imaging system out of the bottom of the plane >> revealing the deadly human threat >> because the mercury is dumped into the rivers and lakes, it then gets into the food chain... >> that's hitting home >> it ends up on the dinner plate of people... >> techknow only on al jazeera america >> this is al jazeera america. i'm michael eaves in new york. here are the top stories. >> we want the right deal. >> secretary of state john kerry and his european counterparts regroup before the next session of talks with iran. >> the chaotic violence in yemen spreads as u.n. military advisors withdraw. >> a terrifying experience for airline passengers when a man armed with a machete and molotov cocktail attacks agents in new orleans. >> what you did was illegal, and

you broke the law? >> i did, i did break the law one woman's confession. how she became a wall street success while living in the u.s. illegally illegally. >> we don't want just any deal. if we had, we could have announced something a long time ago our top story - cautious optimism from the secretary of state john kerry as the deadline nears, a framework agreement with iran on its nuclear energy agreement programme. despite harsh words from the supreme leader accusing the u.s. of using bullying techniques during the talks. as james bays tells us tension is building. >> with a deadline to reach a framework nuclear deal with iran 10 days away. this is an effort to

re-establish a unified position. u.s. secretary of state john kerry meeting his european counterparts. there has been reports that the french foreign minister will take a role with iran and it's been reported that during intense negotiations he called the team urging them not to allow any further concessions. before leaving switzerland, mr kerry was suppressing there was no division among the international negotiators. >> this is and remains a p5+1 negotiation with iran. we are united in our goal our approach. our resolve and our determination. to ensure that iran's programme is peaceful. the european union continued to play a pivotal role in facilitating the talks. >> in iran it's the biggest hall

day of the your. on national television president hassan rouhani said a deal was within reach. >> translation: good willing, at the end of the negotiations we'll reach a deal and understanding benefitting all nations - iran the region and the world. >> in the city, the sprooup reem leader -- supreme leader spoke to a crowd, raising a sticking point. >> negotiations with the united states are on nuclear issues and nothing else. everybody should be aware of this. we do not negotiate with the united states on regional issues. u.s. objectives are the opposite to ours. john kerry and his counter part are expected back in lasane next week. they know the clock is ticking for a framework agreement. one senior french diplomat said that deadline is

counterproductive and dangerous, adding that a deal has to have concrete guarantees that will stop iran getting the bomb. >> a key irony about the talks is that iran's nuclear programme was established with the help of the rates. that happened with the 1950s. the reactor went online in 1967. the next year iran signed the nuclear proliferation treaty. when the shah was overthrown new rulers shut down the programme. during the height of the war, iran started the program in secret. the extent of the nuclear ambitions were not understood until secret documents were released in 2002. joining us to discuss the negotiations is the president of the american iranian council and presidential candidate. thank you for joining us. 10 days from the deadline we hear cautious optimism from the

secretary of state john kerry, from your perspective, are you as optimistic as secretary of state john kerry. >> i think i'm optimistic cautiously. 50/50. >> should it be better than 50/50 at this point? >> it depends - see, the last minute - there are two issues on the table that are serious. one is the extent of the relief that iran gets and on the u.n. side and the extent of the r&d research and development that iran will have to n undertake. on both issues there's tremendous gaps. it is quite wide. >> as it relates to the sanctions specifically is that the greatest incentive for iran to do the deal with the u.s.? >> i would say the sanctions on banking. because that's really the killer. you know you can remove the sanctions on iran except for

the banking and it wouldn't make a difference but iran is looking forward to sanctions removed from the banking system which is where all the sanction issues come. >> binyamin netanyahu made it his motive or desire to torpedo the talks for the last several weeks. what effect, if any, has he had on the negotiations? >> it toughens the american position, and the french position. obviously the french are now holding the gate and to my surprise the americans are the ones that impose sanctions, and french are the ones that don't want them to be removed. it's ironic. at the same time we have to say in all fairness, that they are not calling for the end of negotiations. he's basically trying to link this negotiation to other regional issues. and i personally from the very

beginning thought that it is better to have the nuclear negotiation also expanded into other areas. in fact, in reality, in practice. that's what they have been doing. iran is now fighting i.s.i.s. next to the u.s. even if that is not acknowledged that the americans have recently taken iran out. >> off the terrorist list. >> the things that - global threats. so again, things are happening. but i think it would have been better if it was more formal. i think they should have included countries like saudi arabia israel to some extent and turkey in this larger negotiation. i don't know why, you know germany is there, but saudi arabia isn't there. it's very strange. you have to have a country like germany sitting on the table negotiating the nuclear deal which is nothing to do with it.

yet the countries in the region are isolated. it's not good. i think they should thing about the strategy even if the deal is made still iran has to live in the region with these countries. it's important that at some point they are brought in to the table and i think also it's good to have the u.s. congress you know, somehow included. it's not going to work. having a deal is one thing. sustaining it and making it implemented is another. >> as we heard from the ayatollah, he made it clear that the negotiation is about nuclear talks. nothing to do with the policies in the region. what is the significance of making the remarks. >> he doesn't like iran and u.s. his strategy is no peace, no war. the strategy was i wanted to fight u.s. but i cannot.

i don't want peace in the u.s. that's not good. no war, no peace is his strategy. if you were to have a comprehensive, you know grant strategy settling the issues that will lead to normalization. that is why he's keeping the gait closed. >> 10 more days before the deadline. the president of his organization. amir thank you for talking to us. a former commander says iran not i.s.i.l. poses problems. petraeus argues that the fore-most threat to iraq's long-standing ability is not the i.s.i.s. but the shi eat militias -- shi'ite militias backed by iran ones that are outside of the control of the government and answerable to

tehran. i.s.i.l. is calling on supporters to attack american personnel. a group claims it hacked several u.s. military service, and released a list of names of service members and home addresses and pictures. the pentagon says it's looking into the matter new video surfaced from inside the new orleans international airport moments after a man goes on to the attack. he walks up to a t.s.a. checkpoint spraying wasp killer and swinging a machete. he has shot by a police officer and died. we need to tell about the attack. he was armed with molotov cocktails and other weapons, courtney kealy joins us with the latest. >> according to the sheriff white's wife and children have been forthright. according to the family he suffered from mental illness. his motive for the attack is unclear. >> because of the way everybody

reacted last night, they saved a lot of lives. >> the mayor opened the news conference by praising the public and officer's actions in the moments after the attack. >> as you know by now, it was an unexpected attack by a troubled and disturbed individual. security officials did everything they could to stop the perpetrator, they secured the scene and saved a lot of lives. >> it was chaos as people fled the terminal at the airport in new orleans friday evening. >> he came through with a machete. >> 63-year-old richard white approached a checkpoint and entried insent side at agents and passengers. >> the guy runs with a machete and swings it. i swung the suitcase after him. he ran the other way at a t.s.a. agent. >> a liu tenant fired, fitting him in the face left and leg.

>> what the officer did was instinct. it was the responsibility that all law enforcement officers have. she reacted swiftly, forcefully and commanded the situation. >> at the same time carol rochelle a t.s.a. agent pursued white hat close range and was hit by a bullet intended for white. >> she saved my life. i thought originally the machete hit me. i didn't realise it was a bullet. he was going kill he. >> reporter: he had dropped a bag. inside was six molotov cocktails. >> he had a barbecue lighter in the bag, and a letter opener plastic, and there was some crushed powdery material found near his body with green fuses or wicks, which we have

determined preliminary at this point in time to be smoke bombs. >> police found white's carat the airport with -- car at tanks filled with chemicals. >> the federal bureau of investigation joined in with state and local officials. >> courtney kealy, thank you. >> a new view of wednesday's deadly museum attack in tunisia. police release video of the shooters inside the bardo museum. 21 people, mostly tourists died before both gunmen were killed by police. 20 people have been held in connection with the attack. friday was tunisia's independence day. normally festival. celebrations were subdued. many in the crowds and capital shaken by the shooting. it's the 59th national day for tunisia the u.s. military is pulling troops out of yemen. 100 special operations forces

are leaving the base. hundreds of victims of the suicide bombings are in hospital. 130 were killed when suicide bombers detonated. as reported the battle for control is intensifying. >> people are protesting against the arrival of pro-houthi forces in their city. they want to drag us into war. we refuse. >> a helicopterfullying over a military convoy below was a sign that pro-houthi forces might be closer to a collision course with president abd-rabbu mansour hadi. he has been in aden trying to hang on to power since forced to flee the capital. the editor-in-chief of the "post" said it puts them on the way... >> they not armed, they are not al qaeda they are protests

they will not fight the houthis. there's a difference. >> reporter: as people grappled with the bombings killing 137 on friday, the president appeared on television. he said the bombings were an attempt to push the country into a sectarian war, and he needs to ensure the security of yemeni. >> my job as the president is to do that and invite all the political powers and components including those who carry out the coup in order to agree on certain things that will help a lot of the targets and goals of our people but negotiations are in trouble. al jazeera has learnt the u.n. envoy left the country. saudi arabia offered to host peace talks, but a spokesman says they'll only agree to meetings in sanaa. >> talks in riyadh will lead to more problems.

we need to ask what is the result of the talks in riyadh. results in riyadh. who will implement the results? >> with talks on hold and the houthis on the move the question is whether escalation is inevitable the u.s. army begins a week-long string exercise with poland. there's concerns that the training with government forces and russian-backed rebels. polish troops are there, deployed in the patriot missiles. they are deploying patriot air and missile systems. >> we are conducting a combined exercise with the polish air defense forces. we had a long-standing relationship with the air defense forces and reinvigorating that relationship. we'll conduct combined exercises with the polls, and also sharing some experiences between our two missile systems.

>> the patriot missiles are more effective than poland's air defense weapons. >> afghanistan's president is speaking out against a visit to the u.s. ashraf ghani will meet to discuss security and economic development and u.s. troop levels. under 10,000 remain there. president obama will decide whether to continue plans to withdraw more troops. president ashraf ghani acknowledged the challenge. >> it's a very complicated issue that we don't want to get into. we will explain the condition, what we are doing, how we are bringing those efficiencies and then we need to let the internal process take over and arrive at decisions. but our need the regions, the global needs and the security of the united states. >> ashraf ghani will meet with secretary of state john kerry on monday, and president obama

later next week. we'll have indepth coverage of the issues surrounding the visit on "the week ahead". tomorrow 8:30 eastern, 5:30 pacific a new york city neighbourhood is mourning after seven siblings die in a house fire. plus... >> a central valley down in water crisis is getting help from the state. i'm jennifer london in sacramento here to find out if it will bring the relief they need, and what took so long next hour - a look at how some states are pushing back against same-sex marriage. a fine line between protecting religious freedoms and protecting discriminations.

a new york city community is in mourning after a fire killed seven children all from the same family between the ages of 5-16 and lived in midwood

brooklyn. investigators say a hot plate left on likely set it off. the mother and another child escaped and are being treated at local hospitals. >> i know the mother. i hope that - i don't know if she makes it through this how she'll face what happened to her family. i pray that she has the sanity i don't know what to say the city's fire commissioner says it's the worst tragedy in new york city in a number of years. frustration as a drought drags on. the state is looking for places to conserve water. in places like east porterville, there's almost none to conserve. it's a community and story we've been watching closely. >> reporter: for residents in east porterville california - this sound is the promise of water. drilling 150 feet into the ground spending $14,000 for a

basic necessity. >> people have to have water. that's one thing we have to have. >> reporter: 75-year-old gary eaton came out of retirement to drill a welch. >> drill a well or the city delivers water. there's children at home how is that watching the kids go to bed dirty and thirsty. >> thousands of people in the town have watched children go to bed thirsty and dirty. homes have been without running water for months. some for more than a year. these home owners are among the fortunate few. they can afford to drill a deeper well. even then there's no guarantee the water will last your. those that can't afford to drill a well found themselves helpless. >> my god. my well went dry, as we can say. i thought it was the end of me.

because what are we going to do without water. i still don't know what we'll do. >> reporter: do you think you should have to live like this? >> no i don't think we should live like that. >> reporter: blame the drought or the private wells. some blame the state for not stepping in and helping earlier. >> it's a natural disaster and should be treated as such as any other disaster in the united states, and shouldn't be brushed under the carpet. >> people need help now. >> they need to now, not six years from now, or five years from now or to be forgotten. it's the land that people forgot. >> al jazeera has been following this story when we reported people's wells had run dry. since then we returned to east porterville four times to meet with the residents. as the water crisis worsened people are more desperate and frustrated that long-term

solutions have been slow to come. we travelled to take those concerns to officials. >> we have never seen a drought like this. east porterville has been hit hard. >> eric is with the state's offices of emergency services. >> what do you say to residents that say where has it been. we are not feeling the relief. >> the state is getting water to them. we are funding programs delivering bottled water in their homes. we are setting up damages, paying for the programs to get sanitation water. we are doing everything to meet their needs while we look at longer term solutions. >> we are talking about water, and thousands without running water to their home. that's about as bad as it gets. has the state done enough? >> we are doing everything we can. >> is it enough. >> mother nature is the biggest obstacle. we don't have the water.

in east porterville if we had water flowing, we'd be in a different situation. many wouldn't be in that situation. >> under the california disaster assistance act, the state has drilled to help drill wells. the problem is it could take nine months to complete. it's estimated it would cost 9.6 million. in the meantime it is a race to get as many of these large tanks installed between the heat of summer and spring steps in. >> is it anticipatable that in the united states and california, people are living without running water in their homes, is that acceptable? >> there's a situation here where wells have run dry. there's no longer a water source. what we can do is get water to the individuals. >> reporter: is it happening fast enough? >> it could happen faster. non-profits are looking to staff

up. countries are looking. it needs to happen faster. i agree with any resident that says "can we go faster?" we can do it faster we are work toing do that each and every day. >> back in east porterville help can't come fast enough. >> we need the water now, not next year or the next year. we need it now. we need it since yesterday. >> reporter: what does the state need to know need to understand what life is like for you right now? >> oh, my god, should i just say come over here with me and live it. live it with me. you don't last - well people will not lost a day with what we are living right now california still yearning for water. on the other end of the country, precipitation in the north-east caused problems.

>> we have had so many problems from the storm. it was forecasted to give 2-6 inches of snow. we got well behind that causing problems on the highways. we talked about major accidents across peninsula and new jersey. i want to show you some of the experience across new jersey. it was deadly. we had two fatalities across the region because people were going too fast for what the roads can handle. you see the lower visibilities across the area. here in new york we were looking at snow. we saw 4.5 inches at central park. the airports suffered. over 600 flight cancelled or delayed. we are looking better. residual know appeared in parts of main. that will go away. temperatures are not too bad. western connecticut - almost 8 inches of snow. these are the values. newark 3.9, laguardia 2.7.

temperatures with help. higher than 44, it's coming down, most of the snow is melting. compared to yesterday, they are higher than that area and we'll see about 51 degrees today, and see heavy rain across parts of texas. we are talking about a major flooding situation. now, here to the border between texas and louisiana. we are talking about flash flood warnings. a dangerous situation. >> something to keep an eye on nigeria will be voting. many issues on the minds of voters. there's concern about security at the polls. former ambassador nigeria joins us to discuss what is at stake next. next - brake kits undertested for years are helping investigators sold -- rape kits untested for years are finally

helping investigators solve crimes.

welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm michael eaves. here is a look at your top stories. the man that attacked t.s.a. officers is the new orleans airport died. he attacked with wasp spray and a machety. he was shot. his motive is unclear. he did have molotov cocktails. secretary of state john kerry says progress has been made in negotiations in a deal with iran on the nuclear programme. the iran junior supreme leader denounced bullying. talks will resume on wednesday. >> the u.s. military is pulling troops out of yemen as the battle for control intensifies. the envoy left the country leaving the future of peace talks uncertain nigeria's presidential elections are a week from today. violence corruption and the economy are issues. we have this report from lagos. >> nigerians go to the polls in a week in what is considered one

of the most closely contested elections history. these are the fifth elections to be held since 1999 when democracy was restored. for the first time it seems as if an opposition candidate has a chance of upsetting an incoming president. president jonathan goodluck is seeking a second 4-year term. he faces a stiff challenge from a former military ruler, a muslim from the north. the elections were supposed to be held on 14 february but have been postponed for an appeared of six weeks. the nigeria military claims they would not guarantee safe elections in north nigeria where the group operates in. and the military have been involved in oppression against boko haram in which they are supported by forces from nigeria's neighbours - cameroon chad and niger.

the two election issues are corruption, which is a run away issue in nigeria, and how to curve insecurity in north-east nigeria speaking of northern nigeria, voter are facing major security concerns ahead of the elections. the region has been under siege by boko haram, with a little help. the threat of violence could sway the vote. >> until recently this was boko haram country. the fighters may have left the streets of maiduguri, but the threat they pose has not. it is why it's so extraordinarily that people are turning out for last-minute elections. defying the risk of suicide bombs to getter understand who to vote for. after six years of violence which left tens of thousands dead there is a thirst for

change. this man had a thriving business in baga 100km north of maiduguri. then boko haram took over, and he lost everything. >> a few of my sons were killed. i lost everything in my houses stores and cars. if the people in charge of security cared, we wouldn't have reached the state. >> the government points to victories by multi national forces against boko haram. the mood here is skeptical. >> reporter: why has it taken them too long to realise the enormousy of the problem. why now, before the elections? >> and this anger is shared by many. a suicide bomber attacked the market over a week ago. many were killed or injured. for most people security is the

priority if a party is going to win, they must convince the voters they can deliver on any promise. >> in the last few weeks troops have dislodged the group from many areas. fundamental questions remain. >> this is one aspect. the territory is secure. what the military is interested in doing is winning the battles in many places but have not won the war. the government may have scored a point. what is not experience is whether the victories are enough to win back support here come election day joining us now from washington d.c. is robin sanders, former u.s. ambassador to nigeria. thank you so much for joining us

this even. >> my pleasure. this is the fifth presidential election since nigeria went to democracy in 1999. what is the significance of this election. i think there are two things that come to mind for me. one, you really have a competitive election this time around. in previous elections it was a foregone conclusion. i think this election you have a competitive election between two candidates and right now it's difficult to determine who actually is going to prevail. the main thing is to have the conduct of the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner to determine whatever pr veils, is done so legitimately. >> there's such a divide within the country, north versus south much the majority of the wealth is in the southern part of the country, and a transfer of power with a presidential election.

if that happens, could that affect the overall relationship between the two regions in the country. >> i think that nigeria is very much divided in that way. having lived there for many years, and spent a lot of time over the last couple of years going back and forth, i think the divide between the north and south is exacerbated more than reality. the north-east where the boko haram are today. that is a high security vulnerable area. overall the divide between north and south is not seen in detail as much as it's viewed outside. i think nigerians see the importance of having an election, whether in the north or the south. the issues may be different. if you are in borneo and other areas, security is an issue. if you are in south, you may look at other issues like food security and education.

every nigerian whatever the issue, they are seeing it - the election as pivotal and critical and it is that for the region, for the country and africa at large. >> you mentioned boko haram. president jonathan goodluck postponed the election with the idea of adding security. what effect will boko haram have on these elections - not only from a security stand point but from a policy standpoint when voters are interested? >> certainly the voters in the north-east are interested in security, and you heard in the clip there how much people are concerned about something during the election process. i think the regional forces are prepared for that. it doesn't mean something unexpected will not happen. or that boko haram is looking to do something. both the reality can happen. the regional forces are paying

attention, the electoral commission is paying attention. everyone has to be an alert for the unintended consequence to happen in terms of a boko haram action. that being said i think it's a positive thing. everyone is poised for the election. the key is to be fair free and conducted in a transparent manner. >> from the united states standpoint standpoint, how will this effect america's political or strategic interest in the region? >> i think it will change. nigeria is a bellwether powerhouse country. what is most important to the u.s. nigerians and the international community, and obviously on the ground for the

last election with my team is the fairness transparency and the process of the election. people have to believe in the outcome, and that people were voted legitimately that the vote was transparent and whoever was elected was elected in a transparent and free manner and has to be representative of the people. those are going to be the measures of the success. and i think for nigerians, if the process was free and fair if they believe the person was elected, they have an opportunity to move forward. something that the clip has in terms of north and south on human indicators security itself. and other differences. >> former ambassador - thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> 49 were killed on saturday in a bomb ag attack against --

bombing attack against syrian kurds. 177 were hurt. despite five years of violence, some syrians are taking to the streets to show displeasure with the government. we have this report. >> the number of people waving flags for the syrian revolution dwindled in the last four years. these people live in the outskirts of the capital damascus, some of the these areas have seen attacks by government forces. those that want to choose a new government continue to come tout show the world they want change. >> the beginning of the revolution used to kill people while protesting peacefully. it turned from the demonstration and the protest into military revolution because we can't phase the tank or the missiles with the peaceful demonstrations.

in the city anti-bashar al-assad sentiment simmered for decades. they were out on the street. the government controls much of the surrounding province and is fighting off attacks from islamic state of iraq and levant. i.s.i.l. is a target for protesters. almost every opposition group is fighting each other and the government. despite the dangers, protesters come out in numbers, including children and the elderly, and depending on which opposition force controls the area fighters joined the gathering to drum up support. the message started from the mosques under the slogan allah is great. >> and this is what thousands of syrians face on a daily basis. in this district a government missile killed dozens they say. most of the dead were women and children.

they were reportedly insured in an attack in another area. a girl tells a boy that her mother was not upstairs everything was destroyed. the young boy asks if she is okay. she is not, but will survive at least until now. increased fighting in libya is threatening international efforts to reach a peace agreement. according to an international envoy monitoring the civil war. >> the libyan government launched a campaign to reclaim tripoli from a rival administration. western administration say the only way to end the chaos were two rival governments and armed factions badly rolled. ecuador's president is not laughing along with those poking fun of him. he is hitting back using the internet to do it listing his critics on a website. some say they have received

death threats. >> political cartoonist known as boneel to his fans spent decades deploying his humour to criticize those in power. his studio is littered with drawings of political leaders. it's walls covered with sketches and notes -- it's walls covered with sketches and notes. it has no love from the president. after publishing cartoons making fun of he and his policies he was pressured to make an apology and received death threats when the president singled him out during is weekly press event. >> translation: he called on followers to respond to those that criticize. creating a climate of harassment. >> reporter: he is not the only one. another blogger reached up to

400,000 facebook and twitter followers who weighed up his witty and cutting criticism of the policies. he said he wanted to express himself as a private citizens about things he did not agree with in his country. >> i didn't think it was dangerous because i trusted my government. until things got more personal. >> one day a government website published a photo of me. it wasn't a picture i had published before. but one taken of me and my family while we had lunch. it made me realise we were being followed. >> the blogger decided to leave town until things blew over and moved his family hundreds of kilometres away. the peace of mind did not last long. a day after arriving at a relative's house, they received a flower arrangements with a note saying they were being watched. he decided to take down his

facebook page, and stop writing about the government. the press was surprised. >> there are multiple strategies to create systems of control, control through fear that limits essential liberties. >> the government denies that it is bullying people into silence and an analyst says restrictions do not mean democracy is at risk. >> there are many forms of direct participation in ecuadorian democracy, such as local government council for example. >> for those used to expressing their view in a cartoon or digital media, forwards their rite is being erased it was a message of hope from the first lady. michelle obama on a 5-day tour of asia promoting the let girls

learn campaign. the stop was in cambodia where 21% of girls graduate. and many girls never set foot in the classroom. the initiative hopes to change that how a major city reversed a trend of leaving rape kits on the shelve and pit bad guys behind bars. >> reporter: what you did was illegal and you broke the law. >> i did, i did break the law plus how she became a wall street success while living in the u.s. illegally.

a rape or sexual assault occurs every 2 minutes in the u.s. it's a disturbing truth made more troubling by the number of rapes that are unsolved. the federal government says there's more than 400,000 untested rape kits and the cost

to test the kits is staggering. between 200 and 600 million. just this week vice president joe biden announced $41 million in federal funds to reduce the backlog. in 2013 12,000 untested rape kits were found in memphis. 6,000 in houston, 3,000 in cleveland. victoria has a history of undefted rape kits. bisi onile-ere has that story. >> i was surprised but not shocked. >> reporter: it's been almost six years since more than 11,000 untested rape kits turned up in an old detroit warehouse. at a host of 500 to 1500 to test each kit. in a county short on money, most of the kits could not be tested. >> there was nothing else to do but pursue it. >> in 2013, wayne county prosecutor told al jazeera america she was on a mission to

find the funding. the fact that i have fund raises to source the office is what we have to do. >> is that normal. >> no it's ridiculous. that's what we have to do. >> worthy pushed hard with state and federal money. nearly every rape kit, some dating back two decades ago has been tested. >> since we met more than a year ago, there has been a substantial number of d.n.a. matches. how many? >> well there has been over 700. there has been a bigger numbers on the bigger information is that we have identified 188 serial rapists. >> reporter: the man that raped erica benjamin is one of them. >> he made me close my eyes and dress down. >> reporter: if you could describe what happened in one word, what would it be. >> i was terrorized.

>> reporter: benjamin was held at gunpoint kidnapped and raped. she learnt that her rape kit was among thousands collecting dust. >> to know the kits sat in the warehouse for so long how did it make you feel? >> it made me feel very terrible. this is the first time i've been sexually assaulted in detroit michigan. i gave it to god. >> benjamin is one of pror worthy's success stories. more than 10 years after she was raped. police arrested deion stark. he was sentenced to 90 years imprison and linked to three other kits. >> i implore kim worthy the only one i saw gung-ho for everything. she is passionate and adamant

about it. i've never seen someone as passionate as he. >> no longer whatsoever towards press. >> no. everybody human being. they can only work an 8 hour shift or 12 hours. i don't blame them. >> reporter: where does the accountability fall? >> i have taken this tact. since this happened in 2009 i wanted everybody's head who, how it happened. i had to let that go many years ago. it doesn't get us anywhere in terms of bringing justice to the victims. >> reporter: so far 15 men have been convicted, costing the prosecutor's office about $8,000 to vet and prosecute each -- investigate and prostitute each kath. it is worth oworthy's new -- each case. it is worthy's new change working with charities to help thousands of rapists be pulled off the streets still ahead - undocumented on wall street.

one woman's story of secrets, success and giving back.

an american success story with a twist. a new york woman went from selling selling cakes to vice president of one of the biggest investment funds, but was scared to go to work every day >> reporter: she had it all. a top paying job on wall street her career was built on a lie. >> that is in mexico. >> reporter: she came from mexico illegally. her parents owned a funnel cake stand in san antonio texas and filled her with dreams of going to college.

>> they are really hardworking. i admire them. they make so much with so little. >> reporter: when the propane tank on their stand exploded it left their mother in a coma. >> it was either spend the money on mum's medical bill or use it for my education. >> reporter: immigrants are not eligible for financial aid. she needed papers to get a job. >> my intention with getting the papers was to get a job pay for college. eventually i got to a woman who sold papers. i remember getting the papers and i still didn't know if they were going to work. >> reporter: well, they did. with the same papers she not only paid her way through college, but landed a job on wall street. working from goldman sachs. she rose through the ranks to

become a vice president, where she made between $300,000 to $400,000 a year. >> reporter: what do you say to people that say that's illegal and you broke the law? >> i did. i did break the law. i had two choices - to give up on my future or break the law. they were the only options. some say why not pack your things and go back to your country. i left mexico at 11. this is moi county. though she wasn't prosecuted she feels she paid for her hoys. >> while you were working your father died. what did you do? >> that was the worse day of my life. not being able to go back and be with my dad and my family. >> she couldn't attend his funeral. if she did, she risked not being able to get back to the united states.

every day on the job her anxiety grew worse. >> each step was nerve-wracking. it could have gone wrong. i could have ended up in gaol. she got married and got her green card. >> the biggest thing that having papers gay me was freedom. i wasn't free before. >> with that freedom came change. she left her job on wall street and raises money for the nonprofit, defining american. a group dedicated to saving students. >> what about people who say what you did was patently un-american, that you didn't do it by your own bootstraps, because you didn't do it the fair way. >> i would ask them a question. what is fair? is it fair for 18-year-old girls who work her entire life to get really good grates and get a

higher -- grades and get a higher education, is it fair she doesn't go to college. >> even though her journey may have begone on a lie. she said now she is living her truth. >> thank you for watching this hour of news. i'm michael eaves in new york. now it continues with thomas drayton good to see you. this is al jazeera america, i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. >> we don't want just any deal. if we had, we could have announced something a long time ago. >> sounds of optimism from nuclear negotiators regrouping before heading back to talks with iran. as the battle for control of yemen intensifies. united states withdraws its last military advisors. chaos in new orleans's airport as a man swinging a machete attacks passengers. >> and coming up, the fine line between protecting