicy odor to be a public nuisance he immediately saw an opportunity for his own town's economic growth. >> some city is going oget on top of this and be the first one to invite them to move to their city. i thought, why not denton, texas. >> thousands turned out to welcome sriracha with open arms. >> here in texas we have wide open spaces so our industrial zoned area is miles away from the closest neighborhood. >> roden says that would save his texas residents from suffering the burning eyes and throat that california residents have complained about. >> the president says the odor

is perfectly safe. see for themselves. >> there is no nuisance issue here. we have been right next to where the chiles have been ground and produced. there is no issue. >> good job. >> not everyone is convinced. sarah burke says they should do more testing before courting hue fung further. perhaps the greats challenge to truly luring sriracha to denton is the lack of a agriculture here. right now, this community garden is the closest to it. he has no desire to leave his california home but if irwindale force he the company's hand -- >> it's hot and texans like

spicy food. >> the message from texas is clear. >> heidi zhou-castro reporting there for us. irwindale is expected to vote on declaring the hot sos factory a public nuisance next week. there's no doubt, the building's owners have had to pay absolutely nothing in property taxes for madison square garden. city officials say the special treatment needs to stop. madison square garden, nicknamed the world's most famous arena. it's home to the knicks and the rangers who are knocked in a playoff battle. each year it attracts millions of visitors and millions of profits. that wasn't always the case. back in the '80s, rising cost costs, the knicks said it would

be forced out of the city. new york city said, stay here and we'll not have you pay taxes forever. they still need state officials to sign on. overall the deal has spared madison square garden from paying $350 million in property taxes since the 1980s. the city says the arena would avoid $17 million this year and an estimated $54 million next year. critics say that deal means new york city is missing out on needed money. but madison square garden is not the only stadium that gets tax breaks. payments and tax breaks like these are common around the country. the city of st. louis offered millions in perks to get the rams to move in. and bankrupt detroit is spending

$400 million in taxpayer dollars on the red wings. saying it's unfair to single out one entity. when it comes to tax breaks, there's no final buzzer. and the arena supporters say the city deserves tax dollars because it recently spent millions renovating the building. in living color, the speck the tack lar light show in sydney. -- the spectacular light show in sydney. sydney. highly acclaimed investigative series the los angeles times says... "beringer tells gripping stories..." new york times... "large complicated, sometimes heartbreaking..." >> to keep me from going to jail, i needed to cooperate... >> see what everybody's

talking about the system works... says variety al jazeera' america presents, the system with joe burlinger

>> earlier this evening we saw lot of active weather in the northeast. flash flood warnings, lightning as well as flooding going on. i wants to take you to chicago where today we are seeing a lot of people pushing through o'hare airport. in the memorial day weekend, we is a 1.5 million people going through airport. on the highways it's a little more active than it was last year this time. a lot more people are getting on the roads. so the next five days in chicago are looking quite nice. temperatures are going to be on the increase. by the time we get to monday we will expect a temperature of about 85°. overnight 62. little bit more rain coming into

play, the reason is we have disturbed weather here. an area of low pressure has moved in so we're going to see little bit more rain, little bit more moisture. helps the wildfire fight in the los angeles area. 60 to 72. by the time we get omonday a high temperature there of about 80°. that is a look at your national weather. news the coming up right after this. this.

>> they are calming it the hollywood of the south. it's where television and film production crews are going for incentives like big tax breaks. gallagher reports from new orleans. >> the garden district is a famous neighborhood. now it's getting more attention. film crews are becoming a more frequent sight in new orleans. the area is offering production

companies big tax breaks and it's worked. louisiana is now the top location for blockbuster movies and that represents a major change in the movie business. last year louisiana made more than $1 billion from the film industry but all this is more than cold hard cash. as the industry has matured here, it has led to jobs. 14,000 permanent jobs a number equal to the state's seafood industry. when the tax incentives were launched 12 years ago, few had any idea they would be so successful. >> they were businesses that started here to service the louisiana film industry now georgia, canada, new york and even china. andre champagne started his hollywood trucks company with a handful of vehicles, now he has

a fleet of 300.and his success is down to hiring locals. >> because the industry affects so many job titles and positions. it's one of the greatest economic development business incentives and stimulant sneives i'vincentives i've ever seen. >> from the industry's more traditional locations for many it's a change they don't regret. >> the work will come and get you. you don't have to find the work. you know, here you can really be a big fish in a small pond. in los angeles, i don't care who you are. you're a very small fish in a very big pond. >> reporter: so the next time you blie a ticket to watch the next block bust, chances are it was made here, in the hollywood of the south. >> three two one. >> andy gallagher al jazeera new orleans, louisiana.

>> in the united states, it's memorial day. in australia, it's the festival of lights. >> in bright sunshine, in australia, it's winter, and in sydney, it's the festival of lights. projections on water, office blocks as canvases, the chance to conduct an orchestra of lights. are for lucy keeler and nicholas touring, a dream commission. >> we thought it would be great to land a mighty great tree on the middle of the concrete and make it grow in 60 seconds. >> allowing you to ponder what used to be here before buildings. >> reporter: but beautiful though the architectural illuminations are, the motivation is economic.

the strong australian dollar. the beaches are quiet between june and august. the city needed something to keep the tourists on their thei. >> we needed something to keep the city interesting. >> this year the revenues went up 70%. >> every year, it seems to get better and better. they come when the sun goes down and stay until ten, 11:00. >> experts expect almost 10 million people to see these lights, contributing $20 million to sydney's economy. >> the winter has been exceptionally warm. outdoor festivals do particularly well when it

doesn't seem particularly like winters. ab drew thomas, al jazeera, sydney. a new meteor shower is expected to light up the sky. scientists say it could be spectacular but cloudy skies are going to keep many of us to see it. the best place is east of the mississippi river or in california. the best time to see it, couple of hours, 2:00 to 4:00 eastern. the picture is a ogloafl -- global selfie, more than 36,000. pretty, a there. people sent their photos from 113 countries and every continent. the project was meant to encourage environmental awareness and efforts to protect our planet. incredible selfie out there.

headlines in just a moment. s in just a moment. is

chasing bail only on al jazeera america >> we're glad you're watching a. i'm jonathan betz with tonight's top stories. russian president vladimir putin

spoke out against president obama, dismissed accusations that russia is interfering in ukraine. went on to say the if president obama wants to judge he should sit in a courtroom. outcome of presidential election from ukraine on sunday. aaa says 36 million americans will hit the road this holiday weekend. gasoline will be high. driving up prices at least 3.50 now. faa says two planes almost collided at george bush intercontinual nine airport. air traffic controller mistakenly directed one plane into another. quickly corrected though. boil order in portland, oregon, it is not the kind of bacteria that can make people

sick. donald sterling announced that he is giving his wife permission to sell the team. i'm jonathan betz. "america tonight" with joie chen starts right now. on "america tonight" an exclusive insiders look into medical care in arizona's prison system. shocking allegations of neglect by prison health workers that left inmates at risk. >> when i went back to his cell, i could smell blood before i went into the room. when i turned on the light, it murdered. more on the continuing focus on crime and punishment as adam