for us? >> techknow every saturday, go where science, meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see. >>techknow >> we're here in the vortex... only on al jazeera america >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. >> i ask you to please release my child. >> the mother of an american journalist held hostage by the he's hammoc islam islamic state group. a new truss between israel and hamas.

>> a new plea today from the mother of an american hostage. she asks the islamic state group to let her son go. roxana saberi with more. >> reporter: tony, this is the first time that shirley sotloff is speaking out. her plea comes eight days after the release of a video showing the execution of another journalist steve foley. >> i'm shirley sotloff. my son stephen is in your hands. >> reporter: she addresses the leader of the islamic state group by his preferred title, asking him to let her son come home. >> you, the caliph can grant amnesty. i ask you to please release my child.

>> reporter: in this video she calls her son an honorable man who always tried to help the weak. >> stephen is a journalist who travels to the middle east to cover the suffering of muslims at the hand of tyrants. >> reporter: the 31-year-old miami native had reported from syria several times when he disappeared last august. the sotloffs kept his captivity secret even from close friends. they thought if they publicized his case his captors in the islamic state group would kill him. but last tuesday the group released a video showing the execution of another journalist james foley and threatened to kill sotloff next if the u.s. did not stop targeting it's fighters with airstrikes. >> since stephen's capture i've learned a lot about islam. i learned that islam teaches that no individual should be held responsible for the sins of others. stephen has no control over the

actions of the u.s. government. he's an innocent journalist. >> reporter: and shirley sotloff pleads for his freedom. another hostage was released. >> i'm overcome with emotion. total strangers have been coming up to me and saying welcome home. >> reporter: curtis' mother is relieved but her heart goes out to others suffering, like the sotloffs. >> i want what every mother wants. to see her children's children. please grant me this. >> reporter: the islamic state group is holding other hostages including an american humanitarian worker. she was captured last year. her family ask that she not be identified for fear of her

safety. another journalist has disappeared for 744 days. >> roxana saberi with us. we learned more today about what is happen inside syria. an united nations commission said the syrian government and fighters with the islamic state group are carrying out mass atrocities. nearly 200,000 people died since the conflict began. the panel said that the syrian government is dropping barrel bombs on civilians. we have more o on the reports' findings. >> reporter: for three and a half years syria and it's people have been torn apart. almost 200,000 people dead, many civilians, and many forced from their homes, fleeing the bombs, the gunfire and reported atrocities. there has been little reporting

of syria's civil war, the risks to journalists enormous. this presents some of the clearest pictures of what syrians have endured, and it's not a pretty picture. syrian government forces are accused of deliberately targeting civilians systemic committing murder, rape, and torture. and one example the u.n. said forced truces were followed by mass disappearances and deaths in detention. but the syrian government's primary adversary the islamic state group is equally cup public creating atrocities to generate widespread fear. public executions have been its signature technique with children often present. >> with syria it's total impunity because crimes are committed each day from all

parties, and to nobody's dealing with the criminal responsibility for that crime. >> reporter: s report highlights the plight of children across syria, killed and injured at the hands of government forces and recruited for active roles in combat. and then there are other barrel bombs. the united nations accuses the syrian government of dropping barrel bombs using chemical agents in eight separate incidents. >> the international community has failed--has completely failed in one of our most elemental duties to protect the civilians. we must remember that most victims of this war are innocent by standers to the destruction of their homeland. >> reporter: since this is the u.n.'s eighth report on the conflict and admits that the previous seven have not stopped

the atrocities. they have drawn up a confidential list of suspects. think want their work to send a message to the perpetrators, that they've been identified and that justice will be pursued. al jazeera. >> outgoing iraqi prime minister nouri al-maliki is criticizing vice president joe biden. he accuses biden of interfering with iraq's political affairs. biden urged iraq form a government soon. we have more now from baghdad. >> reporter: not far from here iraq's new prime minister haider al abadi is sitting down with political leaders to try to form not just a new government but agree on what that government will actually do. al abadi has said that by today he'll have a program government, essentially a list of priorities that the new government will take on. now they're still saying that they will form a cabinet, a

stripped-down cabinet of 20 posts within the next two weeks but it is not an easy task. the stakes have never been higher with the islamic state group controlling over a third of iraqi territory and deep, deep divisions here in the country. outgoing prime minister nouri al-maliki has devoted his weekly address just a few hours ago to saying that u.s. vice president joe biden should not attempt to fragment the country. he's referring to comments made some time ago that iraq might eventually turn into separate regions. he said that the united states should try to unite the country rather than divide it. and he's promised to help rein in the very gunmen brought in to help defeat the islamic state group that are now in many parts of baghdad. >> fighting in northern iraq has renewed tensions between sunni arabs and kurds. for many years the communities have lived side by side in the

town of gwer, but a recent battle has left little trust between the two sides. >> reporter: the islamic state group is here to stay. that's the writing on the wall, but it's fighters were only able to occupy gwer for a few days. u.s. airstrikes air the kurds redane control of this region, which is not far from the capitol erbil: gwer is a town where arabs and kurds lived side by side for years. there has long been political distrust between them but after the recent fighting there is little trust left. the kurds are accusing some of their arab neighbors not only of sympathizing with the islamic state group, but joining their ranks. >> there are few arabs who work with the islamic state. we confiscated arms from arabs

who don't have licenses. >> reporter: we can't film outside because the islamic state group is on that bridge. but other sunni armed factions, the people of mosul, they're fighting along the i.s. and that's the dangerous. it's not a front line. on the surface is may seem fine by gwer is disputed territory. they claim this land as theirs. the arab men blame the islamic state group of wanting to stir civil strife. they're relieved now that the kurds are in control but they're speaking to us under the watchful eye of the new authority on the ground. he denied claims that arabs sided with the islamic state group and plained why many fled to mosul the islamic state group stronghold instead of erbil. >> there were airstrikes. people have no choice.

the islamic state group allow them to go inside their territories. >> reporter: many people from both sides of the divide still have not returned home and there is growing anti-arab sentiment. >> kurdish troops were shot and killed before the islamic state group advanced into town. this means that they have support from within gwer. >> reporter: i.s. and other sunni factions pushed into gwer to take land that they believe is rightfully theres. there is animosity that has now resurfaced. al jazeera, gwer. >> more than 24 hours into an open-ended truce and both palestinians and israelis are claiming victory. this is the first time in six years the world food program has managed to deliver humanitarian aid, but mangedsens and international donors worry this is just a short-term reset. jane ferguson with more. >> reporter: in just 50 days much of gaza was destroyed.

the morning after peace returned here the dust was literally settling. 1.8million gazaens are now surveying the worst war damage they've experienced. reconstruction will take years and billions of dollars. it should an boom time for cement factory like this man but his business was badly hit. >> first of all we have to rebuild our factory before we can contribute to reconstruction. we're waiting for the crossings to reopen. this will help us to get the construction materials we need to repair the factories, melts, and cement and other materials. >> reporter: importing such items has been heavily restricted by israel throughout the siege. part of the cease-fire deal involves easing such rules so reconstruction can begin. but similar measures were promised in the 2012 cease-fire. they were rarely far-reaching enough to make construction in

gaza any easier. money from the international community will be needed to rebuild gaza but this won't be the first time. again, and again here infrastructure projects paid for by foreign donations have been bombed by israel when conflicts break out. the yasser arafat international airport was a multi million dollar initiative paid for by the international community. this airport was to international standards. just over there where that dome is, that was the v.i.p. section of the airport. beyond that was the runway. it opened in 1998, but it was only open for a few years before it was bombed by the israeli, and it has never been functional since. three times over the last six years gaza has needed reconstruction after conflict. this time says the u.n. it is the last time. >> we're all tired of this cycle. their secretary general has said a couple of weeks ago that this must be the last time that we

are repairing gaza. and even before the war there were plenty of things to do here, 52% without work, young people without hope, 95% without portable water. >> reporter: but without a real political solution to the palestinian-israeli conflict people in gaza will end up rebuilding their lives from scratch many more times. jane ferguson, al jazeera. gaza. >> earlier i spoke with london journalist, i asked her what the palestinian people get from the costry resistence from hamas. >> i think hamas gets an awful lot out of it politically but not necessarily in actual concessions as you quite rightly said. alexandria has proved it has not been crushed by the fourth most powerful army in the world.

of course, the people in gaza have no army themselves. so hamas has proved it is a resistence movement, and it's done its job as far as this is concerned. but in actual concession it is didn't get much out of it. it got an extension of the fishing areas of si 6 to 12 miles, and construction materials will be allowed under strict constrictions. that's the rebuilding of gaza and that could take up to 20 years. >> nabila told us the conflict cost prime minister benjamin netanyahu's standing on the world stage as well as support of israel. libya has a stark warning for the united nations security council today. >> the situation in libya is complicated and yet the situation since the 13th of july has become even more complicate and the situation might unravel

into a full-blown civil war if we're not very careful and wise in our actions. that needs to be true of all parties. i have always excluded the possibility of civil war, but the situation has changed. >> the libyan government has struggled to deal with rival militias. the u.n. is trying to find a way to end that fighting. kristin saloomey has more from the u.n. >> reporter: as the international community's growing concern about the escalating violence in libya the u.n. security council passed a resolution on wednesday, the strongest form of security council action expanding sanctions. it allows the council to sanction individual militia leaders perhaps those responsible for taking over tripoli's airport in the last week and requires countries to notify the sanction's committee and get approval before they sell or transfer any arms or arms-related material to the

country. they said that they're concerned about the situation. painted a very grim picture of what's happening there and said that the u.n. has been unable to bring the parties together to get a cease-fire and discuss the political way forward for the country. and the representative of libya to the u.n. told the council for the first time ever that he's concerned that his country could be on the brink of a full-scale civil war. >> kristin saloomey reporting for us. political ad seem to be getting stranger every week. we'll show you a few including the monkey on the house speaker's desk. one senator accused burger king of renouncing it's citizenship. real money has a look at the public relations fallout.

>> 69 days until the midterm elections and the airwaves are cloudy with political ads. you expected that, right? taking aim and firing a handgun and another company making charges about ebola and responds

to an ad featuring parrot poo. david shuster joins us now. will you sort through this for us? >> these are senate campaign ads not oddball house races. the senate race in alaska is one of a does which could decide which party controls the senate. a party challenger shows us our ho he would murder a television set. >> ads are flooding paid for by special interests. pretty soon you'll want to do this to your tv. i propose a plan to stop all the mud-slinging from outsiders so we can keep this election focused on the issues. unfortunately, mark begich said no. >> begich is the democratic incumbent trying to hold on to his seat. he said sullivan's position is a

pit hypocritical, citizen he supported citizens united, that allowed the outside ads. >> tom cotton voted against programs against ebola. he was the only arkansas congressman to vote this way just like he was the only one to vote against children's hospital. instead he voted for tax cuts for billion narrows funding his campaign rather than protecting our families. >> the prior campaig prior asked about the ad. >> here is a parrot that poops.

>> we'll stick with our plan. >> stick with your plan. >> still senator prior to stop parroting obama. >> the thing is that's not what parrot ppop looks like. i'm just saying. as expected, republican governor scott will face charlie crist who won easily in the democrat democratic primary. if crist wins he'll be the first to ever win from two political parties. parties. >> the far right anti-boehner forces in the house are going to

be just as strong as ever. speaking of john boehner his staff are apparently quite fond of a wind up monkey the speaker keeps in his office. they just made a video about the speaker's monkey. >> my staff gave it to me. every 15 to 30 minutes they come in and wind me up and i do my thing. >> perhaps it's time to stop comparing boehner and his orange skin to an oompa-loompa if he compares himself to a monkey, so be it. lucy koffey, the oldest living female veteran visited with president obama, and then biden followed up with little firsttation. >> it reminds me every time i had a good looking date there would be some better looking guy come along. you know what i mean? i'm vice president.

the president comes in and everybody drops everything. you know what i mean. i'm the guy that loves you. >> joe biden, one of a kind. that's the day's power politics. we'll have more coming out on immigration reform and the possibility of a government shutdown. >> come on. david showerser. power politics. thank you. >> so burger king is in hot water. the purchase of canadian coffee and donut chain tim horton's is brewing into a major public relations nightmare. "real money's" ali velshi joins us. >> do you remember two days ago i stood here with a whooper in one hand and timmy' coffee. everybody enjoyed my criticism of this. u.s. senator dick durbin from illinois blasted this $11.5 billion deal. he said he's disappointed in,

quote, burger kings decision to renounce it's american citizenship. here's the thing. warren buffet is financing part of this deal. he's no in damage control over the fax breaks that burger king is going to get by becoming a canadian company. as you know buffet is famous for calling on its wealthy to pay its fair share of taxes to uncle sam. now this deal puts him in an awkward position. and just the last one of wave of infections sweeping cooperate america when they move in with a smaller one and move into their heard quarters abroad and pay lower taxes. people are getting mad at it. >> that seems typical to me, but doesn't burger king deny that it's moving to canada for tax reasons? >> yes, and i deny that i'm bald. they acquired tim hortons.

it's a jewel. wendy's bought it and then went independent again. they've got a lot more outlets in canada than burger king will ever have. it's not to say that these acquisitions is only for taxes but why does burger king need to be head quartered in canada? that's the question. sometimes when it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, even when the duck says it's a penguin it's still a duck. >> there are companies that we think of american aren't american any more in firms of where they're based. what companies are we talking about? >> i like to be demonstrative. fruit of the loom. we'll tell but that. but there are 75 companies that have moved to places like bermuda and cayman islands, water house coopers has moved to bermuda before it entered bankrupt and was bought by

warren buffet. and fruit of the loom moved to the cayman islands in 1998. there have been 75 of these companies in the last 20 years, 45 in the last 10 years or so. sara lee is not an american company. it merged with de masters blenders. a coffee and tee company. they're head quartered in the netherlands. chiquita banana is head quartered in ireland. and so more than you think. >> ali, appreciate it. ali velshi coming up at the top of the hour. >> i just remember, i didn't demonstrate the fruit of the looms. you owe me. >> i do owe. >> you and the viewers do owe me. >> we'll see you at the top of the hour. coming up on the al jazeera america. the united nations say that people of syria are suffering atrocities across the country. more on the civil war.

also a hit man who confessed to killing hundreds of people. the reaction next.

>> turning to our top story. annuitant commission said that today it has uncovered more evidence. 200,000 people have died since the conflict began in 2011. joining us now is rebecca hamilton, associate in law at columbia university and former lawyer at the international criminal court. great to have you on the program. if you've been following this conflict since 2011 you're not surprised the findings indicate, allege these kinds of

atrocities. what is the importance of a report like this? >> it's basically building an evidence base, so that for the future even if we don't see justice in the short term there's a future evidence base of atrocities being documented in realtime. >> how did the united nations get this reporting? the idea of putting people in the ground, investigators on the ground. that would be highly risky. how would the u.n. gather this information? >> not only risk which but they were barred from entering syria by the government. so what they did was they interviewed witnesses who have managed to get out of syrian territory who are refugees now in other countries. and it's a combination of direct witnesses, but also looking at all the reports, all the human rights documentation that has been done by other organizations. it's an integration of the two. >> the idea, we were talking about it earlier, terrific reporting. you said it's solid, this

report. it's the eighth such report of its kind? >> right. >> so what happens? in order for this report to have any legs to get the to the icc there has to be another step that has to happen. that's through the u.n. security council. what are your thoughts on that? >> it has to come from the security council and that looks politically highly-- >> tell me why. >> just in may. three months ago both russia and china retoed a resolution to refer it to the icc. that doesn't mean, however that, it will never get to the icc because global politics change, and we do see that, we've seen that in the past back in 2013 under the bush administration no one would have imagined that they would agree to send it to the icc. yet in 2005 they did. having as i said the beginning of this evidence base from reports like this, a seriou a

series of them now means one day if we do get to a justice mechanism then there is that solid evidence base there. >> rebecca, you were mentioning this is a beneficial report for what it gives the victims, and their families. talk to me about that for a bit. >> it's authenticating of their own experiences, and obviously every individual knows what they've been through, but it puts the whole atrocity situation in context, and means that that evidence is there for the future. >> rebecca, great to see you, associate in law at columbia university. former lawyer at international criminal court. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> and the french government has opened a former investigation into the head of the international monetary fund. christine la guard faces questions of how she handled a

financial transaction. she said she did nothing wrong. candidate abdullah abdullah pushed for an international audit in the first place, after winning the first vote tally. but now he says the fraud is not being properly addressed. both he and rival ashraf gandhi are accused of fraud. sierra leanisierra leone at serious ris risk. >> another plow against the fight against ebola. just one of two labs has been closed after a medic caught the virus.

240 healthcare workers have been infected. half of those so far have died. the u.n. said the outbreak is having a devastating affect on already poorly resourced health systems. >> heavy death toll among health workers depletes one of the vital outbreak. in the three hardest hit countries only one to $ two doctors are available to treat 100,000 people. mostly in liberia. >> last month they were warned they would lose their jobs if they did not return to the country to help deal with the crisis. in nigeria the opening of primary and secondary schools have been delayed a month getting the outbreak under control.

>> there are several who have been reintegrated with their families in their communities. >> there is no proven vaccine or treatment of the virus. some have been given zmapp but how effective it has been is unclear. >> we have certain experimental drugs at the moment at the laboratory. it has not been tested properly for the ebola virus. we've had talks with companies but we have to talk with human rights groups to see if it is proper to use the experimental drug in the fight against the virus. >> ebola has killed more than 1400 people in west africa but it is not yet under control. even when contained the effect will continue to be felt for years to come with so many experienced and dedicated health workers.

lost to the virus. al jazeera. >> and the man who confessed to killing hundreds of people has been freed from prison in columbia. john velazquez peter known by popeye was the hit man for pablo escobar. he was paroled for planning the murder of a presidential candidate. maria ines ferre has a story making headlines across america. >> reporter: authorities are still searching for the pilot of the fighter jet that crashed in the mountains. they don't know whether he was ejected. witnesses say he heard a loud noise that sounded like an explosion just before 9:00 a.m. eastern today. people saw heavy smoke at the crash site. officials say the pilot reported an inflate emergency and then lost radio contact just before the crash. the jet is an one-person aircraft. the pentagon said it was headed to louisiana from massachusetts. the governor of louisiana

filed a lawsuit today against the obama administration over common core standards. bobby jindal auses the administration of manipulated federal grant money and regulations to force states to adopt the common core. he aggravated that the government hijacked the initiative. the common core was designed to improve schools using benchmarks to evaluate students each year. more than 40 days including louisiana have adopted the standards. an appeals court in ohio that is turned over hate crimes convictions against 16 amish members. they were found guilty of cutting the air and beards of other members three years ago. they were instructed of how to weigh the role of religion in the attacks. they were called hate crimes because religious differences were involved. two boaters near niagara falls are safe after a rescue. >> we have the pick up signal. the two men were plucked less

than a half mile from the edge of the falls earlier this week. the 19-foot motor boat was disabled and anchored, but they could not get to shore. the helicopter came in and rescued the pair. a visually impaired grandfather is running the country to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis. when finished he will have traveled 11,000 miles. >> as i progress around the country so far i have met so many people with this disease. those who have family members with it. each story just keeps adding more and more fuel to keeping me going through all of this. if it's in your heart to do it, if you're like myself, this is strictly fear generated. do something with that. with that general. turn it into something positive. >> and he has a personal connection to the disease. his 12-year-old granddaughter has cystic fibrosis. several businesses have made

donations. he runs 20 miles a day and he's been on the road for 80 days. he expects the journey will take 14 months. he has had support from so many local. >> it's he has to be doing social campaign. >> he has facebook page and you can call it the social media. >> are you back later? >> i am. >> thank you. people who live near a massive oil stands deposit in canada are worried about a cancer cluster in their community. we have reports from fort chiperyan. in alberta. >> one of dozens to contract cancer in recent years. breast cancer in her case. now she's in remission but some of her friends haven't been so lucky. she and others are worried that their beloved hometown is a cancer hot spot. >> we live here, and we see our neighbors, our friends being diagnosed. i think in the back of our minds we sort of say, i wonder who is

next. >> at the local clinic nursing staff say most of their patients live in fear of their health. >> x-rays, ct scan, mri. they want all those tests to be done just to be on the safe sign to make sure that they are not having cancer. >> for generations people here lived over the land. today many fishermen shun their catch. the lake is polluted and eating fish can make them ill. the smokestacks line both banks of the river. researchers say heavy metals from emissions are getting flood water. that's why fort chipewyans go to court to slow down expansion while the environmental impacts are assessed.

>> we're not here to oppose development, but we're also not here to promote further development without cleaning up this mess these here. let's do it in a way that we can prove to the world that we're leading edge in with regards how to reclaim this area. >> when asked for an interview, alberta's government referred to a study that said cancer rates in fort chipwyan were slightly higher. >> it's been a positive thing for canada. it's provided opportunities across the entire country and still does to this day, and opportunities forag for aboriginal people and others. >> this is a community that gives jobs and business from oil but worries about the impact. poisoned by the petroleum industry or not, no doubt these

waters are causing fear for some in this community. fear of swimming, eating fish from the lake. fear that just being here can give you cancer. al jazeera, fort chipewayan. >> a nine-year-old girl accidently killed her machine gun instructor. and the what is called a culture of violence. that is next. @

>> the city of new orleans is dealing with a new wave of gun violence and the city's mayor is asking for state and federal help to deal with the up tick of crime. we're live in new orleans. jonathan, how is the city responding to the rise in

violence there? >> well, tony, right now there is some 50 straight troopers that louisiana governor bobby jindal has sent to new orleans. this is more than a neighborhood crime issue. the crime has spread to some of the most famous areas. on bourbon street. >> four-year-old kyle is permanently blind and his two-year-old brother jamal has serious brain damage. both were hit in the cross fire of a shooting in the ninth ward. >> we hurried to the house to try to see what was going on, where they were, the condition they were in. >> reporter: the shooting two

weeks ago killed two people and wounded the boy's mom, sister, and anotherdown girl. it's an outburst that grabbed the city's attention, a gun problem that has long plagued the area. >> it gets to the point you don't want to watch the news any more. this is all we hear. before this it was the seventh ward where people were shot. >> we have a culture that is unacceptable where young people have very poor conflict resolution skills, and it goes to a lot of things. it goes to economics. >> following hurricane katrina in 2005 new orleans consistently had one of the nation's highest murder rates but that's dropped over the last three years. in 2013 there were 156 homicides. the lowest number in nearly 30 years. >> it takes a huge amount of effort and planning. >> still the wave of gun violence this summer prompted new orleans' mayor to ask for help. in june a shootout on crowded bourbon street injured nine

people and killed a young woman visiting from out of town. governor bobby jindal agreed to send 50 troopers to help through labor day. they're facing a officer manpower shortage. recruit something a priority for the new police chief. >> the visibility will be quickly increased. officers could respond at a faster rate. all those things work together. which affect our crime. >> the last two years the police department has done more social outreach. >> we have programs that provide help for the community. provide help for social and mental health. >> reporter: wayne romaine said he's relieved the police have arrested the three men accused of shooting the members of his

family, but he's planning of moving them out of new orleans p, afraid the culture of violence won't change any time soon. >> one of the things that the mayor in new orleans has tried to do or he's trying to do is establish a citizens police source called nola parole. it would consist of civilian, who would basically control the high crime and high pacific areas in the french quarter and that would free up some of the real police officers, the trained police officers to do more of the serious work in the community where they're dealing with violent crime. how that will be paid for remains to be seen as well. but we do know that the mayor is hoping that a motel-hotel tax will foot some of the big for that. >> if they can get that passed. jonathan thank you. an investigation is underway after a nine-year-old girl accidently killed her gun instructor with a loaded automatic uzi. >> just like that. all right, go ahead and give me one shot.

[ gunfire ] >> all right, pull out. >> it happened monday at an outdoor shooting range. the girl lost control of the gun you saw it there when she pulled the trigger for the second time and the recoil sent the gun over her head and shot the 39-year-old. he died shortly after being airlifted. she was at the shooting range with her parents. we talked about this earlier, with the senior fellow for senior for american progress. we talked about the gun laws across the country. >> and i think there are a lot of ways this could have been prevented. certainly parents have a responsibility to keep their own kids safe. think about what activities make the most sense. but it's also very strange that it is legal for an eight-year-old or nine-year-old and go to a gun range and access a fully automatic usey and we have a country where that is legal and easy to do. basically makes no sense.

>> machine guns, and this was a machine gun, a fully automatic machine gun that are among the most highly regulated firearms in the united states. since 1934 when the national firearms act passed in the gangster era of tommy guns. you have to get a special license and much more thorough background check than for a typical begun. but at a gun range they consider the use of the gun at the range not a transfer of the gun, so for the people who are accessing the gun there they don't need to get that license or go through any training or background check, and i think it raises basic questions if these guns are so heavily regulated everywhere else, does it make sense for an eight-year-old or nine-year-old to have access to a gun? this is happens before several years ago in massachusetts an eight-year-old boy also with an fully automatic uzi lost control of it, shot himself in the head, and he died. in the milwaukee area, two

people had committed suicide at a shooting range. people who fail the background check will go to a gun range and access guns without any access to a background check. this is a whole series in gaps and laws. we need to look at the laws, tighten them and make sure people who are responsible, law abiding folks can access guns. should it be easy to go "t" a gun show and buy a gun no questions asked. should an eight-year-old be able to use a machine gun? >> a plane so heated that it was forced to land. we look at why airlines really implement such cramped quarters. >> coming up on "real money," burger king creating a tax stunt by moving to canada and it's all

perfectly legal. the great train traffic jam and why it would cost american farmers big time. all that and more on "real money."

>> you know, there has been a lot of attention this week an airport seating after a flight was diverted over a fight of a reclining chair. that fight was between two passengers. one who wanted to recline her seat and the other who wanted to put up a device called the knee defender, so she couldn't recline. but the common problem airlines squeezing people into tight spaces. it's not only comfort but it could be life and death. jacob ward joins us from san francisco. let's have full disclosure. you're a tall dude, 6'7" and then some. >> i am. >> and it's obvious to me that you would have a side of the debate that you would land on here. have you used this knee defender? >> i have not used it personally. i would like to think that my height qualifies me to

investigate this topic. i have not used it personally. it sects to either side of the knee side tray table. it's not against regulations to use it but it has set off a firestorm. i know other tall people use quarters. they jam a quarter into the hinge. i say hey, can i buy you a drink or a movie just don't lean back. this is prisoners turning on one another rather than taking in the big picture where airlines are jamming people in. >> if you have been in one of those things recently it can't get worse, but is it as tight as it could possibly be? >> if the airlines had their way you might be standing up. there is a prototype called the sky rider which has been shown off at air shows in which people lean in a standing position. can you imagine the nightmare of a standing room only the world's

most horrible concert, stand for a two hour flight. it's that kind of thing. people are talking about pods and standing systems, all kinds of things that the airlines are experimenting. the. >> the airlines would like to add seats and make more money per flight. why haven't we seen these pods, these standing seats and other ideas? >> it really comes down to safety. it turns out that we owe what little comfort we get on planes to a man named john staff back in the 40 he's began experimenting on himself to get g forces into his body and see what a human being could take. he proved that human beings could survive 18 g's. if you permeate the flight deck, the floor of the plane with too many holes, put the seats too close together it becomes swiss cheese and it becomes apart. in the asiatic aircraft that

fell apart slightly, it's because of that high g tolerance of the plane. if you put too many seats in there the plane comes apart easierier. that's the only reason why we're not stacked bike chickens in the plane. >> jacob ward. thank you. this is all led to a lot of debate on social media about whether or not to recline seats. ines is back with this story. >> reporter: is it your right to recline or should you show courtesy to the passenger behind you. why is reclining even allowed on flights. he shows a picture of his knee here against this seat. and pretty sure the reline button is just a particular in this matter fo--it's just a mechanism for detecting despicable people. and now leave it to the internet

to inject some humor. darth posts this picture asking himself how do these things even work? do we need opposable thumbs? >> i recline slowly and let the people in front of me recline. i'm tall, too, i'm not at all as you, either, you're a tall guy. >> 6'5", strapping--no, not that tall. but that's how you handle it. >> ines, thank you. appreciate it. >> it took a century and a half, great story. a civil war hero will soon receive medal of honor. he died at the age of 22 at the battle of gettysburg. he was badly wounded but despite his injuries he refused to leave the battlefield and his men. normally the nomination has to

be made two a half years within the act, but this was given a special exemption and president obama will present the award next month. that's all the time we have, "real money with ali velshi" is next. >> burger king is accused of quitting america and moving to canada, but it's not the first iconic brand to pull this kind of tax trick. we'll show you who else has done t and it is all perfectly legal. and making sense of the racial dispe disparity in ferguson, missouri, where two-thirds of the residents are black but one only third of council is, i'll tell you how that happened. and how to get last year's harvest to market. i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money."