experience joins us. join us on facebook, twitter, @ajconsiderthis and tweet me @amoratv. see you next time. >> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. ebola crisis, president obama's pledge to increase screenings at airports. we'll talk to the nephew of a critically ill patient in dallas. 43 missing students and the discovery mass graves. we'll look at mexico's surging violence. >> is lambophobia in america

real? >> a man who spent time in a turkish prison before escaping, joins us tonight. we begin with the war against ebola in washington, president obama huddled with his top security and health officials trying to map out a new strategy that may include additional screenings at airports here and abroad. >> ebola is a very serious disease and the ability of people who are infected to carry that across borders is something that we have to take extremely seriously. >> in spain concern about health care workers there, the first case of ebola carried outside of west africa is there.

in nebraska the fifth american to contract the disease is back on u.s. soil. the journalist is being treated at the medical center in omaha tonight. and in texas with time and treatment options running out the fda is allowing ebola patient thomas duncan to be given an experimental drug but according the his nephew, he is not being helped. >> he's on dialysis now still fighting. >> we're joined by heidi zhou-castro in dallas. heidi what do we know about his condition? >> john, i spoke with duncan's nephew who is visiting the hospital. his family wasn't allowed to see him, the entire floor was quarantined. what he saw concerned him and his uncle's life is in god's

hands. thomas duncan has been quarantined for almost a week and the people he contacted are approaching a critical window. ten people were definitely exposed to duncan for 38 others exposure was possible. all have been identified. >> all of those individuals are being seen once a day. and having their fever checked twice a day. 100% were seen yesterday. 100% had no signs of fever. had no signs of illness. 100% were doing well. >> meanwhile local officials say the apartment where duncan stayed has been thoroughly cleaned, personal belongings destroyed. >> a drum has been taken away with all the other cleanup of the apartment itself. we have saved personal items like the grandmother's bible, photos, hard drives, passports,

those things have been taken away. >> reporter: the family duncan was staying with is now under quarantine in another home. the family from north carolina has come to texas wher. duncan ask receiving a experimental drug. what officials are not sure about is why doctors sent duncan home from the er when he first sought help on september 26th. first we were told he didn't tell doctors he was coming from west africa, now there was a failing of records, now the records were fine, all along, what is your response? >> i think we will need to look at that. it's important when you talk to media that you make sure you have the right answer, obviously that answer got changed several times. the miss of that, the message

i've been trying to tell hospitals is that travel history really is important. >> reporter: meanwhile in australian state officials flanked by texas governor rick perry were critical about the response. >> recent events show that we as a nation as a state as individual counties can clearly do a better job. >> reporter: and the texas governor has formed a task force to review how this case was handled and to develop a plan for future cases such as this. and as you heard from beginning john president obama has also spoken out about this saying he will review all federal protocols when it comes to containing an infectious disease, john. >> is there a sense what a better job entails? what more can the federal government do? >> well, governor perry certainly has ideas. he is asking president obama to do health screenings, mandatory

screenings at all u.s. ports of entry and to create quarantine rooms. that brings up an interesting point that the nephew of duncan also shared with me today. i asked him why duncan may have lied on his exit form, why he said no on that form? according to his nephew, says most all liberians will say no. they have their tickets in hand, they don't want to answer yes, and be put into a 21 day quarantine in africa, have that plane ticket cancelled, have their visas lost, there is no incentive for anyone to be telling the truth. >> revealing bit of information, high dithank you verheidi, than. the enterovirus has claimed its first victim.

went to bed with no symptoms then never woke up. the symptoms imitate a cold but include wheezing ant difficulty breathing. a surprise from the us supreme court today, the justices refused to hear cases from five different states regarding same sex marriage. that means the striking down of bans on gay marriage will stand. will not hear the cases from indiana, oklahoma, utah, west virginia. those states would join the 19 where gay marriage is already legal, bringing the total number of states to 30, plus the district of columbia. randall pinkston has more. >> you are joined in marriage as wife and wife. >> reporter: the wait is over, same sex couples in virginia rush to get married after a rush

judgment from the supreme court. and in utah and beyond, same sex partners who expected another battle in the nation's highest court were shocked when the justices refused to review seven cases, which overturned bans on same sex marriage. >> what this means is families in utah and the 10th circuit finally have the dignity the fairness and equality that the constitution guarantees to them and that we've all fought so hard for. >> the thought that we were going to have to wait until next june to find out was stressful. >> why the supreme court chose to remain sienlts thi sienlt th, lower-d silent this year, to strike down same rulings on same

sex marriage. >> when lower courts of appeals are split, right now there's no disagreement among the lower courts in favor of the idea, the correct idea that our constitution requires marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. >> pam lee, an indiana law enforcement officer says the ruling which make a difference. >> that means we'll get the same decision as the other states have been getting all along. >> indiana's ruling of same sex marriage and the recognition of out of state saix se same sex me is knowledge legal. there is nothing that can be done by way of an indiana constitutional amendment or indiana law to alter that fact. >> reporter: but attorney

judith sheafer says the supreme court's move does not resolve the issue for the nation. >> that joy is tempered by remembering that there are still 20 states in this country where marriage equality is still being denied to gay men and lesbians. and those people in those states must be wondering today how long are we going to have to wait for our rights to be recognized? >> reporter: randall pinkston, al jazeera, washington. >> it is a surprising decision, what does it say about the john roberts court? alma rosa nieto, welcome. >> thank you. >> what do we know about the roberts court? >> we know it's a conservative court. this nonaction whether it means anything, is a little soon to say. as you know, the supreme court doesn't have to give us a rationale for their nonaction, however their action is good news.

that solidifies the right of same sex couples to marry. >> they didn't give us an explanation. what do you think is the explanation for their decision today? >> i think there are a number of explanations. judge ginsberg said, they didn't want to act rationally or quickly. they want to have a solid ground. they have a solid ground in the populace. 60% favor same sex marriages and we have seen a number of lower court holdings that are also favoring it however the court does need conflict. they need to see there's a difference between some states and another and there's a conflict they have to resolve. so at this point being there isn't, they're saying it's a hot button, a hot topic. they have the swing vote from kennedy and they're probably concerned that maybe they won't get votes they need for such an important precedent decision. perhaps they're waiting to have more of a unanimous or higher vote count so this decision can come before them in the future. >> so if i understand this

correctly if let's say the sixth circuit court of appeals in cincinnati decides that some bans are actually legal, some of these laws banning same-sex marriage say in tennessee are legal does that mean the court might intervene after that? >> they could definitely. i'm not sure if this term maybe the next term, definitely there would be a vehicle, they always call a vehicle a good case to take up before the supreme court with some controversy and some conflict and of course they would have that. right now perhaps they're saying the courts are -- let's give states their right, their ruling the way we think they should be ruling, also interracial marriages in the '60s, i think it was '67 they all eunte uniten maybe not a unanimous decision but 30 were in favor of this

decision. perhaps they are waiting for a few more decision he that then they'll take up this topic again. >> why is this a state's rights issue? isn't it an issue for every gay american? >> well, it is an issue and it is a constitutional issue of course. but we're talking here in constitutional law remember it's the bare bones, the bare minimum and each state has the right to interpret it according to their needs. of course states do not allow for discrimination, and until they see a clear discrimination they will not take it up. i believe there are cases pending now that could be decided in the next few weeks or months that perhaps could bring that issue right back up. >> the question is whether the court was trying to duck this issue and just let somebody else decide? >> they can be and as i said earlier, they don't have to tell us why they're not taking a case. >> it's a question they won't

answer for us and we'll have to wonder for a while. alma rosen, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> fighters for i.s.i.l. have now moved into a town near turkey, trying to defend the town of kobani, form he cia and pentagon chief leon panetta says the fight may take decades. in chicago authorities have arrested a teenager they accuse of trying to join i.s.i.l. lisa stark has more from the white house. >> john, 19-year-old mohamed hamsa khan is from chicago, we know from court documents he in may he obtained a passport, he bought a round trip ticket to

turkey, he was in contact with a person in turkey, a person who could bring him to i.s.i.l. territory. his parents were in court today as khan was charged with attempting to provide material resources to i.s.i.l. his mother was distraught, khan was trying to comfort her. he was questioned at the o'hare airport, questioned by the fbi, while they were questioning him they served a search warrant and found a document, notebook the words to it come to jihad. they also found a three page letter that he had written to his family. according to the criminal complaint that letter said first and foremost, please don't tell the authorities. western societies are getting more immoral day by day, then he extended an invitation to his

family, join me in the islamic state. khan admitto the fbi under questioning that he was planning to hook up with i.s.i.l. in syria or in iraq. he is due back in court on thursday for a detention hearing and john as you know the government very concerned about the so-called foreign fighters. about 100 americans believed to be fighting with i.s.i.l. or other groups in syria and iraq. they're trying okeep an eye on -- to keep an eye on them and keeping others from joining them. john. >> that's lisa stark reporting. mid term elections are nearly underway, a very small part of them could determine who runs congress. issues that we look at kentucky, senator mitch mcconnell is fighting for his political life. a brand-new poll shows his opponent, allison grimes is ahead, 46-44%. it could sway the balance of

power in the senate and mcconnell could rise to become majority leader. libby casey went to kentucky to learn about one of the state's biggest issues, coal. >> reporter: in eastern kentucky generation after generation of coal miners have done the hard sturdy dangerous work of extracting what they call black gold. >> every young boy wants to be like his dad. i see my dad come home, from mines every day, just -- fell right into it myself. >> pride runs deep, clyde buster bennett iii is in the mines. >> we don't look at mines as obstacles. we go over it under it through it. >> cd's family has been in mining for three centuries.

>> will you still be here for five years? >> we'll be lucky to be here in five years. >> gone bankrupt in the past decade. blaming president obama and the administration's environmental regulation. they call it a war on coal. >> seems like everybody wants to get on the bandwagon on the environmental issues. people have been led to believe that coal is bad. income is down about 70% what we were before obama came in. means basically we've had a 70% reduction in the workforce. >> reporter: how hard sit to get jobs in this industry? >> very hard. especially in this county right now. >> why? >> just the impact that i guess the war on coal has had on this part of the county. >> reporter: a free fall three years ago, cost 7,000 coal jobs in eastern kentucky.

now there are less than 12,000 miners in the entire state. >> i've worked at three different mines that shut down or laid off stuff like that. >> more than a third of electricity across the country but those coal fire plants, says the obama administration, are the worst air polluters. utilities are responding. >> this is coal country. >> yes, ma'am. >> you are providing electricity to coal country and you're moving away from coal. >> yes, yes we are. >> greg pauly is president of kentucky power, the largest provider of electricity to eastern kentucky, shutting down its coal plants and converting another to natural gas to save money. pauly says bottomed line, he has to keep rates reasonable for customers. >> to be doing that with coal would be great already more

expensive than with gas. >> it's not just production, eastern kentucky is one of the most expensive coal to mine, $70 a ton, compared to $10 a ton in wyoming. in fact, coal was in trouble here long before the obama administration. these are hardly realities to accept. >> it's very painful, it hurts. >> there is so much pain in coal country yet eastern kentucky ever proud and increasingly defiant still celebrates coal as a way of life. both candidates say they are a true friend of coal but voters are skeptical, wondering who has a solution for their region. john, tomorrow we'll look at obamacare, a successful opportuneout in -- rollout in kentucky but still wildly unpopular there. turn out for 2014 election

special with a focus on health care. it airs at 8:30, 1130 eastern time. we'll see you there. >> why so many are buying up buildings right here in new york, plus a war of words over islam, the heated debate between ben affleck and bill maher. only on al jazeera america

real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can.

real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> a chinese insurance company is buying an iconic new york hotel. the wa waldorf astoria. >> chinese giant is buying the waldorf astoria for nearly $2 billion. the 1945 film weekend at the waldorf was filmed there. hilton will continue to operate the waldorf for the next 100 years but profits will flow to beijing, after another chinese bought 1 chase manhattan plaza. and then of course the gm

building, one of the richest women in china bought a stake. u.s. companies are selling for the same reason chinese firms are buying, diversification amid a turbulent economy. for example, since 2007, hilton worldwide holdings have increased its global footprint more than five times. the company plans to use the more than $2 billion off the sale of the waldorf to buy even more hotels. according to the rodian group, new york properties are a cove coveted area for chinese companies, according to zillow, new york examples include atlantic yards, a 22 acre

residential and commercial projects in brooklyn. sales of u.s. residential properties to chinese nationals are also rising. in 2010 they made up 9% of international deals. in 2014 it was 16% second only to canada. helen lee is a real estate deform who helped view sky view park in flushing, queens. largely built and marketed to overseas chinese. >> we've worked with marketing partners in china and word of mouth they know sky view park exists. >> buying at the upper end of the real estate market. of all the intrucial buyers they pay -- international buyers they pay the most. roughly $523,000. making u.s. properties in general and new york real estate in particular, an increasingly hot target for chinese developers and individuals.

duarte jeraldino, al jazeera, new york. fbi says weren't after state secrets or military hardware, they were after seeds. "america tonight's" michael okwu explains in this exclusive report. >> when chinese president xi jinping, then the vice president, arrived two years ago, the fbi was in tail, tailing another chinese visitors. agents tracked the visitor to the iowa capital where governor terry bran stestead tow toasted. his real name is mohi lunge and is now facing. international charges.

along with his sister and five other chinese nationals, a result of a two and a half year fbi investigation. nick kline feld is the u.s. attorney for the southern district of iowa. >> all five of these are charged with the same crime, conspiracy to steal trade secrets. >> secrets in seeds of corn. these were no ordinary seeds but rather the building blocks for the block buster hie hybrids. >> new technology hidden inside an outdated phonebooth. plus drugs, murder and mass graves. federal officials in mexico now taking over for local police.

>> this is al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler in new york and coming up, a mass grave discovered in mexico. now authorities are trying to figure out who was buried there and if they could be a group of missing students. spying phone booths. an advertising company is being forced to remove hidden devices that could track your cell phones. >> it was 34 years ago that

billy hayes escaped from iraq, caught snuggling drugs, called "midnight express." now he's on broadway. >> the battle against i.s.i.l. in syria and iraq has dominated the headlines for weeks. now it's leading to questions about islamic-phobia. >> it was a heated episode of real time with bill maher. >> is motherhood a bad word? >> bill maher took on islam and ben affleck. >> it's gross, racist. >> maher said islam was an affront to american ideals.

>> i'm saying that liberal principles like freedom of speech freedom to practice any religion you want without fear of violence, fear to leave a religion, quality for women, homosexuals, these are liberal principles that liberals applaud for, but then when you say in the muslim world this is what's lacking, then they get upset. >> how about more than a billion people who aren't fanatical who just want to go to school -- >> wait a second. >> -- the debate echoed what appears to be a growing rift in the united states, a polling by the american institute suggests that since 2010 more and more americans have had unfavorable views of muslims. about 35% of americans viewed muslims favorably in 2010 but by this year that had dropped to just 27%. there are 1.6 billion muslims worldwide. maher made several references to

global islam but according to the data that really may not exist. a survey done last year, shows that thoughts of islam vary from country to country but the majorities of those polled did not support the extremist figures that maher referenced. like killing muslims. >> gene, good to see you. >> nice to see you. >> what do you think about what bill maher had to say? >> doesn't shock me. he has revealed the real truly radical views of not just radical islam but muslims in general. i was really impressed by ben affleck maybe not the substance but with the passion he pushed back. we don't hear enough, we don't hear enough people standing with american muslims in a very trying time. >> i watched you in that piece

and i saw your face get sad. what does it say to you? >> it shows that the negativity, which we see based on terrorism, i mean that's the jumping off point for the negative views of muslims if this nation. the islamophones, muslim haters, cue off that. without these real muslims creating horrible acts, i don't think these islamophones would have a place. the months after 9/11, there are less people asking questions, they think they know the answers and they're bad answers. >> bad answers. so to those americans who say and we've discussed this on this program for those americans who say there are not enough muslims in this world speaking up and saying, "that was wrong and it needs to stop," and you need to stop misrepresenting about islam is about. what do you say? >> personally i would say

american muslims are doing the best they can. we are aware now in the last few years now that we must come out and say things clearly, unequivocally that terrorists do not represent us, we denounce them, i was unaware that we should do this. should we denounce these terrorists, these people have no connection to us, why should i even connect? but around the country, we have always said we do not denounce terrorism enough. we believe that we silently relent to the terrorists. >> but muslims believe the same things in the religion -- >> theoretically, the same koran but different interpretations, different use of it. >> so what do you say? that muslims are different -- that there's no way to broad-brush muslims all around the world? >> of course not. >> do you think that's what bill

maher did? he painted muslims with one broad brush? >> what bill maher did, he'll pick one fact out, saying for example, being in islam is like being in the mafia. 90% of muslims say if you leave islam you should be killed. 90% of muslims if each country, huge difference of course he leaves out the turkish fact. the question is, who defines islam, is it the 5% in turkey, or the 5% -- he uses those examples either anecdotal or half-truths or selected picks of data to define who we are as a people. >> it can't be -- can't muslims who defend i.s.i.l. form a cowrpt narrative?

>> -- counternarrative? >> we love to be on your show, we can't be 2% of this country, we have to go on mainstream media, the change and make americans understand, we despise i.s.i.l, we wish we could assign everyone a muslim friend, that's a dream. muslims are literally being killed daily. i have an article coming out in the daily beast, they are beheading muslims, killing women and children, sunni muslims they're killing, i wish that would get coverage, it's not. clash of civilization islam versus the west, it's islam versus i.s.i.s. they are killing muslims. >> thank you very much.

in mexico president enrique penna nieto, they don't trust the deposit investigation and they want answers. >> even the army can't get through. classmates and family members of the 43 missing students took over a major highway here in southwestern guerrero state blocking traffic for hours. they say the government has ignored their pleas for the safe return of the students. rather than engage in a fight this man has order he his troops back. a sign the government doesn't want to investigate an already tense situation. minutes later a burst of action. protesters took off a toll booth and ran off workers. they have in turn started a collection for the family of the

missing students. they will keep taking over the toll booth until their demand is met and that is to return the 43 students on earth. they don't believe that the nearby graves contain the body of the 43 students. they don't believe pena nieto. we demand on him to turn over the bodies alive. >> they were at their first or second year at a rural teacher's college. last seen taken away by police who they say were working for criminal groups, the mother of one of these missing wouldn't give her name. >> nothing that they told us is true. we don't believe it really. we know that the governor has them. >> the governor didn't respond to our requests for an interview. so far he has not confirmed the bodies from this mass grave are

the missing students but a member of mexico's human rights commission a government institution told al jazeera he believes the remains would be those of the missing youth. amidst all of the rumors and speculation, federal inspectors are conducting tests, things that could take days. but family members accustomed to government corruption, say they don't believe this. >> robert, welcome back. >> thank you for having me. >> let me ask you this. why is this region in particular such a hotbed for violence? >> we're talking about the region of hudland, this is an area where there is a lot of crops, marijuana and poppy crops, not to mention this is a passage way for many of the drugs that come from southing america and central america,

this is a very hot spot. and this is where you find a conundrum of instability and where you find crooked police. where you have beleaguered governors and people who are supposedly keeping control and order in this region. so that's why you have this -- you have such problem here, right now that we've seen in mexico. >> how does this appear in this area, is corruption worse there? >> worse than in sin low sinalor other areas of mexico right now. >> because the police are corrupt and what, the criminals run the place? >> exactly. i mean what we see for example, this is a clear example of how both the police and the drug cartels operate. so far the investigations look this way. the police went after the bus. then they arrested them.

then they hand them over to the drug cartels to be later killed. and incinerated. that's so far what the report reads. that's how the investigation has been carried away. >> we don't know for sure but if it's a horrific massacre of teenagers have you seen anything like this before in mexico? >> we have seen beheadings in the port of acapulco which is supposed to be a tourist spot and we have seen other atrocities in the border in ensinada and other areas of sinaloa. this is not a unique case. not to mention what we've seen in june where there was a cross fire between military and in the state of mexico and we have seen these cases where people have been killed for no reason. >> robert how do the drug cartels and the government actually use these people for the war that they are conducting

against police and those that want to stop drugs? >> well, they're trying to do is to instill fear and to show, we are not people you want to mess with. that's basically had a they're dealing -- they want to use fear and intimidation not just within the population, it is a way to tell, we want to run this place. as we know drug cartels are territorial. and this is a very important area for these cartels to control the business. it is basically all about the business. >> why is it so important to control these areas? >> because it's money. it's just money, just the trade, just the business. >> that's what it is? >> that's exactly what it is. they don't have any political motivations even though they influence the mayor of iguala where we see this massacre. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you for inviting me. >> hundreds of tracking devices

hidden in old phone booths, the technology can be used to send information to smartphone smartt as you walk by. but as roxana saberi says, it interrupts privacy. >> got 'igot >> gimble rvetion some privacy advocates were upset. >> were a number of steps in the implementation of the by the wa. but for it to work you have to turn on your phone's bluetooth and allow specific apps to collect and send information.

critics worry that technology could be abused. >> whether you attend religious services or specific kinds of doctors or maybe even where you work, if you would like to keep that a secret, so many things can be revealed about you depending on the places you go. >> without the app enabled, the company says it can only log your place and destination. demographic information like gender and age range and also interest. it can also show your browsing history. >> for any entity alone a city, is a real window into the types of things that are going on. that are very personal to you. >> such criticism has prompted the mayor's office to take down the beacons.

>> personally identifiable information we have asked titan to remove them from their phones. >> going to have to work out over time how to get people control over both pushing of information to them but also the underlying data collection. >> reporter: several companies have started to use beacon enabled apps. apple stores give customers are product information and help check out with their phones. john. >> roxana. thank you. the eiffel tower now has glass floors. hoda abdel hamid reports. >> when it was first are dedicated in 1889, the old lady, as the french call it has become the most visited paid monument in the world.

nearly 7 million tourists in 2013 alone but none experienced it like this. it's the latest edition to the tower. a transparent flooring on the first level. so here i am 57 meters above ground. people look absolutely tiny, i can barely look down there. all i can think of is: how strong is this glass and actually i just want to get off. i was not the only one feeling that way. >> okay, how does it feel to be standing on that? >> very crazy. oh. okay. all my body says oh no, don't do this. oh, okay. it's not natural to stand here. >> reporter: the first level is the largest floor of the eiffel tower but it was also the least visited one. the flooring is made of solid

glass and the safety barriers are inclined outwards to act to the dizziness or rush depending who you are on walking on air. an experience little emma can't contain. >> it's not like i'm flying like a little bird. >> and you're not scared at all. all us grown ups are scared. >> why? i'm not scared. i think it's fun. >> that's what the architects hope all will feel. hoda hamid al jazeera, paris. >> michael phelps will not compete in the swimming championships next year. he was charged with d.u.i., hik second offense. phelps announced he is taking some time off for rehab.

riding the midnight express with billy hayes from the big screen to a one-man show on broadway, he joins us next.

>> i'm going to take you here towards the western pacific. parts of japan, the typhoon is now gong. this is typhoon vonphong made its way across part of the gawmm islands. still making its way towards west, but the curve we're worried about, if it doesn't curve in time we could be seeing another storm system make its way towards japan. watching this very carefully over the next couple of days. over the coast of baja we are looking at simon which is a tropical storm. the problem with simon is we do

expect this storm is going to make landfall in baja california become a depression but still bring heavy rain showers towards part of arizona, flash flooding is going to be a major problem over the next couple of days. on tuesday we are already seeing the effects of the storm down here and that is not only going to continue from tuesday but also on to wednesday as well, even extending over here towards new mexico. that is a look at your national weather. your news is next. >> groundbreaking, >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> investigative documentary series. watch the emmy award winning episode: "haiti in a time of cholera". saturday, 7:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> that is a classic scene from midnight express. it tells the story of billy hayes, the prisoner who experienced brutal tortures before escaping. the real billy hayes, appearing in a one man show in new york, called riding the midnight express. good to have you. >> good to be here. >> for people of a certain age especially when you look at that clip was that really what it was like? >> yes, that clip, i'm a little on edge now just watching that clip but yeah, that's what happened. i got busted right there at the airport. >> how accurate was the prison? >> fairly accurate. emotionally it was pretty accurate. the film itself had an older looking prison than most of the places i was in istanbul.

fps. >> you went back -->> at the re. there was an interpol request i didn't go back. >> it still hasn't recovered? >> it still hasn't recovered, they think that turkey is a horrible place. >> is it a horrible place? >> no i love istanbul. i love the people. >> after what some of the people in prison did to you. >> it's the prison. but the people are very different. >> your problem with the movie is? >> you don't see any good turks at all. and it creates an impression that turkey is a horrible place. i didn't kill a guard which they

have me doing in the movie. made for hollywood ending -- >> they didn't use that. >> but i needed it. prison takes so much, getting myself out gives back everything that the prison took away and they didn't have it in the film. >> what did prison do to you? >> it forced me to grow up. i went out to experience life, surprise surprise, it got my books published. at the cannes film festival i met the woman who is still my wife today. >> how did it come about? >> i'm 67 now. all of this happened 40 years ago. i've been talking about it and there are various iterations of it, now i get a chance to tell

it in my own words hopefully with a little perspective that i can put on it and i feel that people still respond. everyone goes to their own stuff, finds their own depths and finds their way back to the light. my story was a little bit more compact and dramatic and it kind of works, but people relate to it. >> you were 23? >> 23 years old. >> why were you smuggle drugs? >> it sieme seemed like a good t the time. everybody smoked pot. i saw a doctor rolling this cast around someone legs, i got a cast and clompled my way through discuss toms.i knew i was bullet-proof. >> how much did you make? >> about $5,000 each trip. i wasn't ambitious enough.

i brought two kilos back on my body. marijuana being legal, we still have hundreds of thousands of people smoking pot, the hip os hypocrisy of drugs, all these people are suffering right now in jail so it's not changing fast enough for me at least. >> if you have one message that you wanted to send to people who loved the movie cared about the movie what would it be? >> i speak a lot at high schools and colleges to young kids. my advice to them is do what you like, know what you're doing, take responsibility for your actions because you're going to have to live with the consequences. i found out the hard way. >> clearly inspired a generation of folks who watched it and were moved by it. i'm glad we had a chance to talk to you today. are it's good to meet you. >> pleasure indeed sirs.

>> sir. >> our freeze frame picture, first same sex couple to marry in arlington, virginia, same sex marriage is soon likely to be legal in a total of 30 states in the united states. i'm john siegenthaler. "america tonight's" coming up next. we'll see you back here tomorrow tonight. night.

on"america tonight", a critical moment. the president turns to his top medical transportation and national security advisors to country. >> it is very important for us to make sure that we are treating this the same way that we would treat any other plague. >> also tonight - planting seeds of international espionage, what authorities tell michael oku was a chinese spy ring planted among