things would become. >> hello everybody this is al jazeera america, i'm david schuster in new york. john siegenthaler has the nightly off. high school shooting, what we're finding out about the suspects in washington state. an infected doctor to the streets of new york, infected with ebola. a 12-year-old girl, a hidden torah and will seeking equality

in jerusalem. >> we begin tonight with the questions and sadness in a small town in washington state, after another school shooting. police say a freshman opened fire at the marysville pilchuck high school cafeteria. at least two people are dead including the shooter. allen schauffler is there, and what do we know about the victims tonight? >> no change tonight? david. we have four victims thre one in critical condition, two young men two young women each of them 15 and younger. this happened in the cafeteria, during lunch, marysville pilchuck high, the friday night lights are dark, high school football game a playoff game cancelled, school cancelled for all of next week. after this sheeting which left

two young people dead including the shooter and a young woman. witnesses say that jaylen fryberg a freshman 15 years old pulled out a handgun of some sort started shooting during lunch. the atf confirmed that handgun was bought legally but have not said who purchased it. jaylen fryberg is of necessitate itch american dissent. a tribal elder talked about the situation. >> we're deeply saddened about this whole tragedy. we can say it watched it on tv but my, here it comes walking in our door. >> all of those questions of course about the tragedy that walked in the door today echoing through marysville tonight.

fryberg described as a popular and positive young man, yesterday and today, they said they saw no change whatsoever in him. very popular guy as i say a tremendous following on social media, he was recently elected to the homecoming court, a wrestler and a football player. many, many questions about why this young man did what he did. david. >> allen there were some reports tonight that one of the victims was his cousin. any more information about that? >> nothing specific david but i can tell you he had been contacting his cousins on social media and there had been some disputes about a young woman, about a girlfriend. this may have been a family issue we just don't know at this point. i can tell you also that about 30 people were kept by police at the school site today for questioning. that investigation still continues.

a lot of people who were there at the scene, and saw what happened, being questioned and contributing to this investigation. exactly who, exactly why, of course things that the police are looking for tonight in marysville. >> allen schauffler reporting from washington, thank you. the man suspect ed of shooting two northern california deputies, police say marcello marquez was arrested in auburn, suspected in four shootings one of which killed two deputies. the shooting started when the deputy went to check on marquez's car and marquez opened fire. tonight new york and new jersey are stepping up measures to try and safeguard against ebola. 21 day mandatory quarantine for travelers who had contact with victims abroad. the first case of the virus in new york city, craig spencer,

who had recently worked with patients in guinea. jonathan betz joins us live with that. jonathan. >> reporter: this new mandatory quarantine comes after concerns were raised about this new york doctor now in isolation at bellevue hospital. a voluntary quarantine teen was no longer enough officials decided. marion barry bill deblasio tried to quiet fears. insisting the city is prepared. >> we have the finest public health system not anywhere in the this one but anywhere in the world. >> reporter: dr. craig spencer remains in isolation at new york's bellevue hospital. two other people including his fiancee have been quarantined. authorities are fanning out use be credit cards and phones to

track his every move. although officials say spencer was mindful about contact with people he still left his apartment, traveled on the subway, ran in the park and went bowling. on thursday he awoke with a slight fever and immediately notified authorities. >> i think it's instructive to always remember this is not a virus that is easily transmitsed. >> doctors withoutransmitted. >> there were questions why spencer was not monitored more closely. new guidelines to change that. >> depending on the risk level, a person could acquire 21 day mandatory quarantine or at a government regulated facility. >> in harlem, spencer's apartment is now sealed and the mayor says new york is better prepared than dallas. >> in the last few weeks, the protocols have improved greatly. i have a lot of respect for our

colleagues in dallas who were dealing with the crisis much earlier and without as much information as we now benefit from. >> reporter: spencer was following all compliance but that did not -- all guidelines but that did not require him to avoid all people. that has now changed in new york and new jersey and late today new jersey has quarantined another health care worker who just returned from west africa. david. >> jonathan betz, thank you, the first person to catch ebola on u.s. soil has declared virus-free. nina pham was released from a maryland hospital today. before heading home she made a step at the white house. senior washington correspondent mike viqueria has more. >> good evening, david. plenty of smiles and symbolism, as many are calling for higher restrictions on travel in the wake of the latest case in new york. it's a picture with an

unmistakable message. if the president of the united states can hug nina pham the now recovered nurse stricken with ebola, there is little fear for widespread outbreak among the american public. pham's presidential embrace came hours after she was released from the national institutes of health outside washington. after five successive tests turned up negative. >> i feel fortunate and blessed, sitting here today as i reflect on how many others have not been so fortunate. >> health officials repeated what has become a mantra. the risk to the public is remote compared to risk to medical workers like nina pham. >> because of her bravery and that of her colleagues in the field she happened to unfortunately get infected. >> on capitol hill a new call for stepped up measures after the first reported case in new york. >> you could get sweaty and you

can transfer this via sweat, that secretion could actually hold the ebola virus for some time, correct? >> the bowling alley has been cleaned as an abundance of caution, yes. >> many law make rs calle lawman immediate 21 day quarantine for hearinhealth care workers. already stepped up screening procedures and remains opposed to a trabl ban. >> i'm not sure people for one reason or another think it might be in their interest or other to try to provoke anxiety among the american people but i would strongly encourage anyone who is encouraged by this situation to focus on the facts. >> david, the white house says any decision at the federal level is going to be made on the paves of the science and not on any political fears that are being propagated on capitol

hill. the second thing is many experts are speaking out against the quarantine saying it would be a disincentive for health care workers to travel to west africa if they're going to be quarantined for 21 days before they can see their family. nina pham's dog bern bentley han tested negative for ebola himself. david. the virus continues to devastate countries in west africa. the epicenter of the outbreak remains in guinea, liberia and sierra leone. over the past week guinea diagnosed 106 new confirmed cases, liberia added 17 new cases and sierra leone added 374 confirmed cases. the ebola outbreak is over in senegal and nigeria and we learned the one new case

reported in mali a two-year-old girl she has died. tracking the ebola patient's movements in new york, a unique investigation, we will find out how they do it. now to the fight against i.s.i.l. iraq's government said the group has targeted police officers with chlorine gas, north of baghdad. i.s.i.l. has been accused of using chemical weapons before in syria. the u.s. officials believe i.s.i.l. could have taken the weapons from syrian government stock piles. reports are unconfirmed. meanwhile iraqi soldiers are leading an offensive to take back land lost to i.s.i.l. iraq is trying to cut off the group's supply license and isolate them -- lines and isolate them. the group has made fast advances in anbar province. for the city of kobani, i.s.i.l. threaten to the take the city. the battle has become a proving

ground for u.s. crisis against i.s.i.l -- u.s. strategy against i.s.i.l. stephanie decker has more. >> reporter: the syrian regime has always controlled the air here but as the eyes of the world continue to focus on kobani there has been a significant increase on air strikes on rebel positions by syrian president bashar al-assad's air force. >> he has busy and he has priority to achieve military success and treat this as priority for him. first priority is damascus. second, latakea and the syrian coast then the road between damascus and that place. he is now taking advantage and this to intensify his military operations. >> the program reports that since monday there has been at least 450 air strikes against

country. feels no one is paying attention now that the narrative is all about i.s.i.l. we spoke to an operative in the damascus country side. >> the regime only concentrates on i.s.i.l, we should mention an important point kobani a few hundred are besieged but in western homs there are 800,000 left without food or medicine. >> there has been reports that multiple brigades of the free syrian army would like to join to fight i.s.i.l. the battle is intensifying in the cities of aleppo and the damascus country side. >> it's a very good news for president assad. now has taken advantage from this time, to gain on the land, when they will arrive to say, sit down on the table, he can

have strong cars, so time is running out and he's very interested to gain on the field, on that end, before sitting and starting to discuss any political solution. >> reporter: but the syrian opposition is divided politically and when it comes to the many different groups fighting on the ground there may be an international coalition that is fighting i.s.i.l. but there is no such agreement on how to end this almost four year war. a war that according to the u.n. has killed over 200,000 syrian and displaced millions. stephanie decker al jazeera bay route. >> egypt declared a state of emergency today, two attacks on troops in the sinai peninsula, 27 in a car bomb, a few hours later, three more shot at a checkpoint. the worst day since the

president's ouster. al-sisi held an emergency meeting. with his advisors. today marks the 300th day since al jazeera's journalists peter greste, mohamed fahmy and baher mohamed were imprisoned. first court appearance wasn't until february 20th. when court did not hear from prosecution witnesses or see any evidence at that time. after a long trial they were sentenced in june. greste and fahmy were given seven years behind bars, mohamed was sentenced to 10. charges, aiding the muslim brotherhood and reporting false news. while in prison he baher mohamed missed the birth of his son on september 28th. world leaders united to demand

their release. demanding a review hearing for their case, scheduled for january 1st of next year. the islamic state's secret is not much of a secret, it's money but the source of i.s.i.l.'s cash is less known. saudi arabia is suspected of being a funding arm. "real money"'s ali velshi has tracked the money to saudi arabia. >> the saudis many of whom follow an austere version of sunni islam, saudi liquo saudi o that with the unofficial assent of the saudi government. the sawedis may in fact have gotten themselves in trouble.

>> the extreme, they run freely inside muslim holy places but they also have control of the education system, they have control of the public place and they have a global presence through many of the embassies. >> and that global presence has kept the money flowing. the u.s. department of treasury said this past march that sympathetic private saudi donors have been channeling money to islamic terrorist organizations throughout the middle east and beyond. but early on in the syrian conflict many experts agree that private saudi money was used to fund the now notorious islamic state of iraq and the levant or i.s.i.l. >> there is support to some extent for i.s.i.l, among saudi citizens and it's very likely that saudi citizens have funded i.s.i.l. in the past. >> the private saudi support for external terror financing may now be coming back to haunt the

saudis. in may the saudis announced that they had uncovered a plot to kill government officials and attack national and foreign interests in the country. 62 suspects were arrested. in response the saudi government began a campaign to stop its own citizens from backing islamic terrorist organizations working abroad, especially those in syria criminalizing support for groups including i.s.i.l. in september saudi arabia joined the u.s. led coalition against i.s.i.l. in air strikes led 50 united states, saudi jets struck i.s.i.l. targets within syria, specifically on board one of those jets was a member of the royal family, prince khalid ban salman. the biggest evidence that saudis

are against i.s.i.l, ali velshi, al jazeera. america voting early, how extended voting could affect the mid terms. people are... in ways that you don't get to see from the short appearances >> unconventional... >> if i can drink this... i don't see why you should be able to smoke that... >> unscripted... >> we gonna do this? >> ...and uncensored... >> are you kidding me? >> america votes 2014 midterms the series continues only on al jazeera america

u.s. political candidates will be oue this weekend, campaigning for the november 4th mid term elections. but a lot of voters in dozens of states have already cast their ballots. across 36 states the ones in

orange more than 2 million americans have already cast ballots nearly half of those have been submitted in florida. a million votes already in florida and by election day early voting is expected to account for 70% of all votes tabulated in the state. in illinois this week president obama returned home to chicago to cast his mid term vote although the first the president seemed a bit confused. >> this my card? which. am machine am i using?this one,? come on help me out someone. >> overseas, hundreds of american troops and members of the diplomatic corps are being reminded they have an opportunity to be part of the either voting. >> like me an american citizen living overseas, you need to register to vote and get your absentee ballot.

>> and in the united states candidates in both parties have been urging voters not to wait. >> in 2012, when mitt romney lost he lost because republicans didn't early vote. >> we'll be asking, which party benefits more from early voting? saturday power politics, 5:30 eastern, 2:30 pacific. the political world is mourning the loss of frank mankiewicz, who was press secretary from robert f. kennedy's campaign for president, broke the news of his assassination in 1968. >> senator robert francis kennedy died at 1:44 a.m. today. >> the night the senator was gunned down after a campaign speech in los angeles.

mankiewicz spent several yoars ayearsat president of national c radio. joining us is al jazeera political contributors michael shore. what jumps out at you as we try to remember frank manning wit' s life? gle. >> he was the press secretary for rfk in 1968. and is best known for delivering the sad announcement of senator kennedy's death. he was a part of history all the way. rfk then mcgovern. he served in the piece corps prior to that and ran latin america for the piece corps then npr. he had a very unique life. >> were there any anecdote that

the frank liked to talk about? >> frank was a democrat and an eternal democrat. he was always an optimist, thought no matter what the democrat would win, doesn't help a lot. one of the great anecdotes of mankiewicz, john tunney, the senator, the son of the fighter gene tunney, endorsed hubert humphrey. we know willie brown went on to do so much more made famous by the mayor of san francisco. what he said to brown looking for his endorsement, said willie your father was in the navy, said yes, my father was in the navy. he was a boxer too, used, brown said yes was a boxer, he was a

lightweight wasn't he? new what he was saying, yes was a lightweighed, he said i would rather have the heavyweight son of the lightweight champion than the lightweight son of a heavyweight champion. >> what was he like? >> he could look at a political situation, dissect it and when there was trouble he knew what to do for that person in trouble. he was the first phone call apparently that teddy kennedy made after chappaquiddick. he knew the english language better than anyone and david he invented a word, re retro-nym. >> i didn't know what retro-nyn

is. >> now you do. >> thanks to you and thanks to frank mankiewicz. did he become more pessimistic about politics at the end? >> what he saw was the idea of issues and the idea of talking about things that mattered and cairchtandcandidates who talkedt them, he was upset about the power of money in politics, he saw it as a reality, that's what was great about frank. he said lifn, listen, i don't e that there's all this money in politics, that doesn't mean it should be to the expense of people. >> michael, we appreciate it. >> thank you david. >> tracing ebola in new york city. the medical professional who became in contact with the infected doctor.

plus breaking tradition, how a 12-year-old israeli girl made history at a sacred site in jerusalem.

welcome to al jazeera america i'm david schuster how medical detectives are trying to track the ebola patient's contact. and breaking with jewish tradition at one of israel's holiest sites. and macy gray in our arts segment. we are following several new developments tonight in the ebola crisis. the west africa nation of mali reported its first case of ebola yesterday. today the two-year-old girl with the virus died. she had come from neighboring guinea. here in new york city one

day after a doctor was diagnosed with the virus, officials announced a 21 day mandatory quarantine for travelers who had had contact with ebola patients abroad. craig spencer, contracted ebola and roxana saberi has the case. >> cleaning up and pack up. the task of this crew make its way into craig spencer's apartment. a great guy some people say. >> he helps you with the groceries. >> all of this seem surreal. >> so big to process. i don't really think -- i'm not like scared at all. >> the logical part of my brain, the other side of me naturally afraid that ebola's so close. >> city officials say spencer took three subway lines from his

home to a bowling alley on wednesday. the day before he started feeling sick. the a train was one of them. he might have gotten on it here at 145th street. the train runs express from here to brooklyn. you can see a couple dozen people here on the platform. city officials say it's highly unlikely that anyone on the train could have gotten a virus from dr. spencer but some of these passengers aren't too concerned. >> even touching a poll, i'm very concerned. -- touching a pole i'm very concerned. >> it can only be spread in a certain way. >> it's about an eight block walk to the bowl alley. bars restaurants and warehouses. the bowling alley isn't a hip part of williamsberg. today it looks like a scene of a crime. on friday evening the bowler was

still closed as a precaution officials say. people who bowl here say they want everything to return to normal soon. >> i was scared at first but seems like people have everything under control. >> and police were out here today handing these fliers out to people, you can only get sick by touchin vomit or urine. the president of the borough was out here and said everyone should come out and bowl with him. professor of epidemiology at columbia's school of public health. how are public health officials tracing craig spencer's steps? >> there is a process involved with what we call contact tracing and it involves public health officials first interviewing the patient and getting a sense of his or her whereabouts and where he or she

might have been during the time before he or she developed symptoms. and they also then confirm those reports, because it can be quite a stressful situation to report those whereabouts and so they might confirm those whereabouts with cell phone records or credit card receipts and so forth. >> but if he's on the subway and he's not really thinking about it, new york, take the subway, not think about who we are sitting next to or when we sneeze or whether we hold the pole or not. whether or not somebody might have been in physical contact or touched what he touched? >> i think that's a difficult thing to do and presents a real challenge for contact tracing. fortunately ebola is not transmitted easily and one must be in contact with bodily fluids directly or something that is touched by t bodily fluids directly in order to actually be exposed to the disease.

>> so as part of the investigation they would talk to him and say, did you sneeze did you cough did you have sex with your girlfriend, anything that would have passed this on. >> of course, of course, they would have wanted to know how this was passed on. this is not transmitted, not airborne, not transmitted through sneezing or coughing and there's a very low level of the virus when people first develop symptoms. and so it's not easily transmitted. and when people are very, very infective, they actually are very, very sick and chances are they are not going to be on the subway or out in public. >> is it very easy to do the detective work that epidemiologist he and others are trying to do? >> it's actually very difficult. it's a real challenge. it's not as easy as one would think to retrace steps over the

course of many days. so what we're talking about is real old fashioned kind of shoe leather epidemiology where these folks are on the ground interview being people who might have been -- interviewing people who might be on the ground, retracing steps actually trying to contact those people who may have been exposed to the disease. but again, this is not a disease that's easily transmitted and those people need to be in contact directly with those bodily fluids. >> there was a fascinating dispute today between the warehouswhitehouse and the govew york and new jersey, coming in contact of any kind with people who have had ebola, health care worker or not you should have a mandatory 21 day quarantine. the white house says bad idea, who's right?

>> governor christie and governor quomo don't want to strike fear in the hearts of amirnts but what we want to do is contain a potential epidemic in the ufs. >> part of containing is getting good accurate information. if someones this if i fly to newark or kennedy, and i admit that i was in west africa, that doesn't give them incentive to be honest what they've done. >> true enough but health care workers are going to be compelled to admit they have had contact with ebola patients in west africa. they are obliged to do that typically through the organization he or foundations or charities with which they're working. >> wrote this discourage health care workers from going now? >> well i think stopping travel

from west africa, if we were to ban all flights from west africa from entering the u.s., that would really put a strain on the relief effort. but a mandatory quarantine for folks returning from west africa i think is a nice middle ground to strike. and i think appeals to the fears of americans. and also, is extremely conservative in trying to prevent further spread of the disease. >> dana march, thank you for coming in. we appreciate it. thank you. >> staten island is home to little liberia, an ex-pat community, fears of contracting the virus and ignorance at how it's spread leaves many in the community alienated. christian saloomekristin saloom. >> they've seen the disease take

a toll on family members there while being treated with suspicion here. >> sitting in the subway talking and basically someone wants to know you're from africa, people move away from you. that's stig pla. >> in the community there is a fear and a stigma, people if they are sick we're worried they may not go to the hospital. >> news that a new york doctor now has the disease is only adding to their concerns. craig spencer returned from guinea over a week ago. >> there is no cause for alarm, authorities need you to know that the situation is being handled and handled well. there is no cause for alarm. >> doctors say at the first evidence of fever dr. spencer notified officials. >> even as officials try to calm new york city residents telling them chance of ebola spreading

are slim, this first case of ebola in new york is getting local, national and international media attention and ul of this talk has city residents worried. >> as soon as he caimed he should be absolutely quarantined without a doubt. >> because it is a deadly disease there is no cure for it, i have a four-year-old son, i really worry about it. >> in the neighborhood known as little liberia, there has been meeting after meeting about what to watch for and how to help. almost everyone here knows someone back home who has died from the disease. >> you got to send us some money, you got to send us some supplies, you got osend us some hygienic medications and supplies that we need. >> now that the disease is in the united states largest city we hope more americans will want to help too. kristin saloomey, al jazeera, new york. >> the hatchet attack on a group of new york city police officers has tonight been deemed a terror

attack by new york law enforcement. officer kenneth healy remains in critical condition after a hatchet attack. dailzale thompson was a recent convert to islam. israeli army said the youth was about to throw a molotov cocktail. a 12-year-old israeli girl is breaking tradition at the western wall in jerusalem one of the holiest sites in judaism. the women are not allowed to pray at the wall but she will for her bat myths mitzvah.

mitzvah. >> her simple act of singing might overturn decades of tradition. >> are you proud of your daughter? >> i'm trying not to get overexcited yo but i think thiss the most exciting moment of my life. >> sasha is practicing for a bat mitzvah. hers is advertised on posters, that this is the first time a girl is singing at a jewish holy site. boys have done that for years, they carry the torah through the western wall plaza. their proud fathers hold up judaism's most orthodox text. they've ripped sasha's posters down. the feminist group, women of the wall, which is sponsoring sasha's bat mitzvah, are

protesting. >> there are people who want to spark a religious war. political wars may be controllable but a religious wars you can't control the flames. >> her mother iraenah tries to assure her. i'm with you, she whispers, i'm with you. but on the day of her bat mitzvah, assurance may not be enough. women of the wall is stopped by a representative. >> you cannot bring in torah scroals that's th -- scrolls ths the regulation. >> i'm ashamed. >> sasha and her mother enter

without the torah. they put on a brave face, even though some men try to shut them out. >> what do you think? >> they desecrate the place. >> they are determined they belong. they took a very big step with a small torah smuggled in a purse. >> we're going to be reading. >> for 45 years since israel captured and occupied this site this has never happened. [♪ singing ] >> a girl reads from the torah at her bat mitzvah at the western wall. and a daughter proved to her mother and everyone she was braver than she realized. >> translator: we are calling on all girls to do their bat mitzvah in the western wall. that's the message. >> reporter: the chief rabbi called the ceremony a deception but women of the wall said they will continue to fight so the next generation doesn't have to

deceive or fight anymore. nick schifrin, al jazeera, jerusalem. in hong kong, protesters plan to vote whether they will end their protest. after government officials refuse to agree with the students demands. sarah clark reports on how the protests are affecting tourism in hong kong. >> this is now protecting tourists of a different kind. travel warnings have been issued in some countries but tourists appear unphased by the protest which is looking more like a permanent fixture in the streets of hong kong. >> massively impressive and i hope they achieve something.

>> isabel terry. >> hong kong relied on mainland china for most of its tourism dollars. last year there were 40 million arrivals, 70% of all visitors. >> our visit was planned six months ago. that's why we claimed. >> reporter: preplanned trips may still be going ahead but not all mainland visitors agree with the student approach. >> they don't have the right to occupy the road. they shouldn't inconvenience the citizens. >> it would never happen in mainland china. >> this is one of the whichest shopping districts in this city. particularly for mainland chinese visitors who come to

purchase the big luxury brand. but slow economic growth in china and the protesters here are having an impact on retail sales. but that estimated impact is only slight. the international bank ubs forecast the worst case scenario would translate to 1% of hong kong's gdp. sarah clark, al jazeera, hong kong. >> tomorrow is finally the grand reopening of one of the biggest picasso museums. plus. >> and friday arts, macy gray gives us the inside story behind one of her biggest hits.

>> around the northern hemisphere, fall colors are all the talk. from japan to the united kingdom we're getting beautiful colors. nice colors in massachusetts to maine we're seeing a lot of this, beautiful colors on the trees that have cracked and fallen over from the nor'easter that has gone through area in the last few days. so much rainfall there has been flooding in the streets as the storm continued to track by. good news, you're drying out, now the west coast gets its

turn. we're going to see winds on the increase on saturday night and also more rain and wind into tuesday morning. the pacific ocean is filled with storms that are going to be generating plenty of rainfall for northern california, did news, much needed rain all the way up into british columbia, and we'll continue to get rounds of powerful wind gusts with this. on saturday our wind guchts will have the highest -- gusts will have the highest wind gusts, the rain initially moves through it will be rain but then snow levels fall as we get into early sunday morning around we'll get some high mountain snow. al jazeera america news continues.

>> the picasso museum in paris reopens. millions over budget and as paul brennan reports it is a sign of wider recovery in the art scene. >> pablo picasso is the most well renown, he artworks dated back to his earliest years. as challenge is as the artist himself. the renovation of the picasso museum took five years and $30 million than originally budgeted.

the sacking of the museum's president but later hired as the curator. no wonder the new president prefers to look to the future. >> my hope is to make this museum alive, not like a burial tomb, it is very dangerous for a museum to be like a tomb. i think this museum should be alive, a place where people are happy that's my main task during the next five years. >> reporter: indeed, the opening of the picasso museum seems a symbol of a wider experience. while he managed to amass a huge collection of his own works, collectors owned discretely behind closed doors. but new openness in the city and with it new excitement in the harris arparis art world.

the marais district, now the buzz is returning. another flagship project opened in the french capital this summer, the museum and gallery space, commissioned by bernard arnauld. once again exciting. >> you have a climate here, which is very favorable for contemporary artists, and the community shows its commitment not only public sector but private sector, what mr. hanoi is doing. likely to be here in paris. >> the biggest beneficiaries could be the artists themselves. paul brennan, al jazeera, paris. >> macy gray is a grammy award winning musician. in our friday art segment she

sits down with randall pinkston. ♪ ♪ >> that's macy gray's uplifting none single, hands, from her new studio album, the way, her distinctive style has set herself away from contemporaries. >> hello, thank you. >> let's talk about the album the first, the title, the way, where does that come from? >> the way is just about how we're all on this journey and everybody has their idea of what they want out of life. and their ultimate dreams and so, whatever it is you want, you have to find a way to get where you want to go. so it's called the way. >> how long have you been working on it? >> really, it took me a couple years to figure out what i wanted to do, and get excited about what i was doing. and then finally i went in the studio with a guy named jason

hill and we did a song called bang bang. >> bang bang i want it ♪ ♪ shoot it down and i want it >> once we did that it kind of clicked. suddenly i knew exactly what i wanted to do and the record i wanted to make and once i did -- >> you are composing? >> yes. >> are you composing for you or for listener trying oget a hit? >> i honestly am not get at picking hits. you know when my label actually chose i tried my first big single and i didn't think that was a good idea, i actually argued with him didn't think that was a good song to put out. ♪ tried osay good-by to say gooi choked ♪ >> that turned out to be your biggest hit ever! >> yes. i'm not going to try to write a

hit because i don't know what they are. >> when you are sitting down to do your most recent album i read what you wanted to do was not to do what everybody expects to hear. you wanted to do pardon me for saying this, music for grown ups. >> i just think that people who are like just in their -- you know grown up at least a little bit, you know? and just if you're not a kid anymore and i just like the music business kind of ignores that generation of people, where everything is kind of geared towards 14, 15-year-olds, even labels kind of push the artist to they always say go young and they say this is a little bit younger. what they forget is most kids don't buy music, like my son has never bought a record in his life. he has like 8,000 songs on his itunes and it would be grazey

to try to relate to a 14-year-old in this time of my life. when i'm going in a studio and i'm talking about what's coming from the heart around what i want to say, it will be of a perspective of a woman in her 40s. it's natural for me. it's something the industry totally neglects you know. >> you've discussed this publicly and i'll raise it substances have at some point been a problem in your life. >> that's negotiable. >> i don't want to negotiate, i've laid out here something i've read do you want to talk about that? >> i was a youth, very young when i left home and all of a sudden i turned 28 and i just had a ton of money. and you just have this tremendous access to -- not just clothes and nice things but you know all of a sudden you can do whatever you want. and you have an excuse for it and you have people that will help you get in trouble. so i think it's just something

people go through when things change in their life. you know? >> and you had three children. >> yes, i had three kids. >> so were they a factor in your resolution? >> oh, of course. once you have kids they're a factor in everything but you know i was lucky at the time, i had really good people around me, my mother and my family are all very close to me. and so they had my back during that time. ♪ >> but yeah it's just something that you deal with. and unfortunately, it inspires really great, great songs and moments if you're a creative type. so people get attached start believing that they need it. that's another thing. i don't regret it it's just something i learned a lot from, i probably would not have written thissal wu album if i ht

been involved in that. >> thank you, macy gray. >> thanks to randall pinkston, great interview. i'm david schuster up next al jazeera america presents mid terms. ♪ ♪