about giving men and women parity at home and in the workplace. i look forward to seeing more of that reflected in america's businesses. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪ hi, everyone, this is al jazeera america. the president's reported letter to iran. will the new congress take a harder line. >> when you play with matches you take the risk of burning yourself. >> a stark warning for the president. drilling down, republicans ready to strike on building the keystone pipeline. the first city wide soda tax, critics say it is a tax on the poor. and dangerous trade,

rhino deaths could soon outpace births. what is being done about it. president obama goes face to face tomorrow with leaders of both political parties. the white house meeting comes as republicans prepare to take control of congress, and they are already making their intentions crystal clear. lisa stark at the white house with more. lisa? >> well, first and foremost, the republicans say they want to focus on jobs and the economy, something they can perhaps reach an agreement with president obama on, despite all this talk of the two working together, there were some very harsh words today, from speaker john boehner to the president, warning him, not to bypass congress. >> house speaker john boehner did not mince words he warned president obama not to go it alone,

on immigration reform. i believe the president continues to about on his own, he is going to poise sob the well. when you play with of mas you take the risk of burning yourself. >> if he does take executive action, there will be no chance immigration reform will pass congress. mr. obama has said he wants them to act, but is not going to wait around for that to happen. >> writing in the wall street journal, the two pledged to renew our commitment to repeal obama-care. which is hurting the job market along with american's healthcare. that's a nonstarter at the white house. as the president made clear on wednesday. >> on healthcare, there is certainly some lines i will draw.

repeal of the law i won't sign. >> the house has voted 54 times to repeal obama care. so aren't they poisoning the well themselves. boehner said no. my job is not to get along with the president just to get along with him. my job is to listen to the american people, and make their priorities our priorities. >> priorities that will focus on growing jobs and shrinking the government. despite all the disagreements, both the white house and the republicans are still talking at least publicly, about working together. >> there's an opportunity for us to find common ground, but to make sure our differences don't get in the way of making progress. >> and they will start trying to find that common ground tomorrow here at the white house, this is that lunch

president obama has invited 16 top officials, both republicans and democrats josh earnest saying today that the president wants to get started right away to see if they can cooperate moving forward. john. >> lisa, thank you. now to the report of a secret let fresh the white house, to iran. the wall street journal says president obama wrote to uranias supreme court leader last month, urging a deal on the countries nuclear program. and stressing their shared interests. the report has many of the critics furious. back channel communications are nothing new uh, but this report comes at a crucial moment with a deadline for a deal on iran's nuclear program looming and the republicans about to take control of congress. the report in the wall with street journal says president obama

personally reached out to the supreme leader. writing him a letter in october. it says the president outlined a plan to bring iran into the fight against isil. but wrote that cooperation largely depends on whether an agreement can be reached on iran's nuclear program. >> the u.s. and iran haven't had diplomatic relations for over 30 years but they have a history of quiet diplomacy, the ragan administration dealings with iran resulted in the iran contra arms for hostages scandal. and after 9/11, the george w bush administration said iran was helpful, but rarely has a president been so directly involved and president obama's critics are blasting him. >> it's immoral and shameful, and somehow we are playing footsy in somehow effects they will have an effect on isis.

when asked about the report today, the white house wouldn't comment. >> i am not in a position to discuss private correspondents between the president and any world leader. >> november 24th is the deadline for a deal on the nuclear ambitions. >> we are not talking about or thinking about going beyond that date. that's a critical date. >> this weekend secretary of state john kerry will meet with diplomates just 18 days before that. that won't happen without guarantees that the nuclear facilities can't be put to military use. the obama administration says a deal is within reach. they have come to the table and they have negotiating seriously around providing assurances that 30 not developing a nuclear weapon. for the first time. but there's another deadline facing the white

house. he has been able to deal with a tougher deal. >> with republicans running both the house and senate, they will have much more sway over the domestic and foreign agenda. easing u.s. sanctions will be crucial to any deal. that can't happen without congressional action. >> if congress steps in, and violates the deal refuses to implement it, the primary winner of that will actually be the ire rannians bald they will be off the hook. >> here is how sensitive and complex these negotiations with iran are. >> the report in the wall street journal says they didn't even tell key allies to the supreme leader, and john, those include israel, and saudi arabia not a secret any more, paul, thank you.

policy director of the national iranian council, he is in washington tonight, so jamal, will -- does uhn't sound like a nuclear deal with pass what do you think? >> well, the president actually has pretty broad authorities that were given to him by congress to waive sanctions. so if there's a deal, the president will have the authority to do some temporary waving of the sanctions. the trickty part comes from preventing congress from passing new sames & getting the authorization to lift the sanctions in order to make the deal. >> you just heard john mccain sure doesn't sound like it, does it? >> is well, i think john mccain has opposed these negotiations from the beginning. i think it is ironic, though, even jock mccain's good friend lindsay gram, called for the united states and iran to work together. regarding isis, so i think if there's a deal

this does open up opportunities for the united states and iran to finally begin pursuing some of the mutual interests that they do share, but that have been blocked from cooperating. >> how does the president make his case? is. >> well, i thisty president has to make a strong case that this is a good deal. and it's a deal that will freeze iran's nuclear program, will impose massive inspections over the program, and really give the united states the best assurance possible that iran can't build a nuclear weapon. i think if this deal is what a lot of russ expecting, he is going to be able to make that case, and really it is going to be incumbent on congress to not blow that up, because that will be a gift to hardliners who don't want to see this cooperation unfold. >> give us the sense of what the iranian people may think about this. >> i think there's pretty broad popular support among ordinary iranians for a deal. the president of iran was

elected largely on this promise of engaging with the outside world, and the isolation, and improving things domestically, and i think that a lot of what rouhani has done is staked the claims he has made about improve uhing things inside iran. has staked that on the success of these nuclear talks. >> do the people -- >> i was going to say, do the iranian people recognize there's a republican congress, and senate now uh, and this could derail that deal? >> i think there's a reck are in addition -- i think -- yeah. people in iran know and follow closely, what is happening here. i think there's a recognition this will make thing thinks tougher. if this' a deal, the united states will be deliver some of that sanctions relief that is promised. >> what if there's not a deal? >> well, i really don't foresee the talk uhs collapsing. i think everybody

understands how important it is that the talks at the very least are extended. if they collapse, i think you are looking at a disaster, you are looking at escalation on both sides, i think there's very high likelihood there will be a push for new seances o. u.s. side. i think there's a likelihood that the iranians will stop some of the things they promise to do. the program is is frozen they will up the enrichment, install new, and you are looking toward as military conflict that nobody wants. >> you would say that despite the fact that the israeli prime minister says you can't trust iran, u.s. shouldn't do a deal, and the prime minister has been very happy about the fact that there's a -- that republicans are in control of the senate? is. >> . >> yes, these are obstacles, but if you look at what the american people think about this, americans don't want to go to war with iran and go to war with isis, they want a diplomatic solution, and the case can be made very

strongly, a diplomatic deal is the best way to prevent a war and prevent an ire rannian weapon. >> we will see whether whether the president does that, thank you. >> now to the keystone pipeline, it is another point of contention between the president and republicans, g.o.p. leaders have is said they intend to make the pipeline a top priority in the new congress. jonathan is here with that, jonathan? >> is supporters say this is critical to the u.s. turning it murder evers towards canada for it's oil. it is a delicate issue uh, especially for the president. it's been a republican slogan for years. >> drill, baby drill, and drill now. >> count on hearing it more. >> we need to embrace the energy revolution that is going on in our country. promote it. >> the 1700-mile pipeline would pump crude from alberta, montana, and north dakota to nebraska. then through existing pipelines to refineries on the gulf coast.

the excel has been stalled for six years, stuck at the canadian border awaiting the president's approval. >> obama so far has resisted it, even though there are members within his own party who have pushed him to approve this. so i think that will be an interesting test of how the next two years will end up going. >> environmentalists oppose the project, it would pump thick tar ever like oil crude across the u.s. and under major sources of fresh water. >> once spilled into our court ruling wayfore it can go miles. we have no water for the cattle. >> activists would further encouraging the mining of oil sand, and generate more carbon pollution. yet, keystones construction has continued within the u.s., and there are already at least four other major pipelines connecting alberta to the united states. >> you have to ask what happens if you don't do it, so if we aren't getting that oil, we will

be importing more oil from other countries. >> officially, the pipeline is being held by permits and a lawsuit, for now. >> on keystone there's an independent process, it is moving forward, and i will let that process play out. >> still this may be something that the president is forced to face, especially since most americans think this pipeline should be finished. >> all right, thank you. chad brownstein is the ceo of rocky mountain resources the natural resources company, and chad, we know that the keystone pipeline is the hot topic, what do american oil companies think about it? >> i would say 90% of american oil companies want the keystone pipeline finished. it is unequivocally the most important growth trajectory plant form for our entire u.s. energy stat over the next 25 years. >> is and do you think the bill will have any difficulty getting through congress? >> is well, look, the

american people spoke with a loud and clear view. that we need business to work with government. and that was a working before. you are going to get bills put in front of the president, and if i were the president, i'd have a long thought about what my legacy should be. he has an opportunity here, with good advice, end up being one of the great energy presidents without having to do too much. we have three-quarters of the keystone pipeline finished let's finish this off, create four to 5 million new jobbens and make this not politically ex-peepeddent, but long term beneficial. >> and you heard that woman who said she was concerned about a pipeline running under her ranch. and contaminating the water, what do you say to that? >> i would say that we have had pipelines running in this country for over 100 years. there hasn't been a major spill domestically during that timeframe. now with the e.p.a. watching you have 36-inch in diameter piping you have the most

sophisticated engineering, technologies and epa people watching over this process, there won't be any spills. there's a great opportunity here to do this within what the epa wants and what business wants. >> you sound very confident after what happened in the gulf with bp. you sure of that? >> well, look, offshore is a business that i am not in. i am in the onshore business. >> a lot of people at b.p. said that couldn't happen too? >> look, the ocean is a much different place than the hand that we live on. you have quakes obviously, you have natural disasters that can happen, but you have 100 year track record of there not being onshore b.p. issue uh, that being said, you have to be mindful of what is out there, but uh i think the risk is certainly with the 5 million josh jobs that can be created and the u.s. becoming economically independent on the resource front for the next 25 years. >> how are foreign companies going to react to that? >> well, look, they are running the ever the hills, they don't know

what to do when it comes to what america has turned into, and that's an energy boeheim meth. we are producing 10% of the production daily, or importing another 50% of that to 20 million barrels. opec went from being 7 million barrels down to 3 million. we get this done, and get some solid energy plans we can be below 1 million-barrels in the next 36 months. so opec and the foreign partners that are among that group are going to have to find out how they are going to ship it outside of the states and that certainly is not a comfortable discussion for them, as prove by them raising prices in china. lowering prices -- raising prices in the u.s., they are not sure which way to head. >> aren't there reasons why the united states has been trying to move away from being depend on oil and come up with other ways other forms of energy that might be better than that? is isn't that where the u.s. should spend it's

money? >> well, we certainly want to have the most efficient source of energy in this country. you look at the on set of all the hydrogen, carbon cars that are pursues in the market today, tesla for good reason has a lot of support, but uh it's a progression. we start with oil, now we are at natural gas, let's get natural gas power uhs vehicles, the c. 02 emissions are significantly reduced there, then over time when we are independent, and stronger wealthier, we can build this country into not only energy independence, but more of an energy carbon focused country. that does uh haven't to rely on only fossil fuels. >> how long does the pipeline take to complete. >> well, right now they are over budget by i think $3 billion based on waiting around six years so i think it is -- if they had a chance to start today, they could probably get it done in 36 months. i didn't realize it was

that quick. all right, we will see, thank you very much. thank you. >> coming up next, the very lucrative illegal drug trade, and a century and a half after his death, on gettysburg battlefield, a soldier gets the medal of honor.

a set back today for supporters of same-sex marriage. a federal appeals court upheld bans in tennessee, michigan, and ohio. the decision reversed several district court rulings and virtually guaranteed a supreme court review. welshes tonight, a secretive black market website silk road 2.0 has been shut down. it's founder is behind bars charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. tom ackerman has more from washington. >> in a global trade using bit coins to conduct sales of not only illicit drugs but uh also computer hacking material, and fake i.d.es. for hundreds of drug dealers around the globe. and that, in fact, this was just a continuation

of silk road one point zero. the secret website that the government shut down just a year ago. and also serve seized the servers which is the means by which was conducted. a judge in that case says that she is not going to suppress that evidence, because the defend in the original case, says he denied any knowledge of that server or having anything to do with it. >> that's tom ackerman reported. tomorrow the city of detroit finds out if it can emerge from bankruptcy. the city wants to trim more than one third of it's long term death, last year, detroit became the longest in the city to file for bankruptcy,

if accepted about $7 million in debt would be taken off the books. they are shedding new light on how the church there handled the abuse accusations. dianne is there with that story, dianne. >> john, the documents released today involve shirt six priests and back in january the ark diocese released other document uhs pertains to 30 other priests. and some of that dates back to the 1950's. >> they accused three dozen former priests of sexually abusing children. others are correspondents between victims attorneys and the arch diocese.

the files document abuse against more than 350 children, going back over 50 years. barbara blaine was one of them, and heads an organization representing other abuse victims. but uh it does uhn't go far enough. >> we know there's 121 accused priests. and cardinal francis george's tenure. to settle claims by victims. in a statement, the cardinals said, we cannot change the past. but we hope we can rebuild trust through honest and open dialog. the arming diocese is concerned first and foremost, with bringing healing to abuse victims. lane says release of the documents could prompt more victims to come

forward. >> we can tell from the documents that thousands were at risk, how many were need leslie violated, we'll never know, probably, but we certainly know that it is -- that it is too many. and it was unnecessary. most of the alleged abuse so the statute of violations has already expired on those cases. now cardinal george wanted to get this information out before he retired in a couple of weeks so his successor doesn't have to deal with it. all right, thank you uh. millions spent fighting over a soda trax, and why critics call it an attack on the poor. plus, taking up arms an vacation. why some are visiting a gun range instead of going to the beach.

is this struggling country up to the task. surprising new advocates for legalization. and medal of honor, more than half a century and a half later, a civil war hero gets recognized. the pentagon says air strikes last night targeted key positions held by the khorasan group. at least five targets were hit including bomb making facilities. there are unconfirmed reports that a french born bomb making maker was fighting with consider zone was uh killed in those attacks.

david serves as the state department official for the u.s. embassy in baghdad, and david, you just returned from kurdish stan in iraq, recently, give us an idea of what you heard from the peshmerga forces there. >> sure, so we were in curd disstan last week, and this is my last trip there since isis invaded in june. we were in other areas including the dam, which the forces recently took back from isis. they have had successes recently, and they feel very confident that they can defeat isis on the ground. they are very grateful, for the support from the u.s. and the other coalition countries especially for the air strikes.

however, the forces do desperately need more modern equipment, they need heavier weapon weapond they need armors vehicles. they are confident based on what you saw are you confident as well? isis still pose as very significant threat, and the question is whether they will h receive the level of support that they need to defeat them in the short term. and i think that's very important. >> the forces -- go ahead. >> what surprised you about this trip? >> as i mentioned this is my mouther trip, so i have been there since isis invaded i would say that everything is different in iraq, from

how it was before isis and iraq is more divided as a result of the isis invasion. it is now completely separated they have isis along their entire 650-mile border. look at baghdad we have a new government that's a very important step. they are still in disarray. they fled northern iraq, they are struggling to fight isis in southern iraq. but the shiite militias which are also being guided out of baghdad are doing a lot of the fighting as well. and i think that is a sign that the security forces are not what they used to be, and they cannot alone defeat isis in southern iraq. they need a lot of help and training and a lot of support.

you know in this country there are plenty of people that are saying unless the u.s. and other countries put boots on the ground, they can't win this fight. do you think that's right? >> which is much larger in numbers and the forces and the other fighting groups including the shiite militias they certainly have the number they need to defeat. continued air strikes by the coalition some additional training heavier weapons. armored vehicles i believe they probably can defeat isis. without the u.s. and other coalition countries. very quickly, than more likely in the longer term, they do have to put boots oen the ground. >> is now uh to the

rising tense in jerusalem, and the west bank, officials say a palestinian man turned himself in today, taking responsibility for an attack on a military post. well the situation remains tense, of course in the occupied east where it's been extremely tense, but also in west jerusalem. of course this is where police are describing as a hit and run terror attack took place at a light rail station, where a number of people are injuried and one opinion died. from his injuries. which is carried out by a palestinian man, who was later shot dead. but all of this underscores the tension across the city, we have seen authorities put up cement it has been

enormous now for the past several weeks. in fact, from right around the country they have been brought to the annex east of jerusalem. for that very purpose. and now we are seeing even more security, and that is partially why we have seen these continued protests in several neighborhoods, several palestinian neighborhoods. whatever the case, the news of what again, the police are describing as a hit and run terror attack, happens in the occupied west bank, in which three soldiers were wounded that also and a serious cause for concern. that of course is a very serious cause of alarm. back here in the united states, a controversy

tourist attraction is growing in popularity in hawaii. gun ranges have popped up near luxury shopping malls and hotels. almost anybody can fire a weapon, america tonight has been investigating gun tourism. are you aware of the law uhs here in hawaii? >> yes. >> otherwise the gun won't fire. >> allowing children to fire assault weapons can have deadly consequences. evidence in two recent videos that went viral. in august, a nine-year-old accidentally killed her shooting instructor in a as. when she lost control of the weapon. and in 2008, an eight-year-old dies after shooting himself in the head with a sub machine gun at a gun fair in massachusets. >> did you see the types of guns that are offered at these shooting ranges? >> yeah, they are ausing assault weapons and that was uh exactly what happened with the little girl that shot the instructor. she had much too powerful a gun.

then what her size, and weight, and lack of training was uh able to handle. so two types of handguns the first one will be the semiautomatic. >> they took me through their gun training course, which took under seven minutes. and john it is quite a site there when you go and visit, there are billboards all over the place right next to high end shops like gucci, and card yea. there are no age restrictions there for those gun ranges either. instead, there is a height restriction similar to what you would see if you are going to get on a roller coaster this is a fascinating story, hawaii has some of the strictest gun laws what are the limitations? there are no limitations that is because of what gun control advocates call the gun range

loophole. this is not a real legal loophole, which has these extremely strict gun controls in place. you have never seen anything like this in the lower 48. >> actually, gun tourism is growing back here on the mainland as well. in las vegas, and in nevada, there are a number of ranges that are popping up, in fact, i saw some reports of baccalaureate parties now going to fire off these guns and more gun friendly states. so there is a device here between the states and their gun laws as well. >> adam has a lot more on this coming up, you can see his story on gun tourism, on america tonight at the top of the hour. there are new details tonight on a data breach at home depot, hackers

stole 53 million email addresses. the company revealed that 56 credit card accounts were compromised in the attack. supporters say the tax is a huge victory in the war against obesity, but not everyone agrees. melissa is here with more. >> across the pay here, a similar measure did not pass, however, proponents of the tax say that it is still a very big one for them, and they are very excited about things to come. packening up across the country this week, and for these activists in burkely, supporters have measured the soda tax they have come out the winners.

>> well, it is a national issue. and i am sure that the proponents of this measure, as well as in burkely, view this as the first steps the health conscious bay area did what new york city starting next year, every ounce of any sugary drink will be taxed $1 penny to combat obesity. though there the measure required a two-thirds super majority. on both campaigns a lot of money was spent. coca-cola chipped in $5.8 million pepsi coe 4.4 million. one side spents ten times

more than another, you get a distortion of democracy. to put ads on t.v., to put people on the street, knocking on doors. i love soda. carbonation i think is a magical part to a flavor pal lot. >> he has joined a campaign against the tax, and has argued that shop centers would have been hit. the tax passed would have targeted items that have as little as 36-calories.

hitting lower income family whose tend to buy more soda, and there's an argument over personal freedom. >> question generally frown upon taxing certain things. >> more than 30 other cities and states have tried to pass soda taxes and failed. proponents have finally won their first battle and they hope it will add fresh momentum to their cause. >> just to add some context to that law, it require as two-third maz jordy, so the vote didn't pass, but it did pass a simple majority, more than 50% of people did want that soda tax, so proponents of taxing soda said they will count it as a small win. >> i am fascinating with the soda shop, you didn't get a chance to taste it

did you? no, but we tried some of their colas. >> and the whole idea how much sugar it has in might be the key to this whole thing. all right, thank you very much. a senior community has take an stand on a controversial topic. you will find seniors that swim, sow, and smoke. medical marijuana, but 68-year-old lonnie painter does more than just smoke it. from his living room he runs one of three collectives in the village, home to more than 16,000 seniors. >> why is there a need for a cannabis collective? >> for the access of safe medicine, it is inexpense i, and it is safe. >> even though medical marijuana has been legal since 1996, there are no dispensaries in laguna

woods because lan lords have rerefused to lease space. >> this one with antiinflammatory, muscle re, las. >> so it is good for my arthritis. >> it would be. >> 64-year-old bengie johnson suffered from more than just arthritis, she is battling breast cancer. >> i just was miserable from the chemo, and i couldn't even walk my dog, and within five minutes of smoking some marijuana, i was able to get up and take my dog out for 20 minutes, i just fete better. just better. we have a cancer patient who is dying right now, and it says it is helping me die a little bit easier, isn't that that a right? many seniors here would have trouble getting there because they no longer drive cars so having the collective within the gates of the

village makes medical marijuana that much more accessible. >> and there's support here for you. you can find what you need in a safe loving environment where people cake about you. >> the everybody races that live through the vietnam war, aren't sitting this one out. >> we aren't talking about seniors in a nursing home, we are talking about active seniors that play tennis, golf, and are mentally stilllated and they want to continue living. they want a quality of life. question look at it as one more tool in the tool box. >> we are finally coming into hey, this is something that is helping us and it isn't hurting anyone. so why can we not have access to it. >> seniors here finding there's more than just

one type of green that is providing joy and comfort during their golden years. al jazeera, laguna woods california. >> coming up, the killing of endangers animals how crime scene investigators are trying to stop the bad guys. plus, honoring a u.s. soldier with the medal of honor, why it took more than 150 years to recognize him.

this evening i am going to take you over here towards europe. we have overlaid the satellite, this major symptom system that is in the mediterranean. first of it all, turkish border nos effecting parts of italy, and i want to show you the video that has come out. where major floods has been going on, one person has been killed because of a landslide, as well as major power outages going on in the area. now, as we go over here towards italy, it is in

tuscany, where we have seen dozens of people evacuated. schools have been closed, and people have been warned to stay indoors. train stations have also been closed and there has been major delays after the airports across the region. we will be seeing this area of low pressure, making it's way towards greece if you do have travel plans you may want to call ahead, we could be seeing some cancellations. we are looking at major delays here because of the very heavy rain that has been going across the area all day long, we are talking boston, the major airports. we are starting to see the snow coming into play, now that is going to be happening up here towards the northern part of new england, over the next several hours, winter storm warnings and advisories in effect, for parts of new york, maine, new hampshire, as well as vermont. that is a look at your national weather, more news after this.

in africa there's been a dramatic increase in rhino poaching. techno has more. >> the world animal kingdom is under siege.

since 1970, animal populations have declined on average, behalf. accosting to estimates by the worldwide life fun, a big driver is wild life trafficking. illegal trade in wild life is a big global business. worth at least $19 billion a year. that makes up the fourth largest criminal industry in the world right behind drugs, counter fitting and human trafficking. it's been connected to organize crimes, militant groups and even al quaida. the rynnas raws one of the world's iconic creatures is being devastated by the black market trade. less than 30,000 remain, down from 70,000 just four years ago. joseph john is chief of environmental crime.

with wild life you may receive a slap on the wrist, if you traffic in cocaine you will go to prison for a long time. >> he prosecute add case against jimmy and felix, a los angeles father and son team suspected of smuggling millions of dollars worth of rhino horns. it was part of operation crash. a nationwide crack town on rhino trafficking. what was most surprising was the corelation of wild life trafficking and the direct drive in murderings killings of south africa. >> and we are joined now by techno, and this is an incredibly revealing story.

je, this was a crime lab like no other, in fact, it is the only one of it's kind in the world. i have to tell you at times it did feel like being on a c.s.i. t.v. show, the victims here are not people, rather a multitude of endangered species. >> is what did the lab do in the case of the l.a. smugglers you talked about. >> well, they played two major roles. the first here was to positively identify dozens of items that were 70ed by agents as rhino horn. they needed to positively identify them because, there are a lot of fakes. rhino, certain carvings can be made from things like water buffalo, or

even plastic, so when they had a positive i.d., then the next step is to identify to specieses and that's important because certain species of rhino like the black rhino, for instance, are more critically endangered. >> what happens to these horns is it mostly carvings. >> well, it's used for a variety of things. as far as rye tempts there there's always sorts of carvings and keepsakes. certain things will used for furbishings, in living rooms and then there's also -- they have been used a lot in the case of rhino, at least, for medicinal purposes or the perceived purpose. the important thing so remember is there's no scientific evidence that shows that rhino horn has any medicinal use whatsoever. they are essentially made

of care tin which is what our hair and nails are made of. >> is in the case of rhino, it comes to see from a spike in demand that is coming from vietnam. where a rumor was spread that rhino horn powder cured the cancer of a local poll six, what that has done is driven the prices up to about $30,000 per pound. that is more than cocaine, it is more than gold, and even platinum. >> it is really tragic, but an interesting story, and an important story, thank you and be sure to join for the latest episode of techno this saturday, it airs 7:30 eastern, 4:30 pacific time. coming up, how general motors is enticing owners to get their recalled cars fixed.

plus, you may know her as xena warrior princess, but she has a new role, environment warrior. lernaean 8:00 pacific time. all right, republicans not only want control of the senate on tuesday, there were also symbolic victories. it's been called the party of anger white men, but they are all smiles with some of their winnersening thatting the stereotype. >> mia love is the first black woman elected to the house of representatives as a republican. >> the daughter of haitian immigrants her message of less government and more personal responsible resonated with voters in the conservative state of utah. >> we aren't interested in dividing america base on gender, race, social status, we are more interested in the integrity, and the honesty, of a candidate. someone who is going to return power back to the

people and away from washington. >> we did it. harvard graduate, worked for the administration of george w bush, before returning to rural new york to work in her family's business and run for office. >> i am honored and humbled to be the youngest woman ever elected to the united states congress. and to add an additional crack to the glass ceiling for future generations of women here tonight. >> my favorite part of running for congress both women were heavily supported by the republican party, which democrats have accused of waging a war on women over reproductive rights. as well as disenfranchising black voters. >> clearly it is a good look for the republicans. this doesn't mean that suddenly the republicans are just going to start getting 20 to 30% of the black vote.

similar bollism can take you only so far. >> but voters agree it is a step in the right direction. >> it is about time that some changes happen. always the same thing, always the same republicans, always the same people running the show. >> i like when i see women getting in. break the glass ceiling whenever you can. >> so these wins in utah and here in new york, could be crucial for the party. especially as it looks ahead to the presidential elections of 2016, and the possible of facing a very popular woman democrat al jazeera, new york a hero from the civil war received the nation's highest mel tear honor today. he died in the battle of gettysburg more than 150 years ago, the 22-year-old officer was wounded in the fight, but refused to leave the battlefield. he led about 110 men, and

six cannons during the battle. and a salute to the troops concert is being held at the white house at this hour. ♪ the president and the first lady are hosting several well known musicians including willey nelson, mary j blake, the audience is full of military members and their families. that's our broadcast, we thank you for watching. see you back here later on tonight at 11:00 eastern time, america tonight is next. ♪

on america tonight. lit up. techers would be election night in the nation's capitol, but did the party start too early? how d.c.'s unique status changed the picture of legalized pot. >> why is this important. >> because uh i feel very strongly about it. when you see the racial disparity, then you see the human rights violations of it. >> on legalized marijuana in washington, d.c. and why it is not high times quite yet.