about putin and his rise to power so damning they decided not to release it. we're on facebook and twitter and you can tweet me. we'll see you next time. hohn hong kong protest, a live report from the standoff. we have the latest on the patient and the cdc response and plus the risk for those in protective gear. white house intruder. the head of the secret service appeared before congress today amid new details about the

unprecedented breach. america votes 2014. our special report on the election. tonight we focus on jobs and the economy. >> you are looking at live pictures from hong kong. protesters are bracing today for a feared pushback from police. they call themselves the umbrella revolution brave downpours through the night. they're answering in their own demand, democracy. what are are you seeing and what's it feel like out there? >> reporter: it's national day in china, so we xexpect a lot o

people come to the center part of hong kong. this is the major stage for the last several days. it was a very wet evening tuesday night, so a lot went home and changed and come back over the comes hours. this is the pattern over the last couple days. this is the center part. the government complex for hong kong is right here. behind the camera is the central financial district. this is the spot that they have occupied for at least four days, and this is go tied up business and traffic in central hong kong. the police have taken a step back, if you will. we saw those confrontations with tear gas fired at the end of the weekend. police since then have taken a different perimeter around this center part. because it's national day, we expect more people coming in and then over the next hours what

we'll hear from the occupy movement, they take the civil disobedience into the next phase. this is phase one and phase two is on wednesday. more people are coming in, but also they've been expanding to different areas around hong kong, so that's what they're talking about when they say the second phase. something that happened in the morning on wednesday, it's traditional that there's a flag raising ceremony on national day in china. that happened in the district down this area. what was sping is normally a public event. this year it was sealed off. some of the protesters from here went over there, and they hold a silent protest. there was no confrontation with police. there were plenty of police on hand. they stood there and silently watched the flags raised and had their voices heard. as the day goes on, we'll see what the second phase is. it appears as though its an expansion of the areas within hong kong cities these protesters occupy, david. >> are they looking for a confrontation with authorities? >> i haven't gotten that feeling

at all, really. and when there was a confrontation late sunday evening, early monday morning, the reaction monday here at this site was amazing. we saw the biggest influx of people coming out and joining the protesters and did that because there was violent confrontation. they wanted to stand and say how the police hanlded the situation was not right. we have not seen that in hong kong for years, so they wanted to support them. they have this very interesting reaction. anytime -- this has happened for days. anytime there's a face-to-face standoff with police, if it looks like it might come to a violent confrontation, they throw their hands up to show they're not doing anything they don't want to engage with them. what we've seen over the last days when there was back and forth, it was mostly pepper spray and kind of culminated with the firing of the tear gas. so far i've not spoken to anyone who really wants to engage and

confront with the police and kind of push the envelope when it comes to taking it to that level. they want to remain peaceful. >> scott, thanks for the report. now to our other big story. the first confirmed case of ebola here in america. three other people are being evalued including the paramedics that rushed to help that patient. the head of the cdc is promising to contain the deadly disease. a hospital in dallas is treating the patient who arrived in texas from liberia on september 20th. officials say four days later the pashlt started experiencing symptoms, and then on friday he went to a dallas emergency room but was sent home for treatment. on sunday morning an ambulance took him back to the hospital, staff suspected the patient had ebola and hut him in an isolated area right away. heidi jo castro is in dallas where the patient is being treated. what can you tell us about the man's condition? >> reporter: hey, david.

we're finding out more about his background. he's from liberia, but he had just moved to dallas. we know right now it's isolated in intensive care. now, doctors say he's showing the kip tal symptoms of ebola. diarrhea, high fever, but on a good note he is talking and asking for food. now, many questions remain about how he got to the hospital. as you mentioned, david, he came here of his own volition going up this ramp in the emergency room on friday asking for help. instead of being admitted, he was sent home with nothing but antibiotics. on sunday morning he called 911, and those mare medics transported him by ambulance back to the same hospital where he was immediately suspected of having ebola. now the hospital administration is saying it is doing everything it can at this point to contain the ebola virus. it is investigating whether every procedure and every question was asked correctly when this man first came in for help. >> heidi, any medical workers

impacted by this? >> reporter: well, in fact those three mare medics are the post vulnerable for infection. as of today they're quarantined and they're medically evaluated as we speak. the concern is they actually were out in the public and at home during these last three days since they took this man to the hospital. that's, of course, because this ebola diagnosis had not been confirmed yet by the cdc. the good thing is they were not back to work. this happened to be their few days off, and at this point they will be evaluated and how long their gaurn teen rehan remains to be seen. greater concern is the ambulance used to transport the man. it was dispatched from the fire station on your screen here. that ambulance returned to service almost immediately after taking this patient to the hospital. of course, without knowing that he had ebola, it went through a

15-minute typical decontamination al jazeera has learned, and after that it went back to carrying more patients to the hospital. it wasn't taken into isolation until today, and, of course, that is a concern because the cdc does recommend the heavy cleaning as stringent as burning the sheets and burning the privacy curtains used in ambulances. of course, that will be another point that the cdc looks at very carefully. david. >> heidi, thank you. the cdc has a time to the way to dallas. robert ray is at the center's headquarters tonight. what will they do once they arrive in dallas? >> good evening, david. the team has actually arrived in dallas. their job essentially is to look the history of the patient since he landed in the u.s. find out where he's been, who he's been in contact with, how family members are doing and a

tick-tock of the time line over the past few days. dr. thomas freed know gave a lente press conference earlier today. let's listen to a lielths bit of what he had to say. >> it is certainly possible that one with contact with this individual, a family member or other individual, could develop ebola in the coming weeks. there's no doubt in my mind that we will stop it here. >> reporter: the only thing is the information, david, that kale ut today was good but not complete. there are a lot of questions out there. for example, they could not answer as to how the patient actually got the ebola nfk. we know he's been in west africa, but is it an aid worker or doctor? was he visiting relatives? where did he get the infection? those are questions causing some speculation at least here in atlanta, and if you look at twitter all over twitter as to

exactly how he got the ebola infection. >> the cdc has warned hospitals this might happen. how prepared are the hospitals? >> mouch them should be pre prepared. the dallas hospital got a certification of 22th of september to actually isolate and quarantine an ebola patient. two months ago here in atlanta when the two aid workers involved at emory hospital, it was one of four hospitals in the country that could provide care for someone with ebola. so the cdc has been working extensively with hospitals around the country trying to build nye new system in case a situation considers like in dallas. >> robert ray is reports from the cdc headquarters in atlanta. a lot of americans may hear this

doctor and think it would cause an outbreak in the united states. sna possible? >> it's possible. i don't think it's likely. the impact of ebola is different than what we've heard about in west after -- africa. from a patient's point of view, it appears he's doing better than other people we heard about and that's because of standard treatment for viral infections. so if someone has fever, we treat that. if someone has diarrhea, we give them fluids. if someone is bleeding, which is a classic symptom of ebola, we can give them blood transfusions. a lot of care available here is not available from west africa. from a public health point of view it's easier to isolate it here than there. >> we heard the reporting that the cdc is recommending they have certain things it burned to make sure it doesn't spread. at the same time, they said if you were on the same plain with the guy you don't have anything to worry about. how many come?

>> people become infectious when they start to show symptoms. if he had no symptoms, no one is at risk. it spread through bodily fluid, so it's unlikely someone is exchanging bodily fluids in any form on the plane. he's already showing symptoms and coughing up blood and other things. he was having derhea, and there's more chance of bodily fluids being that. the other thing to keep in mind is our standard decontamination for 15 minutes is more stricken gents than what is going on in west africa. we have totally different protocols and supplies. in terms of getting rid of thipgs, our sewage treatment system, the running water are cleatly different. it might be enough. i think the cdc is being more cautious because we want to be sure that we contain this. >> for this particular patient in dallas, how many have they learned from two other aid

workers treated successfully in atlanta, and is there anything new the medical community has learned over the last two months about how to treat somebody once they have it? >> i think the starnt is still the same. that's been done in all cases. we have a lot more avenues to look at now with the new treatments that people are investigating. they're experimental right now, but they offer some options. people are looking at -- two good blood transfusions from people with ebola and recovered. these are small numbers. it's hard to know if they're effective, but it's something to investigate a little bit more. it gives it more potential for a treatment or vaccine. >> doctor, thanks so much for joining us. we appreciate if. doctors rely on their equipment to keep them safe. jake word lacked at how their suits worked and how doctors are trained to avoid mistakes.

>> when experts talk about putting on and taking off a suit like this, they talk about ritualizing the process because you have to make sure everything is perfect. the ritual begins with drinking water. if you get dehydrated, bad things can happen to you, not the least of which is fainting on the job. you are supposed to down water. i'm in a climate controlled western office building and i'll sweat my brains out doing this. imagine doing it in western africa where you do deal with 9 90-degree and wear them on end. imagine that i've just come from treating an ebola afflicted patient and have gotten blood or other body material onto me. this seal around my gloves is a crucial thing. so you're instructed to do these sort of pull tabs that make it

easier for you to get off. you have to make sure they're on the outside of the wrists and not on the inside where walking can wear them away and break that seal. so now i'll get out of this suit. i'll show you the critical mistake that can get so many aid workers into trouble. they're exhausted and have seen a lot of blood and they're panicked and they want to get this off. they pull it off. the fresh air hits their face, and their first instinct is to wipe their brow because they're so sweaty. this glove is contaminated, and that's where you get contaminated material into muck cuss membranes and into the eyes and makes a mistake. that's the moment. for every person you want in one of these suits out treating people, you need a second person also trained in the use of the suit to get that first person out of it. that buddy system is essential

doctors say in creating the kind of ritualized process that's going to keep me from being infected. >> jacob ward in san francisco. jacob, thank you. now to washington where there is bipartisan outrage over one of the nation's most elite agencies and the way it protects the president and first family. yulia pearson took a grilling from the committee today. members bombarded her with questions about omar gonzalez, the man accused of jumping the white house fence and making it inside 11 days ago. mike viqueira has more on today's hearing in washington. >> an intruder walked in the front door of the white house, and that is unacceptable. >> reporter: the outrage came from all sides. and facing a house panel, secret service director julia pearson didn't deny there's anger.

>> it's self-evident that mistakes were made. >> reporter: it follows a series of scandals by an agency once thought beyond reapproach. the director is vows to clean house. >> this is unacceptable and i take full responsibility and i will make sure it doesn't happen again. pearson testimony came the day after the intrusion by omar gonzalez, when he made it much further than we thought. entering through the unlocked front door overpowering an officer and leading to the staircase and passing through the east room before being stopped just outside the green room. despite all that, pierson tried to reassure the public. >> is the president safe today? >> they are. >> that wasn't good at the hearing. they held her personally responsible for what happened. >> i believe you did a disservice to the president of the united states. >> i wish to god you protected

the white house like you are protecting rur reputation here. >> reporter: there was an incident with prostitutes surrounding a in a dutch hallway and a 2011 drive high by shooting directed at the white house. they reported last weekend that supervisors told officers they thought they heard shots was to stand down. it was four days before a house keeper saw bullet holes and other damage to the white house exterior on the same floor as the obama residence. only then did they launch an vehicles investigation. i'm asking why a house keeper who sdoent have the train found glass and your agents did not? >> the housekeeper was able to locate fragments of glass on the trumman balc any. outside the white house on

tuesday, a temporary second fence. a makeshift measure while further steps are kerred. the president's spokesman says mr. obama stands behind pierson. they took responsibility for what happened and for ensuring that the necessary reforms are gone over so it doesn't happen again. >> whether omar gonzalez was in the white house he wasn't stopped by an officer on duty but an off-duty security agent walking by. david. >> mike, for all of us that have a white house pass there's a laser tripwire at the top of the fence. there used to be a lower threat hold of security once the first family was gone from the white house. can you talk more about those? >> you're absolutely right, davide. we have spent time on the grounds before. i remember onive i was setting

up an savshl moin. i turned around and there were mens with heavy weapons racing towards me who was from the outside fence. i can tell you from first hand experience there are all kinds alarms and eyes, lasers that can be tripped if someone walks past them. if you walk in the gate with an umbrella, that trips it as well. they're here to guard an individual. the president of the united states is the secret service. not necessarily a building. that's their first priority. the president and his family had lifted off from the south lawn aboard marine 1 en route to camp david just about ten minutes before this incident took place. a lot of questions around that at the hearing today. why didn't they shoot him or set the dogs free? the secret service doesn't want details about the various levels the security whether he's here and the president is not here.

suffice it to say it turned out they didn't know he had a small knife in his pocket. he could have had anything hidden on his person under his clothes, a bomb frafrt. you don't want to let individuals in the white house who have bad intent and haven't been cleared under any circumstances. you heard julia pierson say she was outraged. >> mike, thanks as always. >> okay. representative stephen lynch was a part of the it on white house supreme court. tomorrow morning he'll join us here on al jazeera america. it's at 8:35 eastern time and 5:35 pacific. straight ahead, running from isil. thousands of syrians flooded to turkey every day. the humanitarian disasters in our series five days of fear. sfrz .

the u.s. led more air strikes in syria today. in iraq britain launched the first air strikes against the group. the coalition strikes in the air shape the fight to the ground. they have retain several villages from isil. in syria they push closer to a kurdish town along the turkish border. the government decides whether to let the military operate in iraq and syria. in the past week alone thousands of refugees have run and gone to turkey. they're reporting from the region in special series five days fear: escape from isil. tonight he shares the journey of two syrian women. >> david, good evening. some 10 million syrians have lost their homes to this civil war, and just in the last week and a half, 160,000 have fled isil's brutality and many have

literally walked through minefields to be refugees here in turkey. in this war the most common victims are syrian women and their families every day thousands of syrian refugees flee to turkey. if you're syrian, and your 3 years old, your country has been at war every day of your life. they escaped from this city. isil fighters besieged their home. it sparked the largest exodus of the syrian war. three-quarter of the refugees are children and women. this family brings only what they can carry. for this 4-year-old, that means a bottle of water and a backpack shaped like a doll. the 7-year-old sister is eva, strong and no tears. the brother has seen too much to hold back. the mother tries to stay strong, but it's impossible. isil terrifies her.

>> translator: i'm not afraid of the shelling because we're already dead. we're completely destroyed. i'm not afraid of death. i'm afraid of them. >> reporter: as they leave the border, eva grabs her little sister's hand. they lost three homes in two years. they walk to an uncertain future. 50 miles away a doctor walks into a park fears her future will never live up to the promise of her past. she's also syrian and just two months ago she fled from syria. >> i think it was the worst day of my life. >> reporter: she lived in raqqa and decapitated bodies create a terrified population. she was the only female doctor that stayed. why did you stay in the hospital? >> i had to do something. there's so many poor people. they need help.

>> reporter: when she tried to save a female's patient's life, the barbaric religious purity trumped medical necessity. >> she was dying and they wanted to cover her face? >> yes. >> did she die? >> she died. >> in turkey she can't practice medicine or work at all, and she won't show her face because she's scared of isil finding her and killing her. do you think you can go back home one day? >> i hope i can go back, but i don't think so. >> what do you feel about your future. >> i just want to be out and happy. >> translator: i don't feel anything. what can i count on? even my husband went back to fight. i have no place, no house, no nothing. >> she criticized the u.s. for standing on the stied lines for years and then for launching what she calls ineffective air

strikes. >> translator: it's been four years. our houses are destroyed, so are our children's futures. they give us hope but nothing else, just hope. there's nothing being done. >> reporter: this war has created the largest refugee crisis since world war ii, a generation growing up way too fast. even the strongest can't bear to watch. u.s. officials tell me they're waiting for turkey and the u.n. to give them specific requests in order to help in this particular refugee crisis. they also say they're dramatic atly increasing the number of syrians they will provide permanent resettlement in the united states. david, for so many refugees here that need help desperately, that help isn't getting here fast enough. coming up next, our special report, america votes 2014, with

just five weeks until the midterm elections and for many voters it's still the economy. we'll look at the political war waged against workers.

nearly 10 million americans out of work. >> i'll have less than $200 in the bank. >> those with jobs are struggle for a decent living wage. >> i have to choose between eating and paying rent. >> and the billions of dollars raised. our special report, "america votes 2014." >> welcome back. the only certainties in life are death and taxes, and in the american political world you have to add the certainty that voters care about the state of the economy. that's true against in this election cycle. the latest polling suggests that the economy is tied with the threat of terrorism as the top voter concern, tied despite the lowest unemployment rate since before the great recession, the highest average of the dow and a gdp rising fast.

the political drag is that voters are angry about the growing gap between rich and pour the stagnation of working class wages. we get to the politics in a moment, but first, a closer look at the economic numbers with al jazeera's jonathan betz. >> despite all the problem with the economy you just mentioned, millions of americans are suffering. first off, the household median income for the typical family is just under $52,000. that is up slightly, but it is still down nearly $5,000 from 1999. america's poverty rate nearly 15%. that means 45 million americans are considered poor. now, that number actually dropped for the first time recently in seven years, but the poverty right is still as high as it was in 1994. the country's unemployment rate is close to 6% and not as good as it was before the recession. the economy is growing, but almost all the money is going to the rich. this chart sums it up. the blue line here representing the bottom # 90% americans and

the red line is the top 20%. during the good times the money trickled down. starting here in about the late '70s, that started to drop. instead, the top 10% they started to make the most money. what's why there's a huge difference now, and it shows even when times are good, david, a lot of americans are still not seeing it. >> we appreciate the chart. so helpful. so the economy is recovering, but unevenly. a lot depends on how much you earn and where you live. let's check this with our reporters around the country in says la, michigan, and texas. first we head to georgia. robert ray is there with a disappointing new jobs data. >> the latest u.s. department of labor unemployment numbers are out, and the state of georgia leads the pack across the

country at 8.1%. the surprising thing about these new numbers is hiring in the state of georgia is actually up and layoffs are down. this has led governor nathan diehl to question the accuracy of these new numbers. the u.s. department of labor says there's volatility in the surveys and there's the poshlt that numbers come down as holiday hiring takes effect. former president jimmy carter's grandson, jason carter, is running for governor and challenging current governor. he uses the unemployment numbers as a tactic to beat the incumbent, diehl. robert ray, al jazeera, atlanta. thinks difficultingham, alaska. it's a fishing port near bristol bay. when the salmon runs are good here, the economy is great. around alaska we don't see a

bounceback after the great recession because it didn't hit here the same way it did in the lower 48. alaska lost far fewer jobs in the last eight years and generally conservative banking practices help to keep a lid on lending and on defaults. about two-thirds of the jobs are generated by various levels of government and the oil industry, and it's oil industry revenues that produce the permanent fund dividend. that's a check that goes out to every alaskan regardless of age every year. this year it was a little less than $2,000 a head. there is some trouble on the oil horizon. less and less is being produced, and how to tax the oil companies but still entice them to keep operating here is something that's a constant thread in alaska state politic. . i'm b.c. in detroit. today the american auto industry is thriving and vehicle sales are in improving.

chrysler had its best august sales since 2002. ford has sold more cars than in the past eight years and gm sold the most vehicles from the big three in august. it's a 10% increase from the same time five years ago. that was the year the government shelled out $85 billion to bay out general motors and chrysler. now increased employment within the automotive sector is actually helping to drive the state's economy, which the rep governor claims was the best in the nation in may for creating jobs in manufacturing. it's even given a boost to metro detroit where one report put job growth at 7% between 2010 and 2013. that's nearly double the national average. the state fair in texas is a

thriving 24-day celebration of all things texas. the only thing hotter than these fried hot sauce ball is the economy. texas holds claim to the fastest growing cities in the country, austin, irving and mission. mission sits on the border along with farr, texas are numbers one and two for highest income growth in the nation. it's not just the curly fries that attract this growth. the governor touted this success for validation for his conservative policies as he prepares for another run for the white house. critics point to another set of numbers. texas has the most number of minimum wage jobs in country and the highest rate of adults who have no high school diploma or who have no health insurance. you won't find that celebrated at the fair, but they're a true part of the texas story.

heidi jo castro, al jazeera dallas. ted strickland was the governor of ohio in 2007 and 2011. he's the president of the center for progress action fund and released the report called the middle class squeeze. great to be with you. the one common theme from reporters in states is people are infuriated and anningly about the growing income gap. why should voters trust democrats after six years of president obama whether the gap got wider? >> the president inherited a difficult set of circumstances, obviously, but the fact is that if you look at two parties, john, the democratic party is the party that is working to try to help the middle class worker and the person beneath the middle class in terms of income and so on. it's the republican party that consistently fight against increasing the minimum wage. it's the democratic party for child care, for student help, for increasing the minimum wage,

for making opportunity available for all americans, not just a select few. >> wouldn't you acknowledge that republicans may do a better job with their messaging? poll after poll shows that americans are far more concerned about the budget deficit than the minimum wage? >> i think that was true at one time. i don't think it's no longer true. there was a period of time here where americans were very concerned about the deficit. i think things have changed in the last few months and couple of years. we have to invest in people. education is not a cost. it's an investment. building or infrastructure is not a cost, it's an investment in the future of this country. we need to be looking to the future, the republicans are looking for the past. >> there have been those investments over the last several years, where there was transportation spending and new education spending, and yet over the last six years more people have given up looking for a job and food stamp use is up.

>> food stamp use is up, and i'm happy that we have that program. a lot of republicans don't like that program and are trying to cut it. the fact is it that we are a compassionate country. we are a country franklin roosevelt and teddy roosevelt and a cannot of l.b.j. and johnson as well. we believe to provide for those that need help. we went through a deep recession. everyone understands that, and that recession was caused in large part, john, in my judgment and i think factually this is true, that recession was caused in large part by greed, and the greed of wall street and the greed of those who want more and more for themselves and don't want to pay the workers a fair share. we've seen the decline of labor in this country. that's another big problem. republicans are opposed to organized labor by and large,

and organized labor in my judgment is what gives average working people a chance to collectively get together and fight for their share of the american pie. there are big differences between the two parties, and i think the american people understand that. just one statistic. recent polls, in fact the most recent poll i'm aware of says that 70% of the people in this country believe that the minimum wage should be increased to $10.10 an hour, and nearly every republican is against raising the minimum wage even slightly, and many republicans don't even believe we ought to have a minimum wage. >> democrat ted strickland, the former governor of ohio. thank you for being on the program. >> thank you for having me. we're joined by bradley blakeman. he's a professor at georgetown.

do you believe that the minimum wage should be raised? we heard governor strickland say most republicans don't. >> no, i don't believe that the federal minimum wage should be raised. i believe that states should control their own economies. they're the closest to the people. mississippi is different than new york and ohio and california. they should care for their people in their economies that we exist. should we strive for people to accept the minimum wage as the best america can offer? no. we should be educating our kids and providing good jobs. the way to get to the middle class is by getting a better-paying job than the minimum wage. >> so when tom cotton who is running for senate? arkansas supporting raising the minimum wage there, is he an outlier to the republican party? is he not understanding the argument you just made? >> if i were advising him i would say what's good for arkansas is good for arkansas.

we shouldn't have a federal minimum wage standard forcing upon states that may hurt them in their particular environment. we shouldn't do that. we should empower governors and state legislators to care for their people and economies as they exist. >> what about the argument with a correlation between the decline of organized labor and the wealth gap. is that a valid argument? >> it is not. the reason we had such a decline in cities going interrupt and states is because of unions. overreaching, unbelievable pensions that are good for the time that they were made. >> couldn't an argument made it's also the plight of the taxpayers in the suburbs and out of the inner city cores that caused the economic decay? >> that is certainly a part of it. the major part of the bankruptcies and the defaults we see is the overreach of unions in making contracts that koontz

be honored over time and didn't act for good times and bad times. that's why detroit has gone bankrupt, and that's why california is in such a mess and that's really the yurn lying cause of our collapse of our inner cities run by democrats primarily. >> brad, as far as the gap between wealthy and poor, which is a key issue for voters, who would republicans do about shrinking the gap over the next several decades? >> we need to invest in education. through education you get a better job, job training. the jobs available ten years ago have changed, and people are going to have to accept different types of employment. i will say this to the governor, and that is the people that supported obama the most, the most ardent supporters of this president, the youth african-americans have shown an unemployment rate that doubled the national average. look at who supported this

president. now they're throwing them a bone saying we have the minimum wage. >> governor strickland, you're still here. why don't you respond? >> i sit here smiling because i think it's garbage. i think the american people listening to this know it's not working people that belong to labor unions that cause the problem in this couldn't. it's really greedy people and corporations who choose to take jobs overseas so that they can make a little more money. it's people that don't want to pay their workers $10.10. you can't live on $10.10. >> here's the thing about that. i think you both have valid points, and unfortunately talking past etch ear and other issues. we appreciate the perspectives of governor strickland and brad blakeman. thank you for coming on the program tonight. up next, a tale of two cities with a $2 difference in the minimum wage at one california mall mall.

we are also following the money. the contributions they made without identifying the donors and there's plenty of it.

will raising minimum wage help the lower wage class put more money into the dme or would it cause businesses too much? melissa khan is in san francisco, california where both sides play out at one shopping center. >> this is a tale of one mall under one roof but in two cities. part of it in san jose and another part in santa clara. san jose, santa clara. >> i don't think a lot of people know about the difference. they always kind of find out last minute, actually. >> shoppers certainly don't

notice the difference, but for workers, different cities mean different rules. i'm standing on the border. one foot in each city. if you work in san jose your minimum wage is $10.15 an hour. if you're unlucky and you're toiling away in santa clara, your minimum wage is $9 an hour. the split happened back in 2012 when san jose raised its minimum wage, and soon the lower wage side of the mall saw deserters. they faced staff shortages until they stepped it up. >> we want to be competitive with the mall and also with the fast pasted environment. we pay a little more for our employees. >> some sfors like this pretzel chain had employees demanding more equity as did the two sun glass hut outlets. the same insurgency took place at the bakery. >> well, eventually we made a stink about it, and we got our

raises. >> that has meant the store has more pressure to turn the same profit for oranges. -- owners. >> your profit is going down. it's a bottom line change right away. you have to sell month and see the profit kind of drop because of the changes. >> the gap had another conundrum, it straddles both cities. >> we start our employees off at the higher wage, which has been great for us. it allows us to continue to retain grael talent and attracting others into the location. >> does raising wages force prices up and consumer demand? at valley fair mall we learn it depends on the store and managers. and there's no clear answer. some raised prices and some didn't. after all, they have battled

over this for years. the federal minimum wage is $7.25, statewide it's 9 dot doll and that's where santa clara is at. san francisco is an hour north of us right now, and they have a ballot measure in november that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. david. >> melissa, how are the overall economies in san jose and savent at that clara? is there much of a difference? >> santa clara is for affluent, but there isn't that much of a difference. this is silicon valley, so it's affluent everywhere. the bhaj has limited impact beyond the shopping center. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. raising the minimum wage has been a major priority for president obama in his second term and for many congressional democrats. moving issue ahead hasn't succeeded. five states have minimum initiatives on ballot for november, alaska, south dakota.

nebraska, arkansas and illinois. ten minimum wage ballots since 2002 have all passed. we talk about the role that jobs and the economy will play to get voters to the polls in november. how is minimum wage playing out in some states? >> it's playing out very well for the democrats. illinois pat quinn latest approvaling the 37% and he's beat his challenger by 11 points. he said he thinks that's the minimum wage ballot and it didn't fly. they have a lot of ballot tissue actives and that pushed his numbers up. it is playing well and democrat bank it will get them out to vote. as was mentioned earlier, this is something that 7 out of 10 americans agree with. >> is that why some republicans

including tom cotton have come out in support of state measures because they're trying to neutralize the issue and have it stieded on other things. >> republicans are now saying they're open to it. absolutely. i think there is with politics, you know, that they do understands that 7.25 for a federal minimum wage is extremely. so as much as it hasn't been moving in congress as you mentioned, there are republican that is do understand it's not a livable wage for americans at this point. >> we started the half hour noting the economy is as great a concern as terrorism, and yet the economy at least on the face of it is doing well the dow higher and gtp is up. there's anxiety about wage stagnation. how does it play out in this election? >> it's fascinating. we're doing much better.

the unemployment rate is down. we have improved dramatically and people still feel insecure. i think there's reasons for that. if you ask the average american if your children or grandchildren will do bet than you did? many are not certain. they're not certain if that's the case. as much as we tell them the statistics show that we're doing okay, they don't believe it. the latest pew poll had the economy as the number one issue that americans still care about, so we heard an awful lot about international stories lately. we're going to see that in november. >> does it apply in a way to hurt democrats because after six years of the obama administration, the president fairly or not gets the blame for the anxieties about there about income inquality and fears about the budget and more pushed into

poverty. >> the buck stops with the president. he's been in control for six years. if you feel it isn't, hold him accountable for that. he has a slight problem, because a lot of the discontent comes from his left, people who think he has not done enough on team issues. there's a movement on the left, and then everybodying republicans are never happen with the pre so he gets it from both sides. >> thank you so much. up next, a record amount of so-called dark money is being spent on political ads this election season. we'll tell you who is behind it.

republicans and democrats have raised over a billion dollars and it doesn't include dark money. it's used to pay for campaign ads on television, and it's flooded our political system in the last few election says after a 2010 supreme court decision in the citizens united case. that loosened campaign finance restrictions. there's not transparency until after the election is decided. dark mean spending grew from 5.2 million in 2006 to well over $300 million in the 2012 presidential election. with control of the senate at stake, it is surging to even greater heights. >> it's shaping up to be the darkest election yet. a recent analysis for the centers of responsive politics

found a record $50 million in dark money has been spent so far. that's mother seven times the amount of the last midterms, with total spending expected to reach $100 by the end of november. dark money used to not be a thing until a couple of years ago, and then the scitizen uted supreme court decision came down in 2010. ever since then dark money is a bigger and bigger portion of the overall political money spending going on. from election cycle to election cycle. >> what exactly is dark money? simply put it's the political spending by certain nonprofits that can't be easily tracked or sourced. these organizations created through the irs and called 501 c 4 five or six groups to get corporate or individual contributions. they don't have to report to the

federal election commission much of the money she spend on political ads. unlike super pacs, they can keep hidden where or from whom they get their funning. >> cotton even raised it. >> there's no way to tell whether that group is funded by a union or corporation and or a conglomeration of individuals and anarrow special interest. >> in the galaxy of dark money, right leaning dukes dominate though liberal spending is catching. charms and david koch have played for more than that, and that's more than one every 10 seconds in in election. karl rove's company has aired half as many ats and pate majority developmented by harry

reid accounts for about 11,000 tv ads across three battleground states. under federal law political spending on campaigning or lobbying cannot be the primary activity of a 501 c nonprofit, but watch dog groups say the irs has done little to enforce that, and campaign finance advocates say unless new, tougher regulations are put in place. fewer election cycles will gel darker. that's our special foreign tonight. next week we focus on health care. i'm david shuster, ""america tonight"" is up next. frsz

on"america tonight" - deadly virus diagnosed in america. time lines and patients. also ahead - . >> we won't let someone get close to the president or his family, ever. one of the obama daughters