>> this is aljazeera america, live in new york city. i'm tony harris. gunned down while on the job. a former coworker wrote that it caused him to shoot a cameraman and reporter live on-air. and overly optimistic, it's one of wid wide wid wall streett days after. closing at 619 points higher.

and we begin with the search for answers in virginia after a tv reporter and cameraman were killed this morning. the gunman was vester flanagan, a former colleague of wdbj in roanoke, and he shot himself after killing them. what's the latest? >> reporter: tony, good to see you as well, and good evening, and the latest, within the past few minutes, we have learned that the alleged shooter, vester flanagan, allegedly used a 9-millimeter bloch pistol to carry out the shootings this morning at the plaza, and we're told that he legally purchased the weapon back in july, according to his simple manifesto, which was released two hours after the killings.

he said that he bought the gun two days after the shootings in charlton, south carolina. the thing, tony, you have to remember that this is a very small community. we're in the town of monita. and it's a small television station as well. so alison parker and adam ward's work is known here, and the deaths are beginning to resident may. 6:25 p.m., they were at work on the air, be live. and they never saw it coming. the pair gunned down while interviewing vicky garner, who was also shot and wounded. back at the studio, confusion. >> okay, not sure what happened there, and we'll let you know as soon as we find out what the sounds were from. >> shock and heartbreak staffers came to grips with the reality that they just witnessed the murder of their

coworkers. >> we're all in shock here, and you can hear the people in the newsroom crying. it's really hard to even comp held. >> the station's general manager confirmed the stunning news. >> i can not tell you how much they were loved. allison and adam, by the wdbj7 team. and our hearts are broken, and our sympathies to the entire staff here. but also to the parents and family of allison and adam, who were just out doing their job today. >> reporter: the good-bye man revealed himself to be vester flanagan, a former reporter of wdbj7, who was fired in 2013. >> eventually, after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him, and he did not take that well. we had to call the police to escort him from the building.

>> reporter: flanagan even posted a video that appears to show him walking up to the rims and opening fire. and aljazeera has chosen to show only this one minimal. a clearer picture of his motives began to appear. the alleged gunman sent a manifesto of sorts to wdbj7 news. he said that he bought a gun two days after the shootings in south carolina, and he writes about the gunman who killed 12 in 1999. and he said he was the victim of bullying and discrimination, based on race and sexual orientation. >> this goes to show where the gentleman's mind was the day before, or what was taking place. there was forethought given as who what happened. >> reporter: the police

caught up with flanagan after a high-speed chase, which ended in this field. >> i existed my vehicle with several others. and approached the vehicle. >> what did you find. >> self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> this is what happens when you have gun violence, and in the last minutes, we heard from the president of the united states who has been talking to a philadelphia station. and he said it breaks my heart, gun deaths related to terrorists. there will be a vigil at a local church to remember the lives and the work of alison and adam. >> john, appreciate it, thank you. and there are new questions tonight about whether real progress is being made against isil. the pentagon is looking into an allegation. to make it appear that the campaign is going better than

it actually is. jamie mcintyre, that's a serious always, right? particularly when you consider intelligence is really more art than science. >> that's right, tony. intelligence is am gig with us and inconclusive. but it was described as the cia director as a slam dunk, but now looking into whether some of the intelligence analysis was colored so that the obama administration would be told what it wants to hear. the question is, when president obama makes announcements like this, is he really working off of the best intelligence? >> isil's recent losses in syria and iraq shows that they can be defeated. >> they're weighing whether intelligence provided that the

president was distorted, citing unnamed officials, saying that the pentagon's unnamed inspector general looked into the central manned's reworking of intelligence assessments. to provide a more on the motive account of progress. it was flawed intelligence about the existence of weapons of mass destruction that were used to support the invasion of iraq in 2003, and no such weapons were found. during the vietnam war, pessimistic assessments, arguing for the installation of military force. more recently, u.s. central command briefers have provided on the motive assessments about progress with isil, which have been proven wrong. in february, told reporters, the offensive to retake mosul could begin as early as april of this year. and it seems to be a year away

at best. and then this flawed assessment about the situation in ramadi during a pentagon brief. >> in iraq and syria, attempting to hold previous gains, and localized small harassing attacks, and high-profile attacks, in order to seize information and their propaganda apparatus. >> it turns out that isil was not on the offensive. and at that very moment, ramadi was falling, and iraqi forces holding the city were being routed. intelligence is never perfect, and policymakers take that into account as they try to stay clear eyed about the progress during the war. >> i'm confident that we'll defeat isil. it's hard work, and it's difficult work. i think that we have the right strategy. >> the argument that isil is losing, the administration is quite to cite the number of airstrikes that have been

conducted, or the number of square miles of territory that isil is losing, but there's a strict debate in the intelligence community about what it all means. one assessment concluded that after a year of bombing, isil was essentially no weaker, and that the war was basically a stalemate. the central command welcomes the independent oversight of the independent inspector general. and it's a collaboration process that rise on multiple sources, and that way no single opinion or report should unduly influence policymakers. >> jamie, thank you, the pentagon says that two u.s. soldiers were killed in the so-called insider attack. in southern afghanistan, a man wearing a nato uniform opened fire on a compound and others returned fire, wounding the soldier and another afghanistan soldier, no one was claimed

responsibility for that attack. the debate on immigration reform is dominating the presidential election as you know. changing the ban to birthright citizenship, and a wall around all of t last night, long time anchor, jorge ramos, wanted answers, and donald trump refused to answer him. >> i have the right to ask a question. >> sit down, you weren't called. sit down, sit down, go ahead. no you don't, you haven't been called. go back to univision. >> okay, so let's bring in the former president of the national association of hispanic journalists, and give me your reaction to the back and forth that you heard between ramos and donald trump. >> every time i see it, i

cringe, it's deplorable and disgraceful and demeaning, and i think it's a missed opportunity i think for the republican candidate to do as he has been said he wants to do in embracing the latino community. >> deplorable and i cringe, and why don't the other candidates running in this nominating contest, why don't they use language like that? >> reporter: i think it's a long road to the iowa caucus, certainly to february to new hampshire. and i think there's going to be a difference of rhetoric in august that we'll see escalate and change many times between now and february, but i think they're kind of stepping back and seeing this candidate implode. they want to be as far away from the epicenter of this explosion as possible. but certainly, they're going to need to up the ante in regards

to their stance not only with this candidate, but also embracing u.s. hispanic voters as we get closer to february. >> surprised and disappointed that more journalists didn't walk out of the room in support of jorge ramos. >> look. i think that the attack on jorge ramos, a journalist that's not only renowned in hispanic media, but abroad, not just an attack on a mexican-american, or a journalist, it's to all journalists, whose job it is to hold the powerful accountable and ask the tough questions, so to have a whole room of journalists kind of sit still, and very quickly, as this journalist is being forcefully escorted out, for them to kind of business as usual, to me it's very disappointing. not surprising, but

disappointing, because too many times the journalists are afraid to get off of the sidelines and into the game. >> you heard the criticism of jorge ramos, criticizing him of being an activist rather than a journalist. do he want to do a talk show with donald trump or ask a question? and where was the question? >> i think that jorge ramos was nothing but transparent in regards to his advocacy, not only with the latino community, but with the issues. so for some to say that he's grandstanding, they don't know jorge ramos. and they have not watched as 2 million viewers watch every night his national program on univision and fusion, and certainly the other followers, more than 4 million on the digital platform, so this is

consistent with jorge ramos' voice, in pressing not only donald trump, but all leaders, whether it's at the national level, local level, state level, in a pressing issue that not only affects undocumented immigrants, but affects nearly all of the united states. we have a symbiotic relationship with mexico and immigration, with the heart of many issues around the economy, security, and certainly social issues. >> why do you think trump, at some point, implodes? >> as an observer, i think trump is first and foremost representing the trump brand. this is the first time that we have seen donald trump throw his hat in the rink for president of the united states. it's an opportunity for him to work on his image, and his brand. so we have seen this type of

showboating before, and i think that something happened that he could not predict in his opening statements when he was announcing that he was running for president. his attacks on the mexican community. certainly was a lightning rod of conversation that we're still talking about months later. it's those issues that have kept him still in the new cycle, and really, it's those issues that continue to have him as part of the conversation, specific to immigration reform. but i think from his be perspective, there's no such thing as bad publicity. at the end of the day, i suspect that he will, as he has done before, drop out of the race, write a new book, and have a new television show, and he will gain more from a what we're experiencing, and really the losers will be the voters and the supporters that he has right now. >> the former president of the

association of hispanic journalists. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. donald trump and his rival, scott walker, have proposed building a wall between the united states and mexico, but how effective would a wall be? looking into that part of the debate, on the border, in nogales, paul, what's the verdict here? >> reporter: well, tony, as you see, this is the wall behind me in downtown nogales, arizona, and it's tall and made out of steel and crete. and as we know, every year people go over it and around it, and under it, and donald trump says that he's going to stop that. we caught on camera two kids climbing over the fence late at night. we assume that they were drug smugglers, and it's amazing that we caught it on camera. look at this. >> that $2.4 billion, that was

just to build the fence, and it costs hundreds of millions dollars every year to maintain it. and then the money that we spent on border patrol agents, keeping them in the field. >> so the reason that the border patrol agent is parked up on the hill, because this is a river bed, it's monsoon season here in this part offer arizona and that means very heavy thunderstorms, and huge volumes of water, so they built the fence with floodgates that they let open to leave it through, and all they have is two little strands of barbed wire between the u.s. and mexico. obviously, it's easy to come over and impossible to keep them out. this is just us driving over and demonstrating why it would

be impossible to build a wall, this is an area where there are floodgates to let a river through. the numbers, $2.4 billion just to build the 670 miles of fence that we have so far, and hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain it every year, and trump's wall that he's proposing would obviously cost a great deal more, and as we demonstrated, it would be almost physically impossible to build. and tony, they said you don't need a job, because the fence is good at directing people to areas where they know they're going to be caught. and topography and it's a problem that the border patrol doesn't believe needs fixing. >> president obama has apologized to the japanese prime minister for wikileaks

spying in public. the japanese officials were spying on them for one year. and the president said that it was done as narrowly as possible. the united states welcomes a peace deal with rebels in the conflict that has killed thousands of south sudanese. more than 1 million people have been forced from their homes. how the civil war affected south sudan. >> when the fighting started in december of 2013, people fled to the safety of u.n. bases in several towns. now, more than 20 months later, more than 200,000 people are still living under the protection of the u.n.. what began as a site where soldiers killed and injured thousands of people in juba, it didn't stop in the capital, but went from town to town,

destroying neighborhoods and leaving conflict in its wake. when the new tribe pitted against the tribe of the president. everyone in the area affected by conflict has a story to tell. she saw her son when fighting came to her village, and she was forced to run. >> sometimes my heart tells me it's all right, but sometimes i get depressed. but a lot of people told me, other people have a worse fate than you, so i stopped thinking about it, and left it up to god. >> when the conflict began, the army split into two factions. and for the last 20 months, war in south sudan has dragged on, with changing hands constantly between the rebels and the forces. they found themselves attacked in the streets.

>> they cut me with a type of machete. i fell down, and i didn't know what was hang. after two or three hours, i found myself in hospital. >> they demanded that both sides come to a peaceful resolution, and they signed a peace agreement. and the pressure has been here to do the same. the international community is optimistic that the signing of the deal means the end of the war, but the people aren't so confident. and that's mainly because some of the top rebel commanders have split. and they made it very clear that this peace deal means nothing. unfortunately for the people of south sudan, it means that the war isn't over. >> a rally on wall street. after six straight days of losses, one of the biggest days ever. and plus, after years of waiting for justice, relatives of those killed by the colorado movie theater shooter finally learned his punishment.

>> got to tell u. the bulls came out on wall street today, with the do you 600 points hight, and it's the dow's biggest gape in seven years. and it also helped with the fears over china's economy, and yet china's market continues to really struggle. a report from beijing.

>> it was a day for ups and downs for markets across asia pacific. but many of them were up. japan, south pacific, sing pore. and ended the day, just down 1.27%. and that will certainly gain heart for those in the market. but the markets have lost 20%. though the central bank cut interest rates, it made it easier for the banks to loan, giving them the ability to have loans, but cutting the opportunity for those who want to save money. it's the fifth interest rate cut in the last five months since november, and perhaps this is a trend that may continue. for the moment, china is not

out of the woods. it's still a very serious situation as far as the domestic market, and the perception of china's market. everybody will be watching closely as to how china pulls itself out of it, and regains the confidence that it needs to make sure that the investors don't pull capital out of this country, and they're interested in the chinese market and the stock exchange. a new tracker says that the commuters in the nation's capital face the worst rush hour in the country. 82 hours for washington d.c. drivers every year. texas a&m said other clogged cities are los angeles, san francisco, new york and boston, and the today found that commuters waste 7 billion hours and $3 billion in fuel. the growing kries in germany.

the german chancellor, angela merkel, gets a rocky reception from protesters, and plus, the legacy of a civil rights activists who took great risks to lead the selma march on bloody sunday.

>> following the investigation into the killing of a reporter and cameraman from virginia, their murders were seen live, if you can imagine, this morning on local news, but the gunman also used social media to vet his anger, and courtney keeley is covering that. >> reporter: the gunman's camera shows that he waited for the news team to be broadcasting live before he start started shooting, and then before any social media platforms could shut down for his messages. >> we want the people to come here to say that. >> soon after, the station cut away from the live feed. and social media exploded. the camera appeared to capture an image of the gunman, which is blown up on twitter. vester flanagan, who went by bryce williams on-air, soon

tweeted, i filmed the shooting, see facebook. he filmed the carnage and posts his own point of view in the shooting. he accused alison parker of racist comments, something that the station said was unfounded. and on the facebook page, there's his reporter reel, and he's holding a gun in the stand-up. >> law enforcement officers have concerns. >> while the police were in pursuit, he continued to litter social media with his clues, and meanwhile, the station mourned. >> they're just beautiful people, and young people with so much potential and so much to give, and i love both of them. >> reporter: alison parker's boyfriend, anchor, chris hurst, posted a tribute to her. saying they were very much in love, we just moved in together. and i am numb. adam ward's fiance was

reportedly in the control room. it was the last day of the station, before she and ward were going to relocate. he shot and killed two people, who was on the run from authorities. in the 23-page fax, he details his mounting rage. the church shooting in charleston, south carolina was the tipping point. but i've been a human powder keg waiting to go boom. an out pouring of tributes to parker and ward continued. and tony, the network said according to the time stamp, he sent his fax out two hours after the shooting. today, the head of the united nations refugee agency said that the united nations'

response to the crisis is record numbers of people are fleeing the borders, and eu nations are trying to cope. german chancellor, angela merkel visited a shelter, and right ring hecklers were there. and despite that, merkel spoke out against the violence and hungary's response of hundreds of thousands of refugees coming into serbia is to build a fence to keep them out. >> reporter: unrest at the european border. the trouble didn't escalate beyond the registration center, and it was short lived. but with record numbers crossing into hungary, there are fears of violence. and they are trying to play down the conflict. what happened, there was a

small conflict that erupted and they tried to approach the fence, and they used teargas, but no injuries. >> reporter: a three meter high fence is being put up on the border, but right now, thousands of people are getting through sections where there's only razor wire, and people are making arrests. 2,000 police are being sent to the border to reinforce it. and next week, the government will vote on plans to deploy the army here. back in belgrade, up to 3,000 people a day have been boarding buses for the border. they say that they're being treated better in serbia than greece and macedonia, but they're worried about getting into hungary. some of belgrade's parts are the last ones before the border. most of the refugees here are syrian.

this woman fled from violence in aleppo, and now she's holding off going to hungary because she's scared. >> nothing turkey, not in macedonia, serbia. and hungary, i can understand. >> reporter: as politicians prepare for a summit in vienna on thursday to discuss the biggest refugee crisis since the second world war, on the ground, the situation is worsening. aljazeera. >> rescuers saved 3,000 refugees off of the coast of libya today, but over 50 were found dead on boats as well. a swedish rescue ship found 50 people dead in the hull in the ship. and over 400 were rescued from the same vessel. the italian navy and a merchantship all took part in

it. they left the island and arrived in the port. jonah has more. >> reporter: i'm standing in one of two makeshift refugee camps on the island, 5 kilometers perhaps from the turkish coast. the numbers are starring. 33,000 people are said to have landed there this month alone. 1,000 new arrivals every single day, and there are about 10,000 people on the island as we speak, waiting to be processed and given paperwork to allow them to remain in greece and travel through it, and waiting of course for boats off the island. in conditions that they're living in, pretty basic, sanitation is poor, and sun beating down on them every day. the groups are doing whatever they can, but with absolutely no help from central government in athens, or from the u.n.

authority in brussels. the people that i spoke to in the camp expressed surprise and bewilder. and amusement. this is the first for the life that they have come for, security that they expected in europe. one man said that he thought they were all going to be put up in hotels here in greece, and that's a story put about by people smugglers on the shore, trying to encourage the journey in the first place. >> investigators are blaming the environmental protection agency for the recent toxic spill that polluted the waterways in colorado. according to an internal review, regulators underestimated the amount of pressure that built up in the unregulated mine, and that caused the toxic blow up this month, and three states have been affected by the pollution. today a gunman in the colorado movie theater shooting as sentenced to the maximum

sentence possible. 383 years in prison, and that's on top of consecutive life sentences. erika pizzi is following this for us, and what was the reaction in the courtroom today? >> reporter: we're talking about three years that these victims' families have been waiting for jess, and wanted courtroom just filled with tears, applause, when the sentencing for james holmes came down. the judge said if there was ever a case that warranted the maximum sentences, this was the case. holmes was convicted of killing 12 and injuring at least 70 others when he opened fire in a crowded colorado movie theater three years ago, and the victims families are relieved to see holmes get the maximum sentence. >> we don't have all of the answers like the judge said, but we know one thing, he's going to die in prison, and for us, that's good enough. >> reporter: the defense tried to make the case holmes was insane. they argued that the

27-year-old was schizophrenic, and holmes decided to pursue a ph.d in neuro science just to figure out what was wrong with his brain. but the jury rejected that. they believe that he knew the difference between right and wrong and convicted him last month. his mother, arlene, spoke out on behalf of her son. >> he has said that he feels remorse for his horrible actions, but his ability to express emotions has been impaired by disease and medication. >> you heard that guy's mother express the fact that he was remorseful, and i don't want anyone to leave this process believing that for a second. he has never expressed remorse. >> reporter: now, one juror did believe that holmes should have been spared from the death penalty, and since colorado law requires that decision to be unanimous, holmes ended up with life in prison, tony. >> you mentioned that the

defense, and will the defense launch an appeal here? >> reporter: you would think that they probably would, but in this case, no holmes will not be appealing, and the reason the defense attorney says, is because they want to spare the victim's families the possibility of another emotionally wrenching trial. >> erika pizzi, thank you. wal-mart says that it will no longer stock ar-15s and other semiautomatic weapons, and the company says that it's because of a lack of demand. semiautomatic weapons were sold at less than one-third of the wal-mart stores around the country, placed on shelves with more hunting rifles and shotguns. a pioneer who risked her life, helping to lead the bloody selma march in alabama has died. amelia robinson passed away a week after her 100th birthday. she helped to cross the bridge

in 1965, and later this year, she returned to the bridge, alongside president obama. in a statement today, the white house said the quiet heroism of those marchers helped to pave the way for the voting rights act. but for the rest of her life, she kept marching to make sure that it was upheld. barriers torn down, and america is so glad that she did. she spoke with president obama last march, and she remembers the day that she made history. joie chen reports. ♪ >> reporter: you can never remember selma and forget the bring. bridge. here, where the jefferson davis highway leaves town and heads north to montgomery is where the first steps of the last long journey in the fight

against jim crow began. ♪ and here, a local woman, barely known outside of her alabama hometown, became the image of bloody sunday seen around the world. today, amelia boyton is 103. but she clearly recalls the terror of that day. as officers tried to stop the marchers, demanding the right to vote. >> they hit us with sticks, with billy clubs, anything they had. they began to beat the people. and they did everything they could to get the people to run back while they were beating them. >> reporter: on the pettis bridge over the alabama river,

amelia boyton was one of hundreds to face the brutal forces of a renegate sheriff. >> finally, he hit me on the back of my neck, the back of my shoulder. and it hurt, but i didn't know what to do. i had no idea what i should do. then the second hit felled me, and i fell to the ground. that, i was unconscious. >> even then, the torture didn't end. an officer pumped teargas into her eyes and mouth. >> and somebody came and said to the state trooper there's somebody dead over there. and he said, somebody's dead?

if anybody's dead, we are going to let the buzzards eat them. >> reporter: but amelia boyton didn't die. in time, she and the marchers did finally make their way to montgomery. five months later, president johnson was able to force through the voting rights act. and now, 50 years later, on the anniversary of bloody sunday, amelia boyton is able to see her community guided by black leaders. joie chen in selma, alabama. >> more tonight at 10 p.m. eastern, 7:00 pacific. she was known as the dust lady. marcy borders, whose image was captured on photo has died of cancer. she was a legal assistant with the bank of america, and she made it down the 81st floor

of the south tower, and escaped moments before it fell. marso borders is 82 years old and leaves behind two children. after the storm -- >> i gave you everything that you want and desire, and you can lose it in a split second. >> hard lessons learned from hilliary clinton from a survivor who refused to leave new orleans. and trying to turn kabul into the graffiti capital a mural at a time.

>> erika is making its way northwest. tropical storm warning have been issued in puerto rico and the virgin islands, and the forecasters say that erika may reach the bahamas and florida. storm is not expected to gain of in strength, but it's heavy rains will be welcome in drought-stricken puerto rico. so this weekend marks 10 years since hilliary clinton hilliaryd tomorrow, president obama will travel to mark the anniversary. 92-year-old johnny montgomery, a survivor. ten years ago, he was wading in

chest-deep water. >> reporter: at the church of god and christ the members have plenty to praise. the church stands and their pastor lives. >> i'm still here. >> reporter: a true survivor at 92 years old. ten years ago during katrina's worst, i found reverend johnny montgomery up to his chest, refusing help. like so many, he refused to abandon his city. >> everything is all right. >> reporter: he waved off rescuers. and stayed behind. we left him, worried about his safety. but the reverend is not one to be underestimated. >> god was in the storm with me. >> reporter: later i learned waist high water has filled his home. he was living in a swamp. something that he still does not regret.

>> the water was, you know, -- >> so the water was here, and your dresser was here. >> right, just above the water. >water. >> reporter: his bed flooded, so he slept on his dresser, just above the water line. >> it kept me cool, and you know it was hot at that time. it was scorching hot. but by me staying here in the water, kept me cool. >> reporter: meanwhile, his wife had fled far from home, terrified and unsure if her husband was alive. >> i just cried. i just cried day and night. day and night i cried. >> reporter: after seeing our footage of montgomery on the news, she went down to new orleans herself and begged rescuers to get him out. and only then degree to leave. >> he had lost 25 pounds in

those days, and he had blisters on him, and he was still doing fine >> reporter: he's still doing fine, in good faith and grateful. >> when you go through it, that's when you get your victory. when you go through it. come out on the other side, that's where you get your joy, and you look back. >> reporter: not so for his wife. katrina brings back darker memories. >> it hurt me physically, and i haven't been the same since. my doctor said that it stripped something out of me, because it was too much crying. i cried for 12 days. until i got him. >> reporter: they rebuilt their home years ago with insurance and aid money. and reverend montgomery is still leading the church he

founded 50 years ago, but now with a new message and a stronger faith. >> you get everything that you want and desire, and you can lose it in a split second. don't take long to lose it. nope. >> love what you have. love your family. be close to your children. of all, be close to god, because he's the only one. >> reporter: stay focused on all katrina gave, rather than what it took. jonathan betz, aljazeera, new orleans. >> and if you can, tune in on friday evening for a special report, katrina after the storm. that's here on aljazeera america. for a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour, john seigenthaler. >> donald trump and his behavior with others. you've seen univision's jorge

ramos, and now he's using the issue on other presidential connectedders. one of his plans, to build a wall over the border with mexico and it's something that he wants mexico to pay for. we went to the border and found out why that may be easier said than done. we'll talk to him. and questions tonight, real progress is being made in the fight against isil. and we'll find out what the pentagon's inspector general is looking at to find out if the military's top brass and the president are getting the best information on the ground. also tonight, ten years after hurricane katrina, my conversation with satirist and new orleans resident, harry sheerer. >> all of us in new orleans expected the government, the u.s. army corp of engineers, which had been told to build a system against the maximum

probable hurricane, and a system much weaker than that, and they didn't do that. having failed that, the government was looking to have a bit lower alacrity to get aid down here. >> all of the stories that we're doing on the network to remember katrina ten years later. and tony, we'll have those stories in just about ten minutes. >> afghanistan has been ravaged by war for three decades, but in kabul, they are using art to brighten up the capital and send a message of peace and love. >> reporter: the barriers that symbolize the deteriorating security in kabul, an effort to create stability. a message that the people and god are watching. across the street, they're painting hearts as a symbol of healing the nation. it's all the work of artists

and a group of volunteers. with a few hundred dollars of their own money for paint and supplies, they are working to change the parameters, so he doesn't feel under siege in his own city. >> when you put a picture on the wall, the wall disappears. you're in a new space. >> reporter: he wants the new space to be about a new afghanistan, that he and his fellow painters can help create. >> it's time for afghanistan and for the world to do something else other than weapons and war. it has been the past 36 years, and it's really time to give art and artists a chance. >> he wants everyone to participate. when a policeman takes an interest, he offers him a brush, and he does the same for an old man just passing by. >> reporter: even people who have no education can understand the message when they see this.

>> reporter: and that's the idea. he wants to introduce what he calls artistic literacy. this is the first of a new series called heroes of my city. celebrating it's people. these are street sweepers. other murals will be of school children, and an old man on a bicycle. a hero for pollution and traffic. >> it has always been heroes with guns and swords, so we want to celebrate the people that we see every day, who are working on the streets. >> reporter: while they may have started with an anti-corruption painting, they hope that their work will be uplifting and bring afghans together. >> because of the security situation, the city is in fear, and so we're trying to do something that grabs the attention of our people in a good way. >> reporter: those who take part say that it's therapeutic, a way to contribute and share

with fellow afghans. he hopes that it gets bigger, and he's hoping to invite other international graffiti artists to share here, and his dream is to make this city the graffiti capital of the world. there are plenty of walls, but no guarantee of safety for those who want to make them beautiful. >> in spain, a battle in which no one asked for mercy, none was given. it's an epoch tomato. >> it's an annual tomato festival in spain. combatants by the thousands. spending an hour hurling over ripe tomatoes at one another. okay, each other. let's be grammatically correct here. one thing we're short of, there will be a 71st annual

festival. that's all of our time, and we have to go. john seigenthaler is coming up next in a couple of minutes. see you tomorrow.

>> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler.trump attack. >> excuse me, you weren't called. sit down. >> what his words might say about his campaign and the country. >> if cold blood. the murder of two journalists, captured live on tv. tonight the latest developments on the shooting and the suspect. code of