"inside story". see you next time. i'm ray suarez. >> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city. and i'm richelle carey in for taupe taupe. welcome, pope francis begins his first trip to the u.s. with the message that he brings. thest to keep him safe and the agreement that the catholics have with the pontiff. several refugees across europe, why it's not enough and the nations against testament. >> and safari, volkswagen's top man begs for forgiveness,

but how will the company fix emission problems on 11 million vehicles? pope francis is now in washington d.c. for the start of his first u.s. visit. president obama, first family and vice president biden met him at saint andrew, the diplomatic mission to the u.s., senior washington correspondent, mike viqueira is at the white house, and it's a pretty big day in dc, mike. >> reporter: so far, you're absolutely right, richelle. pope francis is known for his lack of attention, and worldliness in a throw away kurt. and now as he goes to washington this afternoon,

americans are about to see a new kind of pope in both substance and style up close. bidding farewell to cubans on packed streets. after four days on the communist island, pope francis makes his first trip ever to the u.s. hours later, he arrived outside of washington, at st. be andrews, the president on the tarmac and the first family and vice president bide and not jill. he skipped a ride in the limo, climbing instead into the back of a fiat. the president's visit to washington, it's expected to be a quiet evening for the pope, for his trip to thehous to whit. >> to be able to welcome him to the white house tomorrow morning, and most importantly, to visit with him in the oval

office. >> reporter: the anticipated arrival for pope francis has been weeks, memorabilia lining shelves, and catholic children collecting food for the poor. >> because he wants us to take care of others. >> and at st. patrick's cathedral, workers rush to finish the innovation. all part of the frenzy for the pope's visit. >> it's an opportunity for the citizens of this country to welcome him and show him how warmly his message has been received in this country, by both catholics and non-catholics. >> there will be pomp and adoring throngs, but also the potential for controversy. pope francis and president obama met before in 2015, and they share common be ground. francis is an outspoken

advocate on things like climate change, and civil liberals and closing the gap between the rich and the poor. and the pope stresses compassion and spirituality. and many hope for the so-called francis effect. that a pope with a common touch can help overcome years of outrage over the pedophilia scandal and cover up. for the people who are in the u.s. illegal legal and his statements on abortion and gay rights, inside and outside of the church, but pope francis has not let up and no one expects that to change now. washington and philadelphia. millions are expected to it get a glimpse of the pope or to hear him speak. major sections of those cities will be shut down, in what is being called the largest security operation in u.s. history. there will be high-profile events, speeches to congress

and the u.s. general assembly, visits to catholic charities, and immigrants and refugees. and at each stop, the pope is expected to keep the focus on the least among us and hold the power to the fire. pope francis is resting at the vatican embassy, down for the night. and as you reported, he's back at the white house in the morning, and arrival on the south lawn, lots of pomp and ceremony before the president and the pope as they talk at the oval office. >> i just love that fiat. but before you go, mike, i have a question. there are reporters who travel on the plane with him. and what did he say when the reporters asked how he responds to critics? >> it's fascinating, we just received the interviews of the press conference of sorts that pope francis had on the airplane coming from havana. an italian report asked the

pope about the criticism that he has received, including conservatives within the catholic church itself. asking if the pope is a communist. and now asking if the pope is even i catholic, and he said you know, there are a lot of people who say that i'm sort of left leaning, but that's not a very good explanation for who i am. he said that what he's talking about can be found in church doctrine. and this pope is not stressing the social structures of the church, but the aspects that have been centuries old in the church, compassion and caring for the least among us. >> mike, thank you. well, the pope will have a busy schedule during his visit. and let's be take a look at some of the events over the past few days. tomorrow, he meets with president obama at the white house, and after that, the pontiff will celebrate a mass at the national shrine to canonize june inerro scera, and

then on thursday, he'll address a joint meeting of congress. and he will travel to new york city where he will speak to the general assembly, and then hold a mass at madison square garden. then on saturday, he's in philadelphia, and he will attend the catholic church's world meeting of families, and hold one last mass in the u.s. security is unprecedented. to keep it safe for the pope and those who hope to catch a glimpse of him, more on this monumental task. >> pope francis is known as the people's pope.

and he hopes to get out and mingle with the crowds, and that makes him somewhat of a security nightmare. this is what makes protecting pope francis such a challenge. his habit of breaking away from his security detail to be with the people. on his visit to the u.s., the vatican security force, the swiss guard, will be beefed up by a battery of u.s. agencies coordinated by the secret service. the pontiff begins his tour in washington d.c., where streets within a three-block radius of the capital will be shut down for the pope's speech to congress. and after that, he travels to new york city where thousands of police and federal agents are preparing not on the for the visit, but at the same time, for the u.n. general assembly. >> we believe that this convenient is goineventis goingt security challenge that the city has ever faced.

and in addition to the pope, we'll have 170 confirmed world leaders in the city during the time of the general assembly. that's 90% of the world leaders in the city at the same time. >> major it streets will be shut down during the pope's two-day tour of new york, and the pope won't be riding around in his pope mobile, but in a modified jeep wrangler. the last city is philadelphia, where he's expected to draw a crowd of 1 and a half million people for the festival of families. extra security has been put up and surveillance cameras in place. security experts say that every tool available is being used. philadelphia is the venue where there will be the most people. it's the venue, if things can glow wrong be here because it's outdoor and there are millions of individuals. >> in all three cities. the faa is restricting the airspace and banning drone

flights. anyone who wants to get close to the pope has to leave that selfie stick at home. richelle, francis loves to stop his vehicle and get out and talk to the people on the root. and as you mentioned, no fee at here in nehere in new york. richelle. >> i'll be there live. our coverage of the pope's visit to america continues at the bottom of the hour. we'll look at the controversial figure who will become a saint torn. now to europe where eu ministers approved a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees across 128 countries. and the plan is designed to relieve some of the pressure on the refugees and the countries. >> the stable situation in the country of origin, and i think l. we keep striving for, but we're realistic that we don't

see it ras a short-term solution, so in the meantime, we have safe shelter. >> the proposal did not enjoy unanimous support. four former soviet block nations, check rubble, and slovenia, all opposed the plan. john kerry said that the u.s. is immediately ready to end the war in syria. they will be meeting with both nations at the u.n. general assembly in new york next week. kerry's comments are on shifting the strategy in the u.s. to more on syria, we have the latest from turkey. >> reporter: in the 12 months since airstrikes over syria began, the u.s. said 17,000 square kilometers of territory has been taken back from the islamic state of lavant and iraq.

the isil fighters, syrian kurds and isil fighters. but for the last morning the u.s. has been able to it intensify it's campaign after squeezing permission from turkey to use its base. the border with syria is just about 120 kilometers from the ang leek base behind me. and that means more airstrikes, when the u.s. and it's coalition were forced to fly four hours away from bises in the gulf. but that means more intelligence from individuals on the ground to identify targets to be hit. so the obama administration said that it's looking at sending fighters into syria to direct the airstrikes. and they might be attached to knows on the ground like the

kurds, but many of these groups are fighting, and they don't want to get involved. now the airspace may get more crowded. russia has sent equipment and new commandos to western syria. vladimir putin inspected some of the hardware at a major exercise near the border in kazakhstan last weekend. moscow said that it'ser concerned about isil, but the kremlin, along with the iranian backed troops, they want more influence over who takes over. the u.n.'s human rights said that only a political solution will bring peace. >> you remember. >> it was a peace negotiation, and they achieved an agreement. and we know that millovitch was

still president, but -- >> 240,000 people have been killed in syria's four-year long civil war, and the u.s. said this time, indiscriminant bombing is fueling support for isil. so if you can find a political route that eventually leads to their removal, the white house believe thes that it would then be weak. angelic, turkey. >> our national security contributor, we call on you at times like this, so five years is how long this war has been going on. and no one really seems to have a plan, and now the u.s. says they want to, and are considering becoming more aggressive in syria, and why now? >> we're out of options, and

each of the countries here have competing agendas, and that's really the issue. we want to fight isil. and you have rebels inside of syria that want to take down assad. and some want to keep him in place, the russians want to keep him in play, and so all of our partners have different agendas. the key that the united states could do is provide leadership at a minimum to come up with a cohesive strategy to move forward. >> why so little success when it comes to training fighters and get them in there? that has not worked. >> it has a lot to do with the president's directive of not letting the u.s. forces anywhere near the battlefield. so you have to bring them out to jordan or turkey and train them up. they have a challenge to travel that distance, and they're fighting logistics. the president's intend is not to have one single american life lost from that point. that's what he really wants to

do -- >> that's what the american people want to make clear, that's what they want as well. >> but he has to communicate, if they're going to put troops anywhere, we can't have syria turn into chernobyl, and have it spewing aggressive terrorist-type activities, and threatening our allies, so it has to be taken care of. >> so is the focus isil? assad? parallel? what's the focus? >> we're going to remain focused on isil, and you could have argued that america should have gone after the assad air force to keep them from barrel bombing civilians, but with the russians here, it election like they're going to protect the assad government. and this administration is going to focus on isil. i think that it's very narrow minded right now, because it's also attached on iraq. there's a narrow border between the two countries, and from a military perspective, the first thing that i would recommend to the president to do, seal the

border and that might take troops. >> the risk is so many different weapons coming into the country and the weapons getting into the wrong hands, and is it too late to control that. >> well, it's going to be more violence, and that's for sure. you could possibly see these weapons get into the wrong hands, you have al qaeda inside of syria as well. and that's the next thing, the real risk that happens here. if we start arming individuals that we haven't vetted, for example, there are syrian militia groups to the north. and they're fighting the kurds, but if we give them capability, we have to make sure that they're focused on isil, and not used against others. >> thank you very much. first stop, seattle. the president of china flew to the emerald city before the visit to washington d.c. and the cost of one drug sky rockets hundreds of dollars overnight, and it sparks outrage, and now the company

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wall street journal that they're not behind the cyber attacks. so what does the chinese president want to discuss, and why did he stop in seattle before going to washington d.c.? you wouldn't expect that. >> well, first things first, richelle. it's unlikely that any of the americans and the president are going to receive that it assurance from the chinese president. he's getting a soft landing to his trip to the u.s., and he has a very busy schedule. it will be heavy on tech and trade and give the american people a chance to get to know him a little bit, and it will let the folks back home in china that he's paying attention to the economy and looking for business opportunities while hobnobbing with the america's titans.

heading for washington d.c. with high-level talks with president obama, his first official state visit to the u.s. and he'll meet with members of congress and address the united nations. but first, he'll spend three days in the seattle area, meeting with business leaders. former ambassador served under president obama. >> between the two countries every day flow 1 and a half billion dollars of goods and services, and millions of jobs in america depend on that trade with china. our trade has grown astronomically over the last several years. >> shi is scheduled to give a policy speech and tour a plant. and have dinner with microsoft's bill gates. they want businesses that they can do fairly in china without undo government interference. >> obviously a big concern of cyber security. and lack of playing field for

american firms in china. discrimination against foreign firms, as well as the lack of a rule of law and the inadequate folks, property, and trade secrets. >> shi is the fourth consecutive chinese leader to visit the west. dudley sees the area as a natural stop over. >> they want to encourage entrepreneurs to build companies that thrive not just in china, but internationally. and what other exams, from it starbucks to boeing. >> it will likely be a soft landing in the west before more substantive talks, and a harder line back east. >> we're preparing a number of measures that will indicate to the chinese that this is not just a matter of us being mildly. >> reporter:, but is something that will put significant strains on the

bilateral relationship. >> so it's a good cop, bad cop situation, where we can play good cop here and talking about entrepreneurialism, and trade relationships, and hopefully obama is going to play the bad cop and take it for this things. >> the visit comes when china is flexing it's military muscle and territories in the china sea. those issues, with cyber security and trade, all expected to be on the agenda when the two presidents meet. the president has greeted by 200 or so protesters, and they have been as close as they can get to his hotel all day, but the police tell us that everything has been calm today. not expected to get much closer than this. there's heavier security, as you may expect in the city. >> the event tonight, allen, who is expected to be there? >> reporter: well, a

star-studded lion at that dinner. henry kissinger expected, and cowoundor of microsoft, bill gates, and many many more expected to hear the only scheduled public policy speech from the chinese president. >> all right, allen, thank you. >> . >> a case that may be talked about on this trip is china's arrest of a u.s. citizen, accused of spying. sandy von gillis has been in detention for seven months. she was secretly taken into custody in march when she was in china for business, but they didn't formally arrest her for stealing state secrets until sunday. the white house said that it's disconcerting that many of the inquiries into the case have gone unanswered. a pharmacy company is dropping the price of the drug to fight infectious it disease. it comes after the

pharmaceutical ceo said that they would raise the price by 15050%. they were criticized when it was announced. earlier today, the ceo said that he didn't see anything wrong with the price hike. >> there was a company that was selling annas tin martin for the price of a bicycle, and we bought it, and we asked to charge toyota prices, i don't think that that should be a crime. >> they raised one pill to $750, and also, it brought a response from presidential candidate, hilliary clinton. and she's got a plan to fight the increasing costs of drugs. up next, a controversial evangelist soon to be a saint, but francis will perform the first canonization on u.s. soil. why american groups are upset about it. and it gets wider and what the automaker plans to do about it.

>> pope francis has arrived in washington for the start of his six-day u.s. visit. the pontiff was greeted by president obama and vice president biden and xxiv

families, and pope francis will spend the night at the vatican's diplomatic mission today and tomorrow, and he will be greeted formally by president obama at the white house. and the pope will also hold mass tomorrow in washington d.c., and thousands are expected to attend. he will canonize junipero scera, but american groups are saying that he was abusive to their ancestors. we are joined live from carmel, california with more on this, and what's the objection that some have to this canonization? >> reporter: well, richelle, it's very interesting. because father hewn inerro scera is so important to california, and they know he built a lot of missions, and in

fact, junipero scera was based out of this mission, and this is where he's buried. but they point out that the mission system brought a lot of suffering. any time you talk about the spanish colonization in the new world, you're talking about conversion of native americans to christianity. and there was manual labor, and de facto slavery. and you have the europeans coming to the new world and you have disease, and populations were wiped out as a result of the mission system. so you have the american native groups, and the descendants, and you have people asking, why is he being turned into a saint? >> and what is the argument for making him a saint? >> reporter: well, to a certain extent, the two sides are talking past each other. you have the historic figure of

father scera, but the church is not interested in history. and pope francis has talked about how important evangelizing is for him. and so you have the example of an 18th century priest who left europe and came to the new world, a hostile foreign place to spread the gospel. and that's what he's focused on. and in some ways, pope francis has decreased the criticism. this past summer, he was in bolivia in front of a group of indigenous people and he apologized for what happened in the new world. and it still might not be enough for some people. >> the groups opposed to the sainthood or actions in the next few days? >> well, when the vatican first made the announcement, there were protests, and we understand that there will be protests in front of some of the missions in california during the convocation ceremony

tomorrow, wednesday afternoon in washington d.c. here in carmel, we have been in touch with several groups, and they say that they do intend to protest out here, but not too loudly, not a raucous protest, but they're going to have a protest, richelle. >> all right, thank you. pope francis has warned about the dangers of climate change. and he's expected to address the issue during his visit here in the united states. but the pope's remarks have sparked the debate amonging catholics who live in places that depend on coal for the economy. more from northeastern wyoming. >> wyoming is the top coal producing state in the nation. 6500 people work in the mines, and thousands more depend on the industry. so it struck a nerve in june when pope francis released an encyclical, pointing to the

effects of pollution and climate change and the phasing out of fossil fuels. >> especially the people who were supported by the fossil fuels tend to be these blue collar workers that pope francis wanted to identify with. >> the professor teaches theology at wyoming catholic college. he has worked in the mines himself, and he realizes that the message may not resonate with catholics. >> there's a belief that science isn't a reliable judge or a reliable basis for evaluating these things, because science can be bought or science is a propaganda piece. and pope francis stresses one thing, so science, and religion and philosophy, these other ways of obtaining truth are com plementry, and not opposed. >> still a study found that wyoming is the only state where less than half of the people believe that climate change

will harm generations. here in wyoming, coal production produces annually to the economy, but some say that the pope's stance sparks change in the livelihood and the religious be obligation. michael, a devout catholic, worked in the mining industry for 5 and a half years. >> he just wants to start the discussion, and i think that it's a good discussion, because environment or not, coal is not a renewable energy. >> but thousands say that though pope francis has given a clear direction on the perspective, the economic realities may trump the church doctrine for many. >> everything is connected, and just because we're the runs producing the coal doesn't mean that the end product of turning your lights o. they're not as guilty as we would be. so it would have to be a whole

societal change to end the coal pipesful. >> it's a cause that the pontiff continues to champion, calling for an ecological conversion of the faithful. aljazeera n. the powder river basin in wyoming. >> joining me to it discuss the pope and his stance on various controversial social issues is francis, of the society for ethics and social policy, and she's also a former nun. we appreciate you joining us, and we're going to tackle a few topics, and coming out of climate change, overall, how would you characterize the pontiff's approach to jumping into controversial issues. >> well, i think that he doesn't seem to be shy about jumping into all of the issues, both that are controversial, abortion, gay rights, divorce, marriage. he jumps right in. but then he also tends to be

relatively -- take a relatively middle path on these issues. unholding the church's position, but also trying to find a way past, as a priest, as a shepherd, for people to it deviate from the rules when it's important for them. >> that's a good ray, the pope when he talked about ut gays and lesbians, so far than past priests and popes, but his message doesn't necessarily change any church doctrine, is that right? >> that's absolutely right. there's no attempt on his part, and there are many cases, on issue of homosexual assault. and particularly active homosexual assault, he opposed the church's teaching that sex

is made for a man and woman in marriage, but he doesn't say -- prior popes have said some really uglying things, and they have called it a disorder, they have called homosexual assault deviants, and the pope doesn't use that kind of language. he doesn't do it in a way that's damaging. at a personal level to people. he speaks of people that are homosexual with respect. when he was coming to the united states, he even remarked that there was controversy about people who are going to be at the reception at the white house. he said i would love to it talk to lesbian and gay people. and most of us know that he's talking to gay people every day at the vatican, but he needs to talk to people who are openly game. >> there are critics that say that this pontiff has spoken

out more about sex crimes in the church, that he has perhaps not done enough. and what are your thoughts on that? >> i that i that he's absolutely right. he has not spoken out more. and all of the critics have apologized for the crime of sexual abuse, and they have appointed a commission, though we have had commissions before. and this commission does seem to be more outspoken, and more willing to challenge the church on it. the pope has taken contradictory steps on this issue of sexual abuse, one condemning it, and on the other hand, actually removing some bishops who have been engaged in it. on the other hand, here in latin america, he appointed a bishop who is seriously charged with sexual abuse, and he refused to release his dominican authority, also for sexual abuse.

so right now, we have a mixed message from this hope on sexual abuse. >> all right, francis kissing, it was a pleasure to talk to you, the center for health and ethics and social policy. i'm sure that we'll talk to you again. stay with aljazeera america all week. we'll bring you the complete coverage to the pope's visit to the u.s. the emissions scandal involving volkswagens continues to grow. the automaker admits that 11 million vehicles worldwide are affected. all are diesel cars, with software designed to cheat on emissions tests. and the company now under criminal investigation. lisa stark joins us from washington, and the story continues to get bigger, lisa. >> reporter: volkswagen is clearly in a tailspin. there are half a million of those cars in the u.s. with those diesel engines, and those are bw jet as, beetles, and

pass at and most were sold between 2009 and 2015, and volkswagen has halted the sales of the newer models, and now it's facing it's first lawsuit. without rage going, volkswagen, the world's to selling car company, has issued an apology. the ceo said that the deception violates everything that volkswagen stands for, and he added, i'm endlessly sorry. he promised a quick investigation to uncover how vw came to install software to cheat on the standards, turning on the controls when the vehicles are being tested and turning them off when the cars are on the road. the as a result, the 4 cylinder engines spa up to 4 times the oxide, a pollutant, into the

air. >> this is a massive scandal that not only cheated consumers, it also harmed the environment. >> consumers have taken their anger to the internet. on twitter, one wrote, as a long-standing vw owner, this makes me sick. another complained, wait, vw purposely made their cars test clean, but drive dirty? as a vw owner, i cannot adequately express my outrage. the management consultant said that the company needs to act fast. >> the problem with what's happening at volkswagen is there's an element of premeditation and malice. this stuff didn't happen by accident, and so in our business, we call that a character crisis. >> it is a legal crisis for the company as well. two class action suits have already been filed. the new york attorney general has launched a criminal investigation, and so has the department of justice.

the environmental protection agency could fine the company $18 billion. tice only sloker, an advocate, says that that doesn't go far enough. >> should somebody go to jail. >> absolutely, this is one of the most comprehensive and complex frauds that i've seen in the united states. >> other companies, including france and south korea, are also looking into whether the diesel engine with its deceptive technology, violated their regulations. and on capitol hill, there's already talk of hearings. one committee said that it will hold one, no doubt the first of many. >> lisa stark, thank you very much. mark is a critic and columnist for the detroit free press, and mr. fee phelan, i toe pick up on something that lisa said, do you think that somebody will go to jail for this? >> boy, i wouldn't be surprised

if they did. and frankly, figuring out who the most responsible person s. will be one of the true challenges, because it's obvious that this was something that multiple layers of the company were involved in. and it's almost unimaginable that something like this could be the subject of meetings, and a group of people would sign-off on something and say, let's sign-off on lying on whether our cars are environmentally damaging or not. >> can you put this into perspective, covering the auto industry when you first heard about this, can you put this type of crisis in some sort of perspective for us? >> honestly, it almost seems to dwarf other things, because volkswagen, the epa said that volkswagen knowingly went about the plan to fake the emissions test. and they continued to do it for years, and volkswagen's responses so far all seem to support that.

and most of the previous huge recall problems that we have seen before have been things that have been caused by sloppiness, and people pushing the envelope, finding a loophole. the idea that there was a concerttive planned effort to put 11 million cars all over the world, and lie about their emissions, it -- >> would it surprise you to find that other companies were concocting similar plans, or do you think that it's too farfetched? >> i would have said that it's too farfetched that even one company did it if on you would asked me a week ago, so i don't know 23 any response matters that much, but i would be surprised if anybody else is doing that, because the cost is so enormous, so even if it wasn't a question of morality, one would hope that a sense of accounting would step in and say, no, doing the right thing

will cost us less than doing the wrong thing. it's hard to believe that anybody would have done something like this, and i think that the cost should be great enough that it's a lesson that nobody should do again. >> the vw stock plunged 20% today. and what could the future of the company be? what could the impact continue to be from what they have done? >> well, it's emence is the first word. we don't have any idea -- first of all, we don't know if these cars are fixable even. the epa has not asked for a recall, because neither they nor volkswagen know what to do with them. and the epa is committed to making the cars legal and bringing them into compliance with environmental laws, but how do you do it? we don't know if volkswagen will have to replace vehicles for people. and then the costs are just staggering, and then there's

the image, the damage that it does to their image. volkswagen tells itself as a company that is built on efficiency and technology. and this gives the lie to both of those things. this is really potentially devastating, both financially and in terms of how people see the company. the people who bought these diesels are volkswagen's most enthusiastic owners, and they feel they have been cheated. >> rightfully so. mr. phelan, thank you so much for talking to us tonight. still ahead, the changing face of the american voter, and the latest efforts to make sure that one group of voters get to exercise the rights at the ballot. and a first for the art world. two groundbreaking painters, both ahead of their time, both featured in one exhibit.

>> presidential hopeful, ben carson, is clarifying controversial remarks that he made on sunday. that's when the republican said that muslims should not be allowed to be president. and here's what he said today. >> anybody of any religious faith whatsoever, if they embrace american values and they place our constitution at the top of their religious beliefs, i have no problem with. >> yesterday, the neuro surgeon said that he would not support a muslim candidate who denounced surreya law. today is national voter registration day, and in los angeles, some voting rights advocates are focusing on a specific group of voters who

formally incarcerate men and women. california does, and some say had a it's an important part of reentry for felons who have served their time. aljazeera correspondent, michael shore is live in los angeles with more. so michael, tell us who is behind this effort to reg these men and women. >> well, specifically in los angeles, industries, which is a not for profit group organization, helps with the reentry with felons in society, the voting is just part of it. but they do think that the people who are out of society are best served when they come back into society if they have a voice, and that begins with the vote. on national voter registration day, james campa is doing something that he never thought that he would have the chance

to do. >> i would like to register to vote. >> campa, after he was behind bars, is registering to vote in los angeles. it's an organization founded by father greg boyle, who marked the day by urging all former felons to cast a ballot. >> when the world looks at you and says that it wants to demonize you because you are felons, and because you have records or because you're gang members, you want to look at them and say two very powerful words. i vote. >> reporter: california is one of 38 states that allow former felons to vote. and that's not lost on javiero. >> we want to get people to vote, and it's more special than that. because you're at a place where you have a room filled with people.

and they're moving once again, don't count me out. >> reporter: he founded home boy industries in 1992 as a row entry program for former gang members. the organization has 10,000 men and women a year with employment and rehabilitation programs. father greg and pope francis are doing everything that he can to catch up with father greg. he's trying. >> reporter: ricardo paco is one of those who has sought the help of home boy industries and the tutelage of father greg. >> if i told you all of times that i've been incarcerated, we wouldn't have time. i've been in and out for all of my life. >> paco is also registered for the first time. >> we have to wait a number of years before a felony would be cleared. >> reporter: father boyle sees that has part of the overall problem. that returning felons feel like out casts, whose voices are not sought out. >> part of the air they

breathe in a community like this, they're demonized and seen as disposable. that they don't matter. >> reporter: germane smith, who was released from prison in 2007, agrees with father boyle, who he calls pops. >> everybody has a past, but as long as you're changing your life, and you're being a productive member of society, you should have that voice. >> and as the country has a day of action for voter registration, some of them say that voting is only the beginning. >> three years ago, i wouldn't picture me making it to 18. i promise you. i was doing so much corrupted things, but now that i can vote, i want to do something much higher, and probably become a president one day. >> it's not a typical registration drive that they had at home boy industries, and they had a lot of tables set up, richelle. but it points to the fact that there are all sorts of segments of society that want to reg to

rote and have their voices heard. they join 37 states and the district of columbia, some states make you apply, and some have a waiting period after you're released. but there are some states where you have to appeal for a pardon from the governor, four states, iowa, virginia, kentucky and florida make you do that, and it's not so easy. but it was an uplifting thing to see that today. >> an absolutely uplifting story, michael. thank you for bringing that to us, and for a look at what's coming up at the top of the hour, john seigenthaler is here. >> reporter: pope francis' visit, many catholics are leaving the church, and what the pope might be able to do to reverse the trend. and the visit to the u.s., some say that he's the most powerful leader since mao, but

who is he? >> he's a leader and bold and taking initiatives, and very determined. >> what you don't know about xi jinping. those stories in 4 minutes. >> in amsterdam, showcasing the work of vincent van gough, the emotional content of the two artist's work is the focus of the show. >> reporter: the screen, one of the best-known paintings in the world. the mental anguish is the best-known by edward monk. he was fascinated by the inner workings of the mind. and as was the dutch painter, vincent began go. the two artists are compared. and the new exhibition does just that. a handful of traditional paintings start the show. with van gough and munch.

and the advances that they made. it's hard to understand 100 years later, the massive shift in content, painting the way to moderner art. van gough wanted characters, bull bus noses, close to the art. morning, a woman on the bed scandalous at the time. an open shirt, and visible brushstrokes, all a new way of painting. the show has taken six years to put together. more than 100 pictures, beautiful, have come from private collections and museums around the world. >> i think that it's so stimulating, you can really experience things, and by looking and making comparisons. >> although the two men lived in paris at the same time, there's no evidence that they knew each other. but many of their works have similarities.

van gough's starry night sits next to a starry night by munch. both men led hard lives

>> hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. >> holy and historic. pope francis arrives in the u.s. during a time of transition in the american church. along with the celebrations, tension over his message. state visit, before china's president heads to washington, d.c. he'll head to washington state. why spying could be message number one at the whit