fine, i would be lying. >> tough realities. >> i feel so utterly alone. >> life changing moments. >> in this envelope is my life. >> if you don't go to college you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series. "edge of eighteen". thanksgiving marathon. friday. 9:00 am eastern. only on al jazeera america. on "america tonight", the weekend decision, shooting strait at the naa. how supporters in washington state found it worked. >> the n.r.a. is not invincible, we succeeded. we got them to run away scared. >> adam may on how they won the day, and how it could be a model for gun control activists in other states also - in a moment. streets of philadelphia, images of a community in crisis.

and a photographer's vision for making peace. topping it off - the nation's most expensive fixer upper, and why this is a project republicans and democrats agreed is worth the price good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. can the n.r.a. be beat? for decades the powerful gun rights lobby targeted and helped to defeat politicians that tried to take over gun control wars. in washington they took a vote to the people. "america tonight"s adam may looks at a new method that could tighten gun laws across the u.s., and has the n.r.a. sounding the alarm.

>> reporter: some gun owners in washington state are fired up. >> we got crumbled. champion. >> that is the rifle i shoot for the u.s. team. that's my baby. she led a campaign against pallet initiative i 594. they waste resources on something that will not make washington safer. >> reporter: 594 was designed to plug loopholes, mandating background checks for private sales and gun transfers. on election say washington voters passed 594 in a landslide. become 60 to 40%. fight? >> i think they did. now they have a huge, huge, huge battle on its hands because it will spread to other states. this was a cancer. this seattle was a test bed for

this issue. >> reporter: like most attempts to pass stronger gun laws the effort to expand gun checks was held up in the legislature for years. lawmakers were afraid to touch the issues, gun rights activists showed up in force in the capital when it came up. advocates took a new approach. supporters collecting more than a quarter million signatures putting the issue to a popular vote. the new law has left gun owners confused, worried their actions police. >> for instance, i have a girlfriend who calls me up and says her crazy x is stalking her, she's afraid, could i bring a gun for her. but who is to make that call? how is that going to be enforced, and all the transfers need to somehow be tracked at some point. >> right now washington does not

track who owns a gun, but gun owners fear the new law will lead to a state registry, and even confiscation of guns. and there are some precedence. during hurricane katrina in new orleans, police were ordered to go door to door and confiscate civilian firearms. in the video that went viral, an elderly woman is violently tackled by law enforcement after refusing to give up her pistol and evacuate. in washington, the new law is claimed to be an attack on basic aspects of gun culture. >> they have center cross airs in the bull's eye at the target. >> as an instructor, she teaches others, including youth youps of how to shoot rifles. she thinks 594 could bring it to an end. >> the fact i hand you a gun to shoot is a criminal shoot. >> do you think me firing your

gun we could have been breaking the law? >> absolutely. annette said when i used her gun i may have been committing a felony because of 594. are am i right? >> i want you to have a clean conscience. you did not commit a felony. the language and the law, there's exemptions around okay. >> sandy brown helped to lead the 594 campaign, claiming the new law would have a big impact on violent crime. by targetting gun sales arranged over the internet, currently exempt from background checks. >> in our research, we learnt that there were 40,000 guns online in washington state every year that would be sold without a criminal background check. that's a source for illegal guns. >> of the crimes committed, do you have a breakdown or

percentage of how many are committed. >> i don't think that law enforcement has been able to break it down. we know of circumstances that could have been avoided if a person had not received a gun without a criminal background check. the prime champ we use was this past year, when a 29-year-old nurse was in her house, and her ex-boyfriend broke in, took a gun and held it to her head, shot her and himself. he had tried to get a gun out of federally licensed firearm dealer and was turned down. he went online and got the gun online. that's the gun he used to kill the ex-girlfriend. >> the 594 campaign was used. the n.r.a. could not compete with a campaign.

>> they expect spent something like $750,000 to fight us. >> you guys had $11 million and you fought them. >> we expect them to dump money in, they didn't do it. >> elated. cheryl was the face of 594. speaking across the state to drum of support. the suburban seattle woman's life changed forever when she almost died due to a mass shooting. a man angry with israel walked in and opened fire. >> i didn't realise i was shot. >> turned out he held it point blank against my abdomen and pulled the trigger. i couldn't hear anything because my ears were ringing because of the gun fire, and my face was in the crowd. i couldn't see anything.

i could smell that smell. that is the smell of waiting to dine. i thought she'd be dead. >> how do you cope with the that here. >> gun law advocates in other states. nevada and main watched the campaign closely. they are pushing initiatives. hoping to duplicate the results in washington. what is the message for gun law support. the message is nra is not invincible. just get together and do it. we did it in washington. we got the n.r.a. to run away scared. you can too. >> reporter: 27 states allow some kind of initiatives or

referendums putting an issue in the direct hand of components. it let's legislators off the hook. the question in washington state and legislators would be why aren't elected officials taking a common stance and why are we allowing themselves to be cowered by the gun lobby, when they could make decisions saving lives, reducing violence across the country. >> weeks before terror at a washington state high school. a freshman killed four students and himself with a handgun. observers say the event may have motivated some voters, even though the gun was registered to a family member. just like the gun that shot cheryl. test.

>> reporter: would it have made a different in the jewish federation shooting? >> no. >> or the washington shooting. >> no, those are the situations that they would be allowed to address. >> reporter: more gun laws sent to voters. changing? >> i do, i think people think the gun lobby power had too much power. the will of the people need to prevail. and they'll do what i do, go ahead and say and do the right thing, like i did, putting their fears aside. fears. >> this is the first step of other forms of gun control. we have, now that this has passed, they are starting to write bills for gun storage. a semiautoban altogether. >> reporter: high station, and a

new way for gun law supporters to hit their target president obama unveiled his big plans for immigration reform, sparing 5 million undocumented migrants from deportation, giving them temporary status, he called for more border security in the south-west. on the front lines some consider that to be mess placed. reporting from arizona, here is rob reynolds. it's early morning at the border control checkpoint near arizona. 40km north of the lines separating the u.s. from mexico. agents with sniffer dogs checked each vehicle as it passes along a 2-lane road. at this border checkpoint there is something unusual. >> this is a newer model sedan. >> a group of citizens monitoring the monitors.

many are fed up with the disruption caused in their daily lives by the checkpoint and by the heavy-handed presence of the border patrol in the area. >> possibly one male, one white. >> lisa jacobson helped to organise the checkpoint monitoring. many in the community believe that our community has been treated as if we live in a war zone. customs and border patrol told al jazeera: i have to go through two border patrol checks every day of my life, which, you know, gets old after a day or two. >> stacy hatton is a nurse living in aravarka, working 50km away. and believes the checkpoint infringes her constitutional rights. >> they ask anything i want. they have no rights.

i don't think it's what any of our american soldiers fought for. this is not the freedom, or the right to move around. >> the well-armed agents do not make me feel safer. >> we have more to fear from the border control. the border control traumatises grandchildren when they take the bus to school. >> it's upsetting for them to see this every day. they don't understand what is going on. why we have the military people here with guns and stuff. >> there's not much to see. although the up to of 600 people is surrounded by a magestic desert landscape. >> towns folk are independent and used to doing things their own way. people here are not only monitoring what is going on at the border patrol checkpoint,

ner finding ways to help migrants without breaking the law. it's illegal to drive migrants anywhere or shelter them, but survive. >> this is a short-term emergency food back. volunteers stock water and prepare food packets to hand out to migrants, and keep a cabinet of basic medical supplies. blisters are a factor. if you get severe blisters, you can't walk. if you can't walk, you get left behind. if you get left goodnight you die. more than 2,000 died crossing the desert. according to local officials. they say it is only human to help people in need. >> when they come to your door and do hear, and haven't had water for a long time, they are dehydrated, some are crying, some have fallen and hurt

themselves badly, they haven't had anything to ate - i think it's a person sz responsibility to do something, to help someone. >> a third of the people signed a petition asking the government to dismantle the check point. the border patrol told al jazeera as far as its concerned, the checkpoint is not going anywhere ahead after the break, in the line of fire... >> being shot was the best thing that ever happened to me. i had a chance to feel from growing in the streets you become numb to the things you grew up around. it didn't affect me until i was the victim. >> capturing life and death on the streets of one of america's violent cities. >> on the stream >> csi environment we talk with scientists who helping to pinpoint pollution

culprits by creating a way to fingerprint fracking waste water >> the stream only on al jazeera america

real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> native families divided by foster care >> anytime they see a social worker, the immediate response is.... they're here to take my kids >> defending kids... >> they didn't protect my children, they traumatized them >> or destroying cultures >> this is about as adversarial as it gets... >> fault lines, al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> today they will be arrested... >> ground breaking... they're firing canisters of gas at us... emmy award winning investigative series... the fight for native families only on al jazeera america

you may not know this, but philadelphia is a top-ranked city on one of the nation's worst lists. more than 250 died. it ranks among the most dangerous u.s. cities, chronicling violence makes it more real. photographer kevin cook documents the people on instagram, and brings america his vision of the survivors of gun violence. [ ♪ music ] >> i'm really hoping that the photographs can serve as a reminder of the horrors of gun violence for the youth of philadelphia. we hear so much about statistics, this many people are shot and killed. when people see a photograph they can't deny that. this spot was the first shooting i came to. about the middle of may, a thursday afternoon.

two men were shot. it was the first shooting i had been at. i hung out for a little bit. 10-15 minutes later... >> i was standing alone, i looked to my right, i see someone and said "where you from?" and he told my story, and i engaged and told my story. embarked. >> june 22nd, it was a festival in my neighbourhood. my son hit a person and by 2:30, the gunshots rang. i said "my word, somebody's mother." little did i know it would be me. it was a horrible thought. >> my name is terry starks. my father was on crack. that is all i had known, my pop. when he was strung out on crack it hurt me and forced me to the streets.

i was shot in 2002. it was august. it was august 31st. >> i was shot five times in the chest. he turned his life around. he was shot over a drug deal gone bad. now he just works and the dangerous neighbourhoods, giving back. trying to educate the youth on horrors of gun violence. >> we wanted to create a safe hasten for the children, letting them know from a community standpoint that somebody do care about you, because a lot of things don't get that every day. >> this is the spot where they took our son. >> when my son didn't live that type of lifestyle, and the fact that i couldn't be there to help him. that is

tearing me up inside. i was seeing a lot of kids killed from getting robbed and wanted my son to be alert. >> i don't think they meant to kill them, to be honest with you. but it's the hunger of the youth in our city, to eat at the end of the day. some people can't eat. so they rob, and when they rob, they kill, because they don't want to get caught for the robbery. so it's unfortunate when i went to temple university for my undergrad i was exposed. at times i felt it was beautiful, a lot of beautiful murals and architecture, other times it was sad because of the violence and the poverty. this summer terence was killed down the street from this house. i remember going to the vigil

and his brother's walking down the street, to this place where he was killed. it was hard to make pictures because how emotional the scene was, but i told myself that someone needs to see this. to understand what this has done to this family. >> it's sad, because when people take people's lives, they don't see the pain that they put in the family. >> the day i buried my son, i buried the shoes i wore. i died. i literally died. i was broken and wounded. i'm strong today. >> we did a justice walk. we had posters and pictures of him, the reward pictures of him. we did a little prayer where he fell, with a candle.

>> it a tort printed every second, a grand poster every minute, every second. rest in peace. >> getting shot was the best change that happened to me. i had a chance to feel. from growing in the streets you become numb. it didn't affect me until i was the victim. now maybe more, but until then i'll fight for >> friday. al jazeera america presents. >> this is it. >> oscar winner alex gibney's "edge of eighteen", thanksgiving marathon. >> oh my god! >> intense pressure.

>> if i said that i'm perfectly fine, i would be lying. >> tough realities. >> i feel so utterly alone. >> life changing moments. >> in this envelope is my life. >> if you don't go to college you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series. "edge of eighteen". thanksgiving marathon. friday. 9:00 am eastern. only on al jazeera america.

>> a conflict that started 100 year ago, some say, never ended... revealing... untold stories of the valor... >> they opened fire on the english officers... >> sacrifice... >> i order you to die... >> and ultimate betrayal... drawing lines in the sand that would shape the middle east and frame the conflict today >> world war one: through arab eyes only on al jazeera america the fight over the keystone pipeline extension enters a new chapter. the senate narrowly rejected a

bit to push it forward. republicans who won a measure in the house and will control both houses of congress are expected to bring new legislation back to the table. a look at the final moves to push it through this time from "america tonight"s adam may. >> reporter: the senate debate in favour of the keystone pipeline. centered around the j word, jobs. what people in texas want, what people in miss sippy want, what people in jersey want, what people in south dact, illinois, kansas and vermont are good paying jobs. >> when you look at the project, it's about energy, it's about growth. >> reporter: but it was the counterart centered on the day. >> it will hurt the environment. it will worsen the impact on

climate change and is plane dangerous, it will transfer the dirtiest oil on the planet. six years in the making it will run from tar sands to the oklahoma town of curbings. it would carry more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day to u.s. refineries. about 40% of the project has been built so far. for years it faced firm opposition from environmental activists and communities along its path, who say it's bad news for the environment and people's health. among the opponents native american tribes who see it as a health hazard and a threat. in south dakota it skirts seven reservations, including the shian river reservation, too close for steve vance, who lives there, and worries if the pipeline ruptures, it could

pollute the river and aquifer. >> it's not oil, chemicals, solvent. when the pipe breaks, which i know it will, it will not leak just oil. it will leak other chemicals. >> we stand in the footsteps of our ancrestors to make offer rings to protect the rake water. >> a fair call, they call it nature's medicine. other fear it could unearth sacred burial sites. trans-canada insists it's been consulting with tribes and will reroute the pipeline around all of them. many in the tribes say the federal government and transcanada have not consulted them enough about the project and its impact. they also say washington's approval for the pipeline would violate 19th century treaties negotiated with the federal government, that protect their

land rights and sovereignty. the state det was required to conduct an environmental assessment with the final leg, but is waiting for the outcome of a nebraska court case that could affect the pipeline's route. the government studies released found that keystone xl could pollute waterways in the areas it passed through. congress shows where it stand. president obama seems less keen to do the same. >> you have a case pending in nebraska where the pipeline would run through, in which a state court judge has questioned the plan. and until we know what the route is, it's hard to finish that evaluation, and i don't think we process. >> the report came to us from "america tonight"s adam may. in the path of the proposed extension is the town of steel

city nebraska, where, as you might expect, residents have been waiting for an answer about the pipeline's future. what is surprising is the rest of the reaction. "america tonight"s reports. >> steel city, nebraska, the sign says 84 residents. the actual number is closer to 50. the elementary school is closed. only three kids live in town. the baptist church - closed. this used to be a grocery store. a bank was here. >> the building is the old town hall, built by 1915. the fence there, a hospital. i was born in the hospital. >> that was 70 years ago. bill is now steel city's mayor, and runs the post office. >> there was a barber shop here, a cafe. two hotels. and gradually

people are moving out. trains roll through every 15 minutes or so. but they do not stop. not any more. steel city, near the nebraska kansas state line was founded in 1873. after decades of decline, the tiny village is back on the map. transcanada's proposed keystone xl pipeline would pump 830,000 gallons a day to a facility outside of town. >> i hope they pass it, yes, and everyone in town does. >> reporter: the original keystone pipeline built in 2010 moves crude from canada to steel city, east to illinois, and south to oklahoma and texas. the proposed 36 inch diameter keystone pipeline replaces the pipeline with a more direct route. residents expect that would mean a handful of permanent jobs.

drive through the tiny village, and you won't see anything for or against the pipeline. the mayor things the fear of overblown. >> the pipeline is a big deal now, why not in the 50s when they put the pipeline through. >> the landscape is dotted with pipelines. >> on my land there's four different lines. gas, crude oil. i never had problems. >> this man sold some of his farm land to trans-canada. >> the more oil that comes by rail gives me a concern. i consider the pipeline safer than rail roads. >> steel city residents say the pipeline will create jobs nationally. construction.

>> it would help with that a lot. the economy will create a few jobs left over from the pipeline coming through. in the meantime you have people coming through saying 40,000 jobs. that's a lot of people, a lot of families, a lot of kids fed and a lot of people not on welfare, sucking off the government. >> don't look for an economic turn around in steel city, say the old timers who watched the town's decline. >> i lived here all my life. things go down. people move away and die. that's what happens. >> even so, he is relishing steel city's moment in the spotlight. >> i can't believe that steele si has been on the map and in the world news. we are kind of enjoying that part of it real

good. >> ahead - remembering the freeding mights and anger launching ukraine's resolution. sheila macvicar reports on generation my dan, and what lays

>> on tech know. >> that is immense... >> there a misunderstood... ...vital part of the ecosystem >> ...is a tiger shark... ...first one of the expodition >> can they be saved? >> sharks don't eat people... >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. one year ago ukranian, kiev,

central square, maidan, protesters stood out their president. what fallowed was a crackdown on the -- followed was a crackdown on demonstrations and a new political era in ukraine. the country faces an uncertain future. sheila macvicar travelled to ukraine to see what has changed through the eyes of the maydan generation. idan generation. >> reporter: a new day dawns in kiev. ukraine's 1500-year-old capital. in her apartment a civil activist prepares for the battles of her day. >> every day i read the bible i ask god to send special sentence, and this sentence is very inspired. with hard work everything will

be achieved with love. >> reporter: for 15 years she fought for an end of the fighting in ukraine. nine months ago, in the middle of winter, when it turned bloody, she was with tens of thousands standing defiantly on kiev's central square, the maidan. people were dying and when her leave. >> mother was crying, asking that you'll be killed, no, please, say no. this is the fight of our generation. i had to be here. if everybody will be controlled by fear, we'll lose the chance to change the system. >> the protest began when ukraine's ex president removed to sign an agreement, choosing a

closer alliance with russia's vladimir putin. >> in the crackdown riot police were put on the street, and turned snipers on his own people. when it was over, the president was gone, forced to flee. the people claimed victory. victory came with a terrible price there were more dead. >> on this hillside, this is where almost all were died during the maidan protests. this is artefacts. there's everything here from ski goggles to swimming goggles, and motorcycle gloves, tear gas cannisters that date from an earlier age. motorcycle helmets, back packs, the things they carried with them when they were killed. >> it is because of the people who died here, who gave their lives, so that ukraine would have a new chance, that those fighting for reform now say that they can't give up. >> it's our opportunities, and

actually, we have to double our efforts. we owe them, this is our ukraine. >> for the last eight months she has led a team of 200 experts, most volunteers, trying to revamp ukraine's bureaucratic and corrupt system. a creaking hold over the past. they are trying to reform every sector of government. out of the hundreds of pieces of legislation. parliament passed only 12. >> we didn't criticize for six months. they are afraid to be provocative. this is a question on the future of ukraine. we need the rapport. >> this is the man ukraine's president chose to lead the reform effort. dmitri, former c.e.o. of microsoft ukraine and veteran of the start-ups. >> we restarted almost everything.

we inherited a lot of processes from the soviet union, and we need to kill half the process the, democracy, to streamline decision making. now he sits behind a desk with a half-a-dozen secure phones at his side. >> we are trying to figure out all the phones. they are called super secure. >> i'm hearing frustration from some that share your commitment that in six months, very little has happened. >> sometimes i wish we could do faster. can you move faster when half the appar as as structure or bureaucrats are the same. we need more young generation and movement. it not happen like this. everyone expect miracles, they will not have miracles. before deciding to help, he was one pushing for change,

foregoing a microsoft salary to build barricades and teach at streets. >> you were the senior executive of one of the most successful companies in ukraine, a major multinational. why did you do that? >> it started when police started beating kids at night. it's been one of the most difficult moments. when you see what is happening. it's been a stressful moment. you can't sit home and watch all that. so they stood up and fought. if they can do that at night to the incident kids, they can do it to anybody. even here on the battlefield, fighting for sovereignty and unity, old diseases of corruption and head-banging bureaucracy are playing a similar role.

a ukranian american doctor heads an organization. >> reporter: all of this goes into the kids? >> that's right, it's an improved first aid kit, and has saved 15% of lives in iraq and afghanistan. it's been tested over years. >> so get this humanitarian aid to soldiers, she's had to climb a bureaucratic mountain. >> some talk to us about what they see within the military as corruption. are you having trouble dealing with that? >> they put in old-style ex-soviet kit because it's been registered by a business who nose somebody in the ministry, who wants the ministry of defense to buy 100,000 kits. inside are two band aids, a condom, a little comb, one

package of gauze and i think two alcohol swabs. it's the little kit that even kids in kindergarten probably have better kits. >> publicly the government says it can't afford to buy 100,000 kids. the doctor's group donated 3,000 and has been training soldiers to use them, despite bureaucratic resistance. these are the trainers, they are not military, but veterans of the maidan. >> what lessons do you take forward from the maidan. >> >>: . >> hannah's life is changing. she is now an elected official after deciding to run in last month's parliamentary elections. something she says people

begged her to do. >> hannah, why you not run for the parliament. you know in this transition period in the country, if such people like you do not, who do we trust: for generation maidan, 20 years of independence have been squandered. they have this chance. it may not come again. it's our job. when you turn and say who is that. it's us. what matters is it belongs to this country, your independence. ahead in the final segment, a monumental makeover, fixing the cracks at the top of the government. we explain that

break. tapping into a new word, vape. a verb. it's part of the oxford english dictionary. don't know what it is - it's port of the market for electronic cigarettes and is changing what it means to light up. here is christopher putzel. >> in february 2013 the unthink ag happened. for the first time in half a century an add for cigarettes appeared on tv. >> do you know what the most amazing thing about this cigarette is? it isn't one. >> reporter: a team of executives in scottsdale arizona found a loophole in the ban on tobacco advertising. the law defining secrets as loose tobacco rolled in paper. this was something else.

of the 200 stations who screened the ad only 10 agreed to air it during the super bowl, but it was enough to drive up enjoy sails by 40% in some market. suddenly the handcuffs were off. >> i'm jenny mccarthy, i found an alternative to cigarettes. >> i never herd or seen this. >> it has a bejewelled bottom. >> it's remark i believe. >> it's the marlborough man reborn, the virginia slims riding a new way. >> reporter: matt myers is president of the campaign for tobacco free kids, spending his career trying to take down big tobacco. he's watching his work unravel. a teenager today has never seen the marlborough man or seen a cigarette ad on tv. our concern is the product and how it's marketed.

has the potential to undo literally 30 years of progress. in reducing tab ago use among -- tobacco use among america's students. e-cigarettes are a significant development in the history of the industry. more than 200 companies are selling them. with sales expected to reach more than 3 billion. more than 3.5 million americans tried electronic cigarettes. analysts say they'll outnumber traditional smokers in the next 10 years. >> no one knows what the health effects are of puffing these things hours a day for 20 years. >> thomas is a former new york city health commissioner. >> we work hard to counteract the cool factor of smoking tobacco cigarettes. the concern is if e-cigarettes are cool, it may spillover and regular cigarettes become cool.

>> the dream of a no combustion cigarette began in the '80s, when a smokeless premier was unsoiled. >> r.j. reynolds will test market new cigarettes. >> reporter: the company spent $300 million. users said it taste like charcoal. at the henley emporium charcoal is not on the menu. they offer flavours, a new phenomenon known as vaping. peter hoped to open the business, a culmination of his own battle with smoking. >> i was a smoker for 36 years and was looking for a way to quit. i saw an ad. i got myself a cigarette and started to do reach on it. saw an opportunity for myself to stop smoking, which i was able to do, and thought it was a great business opportunity. and we have exploded. the word found out, and that

there's an alternative to smoking a product that kills you, and we offer quay ways to learn about it, experience it, try it and go home with alternative. >> reporter: alternative is the vibe at helply. that is part of the problem. critics fear the atmosphere will hook nonsmokers, especially young ones. >> we are for the regulation and laws regarding selling to minors and take it seriously and make sure we do not sell to anyone under age. flavours. >> we do. >> reporter: there's controversy, that they appeal to minors, do you agree to that? >> does strawberry vodka appeal to minors, and lemon? does. >> what is important about flavours is when someone starts vaping, they are bored of a flavour and are looking for something to replace that. it's keeping people using the vaping product, rather than

going back to cigarettes. >> e-cigarette ingredients like nicotine are a mystery and controversial. what is inside depends on who you ask. >> reporter: do you think it's responsible to push a product like this. traditional cigarettes can kill you. anything as a form of harm reduction, we support if. >> that kills you, this may not. let's do what we can to keep the doors open. >> in the absence of hard science, what happens in the long term fuels. >> tobacco companies are businesses, they want to make money selling what they sell. if they can create a new market for people afraid of tobacco cigarettes, but not e-cigarettes - the only way to prevent them marketing irresponsibly is through a form of regulation. >> let's not legislate it, but

keep the door open until there's definitive evidence against the cigarettes, because it may be a way to get people off the product that's killing them. >> after decades of deception, can big tobacco be trusted again. >> perhaps one of the most troubling aspects of what is going on is that e-cigarettes may have the potential under the right circumstances to help millions quick if they were responsibly marketed and made. e-cigarettes could be helpful. but with the actions of the e-cigarette manufacturers themselves, it may become the biggest impediment to us actually finding out how helpful they could be finally from us in the capital a view of the biggest renovation product. if you have visited washington you may have noticed a big construction project on the

landscape and wonder what is going on up there. it's a long which up. we did get a peak. >> to get one of the best views of a masterpiece, washington's immackulate laid out grid of streets and green space you have to go to the top - 288 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 time looking down or out across the capital city. high above the hot air of the left and the right, 150 years of sheltering lawmakers left cracks in the capitol's cast-iron dome - yes, cast iron. because building a stone topper would have been more prohibitively heavy, and this thing is nearly 9 million pounds as it is. the weight of 20 statues of liberty. cast iron cracks?

as it turns out 1300 serious ones already identified. with enough bits knocked off already, and in a rare show of bipartisan unity congress nearly unanimously signed off on a $60 million reno project expected to take at least until the end of next year. they probably know about renovations projects, they take twice as long costing twice as much as you think. this is no small project. it has taken months just to get the million plus pound scaffolding up. there's enough decking up there to build a 5-foot wide side walk from the capital to the lincoln memorial. the workers need it, to strip three coats of paint and patch up cracks. the work is not cheep.

they don't do this often. the last time was more than 50 years ago. and this f-up is supposed to last 100 years. although none of us will be around to see if that happiness. but even an enduring symbol of america needs work from time to time. in many ways this redo is representative of struggles that go on inside. for all the cracks and fissures in our government the capital upholds commitment to freedom, the name of the statue that sits atop the dome, and rises like america, to uphold a new generation. that's our view in the nation's capital. we'll watch and let you know how it shapes up. it is supposed to be complete by the fall of 2015.

>> drones have been seen. it's a fight what is behind the increase and who is paying the price. it's coming up on "america tonight". if you would like to comment you can connect. be in touch with us on twitter or at hour american facebook page. >> 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. >> thanks for being with us. this is al jazeera america, i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. iran's nuclear program, deadline looms with no deal if sight. israel declaring the country a jewish state. first free and open presidential election in tunisia. >> we've turned to a preparation in case of a flood. we startedng