you how the miracles of science... >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> "techknow" where technology meets humanity. only on al jazeera america. ♪ this is al jazeera america. live from new york city i'm ron paul -- randall pinkston in for tony harris. why the u.s. is increasing the pressure on one of this country's biggest oil suppliers. and battling boko haram we're in northeast nigeria as neighboring countries intensify their pushback against the violent group. ♪

tonight the university of oklahoma is reacting swiftly to a racist viral video. the school's president has given megs of the fraternity until midnight tomorrow night to get off campus. the response was forceful to say the lease. absolutely. the university president promising zero tolerance and now the fraternity is banned from practice. but the naacp is calling for the university to do more than that. and now we're hearing that the university is considering individual punishment. >> you hear about ray shall tension and stuff like that but

to see the video was eye openingen. >> reporter: this is the video causing outrage at the university of oklahoma. >> reporter: the 10-second video is said to show members of the fraternity joining in racist chants while on a bus. a student posted the video online over the weekend. ofrjs monday the university president said he is shutting down the fraternity. >> those students will be out of the house by midnight tomorrow night. the house will be closed and as far as i'm concerned it won't be back, as least not while i'm president. >> reporter: as soon as the video went viral, vandals hit the fraternity house, and the organize responded by saying this: 23z

>> these people have acted in a way that is absolutely reprehensible and disgraceful. we cannot put up with it. they shouldn't even be allowed to call themselves [ inaudible ]. >> i was really hurt and shocked. >> we were deeply outraged. i believe it shows the social climate that we as african americans are living in. >> reporter: the university has seen some other fallout from the video, a rapper has canceled his upcoming show at the school and an offensive linemen revoked his commitment to play there next year. he did he did it to personal reasons, but the timing could point to this video as playing a role randall.

>> we see a young women on the bus in the video. do we know if this goes beyond the male members of the fraternity? >> yes don't exactly know what they are looking into. they are looking at all of these different videos because you can tell the different angles show different students like the girl on the bus. whether she presidented in the chant, i'm sure that's something the university is looking into. >> thank you. hundreds of people took to the streets of madison wisconsin today. diane eastabrook is life and this might remind some people of a shooting in ferguson missouri. what is different? >> reporter: yeah, it certainly does randall, and this shooting happened just a few doors down from where i'm standing on friday night, and there has been outrage in this community ever since. i talked to the police chief a

couple of hours ago, and he said obviously people are upset, and we understands why there are comparisons being made to the michael brown shooting and what happened the other night. >> in all of these instances we have a young african american male who is unarmed and subsequently loses their life at the hands of the please. i can't negotiate any way out of that. it is what it is. and in that sense, that sad commentary is that yes, now i have something in common with a narrative that we see playing out nationally all too often. >> reporter: and veteran madison police officer matt kenny is on administrative leave right now. an independent state agency is investigating the incident and this is because of a new law that was passed last year that when there is a police shooting an outside agency has to come in

and investigate. >> thank you very much. we're going to turn now to attorney and legal an cyst reba martin in los angeles. what are the similarities and distinctions that you see between these two cases? >> clearly, randall we have two situations involving unarmed african american teens being shot by white officers but the differences are pretty stark in the two cases. in ferguson we had a slew of people who said they witnessed the shooting. in this case we have the officer in wisconsin in an apartment with the victim alone. so we don't have anyone who will be able to give an eyewitness testimony. also in ferguson, we had a police department that stuck its head in the sand refused to talk to people and was forced by the mia and pressure from the government for to come forward with information.

in wisconsin the police chief stepped up quickly, even went to the home of the victim and prayed with the family and talked very openly about what happened. so i think what we see here is the pressure from the protests in ferguson the department of justice's report all causes police chiefs around this country to do what the madison police chief did, which is step up and tell the public information. >> and also the procedure under which they are going to conduct the investigation very different than what happened in missouri. >> yes that turned out to be a pivotal issue in the ferguson case where there were calls for the district attorney to step down and for an investigation to be conducted by an outside person. in the wisconsin situation they already enacted a law that requires an independent investigation, and i think that will go a long way in terms of

the public having trust in the investigation, feeling as if someone who is not bias towards the police department will be looking at what happened in this case. >> let's look at what happened in oklahoma. i'm sure you have seen the video of the chant on that bus. when you saw that what did you think? >> very, very disturbing randall. particularly in light of the weekend. we had this powerful thing happening in selma, alabama, the president talking so passionately about the progress we have made with respect to race relations, and then monday morning to have this breaking news and this very very disturbing video, particularly given the generation. you know, at the selma march, the president admonished the younger generation. he told them this is going to be up to you to continue to move the country forward, and now we have 19, 20 year old students seemingly setting the country

back tremendously. >> i know you don't factually, but anecdotally, do you have any reason to believe that this kind of chant is only taking place in this fraternity at that particular school? >> unfortunately i have other stories similar to this. and what we hear about universities is that there are a lot of dised a -- disadvantages for african american students. and the ucla students just last year talked about the discrimination that african american males on that campus experienced. so i think again, hearkening back to what the president said although we have made a lot of progress, but we have a lot of work to do. >> moving forward, what do you think needs to be done to make more progress and to what extent not to flip the switch

but with respect to african americans voting. look at ferguson for example. >> absolutely. the president spoke to that issue. he said people died to african americans would have the right to vote and quite frankly we didn't show up at the polls. voter turnout has to improve, because if we want to see changes on some of these issues like who is prosecuting police officers that shoot unarmed teenager, who are the police chiefs in these cities we have to go to the polls, because that's where these decisions are being made. as it relates to this university i'm so glad that this president again stepped up quickly acknowledged how horrible this video was, denounced it joined forces with the students to protest. now i would like to see him go a

little bit further. yes, i want these individuals to be punished but i all thes want to see the issue of diversity addressed on this campus. only 5% of the students are african americans. so if you have a campus with so few black students, you have to imagine the isolation that they feel. so i think this is an opportunity for this university president and for presidents around this country to look at their admission policies and look at the diversity on campuses. >> and there is this issue of changing hearts and minds, which is a conversation for another day. thank you. >> thanks randall. police in dallas are asking for the public's help of solving the murder of an iraqi immigrant. the video shows four suspects running from the scene. he was filming his first snowfall when the men shot him. he later died.

he had recently moved to the u.s. to escape violence in iraq the obama administration is cracking down on venezuela. the white house announced sanctions against some top officials accusing them of human rights violations. mike this is a the latest in a move that seems to be a growing diplomatic dispute. >> reporter: absolutely you are right. and venezuela is a country dealing with mounting civil unrest and a staggering economy. and today the white house accuseded it of purseersecuting their opponens. protesters pored into the streets over the weekend. angry over rising prices and political repression. monday president obama hit seven officials with economic

sanctions, accusing them of civil rights violations and corruption. in a statement, the white house says: those targeted include five past and present military generals a police officer, and a prosecutor who allegedly used violence to try to silence protesters. all seven are involved in or responsible for human rights violations and abuses. their property and assets in the united states will be blocked or frozen, and u.s. citizens will be banned from doing business with them. the white house is also pushing for the release of all political prisoners, including the mayor of car caracas. >> translator: tell all of those who hope to regain their freedom

and democracy that the only way is on the street. that's the message antonio sends. >> reporter: last month police killed a 14-year-old boy during a demonstration against the president. the teen's killing outraged venezuelans who has been calling on the government to fix inflation, food shortages and increasing crime. tension between the u.s. and venezuela has been increasing. he accused the u.s. of medaling in his country. and the u.s. has provided millions of dollars to opposition activities. maduro has ordered wednesday to reduce the number of its staff from 100 people to 16 in the next two weeks. hugo chavez died two years ago. maduro has beat the same drum and continued chavez's economic model of a tightly controlled and centralized economy. conditions have steadily worsened. >> translator: we are reaping what was sewn during hugo

chavez's mandate, the destruction of the country, institutions and its independence. >> reporter: even as the country enters what appears to be a crisis maduro seems determined to carry on chavez's socialist legacy, despite the critics in washington or the streets of venezuela. randall, of course venezuela has an enormous oil industry. officials here at the white house insist that what happened today has nothing do with the economy. they are not even trying to topple of weaken the maduro government, they simply they say are trying to shine a light on the abuses of civil rights and corruption. there is growing controversy this evening over a letter signed by 47 republican senators

and sent to the government of iran. it warns that any deal between washington and tehran without approval from congress will not last. the white house states it's the latest attempt by the g.o.p. to undermine nuclear talks. let's start with what this letter says. why is it causing such a stir? >> this open letter written by republicans sets out to educate iranian leaders about just how the u.s. government works. why the civics lesson in because republicans in the senate say without congress on board, the white has little long-term ability to negotiate with iran. they write, we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear weapons program not approved by congress as nothing more than an executive agreement.

the democrats are calling this unprecedented divisive and an attempt to sabotage diplomacy. >> i think it's somewhat ironic to see some members of congress wants to make common cause with the hard liners in iran. it's an unusual coalition. >> reporter: you are hear there, the president trying to push the republicans into that same camp as hard liner s and iran as outliers who would try to scuttle him. >> does congress have the authority to unravel a deal that the president makes with another country? >> reporter: congress certainly has -- yeah that's a great question. congress certainly has a strong role in oversight of treaties but if this white house negotiates them and brokers agreements generally. and the administration is saying

they don't need congress to sign off on this potential deal. the white house is considering rolling back sanctions against iran on a temporary basis, as long as iran follows through on its side of a potential deal. if they were to cancel all together, that would require congressional approval, but the white house says it is just not necessary. so if there is no legal ground this is certainly a pr-event. trying to diminish the role of the presidency and its power internationally. here is how iran is reacting. the foreign minister called the letter a propaganda ploy. >> thanks libby casey, in washington. in other news tonight, pentagon officials say there is progress being made in the fight against isil. they say coalition ehfforts are

creating divisions within the armed group. jamie mcentire joining us with more. >> reporter: randall the evidence is somewhat anecdotal, but it does paint a picture of an isil group that is losing cohesion because of internal squabbles. and there are reports that there are rising tensions between some of the local fighters from iraq and syria, and some of the foreign fighters that come in. and some of the isil fighters have become disenchanted and want to leave and go home. i raised this question today at the pentagon off-camera briefing, and here is what the spokesman had to say. >> the amount of pressure we have placed on isil over the past several months we know for a fact has generated internal pressures that is continuing to contribute to their inability to

man -- maneuver effectively. >> reporter: there is a report from one establish human rights agency that some of those executions were carried out against some isil members who were accused of spying. but the human rights group suspects that what was really going on was they just wanted to leave and that was a form of intimidation. >> given the international effort in defeating isil is this significant or just a step in the right direction? >> reporter: well, it's hard to say. no one at the pentagon expects isil to just fade away. they are pointing more towards the operation going on in tikrit. they are making slow and steady progress being able to take over some of the town south

southsouth southsouth south -- of tikrit. and the sunni minor can be put back in place in that town if they are defeated. they think that will be a much bigger indicator of isil being on the ropes than these other reports of desense in the ranks. what today's legal step means in the argument over coverage for birth control. plus hoping to make history, flying around the world in a plane powered only by the sun.

a frightening train crash in north carolina has left dozens hurt. an amtrak train slammed into a tractor trailer. none of the injuries described as life-threatening. the train was reading to raleigh to philadelphia and then on to new york city. ♪

another interesting day on wall street stocks bounced back today after a steep drop on friday. the gains come six years after the market hit bottom following the financial crisis. real money's ali velshi is here with more. the big date a big deal. why? >> if you think about six years ago, the s&p 500 hit its bottom on march 9th, 2009. but we didn't know it was the bottom. you never really know when market has come to a bottom. this was after several months of volatile markets in the midst of the financial markets. i like to talk about the s&p 500 because it's a broader measure than the down-jones. six years ago the s&p bot told at 676. it had lost more than half its value from its peak in october of 2007 but in the six years

since that low, the s&p has more than tripled in value. so if you knew that six years ago today was the bottom and you -- you invested a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars, it would be worth more than three times as much. it closed at 2,079. this is the fourth longest and fifth best performing bull market. randall. >> you know the next question what fuelled the rally? and can it last? >> can it last that's a tricky one. this one has been pretty long and most people would say, there are times when a correction comes about. this bull market has been driven by historically low interest rates, because the federal reserve has been buying up bonds to inject money into the system and that has provided a climate

that makes stock look great compared to bonds. so it's made it cheap for companies to borrow money to buy back their own stock, that boosts stock prices. now not all americans have benefited because only about half of the population owns stocks so you will find people arguing about wealth inequality will blame low interest rates because it has made the rich or people with the ability to borrow capital richer. as far as whether this can continue there are concerns the market reflects the economy's strength, but all of these are reasons that the federal reserve will probably raise interest rates later this year it's going to make stocks look less attractive. and that's one of the reasons the market fell about 1.5% on friday, because people can see interest rate hikes coming. but trying to time your interest rate with stocks is not a game

that most people want to play randall. we're taking a look at hillary clinton's ties to wall street and we'll talk about the private emails accounts and servers she used as secretary of state. >> thank you, you can watch "real money" with ali velshi every weeknight. hillary clinton is still not talking about the controversy, but pressure is growing. plus the battle against boko haram. african nations work together trying to win background lost to the violent group. ♪

the u.s. supreme court stepped back into the debate over government mandated birth control insurance. the justices revived a lawsuit brought by the university of notre dame. the court has sent the case back down to the appellate level. >> reporter: as a catholic university notre dame objected

to providing contraception coverage under the affordable care act. the obama administration had carved out an exception to these religious non-profits. but notre dame argued that that was not good enough. it opposed any employee health plan that incluesed contraceptive coverage. an the supreme court through out the case and said it had to make its own decision based on the hobby lobby case. which found that employees did not have to provide coverage they did not believe in based on religious views. the group called today's

decision on notre dame quote, a major blow to the government's contraceptive mandate. court watchers said this was just the court stepping in and staying in step with what the justices had already decided. in today's power poll licks more democrats are urging hillary clinton to answer all of the questions about her use of email when she was secretary of state. so far her only public statement has been a short tweet. that seemed to raise even more questions, david shuster. what is going on? >> california senator diane feinstein is a highly respected democrat and she indicated on "meet the press," that hillary clinton's silence is a problem. >> i would like her to come forward and say just what the situation is, because she is the pre-eminent political figure right now.

she is the leading candidate. >> you think your silence is hurting her? >> i think from this point on the silence is going to hurt her. >> even close clinton supporters are urging the former secretary of state to speak out publicly and explain why she relied strictly on personal emails and a server she controlled at home. and others are trying to contain the damage by suggesting it has been blown way out of proportion. >> in october the state department asked all secretary of states to send all of their emails over, and she is the only one that did it. >> other secretary of states rarely used private emails, and

colin powell says his emails no longer exist. that makes schumer's defense fairly hollow. south carolina center lindsay graham says he doesn't email period. >> you can have every email i have ever sent. i have never sent one. [ laughter ] >> but this is big in this regard. did she communicate on behalf of the clinton foundation as secretary of state. speaking of the benghazi attacks a congressional select committee investigationing the state's department handling of that incident has subpoenaed all emails related to libya. the republican from south carolina was asked over the weekend if there were any gaps? >> yes, sir. there are gaps of months and months and months.

if you think of that iconic picture where she is flying to libya, on her phone, we have no emails from that trip. it's strange to believe there is not a single document that has been turned over to congress. >> and a former ambassador is accusing the state department of hypocrisy. >> other people in the department to include my supervise orrors were doing other things and looking the other way, i think that's hard. >> clinton supporters now expect

her to have a full-fledged news conference here in the next few days. that may be the only way she can tamp down this controversy. >> do you think that will end the controversy? >> no because people will always say answers raise even more questions, the real question is will the immediate and moderate voters -- will they believe what hillary clinton has to say when she addressed this. >> thank you david shuster. allegations of police problems across the country has called for major reform. >> reporter: commander paul miller succeeded in cleaning up the sex crimes unit of the new orleans police department. >> i knew there were issues with cases not being investigated properly, but we had no idea about the [ inaudible ] sexual

cases, that was a shot. >> reporter: noel soon cleared a backlog of almost a thousand untested dna samples some dated back to the '80s. and each represented allegations of rape that had not been pursued. after ten months noel was promoted, but it soon become clear that little had changed at the unit he had left behind. >> i was drugged. i was raped. my car was stolen. >> reporter: maria says she was attacked at a new orleans club in june. >> it is all about how much did she have to drink? what is she like when she is drunk. >> reporter: the police overlooked finger prints and genetic material in her recovered stolen car, and didn't

secure surveillance video from the club where the incident took place. >> that was the new training. a positive initial response but after that nothing has changed. >> reporter: commander noel is back at the special victim's section, this time heading a task force investigating hundreds of allegations of rape and child abuse between 2011 and 2013 that were ignored by detectives. when he returns he also discovered the backlog of rape testing kits had again piled up. noel insists that this time he will put in place a clear protocol with firm penalties for those who don't obey. but activists say it isn't enough. >> we need an outside bureau who can come in and can investigate what is going on in new orleans. >> reporter: the experience of the new orleans police department is striking because

its problems have been so del documented since at least 2004 from local journalist investigations, to the setting up of a more robust system of inspections, and yet even the city's own officials admit, it has not yet been enough. >> in africa military sources from two neighbors countries have taken up bebattle against boko haram in nigeria. a convoy of some 200 vehicles crossed from niger into nigeria. >> reporter: the recapture of this area is a huge victory for regional forces especially chad and niger. so far the coalition forces have reclaimed more than 30 towns and villages from the boko haram. for chad niger, and cameroon

defeating boko haram is crucial. there is the fear that if the group if left uncheck will expand its area of control, and become an even bigger threat. nigeria says it now has the hardware for a military victory. >> our country has taken the steps to ensure the equipment arrives at this moment. at the time it did make the decision, we would still be facing even more crucial [ inaudible ]. so i [ inaudible ] nature of the approach we now have the equipment at this time. >> reporter: the coordinated offensive against boko haram has forced the group to resort to the old tactic of suicide bombing. attacks in the city killed more than 50 and injured another hundred.

the group's heard has also pledged allegiance to isil. and this is causing serious concern in the region. >> nigeria wants a peaceful country, but to the extent that my country will be taken over by insurgents and a group of people by the nature we are talking about, i am not worried. we have good forces. >> reporter: many here want a quick victory before isil comes in. this is expected to strengthen the effort of the multinational task force already taking on boko haram. our nick schifrin is in northeast nigeria. he says that residents are hopeful this multinational offensive will push boko haram out. >> reporter: the first thing you

notice when you get to cities in earth innern nigeria, they are still cities and bustling. take a city that was rocked by five explosions that killed at least 50 and injured more than a hundred, the streets are normal. people are trying to keep a normal life, which of course happens everywhere in a war zone but it's not something we engage with enough or often enough. it's a sign of resilience. it's also a sign sadly that people are far too used to these kinds of attacks. what people are hoping come out of offensives by niger, chad and new offensives by the nigerian military, is a sense of calm, a sense of peace that hasn't been there for many years. the nigerian military has brought in new weapons, new

leadership, has a political will it never did right before the election, and that is enabling them to take on boko haram as well as bilateral relations with their neighbors, and we see that very dramatically today. i have talked to many internally displaced people across northern nigeria who say they will not return to their homes even though the military says their homes are safe to clear. they simply don't trust the military enough and don't trust that boko haram won't be back or at least try to lunch another attack. >> nick schifrin. now to syria, where opposition activists say government helicopters dropped barrel bombs full of chlorine on civilians. this video appears to show people grasping for breath shortly after the attack. four days ago, the u.n. security

council warned it would make more action if chlorine was used. jake ward has been look going the devastating impact of chlorine attacks. jake why hasn't chlorine been outlawed in syria? >> that is one of the first questions that comes to mind. but the truth is that chlorine is not banned in syria, because it would be almost impossible to ban it in any country. it is one of the most plentiful and useful elements we have on earth. think of it as salt. it's used in 85% of pharmaceuticals, building materials, agricultural materials, it is absolutely everywhere. so while syria is banned from using it as a weapon it is allowed to have it as is every other country in the world. >> it would be impossible,

really, to make it illegal, but does that mean it is less dangerous than other nerve agents? >> that is really the great irony of this situation, just because it is common does not make it any less deadly. all around us the danger of chlorine is everywhere. here in the united states we see tens of thousands of train loads of this poisonous gas traveling by rail all over the place. in 2005 there was a derailment in north carolina. one train opened up, and 5,400 people had to be hospitalized. and people are still sick in graniteville many, many years later. but even though it travels through all of the major cities and it's a terrible poison we just have to live with it all the time. >> so if it is discovered that

syria did use chlorine as a weapon, is it easy to pinpoint chlorine? can you find a tracer or a mark that indicates chlorine was used here? >> that is really the great sort of difficulty of chlorine gas. just because you fine traces of it, does not mine it was used as a weapon. it could be used as a bleach or disinfectant. you have to rely on survivor's accounts witnesses accounts of the telltale signs. a yellow vapor, burning of the skin the choking, suffocation, vomiting is all you can go on and it takes almost nothing to turn it into a weapon just a small explosive, a bomb that's pretty much it. >> thank you, jake ward. a new film claims russian

president vladimir putin had a secret plan to take over creme. according to the film putin says he gave the authorization to annex crimea almost month before they actually took control. in eastern ukraine, the problem is inflation, and prices are rising and it is hard to get even the most basic food items. >> reporter: one price of independence is half empty shelves. angela's grocery store went from ten suppliers to one here in donetsk. >> translator: it's impossible to find new suppliers. as for the future we just live one day at a time. >> reporter: at grocery train you can still buy meat and fish but the choices are slim. what is left you can still buy, if you can afford it. eggs have doubled in price, cheese has tripled.

separatists might consider themselves proudly independent but they are not happy about rampant inflation. >> prices have increased and salaries and pensions haven't. >> translator: things are getting worse, and they won't get better until kiev understands you shouldn't kill your own people. >> reporter: the official inflation rate is 35.4%, but here it's much higher and that is for those who have access to their money. pensioners, the unemployed and government workers have to travel outside of the area to collect their money. with inflation and no real banking system everyone here is poorer, and that turned once bustling shopping centers into ghost towns, full of shuttered shops. all new republics go through

birth pains this woman says. does that mean things will get better? >> of course. it will be two changes. first of all it is a range of goods, and the second is it will be changing in price. >> reporter: before the economy here can stabilize, it's like the fighting will have to stop. borders between ukraine and its separatists neighbor bo will be to settle. neither appears within reach any time soon. just ahead, stopping the flow of heroin. >> for every pound that stop from coming into the united states, there's probably at least a hundred pounds more that we don't stop. >> reporter: al jazeera is on the front line of drug

smugglers. plus two pilots attempting to fly around the world powered entirely by the sun's rays.

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97% of the heroin in the u.s. comes through mexico. officials say the number of heroin seizures at the border tripled between 2009 and 2014. add -- adam raney spent a day at the border. >> reporter: they call it the border room. >> look at the extent that they went through. >> reporter: soft drink bottles. gas tanks. even firewood is used to stash

heroin. it's clear to those who guard the gates to the united states. that heroin coming from mexico is their biggest challenge right now. >> we have seized double the amount that we seized last year. >> reporter: alerted to another drug seizure, this time on the road into the united states. jesus is a special agent with homeland security. his task to dismantle smuggling rings. >> in 2012 we had five kilos. in 2014 we had over 200. had a weapon inside the vehicle. >> reporter: his team intercepts drugs every day. but it doesn't stop the flood of heroin that stop officials say has swamped towns and cities feeding a boom in addiction.

>> that is mexico separated by the border fence. but as you can see, those -- those -- those buildings, the houses the residences have a direct line of sight bright into the operations of the sort of entry, and they can see what is going on who is coming in who is leaving. >> reporter: and smugglers told us there are many ways to get their drugs past the wall. sometimes tunnelling under it. sometimes walking right across. heroin more and more officials are seeing people talk it from here in mexico over to the united states. sometimes they are seeing it strapped to old people's bodies and young children. >> reporter: customs, homeland security, and local police, just three of a dozen agencies tasked with stopping the flow of heroin and other narcotics. still some admit the battle

cannot be won because the market is insatiable. >> for every pound that we stop there is probably at least 100 pounds more that we don't stop. so it's a drop in the bucket. >> reporter: this deputy says he is one of those on the last line of defense before drugs get past the border and out to the highway. and now for a look at what is coming up at the top of the hour. john siegenthaler is here. john? >> randall thanks. a racist chant caught on camera. it was called disgraceful by the school's president, but this is not the first time there have been problems at fraternity. plus what was retreat for waterfront living on the texas coast is now one of the worst

toxic waste dumps in the u.s. >> how bad is this site? >> this site is -- is pretty bad. >> reporter: the decisions the epa is considering to clean up the site. also the new concerns over railroad crossings after a collision between an amtrak train and tractor trailer in north carolina. also tonight international diplomacy through music. ♪ how an american jazz artist got the chance to visit iran. >> thanks john. now to the plane called the solar impulse. it began its journey around the world today fuelled by the sun. stephanie decker was there. >> reporter: it is about pushing the limits human innovation and

stretching technological boundaries with a key message. >> when you see that plane that flies day and night with no fuel you can never accept after that, that it is impossible to implement global energy. in that it is impossible to be more energy efficient. this is the flying proof that the world can be much cleaner. >> reporter: these two will be taking turns to fly the solar powered plane around the world for the very first time. >> you can fly a week non-stop a month. makes it completely unique huh? it has to be completely energy efficient. >> reporter: let's give you a bit more detail. it's wingspan is the equivalent as a 747. it weighs about the same as a car, and flies solely on the power of the sun.

>> we will land in india, china, u.s. europe and back to abu dhabi, and each time the goal is to reach students universities companies, ngo's and governments. our goal is to raise popular support. is to have a million people inspired by technologies who can tell to the government yes, we support this go for it. >> reporter: there is a toilet and reclining seat. the longest the plane will be airborne will be over the pacific ocean from china to hawaii a flight estimated to take around five days and five nights. >> we will be tired. we'll be maybe exhausted, we'll try to avoid it. this is also an exploration about how we do, and how we are, and who rewith -- we are?

so there is also a human challenge. >> reporter: they are pioneers with a firm goal who say it is time to take care of this planet and anything is possible thanks to the power of the sun.

hi everyone this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. ♪ >> i hope they think long and hard about what they have done. >> a fraternity banned over a vicious racist chant. the debate over free speech and race in america. student protests. walkouts in wisconsin over another police shooting. while the nation marks 50 years since selma. hazardous site o