on this base. >> and america's war workers. >> it's human trafficking. >> watch these and other episodes online now at aljazeera.com/faultlines. >> this is aljazeera america. live from new york city, i'm tony harris. armed activists, a group of white men with assault rifles patrolling the streets of ferguson, missouri. epa apology. the environmental agency talks about the toxic spill in colorado and how they plan to clean it up. and the city street lights are coming back on in detroit. why some residents feel they're still being left in the dark.

and we begin with the latest out of ferguson, missouri. the police have just released new surveillance video from sunday night's shooting. in the video, we see a suspect, identified as taylor harris, and it appears that he has a gun. police say harris shot at them. plain-clothed officers returned fire from the van, wounding harris, who is in critical condition, and harris' friends and family have disputed the officer's accounts, and meanwhile, a presence has appeared on the streets of ferguson. an armed group, called the oath keepers, and it's members appear to be all white men, former police, wearing assault rests and camouflage gear, and the group is described as fiercely anti-government and

militaristic, diane eastabrook is in ferguson, and diane, this new development can not be helpful >> reporter: well, tony, it has raised a lot of eyebrows here in ferguson, and the oath keepers said that they started coming to ferguson last fall, when the rioting broke out and the jury decided not to indict darren wilson, and they say that they're coming here to protect rioters and the police themselves. armed with assault rifles and flap jackets, they have brought new attention to the streets of ferguson. monday night, they provided security for the web-based news organization, info wars. >> we kept the guys safe. >> were you bothered by the fact that they were walking around with their weapons exposed? >> no, they were exposed. and at the same time, everybody knows that all of reporters over here have armed security as well. it's no secret. if you ever go to a place, to a

riot, they bend over and you see their oath keepers sticking out. >> they are made up of men around the country, who say had a their mission is to defend the constitution. they say that they came to ferguson to protect news crews and businesses. there's criticism of your group walking around with large weapons that might have frightened people. was that appropriate? >> well, the weapons they were using last night were standard weapons a law enforcement officer would carry on duty. and nothing more than a civilian can purchase. >> the owner of this hair salon said she asked oath keepers to protect her business monday night because the police didn't keep the looters from breaking into her business on sunday. but they said that they don't want oath keeper's help.

the chief said that their preparation is inflammatory. >> i think that the chief said it's not necessary, but i don't know if that's true. >> while kurt said that they weren't violating the gun laws, he can understand the unease they might have created. >> i think that they were trying to provide a security detail last night, and i don't agree with it 100%, but i wasn't in the discussion either >> reporter: and kirk said that he saw last fall a lot of aggressive police behavior, and he said that's part of the reason the oath keepers have been coming to ferguson. >> interesting, and it brings up an interesting argument for mr. harris, who was shot by the police. diane eastabrook for us, and appreciate it. coming up in about 30 minutes, we'll speak with one of the people arrested last night in ferguson. the reverend will join us live. and that's just ahead.

to arlington, texas now, to the officer who shot an unarmed black teenager friday morning, was fired. christian taylor was killed in a burglary investigation in a car dealership. and the 9-1-1 tapes were released today. and discounts that the 19-year-old was killed within one second after the officers arrived at the scene. >> we have shots fired. >> while the records show nearly two minutes elapsed between the police arriving and shots fired, a rookie cop shot taylor four times, and the other officer used a taser. the family is demanding answers. [ unintelligible ]. >> even though the 9-1-1 tapes have been release, the public

still has not been allowed to see what happened inside of the dealership where the shooting occurred. president obama's pledge to close the prison camp at guantanamo bay, cuba before he leaves office has run into another roadblock. justice department is vehemently opposed to the transfer much some of the detainees into a prison in illinois. reporting from the pentagon this is just the latest obstacle in shutting down that detention center. >> reporter: tony, it was one of the first promises that the president made. and he cam papered on it, and he has repeated it many times in the past seven years. in 2009, he signed an executive order to close the guantanamo detention center as soon as practicable, but so far, the pentagon has failed to come up with a plan. the obama administration has promised a concrete plan to congress that spells out specifically how guantanamo would be shut down. and so far, they have stymied

the closure. one idea, to send several dozen of the most dangerous dap he's, who the pentagon said cannot be released or set to other countries, to the thompson correctional center, a prison in illinois that has 1500 empty cells. but the obama administration forgot that former attorney general, eric holder, promised the senate judiciary committee, we will not move people from guantanamo to thompson, so it's back to the drawing board. >> we strongly port the secretary, supporting president obama's determination made from the very first day of his administration to close guantanamo. it's obviously a top priority. it has remained a challenge throughout. >> the administration hoped to get a plan to senate services committee member, john mccain

before the recess, and now the officials say that it will be next month at the earliest before the proposal goes to the hill. mccain has promised to work with president obama to close guantanamo, but only if the administration can provide an alternative that addresses congressional concerns. it's not just the current ban on moving any prisoners to u.s. soil that has to be addressed, it's also the congressional requirements that the defense secretary signs off on any transfers to other countries. satisfied that the dap he's no longer pose a risk to the u.s. that was former secretary, chuck hagel and the white house last year. hagel was often reluctant to give him assurance to something unknowable. six years after president obama assigned an executive order to close guantanamo within a year, the number of dap he's has been

cut from 240 to 116, and nearly half have been cleared for release, with most not facing any charges. the state department says that it's working full-time to find countries who will take guantanamo prisoners, many of whom were cleared for release years ago, but had nowhere to go. meanwhile, the white house is still searching for a prisoner in the u.s., with irreducible minimum, judged too dangerous to ever be released. tony? >> nine suspects are now facing federal charges for an insider trading scam that allegedly used computer hackers to net as much as $100 million in illegal profits. members have early access to confidential press releases, and took advantage of the information to make trades before the deals were announced. >> for more than five years, hackers largely operating in

ukraine, repeatedly penetrated the services of network and business wire. three leading companies that provide those news release services. those hackers stole well over 100,000 confidential news releases before they were distributed. >> the money would be sent to overseas bank accounts, so the ukrainian hackers could get their share of the profits. big surprised it, in the effort to government exports for the country's lagging economic growth, ali velshi explains why it's such a big deal. >> reporter: tony, china devalued its currency by 2% against the dollar, that's the biggest in two years. it is the biggest one-day depreciation. the move sent shock waves:

manufacturing companies, here in the united states, the dow seesawed through the day, before tumbling more than 200 points, a loss of greater than 2%. what's sparking it? today's evaluation, the chinese authority that the economic rise is stalling. once upon a time china's gdp grew 10% a year for decades, and that was because of china's exports to the year, and now the gdp is 7% less, still high by any standard. and still high. up until now, the chinese authorities said that they were comfortable with slower growth, especially since it will help them evolve into a consumer society like the u.s. is today. making the exports more expensive for the world to buy, but today's depreciation an admission that china is not willing to wean itself off of

the export-driven growth. in the united states, the chinese imports will be 2% cheaper, but for people in china, the u.s. products and services are more expense i be, and that hurts the bottom line of the companies on this side of the pacific trying to export goods or services to china. the stock market tumble not good for the half of americans invested in the stock market. and we're going to be watching this very closely. >> ali velshi, you can watch him on target at 10 p.m. eastern. japan took a major step today toward returning to nuclear power. four years after the fukushima plant meltdown, a powerful earthquake caused major damage to self reactors in 2011. and all of the reactors were shut down, and nuclear power laz banned. today, one of the reactors was restarted. >> reporter: inside of the control room, a crucial moment

for japan's nuclear industry. just after 10 a.m., an engineer said that the rods have been removed and the nuclear physician has begun. most of it critical, the prime minister at the time of the fukushima disaster. >> we cannot predict accidents and that's why they happen. and all of the necessary precautions have not been taken. >> a meltdown in three of its reactors after the power station was hit by the tsunami of march, 2011, japan's nuclear regulator said that tougher standards approaching anything of that scale would be unapproachable. but restarting a long-idol

facility is fraught with difficulty. >> the elements would have been stopped so it's harder. and on top of that, that part needs more inspection, and it's more than 30 years old. they need to review it safely on that basis too. >> but japan's prime minister, who overturned the previous government's decision to phase out the nuclear power, this is part of the economic recovery plan. household electricity has jumped by a quarter since the fukushima disaster. and yet the majority of the lectorate still opposes the return to nuclear energy. >> the governor said that this was a decision for the power company. but there's no question that this protest is being driven by the prime minister. the numbers outside of the office may be relatively small, but the polls suggest that around 60% of japanese people are against the plant. >> residents living near sundai

are varied in their opinions. local governments, rather than tokyo or the power company will be responsible for it. and others say that the local economy needs its main industry to get going again. the power station restart is underway. and by friday, providing electricity to the national power grid. by september, it's expected to be running at full capacity. >> toxic sludge now running through parts of four states. how the accidental release of contaminated water into the colorado river has businesses drying up in the southwest. and plus, reaping the benefits of the relationship with cuba. the winners and losers as washington prepares to open an embassy in havana.

>> it is a tragic and unfortunate accident, and the epa is taking responsibility to make sure that it's cleaned up. the most important thing throughout this effort is ensuring the health and safety of the residents and the

visitors near that river. >> so that was the head of the epa, gina mccarthy, apologizing for the toxic waste spill in two of the colorado rivers. mccarthy will visit the area tomorrow. and that accident released millions of gallons of toxic waste from not abandoned gold mine. and the sludge has traveled more than 100 miles, into tributaries in new mexico, utah and arizona. allen joins us now from durango, colorado. and my understanding is this thing continues, and it has not been capped yet. >> they say they have done a lot of work at that spill site to put in containment ponds and to try to clean any water leaking out of there. but i don't think this their work is finally finished up there at all. we just heard the head of the epa say it, they caused the spill. and they're going to do what

they can to make it right. but tony, people in this part of the country are trying to find out what that means. they're trying to get back to normal and back to business. it has been six days since more than 3 million gallons of water from the mine spilled down the animus and san juan rivers. for the region, businesses bringing in and sustaining the businesses, the plume of sludge wasn't what they were hoping for. tony miley sells wildlife eventish and has watched that spill shut down his best season ever. >> there are thousands of visitors here in durango who feel that the animus is home, and it's painful to see. >> it's not just the durango area. dozens of fishing and rafting operations in colorado and new mexico, in fact any business or ranch lying on the river share tony's concerns. colorado's governor, john

hickenlooper, who got a look at the spill thursday, told us that he hopes that the local economy will get help. >> are the businesses going to be made whole. >> we're going to try. state has put up $500,000. and i fully expect the epa to step up and do their part. my hope is expectations, if not whole, darned close. >> there are early indications that the river itself is bouncing back. in this test trap of live fish, placed in durango ahead of the plume, only one died. and no major insect died either. a large yellow stain the only visible reminder of the spill 50 miles up river. contamination is a problem, and contamination on this scale is startling. >> you put 1 million gallons in

at once, and it travels a lot farther. and it looked like paint to me when it came through on friday in durango, and that really shocked people, i think. >> in a region built on mining, spills like this aren't new, and the accidental release of sludge is a reminder of the challenges posed on 150 years of mineral extraction in the west. it's estimated to be 50,000 old mines in the region from the rockies to the pacific. >> maybe the worst problem is not that it's a time bomb, but it's this long-term, low level problem that we start to think of as normal. >> the animus river remains closed. and they hope that the lifeline hasn't suffered too much. and they hope that visitors won't take the ream off of their summer travel maps. >> durango is open for business, and b, the sky has not fall be, and this is going to heal itself, and heal itself

pretty quickly. >> an air of hope, tony from a lot of people. and the river looks pretty good. but obviously, it's what you can't see that's the problem. a lot of questions remain about the health of this river. what exactly is the stuff at the bottom? [ audio difficulties ] what kind of a threat does it pose? and environmentally and to human health in the future? at this point, we don't have the answers to the questions. [ audio difficulties ] it remains to be seen exactly how that happens. >> nice train engine, the whistle to cooperate. and the epa says that stretch of the animus and san juan rivers will be closed for at least a week, and some are worried about the impact this could have on the entire

colorado river system. joe explains where this toxic water is likely to head next. >> reporter: as you heard from allen, it's flowing south. and it has made its way into the san juan river. it connects with the animus and flows into the colorado as it crosses over into utah there. it's going to make it to lake powell by tomorrow. and that's the massive reservoir on the border of utah and arizona. and again, the stuff making the river look like tang. the orange colors are settling to the bottom of the rivers, and hopefully will not settled before they get to lake powell, but they will be stirred up by storms. the colorado system is the life blood of the whole american southwest. life would not exist without the colorado. it's the only major river in the region, and it stretches more than 1400 miles from the

rockies all the way to the gulf of california. 40 million people, and 22 native american tribes rely on it for drinking and farming and tourism. [ audio difficulties ] acres of farmland, the system produces $26 billion from recreational activities alone. we heard about the rafting and finishing, and it will have a massive ripple effect on the region. >> let's ask questions about this. paul, bob deans is with us now, and he's the director of strategic engagement at the natural resources defense council and he joins us from washington. bob, good to have you on the program. [ audio difficulties ]

>> certainly, tony, early on, the questions raised, [ audio difficulties ] how much of this has settled into the river bed, into the sediments, and how long will it remain, and what happened to it? what will happen to the vegetation and the aquatic life on the riverbanks? those are the big questions, and the good news is, and it's couched good news, this is a fast flowing river system that has the ability to flush this out and move it downstream. and without question, the epa as well as the state agencies will have to monitor and mitigate where the essential impact of this spill is, tony. >> let me follow up then, so talk us through why the metals from this spill are important for this discussion, and for continuing monitoring. >> because these metals, tony,

are toxic and in some cases cars ingic, and that's the problem. these are metals that were in the mine. and as you know, the mine was closed since 1923, i believe, abandoned and as the ground water gets into the mine, it physically and chemically wealthers away the rock and loosens up the heavy metal. that's what was in all of that water under high pressure when it got opened and released into the river. >> do we know how this happened? they were cleaning up, and here we go. >> absolutely,. >> absolutely, w we need to know what happened and what went wrong and how it won't happen again. but in essence, they were trying to tap this mine to pump the water out to be treated. they underestimated the amount

of water and the pressure inside of the mine, so when they opened it up, boom, like a volcano, out gushed 3 million gallons of toxic waste water. >> any evidence so far, i haven't heard it, but any evidence to indicate that this waste has found it's way into the drinking water supply in that particular area? >> no indications as of yet, tony. there were apparently some inlet's to put water from this river into drinking water, but those inlet's were closed immediately when this happened. and there's no indication of that. but of course that's part of what the epa will continue to testify on. >> and last one. let me sneak it in here, what's your ballpark number on old mines in colorado and across the country that have grown -- >> in the west. >> that have this ground water issue that you're describing kind of building up? >> tony, the epa tells us that

there are more than 600,000 of these abandoned mines, and 400,000 in nevada alone. and of course we have a lot in call call and montana and elsewhere out there. and thousands of these were built before we had responsible environmental safeguards in place, and many were abandoned by mining companies that walked away from the waste and said let somebody else clean this up. but we have to deal with this now, and we have to identify the ones that pose the greatest threat. and rally the resources, state, local and federal, to clean it up so we don't have another disaster like this. >> bob, appreciate it, and thank you for your time. bob deans. the national defense council of the environment. 50 years ago today, a traffic stop sparked a week of deadly riots, how they changed los angeles forever, and jeb bush hours away from laying out his plans and his critique of

hilliary clinton.

snatch al all >> over to ferguson now, nearly 2 depossen people were arrested last night after demonstrations marking a year since the death of michael brown, and reverend was also arrested. and good to have you on the program. what did you do to get arrested? i understand that it doesn't take much to get arrested in ferguson these days, so what did you do some. >> a group of clergy understanding our ethical responsibility engaged in a rich tradition of non-violent disobedience, and we wanted to meet with the state attorney, callaghan, who we were told was not in, and the building was

blocked off. and the lipped and the u.s. marshals wanted to prevent us from entering the building. we crossed the barricade. and we prayed and we delivered a set of demands for the department of justice to do their jobs. >> gotcha, and reverend, you have the specter now of the oath keeper's organization, described as the far right militia, and the members on the streets of ferguson, and these are former military types, and the police and first responders, and they're pledging to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they claim to be protecting the people of ferguson from rioters and overzealous police. what is going on here? and what do you make of this development? >> well, i mean this is part and parcel of the tradition of

right wing militias in engaging and interfering with the activities of every day citizens, and this is wrong. terrorism, right winging organizations in the united states have proven to be the most dangerous threat to homeland security, and we have seen that with dylann roof and we have seen it with the shootings louisiana ream, and they're just part and cars elf a system that's a cancer upon american democracy, so their intent is to intimidate and to scare the african-american citizens, particularly the young people in the streets, but we will not bow down, because we're not afraid. >> how do you view your role in this protest movement? in the past, you have written an open letter on the website responding you to be touche protestor and not enough of a peacemaker, so what is your thinking on that question of the clergy's role in ferguson

and beyond today? >> well, as a clergy person, i would say those who want peace without justice, or those who want easter without the cross. meaning that we have a more than ethical responsibility to struggle alongside of with those who jesus called the least of these, so my understanding of the gospel, given to us by a palestinian born to an unimportant people to an unimportant mother, who was crucified by the state. and it helps me understand the task of the preacher and the pastor to stand in solidarity and defend the least of these, so my ethical responsibility is to require this i'm not just a clergy person, but a citizen in a domestic civilization, and we have been able to carve out space, by virtue of protest.

you and i sit in the spaces that we sit in because somebody marched and bled and died for us to have that resource. america didn't fall out of the sky as a perfect utopia, and it's definitely not that now, but it has become better because people were willing to put their bodies on the line and break immoral laws. >> reverend, one last one, and i asked michael brown's mom this question last week, and i want to put it to you. she's still working on an answer to this. i'll pose it to you. what is it about michael brown's death a year ago that has touched off this movement? >> african-americans have a tenuous agreement with america. we know how you oppressed us. no matter how liberal or conservative are, you entered into the social terrain with a different set of activities and opportunities, and we understand that, whether it be entrepreneurs or revolution

ears, or non-violent activists. we take it as a given, but what you will not do is disrespect us, so leaving our son's body in the street for 4 and a half hours, and calling out police dogs before you did an ambulance, and responding to the cries of a community, rather than with compassion for a grieving community, they did so with teargas, and they did so for 167 days. every day in ferguson, we have been in the streets rebelling against what we're seeing as undemocratic practices by the agencies and the police. >> and i suspect that it will continue. certainly it has been, reverend, joining us from st. louis, and thank you for the time. appreciate it. the tension in ferguson, missouri, invokes another time in which the national spotlight against the police. today marks the 50th

anniversary of the watts riots. it began after a controversial traffic stop, and when it ended, dozens were dead and thousands injured. >> the man said to me today that all of this would not have happened if the negroes had been treated differently. i said if you treat somebody like a mad dog, he's going to behave like a mad dog, is that too extreme. >> i have to go along with that. >> it started when a white highway patrol officer pulled over a 21-year-old motorist that he suspected of today drunk driving. onlookers rushed in, believing that they were seeing another example of excessive force by a police department, many viewed as an occupying force in the prominently black area of watts. before long, buildings were burned, businesses looted and blood spilled. the watts riots would last six

days and cover 46 square miles of l.a. more than 40 people would die and 1,000 hurt. and $40 million in property damaged, $300 million in today's dollars. many in the black community recalled a violate reaction to years of second class treatment at the hands of whites. >> if they don't go along with you, the white man has not been going along with us, and so by doing this, we feel we can make them go along with us better. >> pat brown, the father of california's current governor, called a commission, to find out what caused the week of violence and keeping from a repeat. he found that police brutality and disrespectful police behavior created a long-standing skis imbetween the negro community and the police department." better housing and healthcare and education for black and

anglianos. the unrest continues to plague american cities. john henry smith, aljazeera. >> too in tonight for special coverage of the watts riots 50 years later. it was less than a month ago when a white cincinnati police officer shot and killed a black unarmed motorist during a traffic stop. and today, there are new reports about a surge of traffic citations handed to blacks from campus officers long before the death of driver, samuel dubois. officer ray tense was indicted last month for murder in the shooting. 43% of all citations were issued to black moat ritz, and that number jumped to 63% in 2013. the university chief of police said that he's horrified by the

findings toy. >> in just a few hours, republican candidate, jeb bush, will deliver a speech at the ronald reagan library in california. bush is expected to outline a strategy for fighting isil. according to releases from the campaign, he will have words for front runner, hilliary clinton, who is making news herself this evening. she has directed her campaign to give her private email server to the justice department. let's go to michael in simi valley. and we're going to talk about jeb bush in just a minute, but first, what is happening with hilliary clinton and her emails, and particularly the server? >> yes, indeed, tony, the words that are going to be directed from hilliary clinton to jeb bush are going to be the least of her concerns tonight. whawhat has turned out, the top secret server, the one that she

had in her house, the personal server that the department of justice thought raised eyebrows a little bit. two of those four emails have now been deemed top secret, sensitive information, which is about as high of a level of top secret as you can get in the defense department. and david kendall, hilliary clinton's lawyer has turned them over to the fbi and the intelligence community because they're not to be in his hands any longer. hilliary clinton said that she would never turn these over, because they contain information that she and her husband shared. personal information that she didn't want to share, and those have been turned over to the inspector gem. >> let's talk about tonight, and jeb bush, in the past, he said he will be his own man on foreign policy, putting some distance between himself and his father and brother, and

will that be the case tonight? >> it's going to be a broad strokes stage. people who have spoken to the bush campaign said that he's not trying to separate himself so much from his brother and father, though that's what people to the hear from him, but from obama and clinton as well. he's going to tie the two together. but however, he's going to say that the biggest problem in this country is not because we went to iraq, but when we left iraq. taking the blame from his brother and putting it on the current administration. but making a stand, let's look at something that he has released in a new campaign video, tony, talking about foreign policy. >> when we pull back, voids are filled, and we see it with these new threats of islamic terrorism in the middle east. and homegrown terrorism in our own country, motivated by isis. we see it when we ignore our

friends in the middle east, starting with israel. there should be no light between israel and the united states. that should be the bedrock principle. the united states has a huge role to play in the world. we are the leader of the world. >> and tony, that's exactly the kind of picture that he's going to paint tonight in tonight's speech, not distancing himself so much from the past. but talking about the pretty and how we need distance from the present. >> michael, appreciate it. michael shore at the regan library, in beautiful simi valley, california. >> it's a shining city on a hill. >> thank you. a mississippi couple are in custody for trying to spend their honeymoon with the islamic state. 20-year-old jaylen young and 22-year-old mohamed, whose father is an imam in starkville, mississippi, are charged with conspiring and trying to aid a foreign

terrorist organization. the former mississippi state students were planning to travel to syria to join the group, and they were arrested on friday as they tried toker board a flight. and they are facing 20 years in prison. the ladies in white group are protesting their represents. and meanwhile, cuban businesses are already talking about the relationship between cuba and the united states. more on cuba's emerging middle class. >> reporter: so close, and yet so far away. a nation that took a different road from that have the united states, and for a time, cuba was the romantic vivid poster child for communism. ♪ but it became a place frozen in time by an underperforming

socialist economy, until now. because after decades of decline, cuba, it seems, is on the move once again. >> i first came to cuba back in 2001, 14 years ago. everybody expects to see a lot of change in the next few years, but i see change already. a lot more cars on the road. and people are better dressed and there are new businesses. a parallel economy has developed. analysts estimate that more than 1 million cubans work as independents who don't depend on the state, but make their own money. we met roberto. his cellphone repair shop may look modest. but in a country short on supplies of everything, they keep cubans with access to technology connected. across town, julio alvarez torres restores to perfection cuba's retrofit cars.

he keeps business growing, and it will mean that he can import spare parts easily. when asked if he considers himself a capitalist or socialist, alvarez says that more than anything, he's just tired. >> i feel like a capitalist. i don't have any life of my own, and don't have time to pay attention to anything but my business. >> from socialism to the drive to capitalism. supporters say that the reforms are true to the revolution, and others say that it's a chance to do something different many but change is making away to a growing middle class and a supposedly classless society. aljazeera, havana. >> so we should tell you that aljazeera america will broadcast live from cuba. antonio mora will host it live from halve abba. that's this friday live here on aljazeera america. colorado springs was pommeled with rain last night,

which caused major flooding, and they were enough to sweep cars off of the roads. power lines blown over, and 50 mile-per-hour wind gusts. was that lightning there? no injuries report. downed trees and wires. and kevin is here with the storm that's impacting thousands and maybe millions of people in this area. >> absolutely. you know the area very well. and last night, look at this thunderstorm pushing through. this is what it did. look at the video here in northern parts of atlanta. very very old, any wind, any rain weakens that, and causes a lot of problems across the neighborhood. i want to show you also what has been happening here across much of the north. we have prompts for possible tornadoes with this very thin line of thunderstorms here. up to the north though, most of

the rain is pushing through parts of vermont and new hampshire as we speak right now. we have big problems at the airports. we're talking about la guardia, and jfk as well as kennedy. 1-4 hour delays because of all of this rain, tony. >> we do know that area well. i'll have to find out how good a neighbor state farm really is. parts of detroit has spent decades in the dark, and now a multimillion-dollar project to install l.e.d. street lights is coming together. and a makeover for a small town, trying to change it's gritty image by turning itself into a work of art.

>> little house on the prairie star, melissa gilbert, is running for congress. 54-year-old former child

actress is seeking the democratic nomination in the 8th district. she served as the president of the screen actor's guild from 2001 to 2005. a year ago in detroit, work began on the million-dollar prompt to fix the street lights. the three year project is running ahead of schedule. but some residents say that the program is still falling short of its goal. >> up until recently, you would have lights going out and they would be out for a year or two, before the city would come out and fix them. >> but today, self new brighter l.e.d. street lights tower above mark covington's east side detroit detroit neighborhood. and the change was long coming. after decades of decline, less than two years ago, 40% of detroit's street lights were

broken, leaving thousands of residents in the dark. >> it was horrible, because you had a lot of dark spots up and down the street. >> covington said that made his neighborhood a breeding ground for crime. and some residents were afraid to walk at night. >> a lot of people stay real close, in their yards or on the porches. >> but in 2014, as detroit worked 2 to emerge from bankruptcy, the city created a public lighting authority and embarked on a $35 million projects to repair and replace 788,000 street lights. >> the experience of over 30 years, the investment in the street lights. >> otis jones, the ceo of the lighting authority. >> people who are not from here in detroit may look and say, why did it take so long for the city to correct this problem. >> i think holistically there were a number of reasons over

the years. technology change, and the ability to interface that technology, and cost. and the city for some time, which culminated up to the bankruptcy. >> and yet a little more than a year into the project, some residents say that the city still isn't moving fast enough. authority has been installing one light at each corner and another in the middle, which has left pockets of darkness. >> no lights... [ chanting ] >> cynthia johnson has been leading what she calls a light walk through detroit for the last three months. group meets in darkened areas with flashlights. >> we are doing this to bring attention to areas in the city of detroit without lights. areas that have very little lights, and next to no lights at all. >> how do you respond to some residents who criticize the lighting? they say that l.e.d. lights are

not bright enough or they don't hit a wide path. what's your response? >> this is a city of 700,000 people. and i tell you, over 80% of the folks that contact our office, that we experience in our conversations, they love what we're doing. >> covington has his concerns, but he's pleased by the progress made so far. >> we don't get hardly anything over here, and when you get something, you try to cherish it for now, and you try to complain a little bit, but not too much. >> the lighting authority says that it has addressed the complaints my installing additional lights, but any changes would require additional funding. but as it stands now, by the end of the year, all of detroit's neighborhoods are expected to have new street lights for the first in decades. >> david schuster is here with a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour. >> reporter: tony, coming up tonight at 8:00, much more on

the 3 million gallons of toxic waste running down colorado's animus river, and we'll have more on the navajo's land and livelihood. and plus, a spotlight on thomas hart benton, his work is getting attention for the first time. why pictures of americana are so important. and more about hilliary clinton's email server in a few minutes. >> oh, yeah, that's a hot one. the working class community is coming together thanks to artwork. a group of 14 artists spent months turning the hillside into a mural to change it's gritty minute. image. >> reporter: it's the biggest mural in mexico. a makeover for a poor barrio. graffiti artists have spent more than a year painting 200

houses, together with young locals like francisco, better known as monkey. he's the one climbing up the ladder. >> i feel good. proud to be part of this. because in the future, my children are going to see this and how the neighborhood looks good now. >> the mexican government funneled the scheme to turn around the neighborhood known for crime and violence. it's all about putting the youth to work and giving them a positive environment says enrique gomez. ex-gang member and now leader. >> art can change people's lives, and it can generate social unity. murals wake up barios like this one and get us working for a better mexico. >> great artists used it to expose the social and political problems of their time. but in this case, the painters are looking to project harmony

and unity. it's a brave color scheme, and some locals are not too impressed. others see it as a multicolored game changer. >> we're all surprised by the new colors. this was a rough neighborhood. and now it's really calmed down. who knows how they have done it. they talk to the youngsters because they come from different neighborhoods too, so they understand them. 20,000 liters of paint later, and the new look neighborhood that monkey sees as a gift to his three young children is almost finished. patchuka, mexico. >> another pair of eruptions today from mexico's fireball volcano which has been active this summer. the eruptions through ash clouds 5,000 feet into the air. it's located in the southwestern state of colima. since july 9th, local

villages have been blank he wanted with thick ash, prompting evacuations. thanks for joining us, i'm tony harris. and david schuster will be back in 2 minutes time. have a good evening.

hello, everything, this is al jazerra america, live from new york city, i am david shuster, just ahead. rage, seeing red over the toxic yellow water. are there any reactions from what the epa calls tragic and unfortunate. we take a close are look at the connection of what happened in watts and what is happening now. diplomacy and dollars as the relationship between the united states and cuba gets warm he should we'll show you the