on "america tonight". undecided. >> we don't get it. >> all: shut this down the streets of baltimore brave for the reaction. >> what do you think community is expecting on this trial. >> a slam dunk. >> christopher putzel on whether the officer who had freddie gray in custody will face a second trial and on the streets - their lives in crisis. a few of the life of syrian children in limbo, is there a place for them to call home thanks for being with us,

i'm joie chen. it's a city on edge, but baltimore, for the moment responded to calls for calm in a new turmoil. a mistrial for a police officer charged for his role in the death of freddie gray. it was feared that the city would explode as it did in the first days and nights after freddie gray collapsed and died in police custody. >> cold rain may have helped keeping those under control. what next for charmed city remains. christopher putzel went to the streets of baltimore seeking answers. [ chanting ] >> reporter: for many residents of baltimore, the mistrial of officer william porter is the latest surprise furn in a dramatic -- turn in a dramatic 2015. >> i want peace and justice. i know his siblings, and

basically they heard about it. we know freddy was not a goody two shoes, he had a record. there's a lot of people with records that are treated good. i feel everywhere should be treated the same. >> reporter: this week the baltimore police were on the streets in large numbers. the reaction to the mistrial was muted. >> are you telling me the significance of the corner here. >> the significance of the corner, birth and death of freddie gray. the same place he was born in and died in. today we caught up with an

18-year-old senior at high school at the spot where freddie gray was arrested in april. >> what was your reaction to the mistrial? >> it shocked me. it shocked me a whole lot. we expect this to be different to a mistrial. it threw a lot of people off. >> mayfield is a budding photographer, documenting the life of those in his community, from his peers on bicycles to an older generation. this is the intersection of peninsula and north africa, and the epicentre of unrest in april. you are someone that grew up here as well. do you feel like it could have been you? >> it could have been me. i'm running into police, obeying intentions and stuff like that. i know my rights. i will not let them abuse me or anything. >> is there more tension between the community now than there was

before ex. >> yes, a lot. >> the police say their actions here are not good. every time the police intrct with someone. they'll end up with freddie gray. >> ask what he sees in the neighbourhood and a sense of a community transforming itself. >> it maintains and keeps peace or happiness here. maybe we could set an example for across the world. maybe you can turn poverty into a different thing. >> a few blocks from peninsula north, we met up with writer and activist. the trial's outcome was disappointing. he said a sign of an injustice, a system that favors the peace over the community at large. >> i think for the people it's

simply, we don't see what is behind it. we see freddie gray was alive. he ran, he was accosted by the police. >> what will be expected. >> a slam dunk. here, black america goes again with uncertainty and justice. you know, the uncertainty of seeing justice and it's a well we have not drawn from much. which hope it's a turning point where we fill the bellies were the wheels of justice. what does the future look like? >> long term. we are investing dollars and

time into human capital in the stroosts, because there has been no investment in human capital and growing the youth and the young men. there's about a maze of institutional racism and drugs and crime and all the different things, the use through that. or bust. >> reporter: this is the freddy gray memorial. >> yes, the freddy grey memorial. a lot of memorable faces behind them. it's amazing how a lot can live through one man's death. >> so might you 2010 is wrapping up. what do you feel the legacy of freddie gray is. >> the legacy is bringing each other closer, building a connection. so many things on his name after this happen. it's like nothing you can do.

he will want peace between us, why not give him peace. >> "america tonight"s christopher putzel joins us from baltimore. obviously there is a lot of concern after the mistrial that the streets would explode in the anger that we should before. that didn't happen, certainly there's an edge. >> there's still a little tension in the air. mostly people are tired. they want the decision, obviously they want justice, they are graving it. because there was no decision at the end of the day, there was a mistrial. they have to wait longer, there's frustration, but i wouldn't call it anger. there's a sense of resolve. they hope justice will be served eventually. >> officer porter may be retried himself. >> that's an option. what people are hoping for that

there'll be a new trial. >> it's not just officer porter, there are other officers in this case: there are other officers. one was to go to trial. officer porter was to testify as a witness. the position was instead of a new trial, it could be to give immunity, we'll watch and see what happens. "america tonight"s christopher putzel reporting from baltimore next, building baltimore's future by tearing it down. one piece at a time. later the struggles on the street. half a world away, a 9-year-old boy shows us what it means to be a syrian refugee. hot on the website now, philadelphia's filthy reputation. what is happening in the

classroom, and is this any way to learn? aljazeera.com/americatonight.

as baltimore struggles to reconcile itself with a mistrial in the freddie gray case, there is a larger problem, how to secure charmed city's future of the providing opportunity and unemployment in some areas close 230%, with joblessness -- 30%, with the joblessness comes the

reality that many will abandon their homes. here is adam may with a bid to challenge both problems. >> bernadette celebrated her first anniversary working in deconstruction. tearing down some of baltimore's vast stretches of abandoned row houses. >> just the drills is not as easy as some thing. the drill is ways to do it. to take out a nail the same way you have a door. it looks easy, but it's not. i learnt a lot about the tools now. >> reporter: the 52-year-old woman didn't plan on working in deconstruction. she was a teacher's assistant. until the evils of the streets

and the temptation to make quick cash ruined her life. >> how did you become unemployable? >> i was working in the school system, and i left to take care of someone. i got into selling drugs again, and didn't go back to work. then i started. >> what kind of drugs? >> heroin. >> heroin? >> yes. >> what did heroin do to your life? >> it tore my life apart. literally tore it apart. family whizz, everything. i lost custody of my kids. >> how old were your kids when you lost custody of them? >> 7 and 8. 6 and five. >> at rock bottom she decided to go clean. like tens of thousands. she was hampered by a criminal record. it took years for her to land this job.

part of an innovative programme called details. run by a nonprofit focus the on development. >> i filled out so many applications to get back to work, because of my background. >> no one would hire you? >> no. >> how does that feel in your heart when you can't support yourself? >> i was a little bit broken because i didn't want to go back to the streets to make money that way. >> she leaves her house early to make it to work at 7:30. walking through streets lined with abandoned home, ravaged by drugs and lawlessness. some of 6,000 empty property. >> deconstruction is the means, the ends is creating jobs.

>> reporter: until last year max worked in a cubical at the d.c. think tank. he saw a city in need of radical urban renewal. nearly a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. unemployment in this area of east baltimore is running at nearly 30%. if you have the problems of hi unemployment, poverty and vacancy, our approach working with the city is let's obviously one problem with the other. >> i lived in the city for a long time. you drive through town and see block after block of vacant homes, how does this solve the issue. >> the vacant houses are less the problem and may be more of a symptom. >> what we see? >> yes. >> what do they symbolize? >> they symbolize the loss of

industry, jobs. you know, institutional neglect. disin vestment. >> generational poverty. >> that is embedded in several neighbourhoods. >> removing empty homes part of the mission. so is rebuilding broken lives. like bernadette. 70% of staffers have a conviction on the record. >> what does the city get after vog you higher talents. >> the city has a couple of things, one is it creates jobs, these are people that may not be working and they pay a living wage with benefits. it's putting money back in the community. >> johnny washington said he spent years looking for work. held back by two stints in

prison, racked up by time dealt with drugs. >> what happened when he applied. >> they look at the background, felonies on the record. >> do they call you bark, do you hear anything? >> i don't hear anything, and i call them, they say my background did not go through. >> how do you think it's impacting folks with a felony record. >> i hustle and do what you've got to do. >> now with details for two years, johnny has worked his way up to crew leader. he completed work on this site, tearing down 10 roadhouses, a few blacks from where he said he used to sell heroin. do these houses you tore down look like these ones. >> there's two-storey houses. what do you find in the houses? >> we find a bit of everything.

drug needles, trash. you have to be careful, particularly in the aesthetics. >> reporter: these shells drive down neighbourhood property values and provide a haven for the drug epidemic it was part of. >> reporter: do you get paid okay? >> more than what i had before i got this job. >> reporter: not as much as drug dealing. >> no. >> reporter: but it's good to cash a pay check. it feels good. >> there was four to 26 jobs, i think. people bringing home a pay check. going to the corner store to spend money there. it's sort of like a microinvestment strategy in certain neighbourhoods. >> what kind of work have you done in here? >> in this one we have basically

gutted the building leaving a shell. >> reporter: deconstruction the salvaging of water and bricks is more expensive than bulldozing the home. to pay for the programme, they came up with another innovative solution, reselling the materials. the biggest money maker. >> most look at this and see a nondescriptive alley. we know for every one of the bricks, if you have enough here, that's an hour of work we can pay someone. >> from what i used to do. look at me now. i'm working. i'm surviving without being on the streets, selling drugs. getting hi. when i say look at me, it's a different look. people look at me. they see someone that achieved

something. do you see them looking at it now? >> i get a lot of compliments that i didn't get before. strangers, you know, especially being a woman. you go, girl, you go. you know, that put a smile on my face, it does. >> do you think you're helping to save baltimore. >> i did. i'm grad to be a part of something that is growing, i want to keep the door open for the next behind me. >> reporter: once part of the problems with baltimore, this man is repairing it, one brick at a time next. working for peanuts. life on the streets for a syrian refugee, and under fire. friday on "america tonight". america's second city in crisis.

a spike in shootings, focus on the police and the mayor under pressure. that's friday on "america tonight".

the street to street crisis that we have seen much of begins in syria, where the civil war destroys families over the last four years, sending many fleeing for their lives. we've seen the crisis, and the debates on how far we should go to help. tonight, mohammed, a look at what syrians will go, what

they'll do to risk a normal life and opportunity to save their lives.

a great kid. that's "america tonight". dell us what you thing at aljazeera.com/americatonight. you can talk to us on twitter or facebook. come back, we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow.

[ clapping ] amid the chaos - libya's rival parties agree to form a unity government the the deal is facing challenges. reassuring americans. >> at this moment our intelligence and counterterrorism professionals do not have specific and cred ill information about an attack on the homeland president obama visits the national counter-terrorism center in virginia to