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 started doing this the past

couple of days. that would be the second shoe that dropped. >> first snow, now flooding. the weather reek wreeks wreaks n buffalo new york. and iran's nuclear program. six world powers and iranian leaders are in vienna racing against the clock to reach a deal on iran's nuclear program. the deadline is tomorrow but a senior u.s. administration admin official tells al jazeera that would be extended. john kerry spoke with the iranian foreign minister for 80 minutes. hopeful a deal will be reached. >> i'm confident that if we reach a deem that is verifiable,

and that iran does not have breakout capacity not only can i persuade congress but the american people that it's the right thing to do. >> our jonah hull has more on the talks from vienna. >> in vienna the, the foreign ministers iran and the powers are into the early hours. some sources suggest it could be missed altogether. a former state department official who's been speaking to both sides believes talk of failure is premature. >> i think not only is it too early to talk about failure, but failure is not an option. neither side can leave vienna empty handed. what they're looking for is a break through. i think the foreign ministers

are working right now to get that little bit of progress into tomorrow to figure out exactly what they'll be taking home to their respective capitals. >> this was president obama's assessment in a prime time interview. >> the good news, has definitely stopped iran's nuclear program from advancing. >> but it would mean a roll back wouldn't it? >> now the question is can we get to a more permanent deal and the gaps are still significant. >> reporter: those gaps exist in the difference on the one hand between the six powers' determination to limit iran's ability to enrich uranium and iran's unwillingness to give too much up. swift and permanent relief and six powers wanting to hold something back. the talks are just being the

outcome in vienna so important here. >> i think iranians are also expecting that the talks will not fail. because it's clear that the united states has created a big mess in this region due to its policies, we've had the rise of i.s.i.l. and the united states is in sharp conflict with the russians over ukraine and the chinese over the south china sea and both russia and china are moving more close towards iran as time goes by. so the balance of power is really shifting away from the united states and the iranians recognize that. >> little more than a year ago, a scene like this would have been unthinkable. the u.s. secretary of state and iran's foreign minister in friendly face to face talks, a sign of how far they've come. what is at stake if the negotiations over iran's nuclear program were to fail altogether, the rapid return of old enemies

amidst decades of hostility and ttalk of war. jonah hull, al jazeera, vienna. benjamin netanyahu is urging leader not to sign what he calls a bad deal with iran. this would threaten the entire world he says. >> we are monitoring the development of these talks with vigilance and wary. we are following closely in close consultations with representatives of the other powers. we presented them an adamant position that says iran must not be allowed to set itself up as a nuclear rich state. >> coming up we'll have much more on the progress of the talks in vienna and what's at stake on both sides. meanwhile, officials are talking for what could inflame the residents in the region. prime minister bments, also the

israeli cabinet fches emtiaz tayeb report. >> now takes it down to parliament or the knesset. but this bill is very controversial critics of it 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 averages address. but of course there are others on the other side that says it's important to enshrine the jewish nature of israeli state. whatever the case it is still a long way from becoming law. as we have been saying it will be debated by lawmakers in the coming days. but many critics of the prime minister benjamin netanyahu are saying that he's using this law

effectively to score political points. particularly those with or rather the members of his own cab knelt. bear in mind this is a coalition government. it is a government which is formed mainly of far right groups and mr. netanyahu larger l hulechud party. an election period, many feel we'll see an election in the next six to 12 months. mr. netanyahu is keenly aware of that and some are suggesting his support of this bill and indeed his pushing this bill is directly related to his political future. >> 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. >> new fears in buffalo, new york today as the city braces for potential flooding. buffalo was hit with nearly seven feet of snow this past week. now residents are anticipating rainfall, and higher temperatures. concerns of huge snow melt before the city can dig itself out. kristin dahlgren reports. >> there's no relief, there's no time. days after the early season snow storm roofs are caving under the weight. >> 20 years gone in four days. >> george already lost one of his industrial warehouses. the second is on the verge of collapse. >> we're working our butts off to keep the snow away, but we

didn't even realize up above how much stress was going to be on the roof. >> residents across the area are in a desperate fight to clear the heavy snow before it's too late. >> i'm worried about the weight on this roof. there's not much pitch and there's contraction in the ceiling already. >> in some places they're still on their own. several neighborhoods remain buried. several reenforcements are arriving including the fdny, to make sure residents are okay. >> are you okay? did you get your medication? >> yes i did. >> rain and melting could mean disastrous flooding and so the battle continues. >> making sure the sewers are clean, trying to get the snow on the street. >> already storm weary residents now bracing for round 2. >> once again that was kristin dahlgren reporting. rebecca stevenson reporting.

the rain moving in. >> it will get heavier as the night moves on. good news, the winged pickin wi, 50 to 60 miles an hour, very heavy snow piled high, ready to melt off caused the flooding. constantly steady flooding. we'll see those temperatures not cool off very much tonight. in fact they're going to stay mild through the morning hours as we get into that rainfall. now in buffalo new york, the quick look at the picture, to show you, the heavy wet snow on the trees. all you need is that snow to get heavier and a little bit of wind to cause those tree branches to come down. a lot of power outages potentially. also any holiday decorations that are out, winds coming out of the east will take out a lot of things fast. but the east wind going down slope of the hills gives you a little bit more drying.

now a quarter inch of rain anticipated with this storm instead of higher amounts. as we look at the creek here you can see the ice jab has caused it to rise fast. that's another concern, the ice blocks will be jamming and the winds will only get stronger through your afternoon tomorrow and tomorrow evening. so flood warnings out and also, high wind warnings as well. temperatures throughout the northeast are going to potentially hit some records tomorrow. the record of new york is 73° and we're going to get awfully close to that. meanwhile in the northern portion of the u.s. it's only going to get colder. chicago just can't get rid of this cold air blasting you. chicago gets a couple impts of snow tomorrow -- impts o inchesw tomorrow. this is coming in on wednesday. low pressure trying to decide exactly where it's going to fall so that will help us determine exactly who is going to get say

four inches of snow around philadelphia, going to potentially happen on wednesday. big travel day for thanksgiving. that will lead to potentially getting rain snow mix or some wet snow in new york city. lows for monday in the north central portion of the u.s., cold enough to give chicago another record for a cold stretch for -- >> fun heading to grandma's house does it? >> looks messy. >> thank you rebecca. a 12-year-old boy is dead being shot by police while holding a bee bee gun a male waving a gun around, the boy was reaching for his weapon. >> the young man had the weapon in his waistband. he pulled the weapon out, one of our officers fired two shots striking the young moon. >> the boy died after undergoing surgery. the weapon happened to be an air

soft beebee gun. >> the streets of ferguson missouri are strong tonight but tension is in the air as the city awaits a grand jury decision on the michael brown case. residents are waiting to see if the police officer who shot the teen will be indicted. robert ray has more. >> citizens await the grand jury decision. about the michael brown shooting on august 9th. the justice center is where the grand jury has been meeting. in case protesters get violent back in august, we expected a decision over the weekend, that did not come down. they could reconvene the grand jury when the sun comes up on monday but no confirmation as to whether that will actually occur. in the meantime, proampts have

bee --protesters have been out e street. some of the protesters have been blocking off the streets. tactics and motivation on that have -- motives have not been clear. michael brown's mother was out, word about what she said. >> i want all -- >> so the parents of michael brown urging demonstrators to keep calm no matter what the grand jury decides. pastors and churches all around st. louis on this sunday taking people please do not take to the streets and loot and be violent. accept the verdict whenever it comes out in the building behind us here in clayton, missouri. >> up next, the battle for kobani rages on while kurdish look to the u.s. for more help. a suicide bombing at a volleyball tournament kills

dozens in afghanistan. and a historic day in tunisia, we'll tell you why the country's presidential election isn't over quite yet.

>> it appears that tunisia's presidential election isn't quite over although votes are still being counted. looks like a runoff will be required to determine the winner. some 27 candidates campaigned for the position but two emerged as the front runners. it's the first time tunisians voted for a president since the arab spring. voter turnout was around 65%. nazanine moshiri spoke about the issue. >> the election commission is expected to announce the final results in the few days but the parties of the two front runners say their initial tallies 68

they are heading for a runoff next month. party in tunis won the party elections last month says their candidate is in the lead. >> translator: according to initial results mr. asipsi is leading with a significant margin over the second rival. we thank the tunisian people for giving us its trust. >> but the camp insists their candidate is leading with a small margin. >> translator: there will be a second round like we anticipated and it will be between monsef marsuki and asipsi. the counts are close and suggest we are leading with a margin of 2 to 4%. >> counting is now underway but the unofficial results indicate there are deep divisions in the country. there is the secular camp that backs sipsi and his tunis party.

there still needs to bring on board other parties to be able to form a new government. there is the camp of the government and the revolutionary youth but he is said to have the backing of another party which came second in the general polls. this camp fears the return of former uniquely an regime and hy controls the government. however there is talk among political leaders that there could be a way out by forming a government of national unity. the second round of voting will be held in december but it will be up to the parties and ability to compromise to avoid uncertainty. >> suicide, bomber, blew himself up in the middle of a crowd at a

volleyball tournament in pantiga province in afghanistan. charles stratford reports from kabul. >> we spoke to a tribal leader, showing how isolated an area it was. he described how the suicide bomber walked into the volleyball tournament before detonating a exploifer device. two helicopters -- explosive device. two helicopters have been authorized to pick some of the casualties up and bring them back for treatment. we're hearing they're treated in a military hospital and seeing requests on social media for blood donations. additional security forces being sent to the area to try and help with some of those casualties. now, it comes at a particularly sensitive time, it comes on a day where parliament here has unanimously voted in favor of the security pact with both the

u.s. and nato trying to giver additional training for afghan forces and of course this attack shows you just exactly what kind of challenge they face. >> charles stratford from kabul. meanwhile, afghanistan's parliament has approved a resolution to allow the troops to remain in the country. next year to help local forces fight the taliban. hundreds gather to remember the american aid worker whom i.s.i.l. fighters captured and beheaded last week. peter kassig. friends family and fact remember kassig as a courageous person who brought people together. strikes at i.s.i.l. were aimed at targets at the syrian

border town of kobani. kobani has been a center piece in the battle against i.s.i.l. kurdish peshmerga have been on the ground defending the town. i.s.i.l. has been trying to take control of the town for two months now driving thousands of civilians into turkey. meanwhile, asking washington for more help. al jazeera's imran khan has more from baghdad. >> the aftermath of u.s. air strikes targeting i.s.i.l. fighters in the central city of hit. at least eight civilians have been killed, including women and children. pushed back i.s.i.l. in some areas but it is advancing elsewhere. they've been pushing hard into nearby ramadi, it's controlled most of anbar province since june. iraq's prime minister haider al-abadi has called for more support. but further east in peshmerga is

province. >> the airplane doesn't come here to bomb. >> the battle there is fierce and kurdish commanders are saying they don't get the support they need. they even accuse the u.s. of having a certainly tolerance toward i.s.i.l. advance. >> it might be the preference for the coalition and american forces, why they did not attack i.s.i.l. here. >> but the u.s. wants to expand its influence in the battle against i.s.i.l. ak 47s rocket propelled grenades and rounds. with by and through iraq's government but some suggest iraq's prime minister is hesitant. >> translator: the government code in baghdad is in doubt about the weapons to be given to tribes. it fears these weapons might reach the hands of i.s.i.l. fighters as said by a lot of

politician he from the national coalition. >> the u.s. and the coalition are constantly reassessing their options but the u.s. has long maintained that the only way to beat i.s.i.l. fighters in anbar province in particular is by arming the sunni tribes. in 2006, 2007 and 2008, they were armed by american forces but they were abandoned to the americans who simply stopped the funding to them and the last government isolated them which some said led to the rise of i.s.i.l. it will take some convincing that that won't happen again. imran khan, al jazeera, baghdad. (f) summit today in iran, the organizer of the event said the top priority is to identify what ideas drive i.s.i.l. fighters. >> translator: it's a duty for all of us to closingly examine

the motives of the stray group and identify the roots of ideas that have driven them towards this dangerous path which leads to hell. we should try to eliminate those roots. >> the two day conference on how to fight i.s.i.l. is expected to end on monday. syrian government forces continue to bombard rebel held areas around damascus and for the people drapped inside the situation is -- trapped inside the situation is growing more desperate. >> the water has been cut off for more than a year. so abu ahmed gets water from a well near his house. the system is simple but effective. >> we had no choice but to act. we have no water, no generator and no electricity, so we do it all manually. >> this is a poor suburb four kilometers south of the capital

damascus. it is regularly targeted by syrian army shells and bombs. it's also be besieged. regime soldiers surround the area and have cut off water and electricity supplies. so abu ah immediate uses a bike to charge batteries. tens of thousands of israelis and palestinians used to live here. for those still here the situation is desperate. >> we have nothing here anymore. we have no water. no jobs. barrebarely any food and no ones helping us. >> now the neighborhood remains under siege, so people living here make the most of what little they have. >> victoria gatenby, al jazeera. >> the influx of migrants seeking asylum has come

unabated. the refugees were fleeing libya and syria. since the beginning of the year more than 150,000 people have been saved while trying to cross the mediterranean sea into europe. when al jazeera comes right back: the race against the clock to make a deal on iran's nuclear program. what's at stake for those involved.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories we're following right now. there's still no deal in vienna where world leaders are meeting about iran's nuclear program. today secretary of state john kerry talked directly with iran's foreign minister, deadline may be tended. new fears in buffalo new york tonight as the city braces for potential flooding. buffalo was hit with nearly seven feet of snow this past week, now residents are anticipating rainfall and higher temperatures.

citizens of ferguson missouri demonstrated this weekend. as they wait for a decision from the michael brown grand jury case. may announce this week whether darren wilson will be indicted in the michael brown shooting. it's sunday night and time for our regular look at the week ahead. iran and international negotiators have less than 24 hours to secure a deal on the country's nuclear prap. as we mentioned secretary of state john kerry has been in trilateral talks with the u.n. chief negotiator katherine ashton, and iranian foreign minister. courtney keely has background. >> in areas of close ties to u.s., washington sold iran its first nuclear research reactor. that relationship fell apart 12 years later after the ayatollah

khoumeini, by 1992, israel was raising the alarm that iran would have nuclear weapons within ten years. the u.s. echoed those warnings. >> iran aggressively pursues those ends and exports terror. >> 800 numbeuniformyeuryeurm yurthe new president defiant li celebrated iran's return to uranium enrichment, imposing

sanctions in 2006. >> he squandered part of iran's oil revenue, while he was president from 2005 to 2015. in those eight years he brought about huge damage to iranian economy. >> iran's oil experts, hasan reufrouhani was elected preside. >> at the end of the day, this is a country that unlike other authoritarian systems if you want to call it that, relies on trading with the rest of the world. >> president rouhani and president obama had the first high level contact in the last few years. iran's nuclear program has been suspended and some of its uranium supply has been diluted.

in exchange iran gained access to hundreds of billions of dollars of financial assets. iran has signaled a willingness to ship much of its uranium stockpile to russia. russia is also interested in building more civilian plants in iran and helping oversee them to help world powers monitor iran's program and ensure that its enrichment program is strictly for peaceful purposes. courtney keely al jazeera. >> by all accounts, one of the sticking points is how much relief will it give up. one of the reasons washington is reluctant to lift sanctions, is

the peaceful as well as military plants, selling any agreement will prove to be difficult. iranian president hasan rouhani faces some of the same pressures. many don't want to do any deal with america. to talk about the agreement, lits bring in: and: and international affairs of the harvard kennedy school who is joining us from watertown, massachusetts. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> realistically mr. kiaie how far are we from reaching a nuclear deal? >> there is two issues at hand here, one is technical and one is political. on a technical aspect i believe the two sides have bridged a lot of their differences and while there is some remaining issues,

technical, we have solutions to those. unfortunately as you have mentioned in the peace there needs to be a political will for us to be able to push this nuclear deal forward. and where it lacks is our talks in washington and tehran who both want this deal not to happen. so i believe on a technical aspect, there is a lot of movement. and ot politica on the plit ones 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 p-5 plus 1 and iran. >> mr. heinenen i'll phrase it this way. how far have we come in these iran nuclear talks? >> i think there has been progress in one year but as the previous speaker said we still have the problems. the problem is not only the number of centrifuges but to define which is the practical

uranium enrichment needs of iran. and in the previous segment president obama said how to verify this agreement. this agreement needs to be verifiable. those are the questions needed to be answered and agreed. >> to normalize relations with the west. >> differently. president rouhani came on a mandate to improve iran's relations with the western world including the united states. based on just that mandate and i believe president rouhani has shown through the team he has selected, dr. zarifi, and iran's overall strategy to resolve their differences with international community to come out of international isolation they have been feeling for the last few years.

>> mr. heinenen do we need to see less rhetoric? >> for sure. in recent, the negotiations have shown that the rapport is fairly good. what happens inside the meeting room might be a little hard talk, but this goes to the basic question that which are the uranium enrichment needs of iran. currently it looks to me from technical point of view that iran doesn't need 19,000 centrifuges to provide medical isotopes for people who are sick. so they have to come down with the numbers. >> they do need to come down with the numbers, that's what's being discussed. i want to talk about the huge prize on the table. who benefits most? >> i think the international community benefits. the region benefits. if iran and the u.s. through these nuclear talks come to resolution it is the first and most powerful key to open up b

bilateral discussions that are not just in the interest of iran but also the united states and regional powers. there are issues such as the fight against i.s.i.s. which is now at the height of u.s. foreign policy dilemma in the middle east. it would become very important for persian gulf security, for the stability of iraq, of syria, of afghanistan. the key to this is to resolve this decades old marred relations between u.s. and iran and i believe if that happens we are going to have a new chapter for a region that is being broiled in conflict and is raging on now. >> and russia benefits as well. >> of course it does. i believe if -- it is important to lay down this comprehensive deal on the nuclear issue that we realize that a year ago just a year ago, the break through of a decade of nuclear negotiations was primarily based on the fact that president obama mentioned that he wants a deal with iran.

and vice versa. and mr. rouhani. and it is backed up by a great team in both capitals. and most importantly, when the iranian leadership structure, we have ayatollah khomeini to press ahead with the deal. this is very important development. >> the white house will be under pressure to explain exception to a skeptical congress. mike viqueria has more. >> going into the weekend, white house officials were making no secret of the fact that serious gaps remain between p-5 plus 1 leaders and iran. and they would not sign what they thought was a bad deal. u.s. officials have very simple goals, painting them in very broad terms. making sure that iran cannot obtain nuclear weapons and paths to those weapons are shut down, those centrifuges and heavy

water plants. they want verify finaiable wayso ensure this. they were not there to talk about yet another extension. recall that the talks were extended back in july. the new deadline is on monday. so 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 for civilian use and is it going to be verifiable. mike viqueria, the white house. >> mr. heinenen that is a very tough sell to washington. >> i think there are people against it that is true. but let's see what is in the agreement and if it addresses all the aspects of the concerns which the u.n. security council

has expressed, i think that should be fairly easy, reasonable size enrichment program, let the iaeaing identify the total issues, and we are one of the reasons why the security council ended up in this resolution. so it will be pretty much just on the verification details, what will be the -- how acceptable this agreement will be. >> mr. kiaie your thoughts? would it be a tougher sell with the republican senate? >> yes, and no. the american foreign policies actually give a lot of power to the president and the administration to formulate and move ahead with their foreign policies. while the congress obviously republican or democrat is going to be very much pro-israeli in their approach and is probably very suspicious of a deal with the iranians will put into place

obstacles in the way of obama administration. but i believe if the obama administration holds onto this approach that they're currently on towards a road of rapprochement and a dialogue with the iranians i believe there is a way to break through even with obstacles provided in a way by the congress. >> we saw earlier from israel, israel has been pushing for a complete halt to iran's nuclear program not just a down grade. israeli officials are still making their feelings known. nick schifrin mass the story. >> funnellyfunnel -- fundamentat deal is not on the table so isri officials say all they're hoping is that u.s. signs as good a deal as possible. the breakout time, the time

iran, takes to build a weapon to years. number limited to below four or 5,000 about u.s. officials are discussing. israel wants iran's research and development capacity e-mail completely removed and israel wants a deal that lasts a decade. israeli concerns actually push iranian hard liners towards a deal. expect the concern to remain now and even after the deal is signed. >> what does this mean mr. heinenen for the overall stability of the middle east? >> well, there will be a deal but whether it will be there tomorrow there are certainly doubts. it's hard to believe that people will walk away and drop the whole case. we will see an extension and then we have to see if there is a political will to solve this

fairly simple technical be obstacle in front of us. >> what would a deal look like that would satisfy israel and other nuclear powers? >> three issues as the professor has mentioned. how do we verify iran's program is peaceful how do we monitor it and how do we have transparency details that reveal what iran is saying is true, all the instruments that provide inspections verification and monitoring were signed as an interim deal and i believe if there is a comprehensive one we can assure the international community including the israelis that iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes because everything will be under the monitoring of the u.n. watchdog, nuclear watchdog the iaea. if this is the case then the rawnans they can prove to the

international community that under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, which iran does not, domestic economic and also play a more constructive role in nonproliferation throughout the region. and iran has been backing for years pursuit towards a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the middle east that includes eradication of all wmds. israelis ironically are holding onto their arsenal. >> when when all is said and done, do you see the improvement of the process ? when these two governments rawn and u.s. sat bilaterally. and i believe secretary of state john kerry and his counterpart dr. zarif has built up a relationship in the past year

when i was actually at the u.n. general assembly in september where they actually speak very casually with each other, as if they've known each other very casually, and this has never happened in 35 years. if u.s. and iran relations improve, the u.s. will open up iran's economy and rawn's relations with the west will also improve. >> mr. heinenen your final thoughts? >> we should not work this also in isolation from the other countries in the middle east. because there are still concerns, particularly in the gulf countries, that what is the real scope and nature of iranian program? and if iran now maintains the enrichment capacity which it looks to me they are going to ask the same right. and this might not be put in the area of the middle east. so threfer th therefore the only

long term solution, this must be a destruction free zone, chemg agreements with some of the other countries have with needs also. >> the clock is ticking. researcher on science and global community and senior fellow for the bel belford center. gentlemen thank you for coming. >> appreciate it. >> on monday president barack obama will present the medal of freedom to 19 people. among the recipients are merrill streep and many tom brokaw. and thursday marks the annual macy's thanksgiving parade.

floats and parades and giant balloons kick it off. coming up. marion barry. the life of a plosion. politician.

>> 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. >> some good news for drivers. gas prices have fallen 10 cents over the past two weeks and are expected to drop even lower. the lundburg survey says, we may see prices drop by a few more cents. certainly great news for consumers butter not necessarily for oil producing nations. at an polk meeting on thursday, oil prices may come back up. marion barry the former mayor of washington, d.c. has died.

barry, spent, 78-year-old died early this morning. shia brittanzi. that report coming up in just a little bit. i want to tell you about one of the most iconic structures in the united states. it is undergoing a major renovation, the dome is wrapped in scaffolding, as workers begin processing contraction in the iron dome. >> to get a look at the pierre l 'enfant's masterpiece you have to go to the very top of the u.s. capitol building. it's fair to say the guys here don't spend a lot of time looking down or out across the capitol city. high above the hot air of the left and the right, 150 years of

sheltering lawmakers have left cracks in the cast iron dome. yes, cast iron, because building a stone topper would have been even more prohibitively heavy. and this is over the ten statutes of liberty. cracks, serious ones already identified, with more bits knocked off already than in a rare show of bipartisan unity, members of congress signed off on the renovation project expected to take until the end of next year. although, renovation projects always take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think. this is not a small project. it has taken months to get the scaffold being up. there's enough decking up there to build a five foot wide

walkway from new york to washington. dome white, 13,000 inches of cracks, think about all those mother's backs. so no, the work isn't cheap but they don't do this often. the last time was more than 50 years ago. and this fix-up is supposed to last 100 years. although none of us will be around to see if that really happens. but even an enduring symbol of america needs work from time to time and in many ways, evenly this redo is representative of the struggles that go on inside. for all the cracks and fis fiss,

that sits atop the dome and rises like america to uphold a new generation. >> once again joie chen filing that report. we should mention exterior work on the dome is set to be completed by winter of next year. interior work shl completed by fall of 2016. as we mentioned marion barry the former mayor of washington, d.c. has died. his last office came with croive. here is shia p brittanzi. >> he was dubbed washington, d.c.'s are mayor for life. consistently reelected to the city council until his death. he left behind the cotton fields of mississippi for higher education, the first in his family. he chose the civil rights movement over his ph.d. in chems anchemistry and was organizer of

martin luther king, jr.'s flight on the capital. creating a diverse and representative local government infrastructure. he redeveloped neglected areas of the city. in doing so he laid the foundations of the prosperous washington of today. he fostered a loyalty amongst his constituents that wassism pervious to scandal. and he spent in return, helped built a confident black middle class. but his second and thirst terms as mayor were marred by allegations of patronage. and just as he was about to begin his fourth campaign for mayor, he was propositioned for

sex and drugs. washington was a city in disarray, from the aids epidemic and corroborating cocaine. congress stripped him of his power in what barry called a rape of democracy in 1997. it was clear whatever transcribe laitions he faced, his tribulations, his focus remained undimmed. >> whatever i've done would help a lot of people. >> because of the support of those he helped and inspired, marion barry would remain a political force in washington, d.c. until he died. shia britainzi, bdges. al jazeera. >> one is a yellow catlike character that organizers say represents all of the country's

different animals. the other, well it's a blue like character with green leafy hair, it is supposed to represent brazil's number of plants. people are invited to vote online. if words aren't quite your forte, and you still enjoy a did board game, how about a good game of chess? a 23-year-old dethroned vashia nan, defeat in 2013. >> this has been the world champion for so long, one of the greatest of all time, and i'm honored to have played the match with him and of course very, very happy to have gotten -- got the better of him. so i really hope he'll be back

in the candidates. >> the victory warded the chess prodigy $1.2 million just a week before his 24th birthday. not a bad gift. i'm thomas drayton in new york. thanks for watching. over 700 years ago, marco polo left venice to points unknown and mysterious relive this epic odyssey people encountered, discoveries made... and now... questions answered... al jazeera america presents marco polo a very modern journey live.

>> let's take a look at china. >> china overtakes us.