>> america tonight with joie chen is up next. you can get the latest news on line at aljazeera.com. >> players take the field. >> where's your pain? >> right here. right here. right here.

welcome back to the continuing coverage of the graduation at west point. as you can see, the president is making his way to the stage. >> we've got to have better research and data. >> the president aimed to tackle concussions. >> who knows what about you? correspondent gets inside the world of data brokers and finds out just how much of his own life is exposed. >> i see your date of birth,

you're a male, african american, you're married, you have a child, your child is seven years old. >> the secret industry aiming to expose all of your private information for a price. ♪ ♪ >> the sound of music and the voice of protest around big ben, how sun, song and a sense of community brought old friends and new together even across a bitter divide. >> >> good evening, thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. for far too long we assume not much can be done, so-called contact sports, football, hockey, lacrosse, all physical

activities with some inevitable risks. we have learned concussion isn't just a head game. it leads to debilitating injury and long term suffering. we now know that those macho sports aren't the only concussion risks. the white house is championing an effort to protect athletes from the kids to the pros from head injuries. >> leading the charge, president obama, an avid sports fan and father of two active daughters has been outspoken about the dangers of concussion in sports, even taking a personal position. asked about his support of football given the controversy around head injuries, the president said i would not let my son play pro football. today, it is the power of the presidency to raise conversation on the issue for the day long white house healthy kids and

save sports concussion. >> we've got to have the coaches and teachers recognize the signs and the athletes to understand how important it is to do what we can to prevent injuries and to admit them when they do happen. >> a cob cushion is a type of traumatic brain injury that can be caused to a blow to the head or body blow, strong enough to jostle the brain. athletes suffer these head injuries each year, players like 18-year-old kelsey. >> i remember waking up with icepackion in the hospital with a really bad headache. >> it was more than a month before she felt normal again. >> whether we don't know is for some individuals there is a more lasting effect of these injuries. >> the president announced more than $80 million in budget witness much to support that critical research, including $30 million for the most

comprehensive clinical city by the ncaa and defense department into concussion and head impact exposure. another $16 million project by the national institutes of health studying the chronic impacts of repetitive concussion and supporting youth sport safety projects. the nfl agreed to pay more than $760 million to settle concussion claims brought against it by former players. that settlement still awaits a judge's approval. is it enough to change the pattern and behavior of athletes, parents, and coaches? what's needed, the president says, is a shift in attitude towards concussions. >> we have to change a culture that says you suck it up. identifying a concussion, and being able to self diagnose that this is something that i need to take care of doesn't make you weak. it means you're strong.

>> neil, this is obviously a big white house push with that why did the president have to get involved? >> i think that thanks to the nfl suit, there's been a lot of awareness about concussions, first boxing, hockey and now football. a lot of football players look to the end of their careers and saw themselves with boxers with all the issues that they have. in fact, just as many concussions happening to girls in high school playing soccer, softball, boys playing soccer, lacrosse is involved. i think the president is looking for a comprehensive approach so we're not waiting until the people at the back end of a concussion are problem and we can get the community looking at the front end so when a kid gets hurt, doesn't want to come off the field, we have other folks paying attention to symptoms and the importance of keeping our young brains healthy is i think the president's focus. he's a father, his daughters are

about to play sports. he is interested in creating solutions to everyone. >> we have come to think of that this as inevitable, athletes and injury. is there a simple solution besides hey, just don't play. >> it's funny, with all the football attention, we talked much about this is your brain on sports in general and should you just stay in the house to avoid the stuff. what it additional down to is there is not enough people paying attention to what caused these problems and what the symptoms are. i think what the president's effort is about is getting the whole community involved and if you look that the studies involved from pop warner ump to the national institutes of health, his focus is let's get information so we know what we're dealing with and not waiting until someone can't count to 10 to understand that they've had a concussive injury. >> thanks so much for being with us. >> all right, thank you. >> participating in competitive sports can take a toll on the

body. the effects felt long after playing days are over. we turn to veteran dante stalwart, enduring hard hits for more than a decade. does that mean that you also suffered concussions? >> well, luckily for me, i was blessed to play in the nfl for 10 years, and i never had any concussions. well, officially, never any concussions. >> any diagnosed. >> yeah, there have been a few times i have been banged up and maybe should have stayed on the sideline, but just the competitive nature of, you know, playing in the nfl, you know, you try to get back out there as soon as you can, but there are dangers that are, you know out there for playing football. the good thing about the nfl now is that we've been starting to see that over the past few years with a lot of the guys that have played decades ago are now starting to develop some brain issues, so now the nfl is really looking into that for better

player safety and as well as, you know, donating money for research, as well. >> the president calling on not only the nfl, but all the way down to pop warner. this is something, do you see a change within not only the league, but within all realms of football that people are increasing their awareness and interest in trying to stop these? >> yeah, you have to, and i think the biggest thing right now is that you see as i mentioned before with the older players, the guys that have played in the 60's ab70's, 80's and 90's, guys that played a while ago are developing brain issues now, and so the nfl has taken the initiative to not only make our game safer as an nfl but encourage others to teach their players how to tackle better and especially the kids, they're the ones that look up to us and the nfl's donated some money if i'm not mistaken, $45 million to the heads-up program. it teaches kids proper teak

techniques on how to tackle, which is in football, you're going to have injuries. football is a collision sport, not a contact sport. >> right, so on that front, after all, this is a collision sport, so is it really possible to make the game truly safe from concussions? >> i don't think so. i mean, the way the game is played and the way it's been played, there are going to be concussions unfortunately. the good thing now is we've been able to have different types of research and looking into these types of things on how can we better prevent concussions from happening or what can we do to at least have them subside from the game of football. >> all right. we appreciate you're being with us. thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. >> coming up next, your life on line, just t.m.i., too much information. >> that's a recipe for disaster when an organization that has

almost no accountability collects some of the most sensitive and voluminous information on people and when they have a security incident that jeopardizes the security of that information, there really aren't any consequences. >> data brokers selling your private information. can the government stop them? >> later here, the push to bring our girls back. nigeria's stolen girls and what we're learning about the power of boko haram. commander in chief, i hereby absolve all cadets on restriction for minor conduct offenses. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> let me just add that nobody ever did that for me when i was in school. chool.

>> it can seem harmless, but as you click on how much detergent

you buy, when you took your last vacation all becomes a footprint of your life and valuable to measuredders and marketers. the federal trade commission has put hard fact and figures on what so called data brokers know about you already and pose new ideas on how to stop them from selling even more of your secrets. america tonight looked into the billion dollar data industry this spring. we now find there's more to it. >> where you shop, what you buy. how old your children are or whether you might drink too much, you would think that's all private information, but you'd be wrong. these personal details are being collected, categorized and bought and sold every day by data brokers. >> their biggest business is gathering tremendous amounts of data on millions of people. >> brian reports on cyber security for his blog.

he says when it comes to big data, brokers hold the keys to the kingdom. >> they know what i buy, whether it's underwear, shoes, cars, houses. >> absolutely. >> they know in some cases more about me than maybe some of my friends or relatives do. >> they kw more about you than you know about you. >> adversaries everywhere. >> at the world's largest information security conference in san francisco, the buzz was all about keeping your data safe from malware, spam boths and an assorted array of other cyber threats. pam dickson of the world privacy forum said the real threat isn't only what hackers and thieves can steal, it's what we hand over about ourselves voluntarily, often unwittingly, every single day for free. >> actually, these guys are really good as keeping threats away, but that doesn't mean

companies can't buy and sell our information at will. >> all that gets pushed into a big giant information soup and what comes out at the other end is the profiling of individual consumers. self improvement and health wellness offers. >> at our offers in san diego, dixon shoulder us some of these profiles or lists many of us end up on. >> here's a lift that says alcohol drinkers, adult. do i really want my name on this list if i'm an alcohol drinker. >> dixon says there are scores are lists for sale. >> i'm seeing everything from dry eyes to bed wetting to cancor sores. >> substance abuse road to recovery book buyers club. >> how do they know that?

how due date at a brokers know that i bought that book. >> that list is being sold, so if you're purchasing a book from that book club, that's how they're getting it. >> data brokers aren't just getting customer information from retailers, they mine public records and monitor our public hostings on social media. then there's all that personal information you may provide on on line survey on flirt.com or realage.com. it's as good as gold for the brokers and the clients they sell them to. >> they know this about me and categorize me in order to make it easier for them to sell me more stuff? >> to sell your profile to people who want to tell you more stuff, yeah, exactly. >> they're getting the personnics clusters. >> pam believes that if the result of all this profiling was just targeted and better ads, there would be no reason for

concern but that's not what she's worried about. >> if you're a major employer or you're a major health plan, you could purchase this list. >> you don't know for certain that employers are purchasing these lists, but the fact is they can. >> that's correct. that's exactly correct. this is really outside of regulation. there aren't laws that say that employers can't buy these lists, and they're not that expensive. >> america tonight contacted exact data chicago based data broker without asking us why we needed them, they agreed to sell us all kinds of list it is, the names, home and email addresses of people who use on line dating services, individuals who purchase product to fight angst site. we decided not to buy the lists and names you see aren't real, but you get the idea. for $4,500, aljazeera america could have purchased access to

deeply private information about tens of thousands of unsuspecting individuals. access that some fear could be bought by anyone. >> there are a lot of what ifs that you could come up in your mind about what else could happen with that data. as an industry, we work very hard to make sure is that marketing data is used for marketing. >> the chief lobbyist for the trade group that represents data brokers, her job lately, pushing back against the critics. >> they say you guys are unregulated, shadowy, secret, fair? >> nothing could be further from the truth. d.m.a. has had a self regulatory code for more than 40 years. there's incredible amounts of self regulation going on throughout this industry. >> are you aware of a company called exact data in chicago? >> not off the top of my head. >> so you wouldn't know whether they are a member of the d.m.a.

or not. >> not off the top of my head. >> we called exact data and they basically offered to sell us lists of all kinds of private, what i think many members of the public would consider to be sensitive information without having to jump too many hoops. they were willing to sell it to us so long as we were willing to pay for it. >> i can't speak to that particular situation, but i think there's more to the story very likely. you know, in a case where marketing data is being sold and purchased and transferred between companies, our code of ethics would say you can only share that information, it can only be purchased for markets purposes. >> take experian, the fort knox of consumer information, credit and marketing data.

in a major lapse, an identity they've in vietnam gained access to a database with information on 200 million americans. >> experian was selling information they claim unknowingly and i'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, so an individual claiming to be a u.s. based private investigator. >> the person posing as an american private eye was actually 24-year-old man who pled guilty to identity fraud. experian decline a i can't for an on camera interview but in a statement said: the entire

episode raises questions about data brokers' power. >> that's recipe for disaster, when an organization that has almost no accountability creates sensitive and voluminous information on people and when they have a security incident that jeopardizes the security of that information, there really aren't any consequences. >> the question that comes out of this is how can we feel safe, the public at large, about keeping this sense active information in the hands of data brokers like experian and others. >> that particular case is one that is on going, a legal investigation, a law enforcement investigation. it's possible that if a wrongdoing -- it's entirely a given that if a wrongdoing is found, the company will answer for that. >> one company is attempt to go answer critics concerns.

data broker auction recently launched about the data.com let's you see what it knows about you. >> this is the first opportunity we've ever had, ever, to look behind the scenes of what a data broker generally has about us. >> we found some of what they know about me. i see your date of birth, that you're a male, african-american, i see that you completed graduate school, you're married. have a child, your child is seven years old. >> wow, this is pretty accurate. >> that's pretty scary. why does someone need all that information. >> why do they need to know my child and how old she is? >> it's disconcerting. >> dixon wasn't other data brothers to follow the lead and be more transparent about what they know and who they're selling to. >> i want to make sure that if there is some kind of information that's out there on any list, that a consumer has the right to say to any data broker you know what, i want off that list.

>> aljazeera. >> tiffany george is senior lawyer in the f.t.k.'s privacy division and one of the principle authors of the report on data brokers is here. can you talk about how widespread this is? we saw on the report the kind of information data brokers get can be very extensive, but how many of us can be victimized? we found that the data brokers collect information on almost every u.s. consumer household and transaction. >> almost every? >> almost every. we can't say for sure it will be everyone, but it will be pretty difficult for a consume tore escape the net. >> this is extraordinarily. what you are proposing here for trying to limit the amount of information these folks have access to. >> we propose that the data brokers provide more transparency and provide consumers with access to the information they collect about them, as well as an opportunity

to opt out or correct information where appropriate. >> doesn't this put the onus on me as the consumer to try to track down who's been collecting what on me? >> we recommend a centralized mechanism, such as an internet portal where they can go to find out about the different data brokers, what type of information they collect and what control they provide. >> something like a credit reporting service, a single portal, or maybe a limited number of portals, where eight as a consumer could find out who's tapping into what records of mine. >> exactly. >> this is sort of horse out of the barn. if the onus isn't placed on the retailer not to disclose this information in a way that the data brokers can get into, it's on me to protect myself. >> we recommend that legislation would address exactly that scenario and require at the

source, that the retailer provide notice to the consumer that they are going to share their information with a data broker and give the consumer an opportunity to say i don't want to participate. >> what else could you do? are there three things as a consumer that i could do to limit my digital footprint? >> let's take a step back. even if the consumer is not on line, data breakers collect a wealth of information off line, as well. we recommend transparency through actions of information, and an opportunity to opt out of the system. >> is there anything else you can do to apply pressure to the retailers as the f.d.c., any way you can put more pressure on the retailers to limit that information, just to not be able to put it in a forum to be disclosed to the data brokers? >> in addition, if retailers are

acting in ways that are unfair or deceptive, that's where we come in and educate the industry about the practices and to encourage self regulation, as well. >> coming up next, strong words and more violence, nigeria's girls still missing. can negotiations set them free? >> i'm standing in texas, across the river there, that's mexico. while this area my seem wide open, this border crossing is closed and it's illegal to go across to the other side. ahead on america tonight, why people here are actually fighting for less security.

>> saturday on tech know. >> we probably ought to put the goggles on now. >> visionary technology. >> these goggles will help surgeons detect tumors that are less than one millimeter in size. >> life changing. >> these have the potential to revolutionize the way that we approach patients with mini cancers. >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. >> saturday, 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> stories making headlines on america tonight, growing calls for the resignation or ouster of v.a. secretary shinseki. more than 40 v.a. hospitals are under investigation. >> the billion dollar bidding war for the los angeles clippers is over and the winner is former

microsoft c.e.o. steve ballmer, offering $2 billion for the team. it must be okayed by donald sterling and the nab owners. >> on the search for malaysia air 370, australian officials say the area they've been searching, they're sure it is not the final resting place of the missing aircraft. australia's deputy prime minister is still convinced that it is somewhere in the southern ocean. >> is it a stepped up push to find the missing nigerian girls, the nigerian president promising a war. with more on boko haram, here's

sheila macvicar. >> after the end of military rule in nigeria, the president delivered a message, the government is doing everything it can. >> i said that once again, that government will continue to do everything possible to bring our girls home. i'm determined to protect our democracy, our national unity and our political stability. >> more many, those promises are wearing thin. this man says nieces and sisters are missing. >> we said that what would have come out would be details

consoling to us. >> earlier, it was suggested the government does in fact know where the girls are held. u.s. officials are skeptical of that claim and any rescue operation could be bloody. a point made clear by military leaders. >> nobody should come and say the nigerian military does not know what it is doing. we know what we are doing. >> president obama offered support and assistance, but acknowledged u.s. involvement will remain limited. >> no american security operation conrad indicate the threat posed by an extremist group like boko haram, the group that kidnapped those girls. that's why we have to focus not just on rescuing those girls, but supporting nigerians to educate their youth. >> anger at the government

response still obvious on the streets. aljazeera. >> former u.s. ambassador to nigeria, john campbell, joins us now to shed light on the situation and any kind of possible solution. president obama at west point singling out boko haram, president jonathan saying any means necessary. is there a new view on how to deal with this organization? >> i don't think there really is, the organization or the movement is extraordinarily difficult to deal with. we don't know how boko haram is structured. it appears to be very diffuse. it is not clear at all that the most prominent spokesman for boko haram, not clear that he's able to call the shots. >> he may be the leader on television. >> that's a good way of putting it, the leader on television.

that's because he's very effective with the media. his videos, his engagement with the camera is really quite effective, but -- >> is it clear that he is in control of the situation with the girls now? >> no, it's not clear. in other words, we don't really know who controls the girls. he says he does, but there are all kinds of very sort of peculiar dimensions to this. was this carried out with a group loosely affiliated with them and there was a good deal of negotiation amongst themselves about how to handle the situation. >> there isn't even clarity about what they want to do with the girls, if a negotiated release is possible. >> the closest thing is that he has said that he would release

the girls or rather some of them if the government releases the women and children that it has interned because it suspects them are being connected to boko haram operatives. said that. it's also made more sweeping demands that it wants all boko haram operatives released, so some kind of exchange seems to be what's in the wind. >> the possibility of some sort of negotiated settlement between the two sides. >> difficult, though, because it's not clear who on the boko haram side has the power to negotiate, and it's up to now, boko haram has usually refused to negotiate, but again, on the local level, there have been negotiations in the past, so there are possibilities.

>> and there is also the possibility that they don't want to i will kill the girls. >> that doesn't get them anything. it gives them no advantage at all. right now, they are the center of world attention. if they kill the girls, that goes away. >> that is the best thing for them at this point then, going for the young women. john campbell, appreciate your insight. >> thank you so much. >> when we return, an overlooked killer, tuberculosis. >> you think in the united and europe, as well, there's been a feeling that t.b. has been addressed, that we have beaten it and there's been complacency and less advocacy and the feeling that it is an old disease. >> why a disease easily treatable and curable loses out to other diseases in the competition for precious resources. >> as the fight for chicago

braces for another bloody summer, america tonight returns to the south side where even if they can't stop the violence, the community is in a fight to save its own. the latest report on the fight for chicago, friday on america tonight. tonight.

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab.

>> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> even under the best circumstances, there's never enough money or time or resources to do everything needed. for the world's aid agencies, that means a solomon's choice, invest in one or split what little there is, diluting both efforts to help. in vietnam, h.i.v. and tuberculosis compete for limited resources. the outcome can pit one need against another. [ crying ]

>> one month after the baby was born, she started getting a fever. she started coughing a lot like five or seven times a day. >> at just five months old, this woman's granddaughter was diagnosed with tuberculosis. every time she coughed, it was almost impossible for her to breathe. even though tuberculosis in a survivable, curable disease, it is one of vietnam's most deadly killers. 18,000 people die of it almost every year. that's twice as many people killed in road accidents. even more frustrating to health workers is that almost half of cases in vietnam go undetected, turning a treatable condition into an airborne killer. the problem is money, effectively fighting the deceased on a global scale would

take more than a billion and a half dollars in additional funding annually. >> i cannot believe that t.b. doesn't get the attention that it deserves. the aim is to find t.b. cases early, identify too burke close and put it on effective treatment. with the current funding, i think the t.b. program is not able to reach out to all of those in the community that have symptoms. >> health officials say t.b. doesn't get the attention it needs because of higher profile diseases like h.i.v. >> i think in the united states and europe, as well, there's been a feeling that t.b. has been address'd, that we have beaten it, and there's been com playsency there and as a result less advocacy and a bit of a feeling that p.b. is an old disease. it doesn't get quite as much attention. >> even the biggest pool of money that supports p.b. detection and prevention, the

global fund sets its priorities on other health chiropractor fights. 55% of its grants go to h.i.v., 28% to malaria. too burke close which kills almost as many people worldwide as aids gets just 16%. this little girl was one, undetected. her grandmother hopes it isn't too late. in the poor neighborhoods, health clinics are well aware that the difference in funding for t.b. can mean the difference between life and death. >> if we had more support from the international community, it would help vietnam do t.b. prevention work, prevent the spread of t.b. and reduce the number of patients in the future. we do our work in silence to serve the patients. our work isn't celebrated like that of people who work in other

fields. >> part of the problem lice with vietnam, failing to meet its funding targets. even worse, the government that cut its 2014p.b. budget by 30%. the director of seat ma'am said t.b. program admits it worries him. >> it really concerns me in terms of p.b. control. if the funding for t.b. are not increased enough so people are going to die, could be going to die. >> a view echoed by international aid agencies. >> i find t.b. a compelling disease, and i think i did should be a priority for all of us who are involved in public health, so i don't understand why it doesn't get more attention and why it's neglected. if there isn't enough funding or awareness or ability to diagnose and treat people with t.b., it

has a huge impact on the communities, because we're talking about people dying, people dying slowly, and painfully over time. >> the grandmother fears for the child's future as she struggles to recover. >> while she was being treated, i was anxious to know what happened to her. the doctor only said that she was in serious condition and nothing else. i feel very sorry for her every time i see her coughing. if i had known she had the disease, she would have taken the right medicine. she is very young and it hurts to see the doctor operate on her. i hope the doctor can figure out and treat the disease quickly so she can grow up healthy and go to school with her friends. >> ahead in our final thoughts, this hour, voices from both sides. ♪

♪ >> where a river runs through the debate on border control, how a texas community is banding together.

america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now

>> the united states has been calling for more security, tougher border controls especially since 9/11. in a remote area of west texas, one community is fighting for less border control. we traveled there to see why many are willing to break the law to fight for a community they say needs both sides to survive. >> we're not like the rest of the borders. we don't have the same problems that they have, and they have legitimate problems and legitimate reasons for closing, but it's a totally different

situation here. ♪ ♪ >> in the tiny border town in texas, the total population is fewer than 200 people, but it's never difficult to draw a crowd to the porch of the local saloon. ♪ ♪ >> today, the gathering of neighbors is about more than music. they're preparing for a musical protest in a fight to reopen a border crossing closed after september 11. the small town tucked deep within the desert is a four hour drive from midland, texas. >> this area is remote. we've been trying for several hours and only see another car every once in a while. it's one of the most isolated

areas along the texas, mexico border and for miles all you see is desert shrub and mountains in the distance. >> the terrain in this part of the country makes it an unpopular route for migrants. the number of undocumented immigrants apprehended here is the lowest of any other south border control sector. ♪ ♪ >> when i arrived, i found a group of musicians preparing for an unusual form of civil disobedience. [ applause ] >> we call this a fiesta protesta, which is a, you know, mild mannered way of doing

what's still legal on the border. >> what exactly are you protesting? the fact that the border's closed. >> they remember when their border with mexico was open and free. >> it was really, really a big thing with tourism to go over there. people were making money and having a living. >> there must have been sitting or 70 people living there and now there may be one and a half families there left. >> friends and families could cross the river between the neighboring sister towns for work, food and fun, and no border patrol agents would block the way. >> it was so accessible and friendly. >> how would you get to the other side? >> you would get in the boat and they would take you across and they would charge your fee, a buck or two bucks and of course you'd tip the guy. >> no pat port needed?

>> no. >> no id? >> no, just a couple bucks and a guy in a boat. >> yeah. >> things changed after september 11. border control tightened, border agents tripled, life changed in the villages, too, the inform am crossings closed. communities on each side of the border were cut off from each other and threatened with jail time for crossing the river. now, it takes four hours to drive through the closest legal crossing. >> these musicians are hoping to change that. >> all we got to do is start the conversation and help us change it back. >> mike, what's your plan, how do you want your voice to impact what happens at the border? >> help get the word out. it's just a matter of awareness. if you go up and down the border, residents, politicians are not happy with the way it is, the status quo right now. what all these changes have brought about is just the honest

people don't have a way to make a living, so they have to go away somewhere. that's really sad. >> that's what happened in the mexican village. mike davidson, who is also director of the local tourism counsel took me to that community, nestled next to big ben national park. >> people go there and have simple meal. >> the crossing to the mexican town was closed in 2002, cutting off american tourism from across the river. >> this is part of the experience. >> this is the classic experience. >> you take the boat, you come across, you pay $5, you ride a donkey. then you go in and get a beer. >> yep. >> we rode to the center on a donkey. unpaved roads are lined with only a few bars and restaurants.

the town is so secluded it is off the power grid. the restaurant uses solar refrigerators. here, locals told me the border closing ruined the town. >> when they closed, it was sad, it's like no people, nothing. just like deserted, a ghost town. it was asked. >> lilia fall cone's father spent 30 years building his restaurant and gift shop and depended on tourism to make a living. she remembers the day when people stopped coming and her mother shut down the shop. >> she just worked so much packing everything. that's how hard it was. i can still feel it. >> the village started to vanish. like most people here, lilia

left to find other work, but then the town got a reprieve. >> so they built this knowing that the crossing was going to be reopened. >> this is part of the whole plan. >> last year, big ben's national park officials, locals and elected officials persuaded the department of homeland security to reopen the crossing. they successfully argued that it increases security because it gives locals a legal option to cross. the community came back to life. lilia and her family came back to the town that is home. >> do you remember what went through your head when you heard the words the border will reopen? >> i started telling my mom, calling every family member that i had a contact with, god opened another door for us. i totally believe in god, so he opened the door for the whole town. >> the porch musicians and their neighbors hope a door will open

for them, too. it's time for the fiesta protesta. [ music ] >> under the watchful eye of border agents, towns people test the waters, crossing to the other side, technically illegally to reunite with family or friends. >> i'm afraid of the immigration. >> living in texas, because of the closed crossing hasn't seen her sister in two years. it's been a year since she hugged her mom. >> without this open, however do you have to travel to see each other? >> four hours. >> she doesn't want to be arrested so sent her daughters into the water to deliver flowers. gradually, the border became invisible and the family from mexico crossed over to the texas side to spend this day together, like old times.

>> tell me how that was, walking through the river to get here. >> throughout the day, hundreds defied the law, including texans who crossed over to the mexican side to play and sing in the band. [ music ] although border patrol agents made no arrests, they told us they will continue to enforce the law. but for a few hours, this valley and river became one community again, giving hope to the people who have raised their voices in protest that the borders in this town may one day be reopened for good.

[ music ] >> aljazeera, texas. >> the community certainly enjoyed its one day celebration. does the city have a shot at getting the crossing reopened personally? for the moment, we heard from correspondent who's talked to federal officials about it. just doesn't look like it. that's it for us here on america tonight. if you'd like to comment on stories you've seen here, log on to aljazeera.com/americatonight. join the conversation on twitter and facebook. good night. we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. >>

sue the war in syria hits home with an american suicide bomber. we'll consider what it says on where the war on terror is headed. also, a meal replacement drink some are calling the end of food. plus, is it possible to predict a genocide. how will a driverless future work. >> i'm lisa fletcher in for antonio mora - welcome to "consider this," and here is more