that will open your hearts and minds. >> i don't know if iv'e ever seen anything like this... >> and at 10, don't miss the best the best of america tonight, in depth reports, with unique perspectives. >> people are coming from hours away, to try to help. only on al jazeera america this is thomas drayton, i'm in new york. less than 24 hours remain for negotiators in vienna to reach an agreement over iran's nuclear programme. israel's cabinet passes a proposal declaring the country a jewish state. flags in washington d.c. fly at half staff to honour former mayor marion barry who passed away. in the sunday segment, "the week ahead", we'll take a closer look at what is at sfak in

negotiations over iran's nuclear -- stake in negotiations over iran's nuclear programme at this hour, six world powers and iranian leaders are in vienna racing against the clock to make a deal on iran's nuclear programme. the deadline is tomorrow. a senior u.s. official tells al jazeera that could be extended. secretary of state john kerry talked with the iranian foreign minister for 80 minutes. president obama told a.b.c.'s this week he's hopeful an acceptable deal will be reached. >> i'm confident that if we reach a deal that is very fiable. and assures that iran does not have break out capacity, that not only can i persuade the

american people. johna hole has more on the talks. national powers and iran are in place. china's wang ye is due in on monday. some sources suggest it could be missed altogether. a state department official who has been speaking to both sides believes talk of failure is premature. ment not only is it too early, they are looking for a break through: this is president obama's assessment in a u.s. television interview. the good news is the interim deal we entered into has

definitely stopped iran's newer leer programme. it's successful. >> a deal has a roll back. >> the gaps exist in the difference between the one hand on the determination to limit iran's ability to enrich iranian and her unwillingness to give to. up. they have a permanent sanctions release and the powers wanting to hold sanctions back. >> in iran talks are monitored. it makes the outcome in vienna important. they expect the talks to not fail. it's clear that the united states has created a big mess in the region, due to policies.

we had the rise of i.s.i.l., and the united states is in sharp conflict. the russians in ukraine, and chinese in the south china sea, and russia moving towards iran as time moves by. the balance of power is shifting away from the united states. iranians recognise that. a scene like this is unthinkable. the u.s. secretary of state and iran's foreign minister in friendly face to face talks, a sign of how par they have come. what is at stake if the negotiations over the nuclear programme fails altogether. the rapid return of old enemies to pass decades of hostility and talk of war.

. >> the approval of of the bill by the government is taking it down to parliament or the knesset. this bill is very controversial.

critics say that it will effectively change the nature of the current legal system of israel, the attorney-general has attacked the bill going as far as saying it threatens israel's democracy, but you have those on the other side saying that it's important to enshrine the jewish nature of the israeli states - whatever the case, it's still a long way from becoming a law as we have been saying. it will be debated by lawmakers in the coming days. but many critics of the prime minister binyamin netanyahu are saying that he's using the law effectively to score political points, particularly those with - rather the members of his own cabinet. bear in mind this is a coalition government, a government which has formed mainly far right groups and binyamin netanyahu's

largest likud party, and as a result we are perhaps seeing mr binyamin netanyahu trying to do what he can do ensure that that coalition stays together, as we enter what most observers believe is an election period. many believe that we can see an election within the next 6-12 months, binyamin netanyahu is no doubt keenly aware of that, and, again, some are suggesting that his support for the bill, and his pushing the bill is directly related to his political futures. imtiaz tyab reporting richelle carey talked to a professor of international relations at new york university, and asked for his reaction to the bill. >> i think it is a misguided - it is unnecessary, and for prime minister binyamin netanyahu to push it, it's another terrible mistake. what is behind it is

consideration in terms of he would like the keep the coalition together, and it's one of consideration. i think it was beyond that. binyamin netanyahu has been talking about this, and some of his coalition measures for some time. my problem with that is that to keep israel a jewish state per se is not enough to pass laws. what you need, excuse me is sustainable jewish majority, and unless israel decided to have 2-state solution, and begin this process, israel as a jewish state will be undermined one way or the other. >> the cabinet voted 14 to 6 to allow the government to draft a law defining israel as the jewish home. president obama rallies support for a new immigration plan. the president says it's better than doing nothing whilst waiting for congress to act.

president obama criticized house republicans for threatening to shut down congress. >> one of the things we have seen in congress since house republicans took over, is that everything becomes hostage to one disagreement. so a couple of years ago it's obama care. the affordable care act, and they decided we are going to shut down the government because we disagree with this one law. >> shame on us as republicans for having a body that cannot generate a solution to a national security issue that's cultural and economic. the senate did this three times. president obama is willing to work with republicans to pass a bill that would pass the house. >> if you live in an area that typically floods or has flooded or if you live near that area, prepare to evacuate for a flood situation. >> a warning from the - from the

governor there, new fears in buffalo new york as the city races for flooding. buffalo was hit with seven feet of snow, prompting concern of a melt before the city has a cans to dig out. >> there is no sigh of relief. there is no tie, days after early season snow storm roofs are caving under the weight. >> 20 years have gone in four days. trey lost an industrial workshop. the second is on the verge of collapse. >> we have been working our butts off to keep the snow away from the building so when the flooding comes, it's away from the building. we didn't realise up above how much stress would be on the

roof. >> residents across the area are in a desperate fight to clear the snow before it's too late. >> i'm worried about the weight on the roof. there's not much pitch. there's cracks in the ceiling already. >> in some places they are on their own. several neighbourhoods are buried. reinforcements arriving. the ftny among those pitching in, making sure snow-bound residents are safe. >> how are you? >> everything's fine. >> get your medication? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: snow is not the only worry, rain and snow melting could cause flooding. the battle enthuse. >> making sure the suers are clean. >> storm weary residents bracing for round two let's get right to rebecca stevenson, with a check on the forecast. we are seeing changes. >> already. we have temperatures that warm up. 20 degrees warmer than they were, even last night.

now the rain is moving in. it will continue through the night and will bring us half an inch or so of rainfall on top of the snow in the heavy hit areas, especially as we talk about erie, peninsula, up to buffalo, new york, and moving inland, where the heaviest snow fall is, and the temperatures warming. this within a couple of days, this fast. we'll have the problems. 58 degrees right now. some spots closer to 60. we'll hover in the mid '60s over night. we have that much snow on the roof. and that much rain on top. it will load it more. you have to consider the trees. they have the snow sitting on top of them. they'll get loaded more and we have tree limbs breaking, power outages, and we haven't talked about the winds. they'll gust up to 607 miles per hour -- 60 miles per hour in the same area. they have been building up to 30 miles per hour, and an ice jam

caused a fast rapid rise to one of the creeks, kazaa novia. it caused it to rise. we'll have that in the suburbs too, in the local drainage systems in addition to the creeks draping where the snow -- draining where the snow is. that's is specific warning. other areas under high wind warnings. the warmer air bringing regard-high temperatures tomorrow across the north-east, getting 70 in places, up until the north-east. low temperatures back to the north central area, around chicago, minnesota, and back to the teens as it blasts in. we are looking at record stretches not only of how many days temperatures are sub freezing, but are looking at record amounts of snow fall. >> it's a busy week for a lot of folks. tragic news, a 12-year-old

is dead after being shot by cleveland police whilst holding a beeby gun. officers are called to a country center after a report of a male waving a gun. when they arrived the young man reached for his weapon. >> the young man pulled a weapon out, one of our officers fired two shots. >> the boy died this morning, his weapon turned out to be a beeby gun. he has been placed on modified duty. >> the streets of ferguson, missouri are calm. tension is in the air as the city awaits a decision on the michael brown case. people are waiting to see if the police officer who shot the unarmed teen will be indicted. brown's death shot off angry protests. it could park a reaction. >> good to see you, at this

point all we can do is wait. what is going on there. >> thomas, good to see you and talk to you. it's a wet rainy night in st louis metro. people are - this is heavy on their minds, pretty much all that people are talking about, is when is this grand jury going to make the decision. in the building behind me, the justice hall in clayton missouri, we don't know. we were supposed to hear over the weekend, that's what everyone was saying, as of late yesterday we learnt no decision had been made according to sources, st louis dispatch reporting that, other media out elements, we don't know if they'll reconvene tomorrow in the building behind me. she does have until january 7th. it's not imminent.

are protesters are out and about. some arrests have been made. mostly peaceful, they have been marching, they have blocked off the streets. last night, michael brown's mother was walking the streets of ferguson, listen to what she had to say. >> i don't want nobody getting hurt. see what i'm saying. i want all ya with me. >> and people in churches this morning on the sunday, pastors, priests, echoed her sentiments, saying, you know, whatever the verdict is, whatever the grand jury decides, whenever they decide it, let's keep it calm and accept it and not take to the streets with violence or looting. >> have been hearing or talking about beefed up security, how noticeable is it on the streets. >> it depend where you go. if you look behind, the barricades put up. just in case a decision is made.

you don't know what crowds will do. the barricades up there, sf you go to ferguson, businesses are boarded up. they have lost 75% of their businesses, they want it to come to an end. the national guard is in town, they are not rolling through the streets. that should be put out of people's heads. when protesters have come out, there has been police in riot gear, similar to what we saw in august. there's not been big militarized vehicles rolling down the street. no question about it. they are prepared. law officials are prepared for anything that could happen when the decision is made. protesters are prepared for anything. we'll have to see what happens, when it happens, rain is falling, fog in the area and people are hoping for an answer.

>> community leaders are calling for peaceful protests. robert ray joining us from clayton missouri. next - the battle for kobane rages on. kurdish fighters in the iraqi government look to the u.s. for more help a suicide bombing at a volleyball tournament kills dozens in afghanistan and an historic day in tunisia - why the country's presidential election is not over yet.

isil has been driving thousands of civilians occurred issue

fighters in the iraqi government are asking washington for more help. we have more from baghdad. >> the aftermath of u.s. led airstrikes targeting isil fighters in the central city, building it is are destroyed and eight civilians killed, including women and children. three months of airstrikes ever pushed back isil in some areas, but it is advancing elsewhere. they've been pushing hard into nearby rimadi where dozens of members of a sunni muslim tribe have been killed. iraq's prime minister has called for more air support, but further east, kurdish peshmerga forces are critical of the strategy behind the airstrikes. >> the airplane doesn't come here. >> the battle is fierce and kurdish commanders not getting the support they need. they accuse the u.s. of having a certain tolerance towards isil's

advance. >> this area is near the border with iran and might be the preference of the americans to create a problem for iran. this might be the reason the coalition and americans did not attack isil here. >> the u.s. wants to expand influence in the battle against isil, now planning to spend millions of dollars arming sunni tribes. in a pentagon document addressed to congress, it said it will do so with, by and through iraq's government. some suggest the prime minister is hesitant. >> the government is baghdad is in doubt about the weapons to be given to tribes. it fears these weapons might reach the hands of isil fighters fighters. >> the coalition is assessing options but the u.s. maintains the only way to beat isil fighters is by arming the sunni tribes, but the tribes have been

here before. in 2006, 2007 and 2008, they were armed to fight al-qaeda which they did do and did defeat. they were abandoned by the americans and the last government isil isolated them, some saying rose to the rise of isil. >> aljazeera, bag dodd. >> a suicide bomber has killed 49 people in afghanistan. the bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd add a volleyball tournament. fifty were injured, many of them in critical condition. we report from kabul. >> we spoke to a tribal elder showing just how isolated an area it is, he is 45 minutes away from the area. he showed how the bomber walked into this tournament before detonating an explosive device, describing many children amongst the casualties. two helicopters have been

authorized to fly south to that area to pick some of the casualties up and bring them back for treatment here. some have been treated in a military hospital. we are hearing requests and seeing requests on social media for blood donations. additional security forces are being sent to the area to try and help with some of those casualties. it comes as a sensitive time when parliament hannan musty voted in five of the security pact with both the u.s. and nato in terms of trying to give additional training for the afghan forces and of course this attack shows you just exactly what kind of challenge they face. >> charles stratford in kabul. afghanistan's parliament approved a deal with the u.s. and nato to allow troops to stay in the country. it was approved overwhelmingly by 152-5 vote. 12,000 troops will be in the country to help local forces fight the taliban. >> it appears that tunisia's

presidential election isn't quite over, although votes are still being counted. it looks like a runoff will be required to determine the winner. 27 candidates campaigned for the position, but two emerged as the front runners. it's the first time the tunisians voted for president since the arab spring. voter turnout was around 65%. we talked to some voters in the capitol. >> most of the people at this polling station are old enough to remember life in a state where political opposition or freedom of speech were not tolerated. for some, this is the first time they ever voted in a presidential election. >> how are you feeling right now? >> very excited. very excited and optimistic about the country's future. >> this is the man who had a good chance of winning.

he has spent years in politics, but managed to distance himself from the countries authoritarian past. >> me? i believe in the people. >> last month, his party was not a majority in parliament. there are fears if it takes the presidency, there will be a concentration of power in the hands of one man. >> we need a new blood, we need stronger. we not to have someone and some people who throw you behind. >> also with a chance for victory, this man has the backing of the second biggest party in the country. it a candidate running for president. this man may surprise everyone, a business tycoon appeals to some young people looking for a solution to their economic problems.

campaigners say at the heart of the problems is inequality. >> i believe the problem of creating job opportunities, decent working opportunities for young people, for women most affected by the lack of job opportunities, this needs to be addressed in qualities between the regions of the country need to be addressed. >> there is so much at stake in this election. many here are proud of what this tiny country has achieved but also understand the transition to democracy isn't over yet. >> the people united to fight for freedom, dignity and jobs. almost four years on, there are more out of work and tunisia is politically divided, but people have something they didn't have before, hope for the future of their children. aljazeera, tunis. >> when we return, the race against the clock to make a deal on iran's nuclear program,

what's at stake for those involved.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. here are the top stories we're following now. new fears in buffalo today as the city braces for potential flooding. it was hit with seven feet of snow, now residents anticipate snowfall and higher temperatures. >> citizens of ferguson, missouri demonstrated this weekend as they await a decision from a grand jury in the michael brown case. the jury is expected to reconvene tomorrow and may announce this week whether or not officer darren wilson will be indicted in the michael brown shooting. >> world leaders are meeting about iran's nuclear program in vienna. a senior u.s. administration official says that the deadline may be extended. >> it is sunday night and time for our regular look at the week ahead. iran and international

negotiators ever less than 24 hours to secure an agreement on the country's nuclear program. as we mentioned, secretary of state john kerry has been in trilateral talks. gaps still remain in closing the deal, which could mean another extension. we have background. >> in 1967, during an era of close ties with the u.s., washington sold iran its first nuclear research reactor. that relationship fell apart 12 years later after the shaw was overthrown and 52 americans were held hostage for over a year. the ayatollah initially shut down iran's nuclear program only to restart it during the iran-iraq war. israeli raised the alarm that iran would ever nuclear weapons.

>> iran aggressively exports terror. >> arts surfaced that iran had secretly built a uranium enrichment facility and traces of enriched uranium were found. iran agreed to suspend the program and allow international inspections. after the election of the hard line president ahmadinejad, rap changed course. the new president defiantly cell braided iran's return to uranium enrichment even with sanctions imposed on iran. >> he squandered billions of dollars of iran's oil revenue while he was president. in those eight years he was president, he brought about huge damage to the iranian economy. >> by 2013, iran's oil exports were cut in half by sanctions.

ahmadinejad barred from seeking a third term by iran's constitution, rouhani was elected, promising a new attitude. >> at the end of the day, this country unlike other countries out there relies on trading with the rest of the world. >> with a phone call, president rouhani and president obama had the first high level contact between the countries in 34 years, paving the way for these year long negotiations, during which iran's nuclear program has been suspended and some of its uranium supply diluted. iran gained access to frozen assets. the biggest obstacle is iran's desires to produce enriched rain yum that can be used in medical research and nuclear weapons. iran has signaled a willingness to ship most of its rain yum

stockpile to russia, which could be used for rods for its one nuclear plant. >> by most accounting, one of the main sticking points between two sides is how much sanction relief iran will get in exchange for whatever it eventually gives up. one of the reasons why washington is reluctant to lift sanctions is tehran's refusal to dismantle centrifuges. they enrich rain yum for purposes, peaceful, as well as military. back at home, selling any agreement will be difficult. democrats and republicans oppose any agreement with iran. the iranian president faces many of the same pressures. if a deal is reached, he'll need the approval of hardliners in

iran, many who don't want any deal with america. to talk more about the agreement, let's bring in a researcher for the program on signs of global security at princeton university and senior fellow for science in international affairs at the harvard kennedy school. great to have you with us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> another possible extension, realistically, however apart are we in reaching a nuclear deal? >> there's two issues at hand here, one is technical and one political. on the technical aspect, i believe that there two sides ever bridged a lot of their differences, and while there is some remaining issues, since it is technical, we have solutions to those. unfortunately, as you've mentioned in the piece, there needs to be a political will for us to be able to push this nuclear deal forward, and where it lacks is our hawks in washington and iran who want

this deal not to happen. on a technical aspect, there is a lot of movement, and on the political one, it requires political will, political capital and a lot of wrangling between the two parties to see how does a final comprehensive deal look like between the p5 plus one and iran. >> however ever we come in these iran nuclear talks? >> i think that there has been progress in the last one year, but as the previous speaker said, we still have the problems. the biggest is not only the number of sensitivities, but to define which are the practical rain yum enrichment. in the previous segment, how to verify this agreement, it needs to be verifiable, and those are two most important technical questions which remain to be answered and agreed. >> do you see a greater shift by

iran to normalize relations with the west? >> differently, i mean, president rouhani came on a mandate of improving iran's relations with the world, specifically the western world specifically the united states. based on that mandate and i believe president rouhani has shown through the team that he selected, the foreign minister and iran's overall strategy to resolve their differences with international committee to come out of international isolation they've been feeling for the past couple of years. >> what is needed from iran and the west, do we need to see less rhetoric? >> for sure, and i think it is shown that it is fairly good. what happens inside meeting rooms might be a little hard talk, but this really goes back to this basic question that which are the rain yum

enrichment needs of iran. currently looks to me from technical point of view that iran doesn't need 19,000 centrifuges to provide medicalized for people who are sick, so they had to come down with the numbers. >> they do need to come down with the numbers. that's what's being discussed. who benefits the most? >> i think the international community benefits. the region benefits. if iran and the u.s. come to resolution, it is the first and most powerful key to open up bilateral relations to discuss an array of issues that are not just in the national issue of ran, but united states and regional powers. there are issues like the fight against isis, now at the height of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east. it would become important for present gulf security, for the

stability of iraq, syria, afghanistan. the key to this is to resolve the decades-old relations between the u.s. and iran. i believe if that happens, we are going to have a new chapter for a region that is been embroiled in conflict and raging on now. >> and russia benefits as well. >> of course it does. i believe it is important to when you lay down this comprehensive deal on the nuclear issue, that we realize that a year ago, just a year ago, the break through of the decade of negotiations was primarily based on the fact that president obama mentioned that he wants a deal with iran and vice verse and mr. rouhani. it is backed up by a great team in both capitals, and most importantly, when the iranian leadership structure has given the green light to the rouhani administration to press ahead

with a deal, so this is very important development. >> i want to talk about the israel factor, gentleman. the white house will be under pressure to explain to a skeptical congress. >> going into the weekend, white house officials were making no secret of the fact that serious gaps remain and insist that the president would not sign what they would term a bad deal. if u.s. officials say they have very simple goals, painting them in very broad terms. they want to make sure iran cannot obtain nuclear weapons, that pathways to making nuclear material are shut down, centrifuges and heavy water plants and want verifiable assurances that the nuclear program is ran is peaceful for civilian energy purposes and not for military purposes. heading into the vienna talks, u.s. officials were not there to talk about yet another extension. the talks were extended in july.

the new deadline is monday. if there is another extension, the white house and the administration are going to have to answer a very basic question. why? is there an indication from iran they are willing to meet the very basic goals of the united states to ensure that iran's nuclear program is not for military purposes but civilian energy use and is it going to be rear final. >> once a deal is reached, this is going to be a very tough sell to washington. >> that's true. there are people who are against it. let's see what is in the agreement, all the aspects of the content which has been expressed. verify the nuclear material in

iran and as this military related issues, one of the reasons why the security council ended up in this resolution. it will be pretty much just on the verification details what will be the -- how acceptable this agreement will be. >> your thoughts, will it be a tougher sell with a republican controlled senate? >> yes and no. a lot of power is given to the president and administration to formulate and move ahead with their foreign policies while the congress republican or democratic is going to be very much pro israeli in their approach and probably very suspicious of a deal with the iranians would put abstackles into place of obama administration. i believe if the obama administration holds on to this approach that they are currently on, towards a rode of dialogue with the israelis, i believe

there is ways to break through even with obstacles provided. >> israel has been pushing for a complete halt to the iranian nuclear program, not just a downgrade. >> under the proposed deal, iran does not have to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure and that is what israel objects to. israeli officials admit all they're flying to do now is commit the u.s. to sign as good deal as possible, with five aspects, the most important the breakout time, expanding the time iran would need to build a nuclear weapon to years rather than 12 or more months as u.s. officials are negotiating. israeli wants centrifuges limited to a number blow the four or 5,000 discussed now. israeli wants research and

development completely removed, more intense inspections and perhaps most importantly, israel wants to deal that lasts a decade. many analysts believe that israeli concerns about this deal actually helps push both sides and iranian hardliners toward to deal. expect the criticism from israeli to continue now and after a deal is signed. >> if we don't get a deal, what does this mean for the overall stability of the middle east? >> well, it's certainly not positive, but i think that there will be a deal. whether it will be there tomorrow, there are certainly doubts, but it's hard to believe that people now walk away and drop the whole case, so we will see an extension, then we have to see if there is a political will to solve this fairly simple technical issues in front of us. >> what does a solid nuclear deal that would satisfactory israel and the world powers. >> i think what has been negotiated on is three issues as

the professor mentioned, how do we verify iran's nuclear program as peaceful, how do we monitor it and ensure whatever the iranians are saying is true? in the interim deal all the verify cases, monitoring were signed as an interim deal. if there is a comprehensive one, we can assure the community, including the israels that iran's program is for peaceful purposes, because everything will be monitored under the iaea. if this is the case, we can prove the iranians can prove to international community that under the nuclear no one proliferation treatment they have signed, ironically, israel has not, iran can prove that it can have a peaceful program for the den fit of its domestic economy and also play a more

constructive role in no one proliferation throughout the region and iran has been backing for years a pursuit of weapons for mass destruction free zone, including the rad occasion of all w.m.d.'s. the number one reason we don't have, because israelis are holding on to their arsenal. >> do you see relations between iran and the west improving with this process? >> definitely. it is the first time in 35 years that only a year ago these two governments, iran and u.s. sat bilaterally. i believe secretary of state john kerry and his counterpart have built a relationship in the past year, where i was actually at the u.n. general assembly in september where they actually speak very casually together as if they've known each other for much longer than expected. this has never happened.

i believe if relations improve dramatically by its nature, u.s. will open up iran's economy and iran's relations with the west will also improve. >> your final thoughts? >> yes, i think that there are a lot of mistakes, and we should not look this also in isolation from the our countries in the middle east, because there are still concerns in the golf countries that what is the real scope, and if iran now maintains -- they are going to ask the same right. this might not be good in the area of middle east. therefore, i think that the only long term solution is as the previous speaker said is this zone including chemical abolishment in countries. >> certainly the clock is ticking.

we'll have to leave it there. >> before we go, let's take a look at other events coming up. monday, president obama will present the medal of freedom to 19 people at the white house. among the recipients are meryl streep, stevie wonder and tom brokaw. thursday marks the 88th annual macy's day parade, 3.5 million people attended the event and 50 million others watch is on t.v. floats, celebrities and giant balloons help kick off the u.s. holiday season. >> coming up next, remembering marion barry, the life and

legacy of the d.c. politician. >> a construction project underway at the capitol believe. stay with us.

>> we're following stories of people who died in the desert. >> the borderland marathon. >> no one's prepared for this journey. >> experience al jazeera america's critically acclaimed original series from the beginning. >> experiencing it has changed me completely. >> follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking. >> i'm the enemy. >> i'm really pissed off. >> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> it's insane. >> the borderland thanksgiving day marathon. on al jazeera america.

>> the in flux of migrants seeking sanctuary in europe continues. the italian coast guard saved 600 refer jesus fleeing libya and syria. this year, more than 150,000 people have been saved trying to cross the mediterranean sea into europe. >> gas prices have fallen 10 cents over the past weeks and expected to drop lower. the survey reports gas prices are down 88 cents from this year's peak in may and may drop a few nor cents. certainly great news for consumers, but not for oil producing nations. at an opec meeting, members may decide to reduce oil production and that could bring oil prices back up. >> marion barry, the former washington, d.c. mayor at a died. he was released from prison on

drug charges. the 78-year-old died early this morning. we have a look at the life and times of marion barry. >> and defend the laws -- >> he was dubbed washington, d.c.'s mayor for life and prison, drugs and adultery did not effect his electability. he was consistently reelected to the city council until his death. he left behind the cotton fields for higher education, first of his family. he was an odorser of martin luther king's marsh on washington. he promised change in a washington, d.c. blighted by racial tension and fiscal chaos, and he delivered, bringing order to the city's budget, as well as creating a diverse and representative local government infrastructure. he redeveloped neglected areas of the city. he laid the foundations for the prosperous washington of today.

he fasted a loyalty amongst constituents impervious to scandal and remained loyal, spending millions on job programs for the young and care for the elderly. he helped build a confident middle class. his second and third terms were marred by allegations of patronage and corruption. then, just as he was about to announce his candidacy for a fourth term, the f.b.i. mounted its sting operation, luring him to a hotel room with the promise of sex and drugs. upon his release from a six month prison sentence, he was received as a hero and was able to secure reelection as mayor. washington was a city in disarray from its finances to the aids he deckic and crack cocaine. amid accusations of mismanagement and corruption, congress stripped him of his power in what barry called a rape of democracy in 1997. it was clear whatever he faced, his faith in himself and his

achievements remain undimmed. >> we have regrets, but i don't want to dwell on regrets. i let you all do that. i dwell on what i've done to help a lot of people. >> marion barry would remain a political force in washington, d.c. until he died. aljazeera, washington. >> quite a legacy. >> one of the most iconic struckures in the united states is undergoing a major renovation. the capitol dome is wrapped in scaffolding for the process of repairing more than 1,000 cracks in the cast iron. we have details. >> to get one of the best views of the masterpiece, washington's immaculately laid out grid, you've got to go right to the to be, to 88 feet to the very top of the u.s. capitol building. it's fair to say that the guys up here do not spend a lot of people looking down or out

across the capitol city. high above the hot air of the left and the right, 150 years of sheltering lawmakers has left cracks in the capitol's cast iron dome, yes, cast iron, because building a stone topper would have been even more prohibitively heavy, and this thing is nearly 9 million pounds as it is. that's about the weight of 20 statues of liberty. cast iron cracks? 1300 serious ones already identified, with enough bits knocked off already, then in a rare show of bipartisan unit, congress signed off on a $60 million project expected to take until the end of next year. renovation projects always take twice as long as cost twice as much as you think, and this is no small project.

it has taken months just to get the mill plus pound salvedding up. there's enough decking up there to build a five-foot wide sidewalk from the capitol to the lincoln memorial. the workers will need it. they'll have to strip and then repaint three coats, the top layer called what else, but dome white and patch 13,000-inches of cracks. think about all those mother's backs. no, the work isn't cheap, but they don't do this often. the last time was more than 50 years ago. this fix up is supposed to last 100 years, although none of us will be around to see if that really happens. even an enduring symbol of america needs work from time to time and in many ways, even this redo is representative of the struggles that go on inside. for all the cracks and fissures,

the capitol holds the cast to freedom. it's the cast of a slave that sits atop the dome and arises to america to a new generation. >> exterior work is said to be finished by winter of next year, interior work by fall of 2016. >> microsoft is relying on robot to say safeguard its as i will von valley campus. it is five feet tall with cameras and sensors and sounds an alarm when it calculates something is wrong. the k5 works 24 hours a day with one break to recharge. it's makers hope law enforcement will one day use the k5. that's going to do it for this hour. thanks so much for joining us. i'll be back with another hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern. coming up next, aljazeera

presents marco polo, the very modern journey.

>> let's take a look at china.