on america tonight the stunning truth. flint michigan's water so toxic it has led to a state of emergency. >> to know that this is something that could have been prevented, that wasn't, because people lied and didn't do their jobs. it makes me sick america tonight's correspondent investigates flint's water and asks who will take responsibility

>> yes. we are concerned. >> reporter: but you won't say you're sorry? >> i-- thanks for joining us. it is almost unimaginable what has happened in flint michigan. a man-made disaster. the mayor says that that is led to families giving their children poisoned water. this has been going on for a year and a half. despite pleas, even demands for help from the city's residents. toxic water continues to flow out of some flint taps. what's more, officials fully acknowledge that. how is this possible? an investigation into what happened in flint and why the city's children were left to suffer. >> reporter: the flint residents, they're not people that are deposable. we just are not. it is a crime for people to be service $d with water-- serviced with water that is classified by the epa as toxic waste.

i have a filter up under here. this is one of the certified ones that filters out the led. >> reporter: cold water runs through a new filter. the 52-year-old stroke survivor says she won't drink it >> >> i have to depend on others, family members and friends, to take me places and help me to go and get bottled water. this is what that came up. look at this green at the bottom. >> it was only a few months ago when she said she collected this from her unfiltered faucet. >> it came out brown radio >> reporter: at a time when officials said it was okay to bring. >> it is orangey when it settles down. >> reporter: for more than a year now, ronda and tens of thousands of flint residents,

many minorities with low income, have been without certainty that their drinking water is safe. most recently hers tested positive for high amounts of led, a toxic element especially dangerous for children >> look at the other pumpkin. do you want the pumpkin back. >> reporter: her 12-year-old daughter is developmentally delayed and has a heart condition. >> bring it back. >> reporter: when you hear led poisoning or led problems in the water, what does that mean to you and your family? >> it raises your anxiety level. it is a real unknown. i feel like i'm numb because i'm still dealing with rebuilding from a water issue in my home in addition to my daughter being exposed to led. >> reporter: how much had she been drinking the water? >> it was almost a year before i got my own filter to put in there so we were drinking the

water, so we were exposed and we were cooking with the water. it's overwhelming. it's just something that every day you have to deal with. put it back up there. >> reporter: flint's water problem started when the city under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager opted out a long-time agreement to get its water from the city of detroit. that move meant the city would save upwards of $3 million, but it also meant flint would no longer source its water from lake herron and instead use the local flint river. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: at the time officials celebrated the switch. soon after there were problems with the discolored water and eventually news of led. a year and a half later flint switched back to detroit water. >> the kindest thing you could possibly say is they were

completely incompetent, sloppy, lazy and uncaring. >> reporter: market edwards is an-- market edwards is an environmental engineer who special ices in water treatment. his team has independently tested water from hundreds of homes throughout the city >> we just didn't believe it when we got the results. it was hazardous waste levels of led coming out of this perp's tap, two and a half times hazardous levels. >> reporter: it turns out the flint water was so core owe sieve even after going through the treatment plant, it ate into the pipes. what is it about the flint river that makes it so corrosive. >> it is high with chloride, so fine for fish and coanoe in. the salt level in the water will tend to eat up pipes, including

led and iron pipes and that is what happened in flint. >> reporter: vibe though the flint river is no longer being used as a water source, edward says people in flint are still at risk >> we know from history that this can cause death, it can cause miscarriages, elevated blood led, all kinds of health effects. >> reporter: where are we now? is the water safe? >> it will another month or two before we can say that it's meeting federal standards. >> we have no idea that the enormity of this exposure. we are assuming that every child has been exposed. >> reporter: dr mona atichia is the head of hurley hospital paediatrics. she spent weeks analysing water data and. >> the impact of led poisoning we see later. if five years we will have more kids who need early intervention

and special education, in 10 years there will be more kids with an adhd diagnosis. in 15 to 20 years, more kids with violent behaviour. we don't see the effects now. we will see them later. >> reporter: now several flint schools only allow kids to drink bottled water. >> it was jaw dropping to realise what had been going on. i think what made me physically mad was that it didn't have to happen. it was preventible. >> check, see if the water is boiling. >> yeah. >> do you want to help me? >> yeah joochlt many flint residents worry about health effects. she has a 7-year-old daughter and another child on the way >> when this has been going on and no-one has been aware of it for a long period of time, i think it would concern any parpt

because most of the damage that has caused from it is irreinvestigate set versible-- irreinvestigate set verse-- irreversible. she is also concerned about her grandmother >> they saw a note saying that you can get kidney problems from drinking the led water, water that is contaminated with led. >> it has your tips, depending on what kind of sink you have >> reporter: the state is distributing free filters similar to this to help people like amber and amy. it is also providing free water testing to flint residents and pledged $9 million to help mitigate the crisis. for a financially troubled city with nearly 42% living in poverty, the ongoing led crisis is a mounting burden >> we were already having trouble trying to purchase just food and now what little assistance i had from the state

has to completely go towards water. in the meantime our water bill, even though we're not using it, is like $120 a month. bottled water. >> reporter: amber using food stamps to buying bottled water for cooking and drinking >> it frustrates me when you see things online and people who don't live in flint say why don't you just move. i'm like it's not that easy. most of us don't have a choice. we financially cannot move. we're stuck here. there's nothing that we can do about it. >> reporter: amy says the people of flint deserve an explanation for why the public's health has been at risk for so long. >> you have a responsibility. when you take that office, you are there to protect me, you are there to protect my friends, you are there to protect my family. there are no excuses

next, america tonight follows up with tough questions for the people in charge. >> reporter: how do you think you're going to regain the public trust when you just sat here and told me what the told the public was not true and that over time they've pretty much all been exposed to led hot on america tonight's website now, could a party drug help veterans with ptsd. at al jazeera.com/america tonight

a community in crisis. an investigation into the water crisis. in flint michigan, it is frightening. the mayor has labelled it a man made disaster. the tap water so full of led and other toxins, the city declared a state of emergency. the continuing investigation

with tough questions for the officials in charge. >> reporter: when gavin walters weight gain wasn't keeping up with his twin, his mother had his blood tested and uncovered a dangerous diagnosis. >> it was shocking to know that this is something that could have been prevented, that wasn't because people lied and didn't do their jobs. it makes me sick. >> reporter: gavin, who already suffers from a compromised immune system had been poisoned by led >> it says the level is abnormally high and the iron level is abnormally low. these are the explaining. >> reporter: the led poisoning came from the city-provided water running from her own flint michigan faucet. hers had some of the highest led

levels the city had ever seen >> this is showing that my first blood result is a maximum of 15. >> reporter: another independent evaluation by researchers found led at levels they considered to be has ordinarious waste. >> i was hysterical. i'm poisoning my kids. if he has behavioural issues, the questions are always going to be, would he have had these issues had he not had led poisoning. they told me that i was a lawyer and this wasn't my water-- a liar. >> reporter: official dismissed concerns when she declared something was wrong with the water >> i'm not a liar and i'm not stupid. i decided the only way to prove that was to get the science. >> reporter: she set out to prove them wrong and in the process helped alert the city of a much bigger crisis lurking in the pipes. one that she and several others now believe was purportfully covered up by the various

officials tasked with keeping the shunt safe >> they thought because it was flint they could get away with it because nobody was going to care. they were wrong. >> there needs to be a full independent investigation. people need to be put under oath to answer questions because they have not told the truth multiple times. >> reporter: this man is the civil liberties union. his group announced plans for a federal lawsuit against the city and state for failing to protect the citizens >> i don't think there is any doubt there was negligence here. was there gross negligence is the question. >> reporter: the state down played the possibility of led poisoning by months. these emails show ongoing concern about the led situation in flint. a memo detailed a major concern about the lack of treatment to keep the water safe >> they knew it was a problem. their response was people can

just relacks. that to me is unconscionable. >> reporter: he is not the only one who has concerns. residents continues to rally. >> i don't know why there aren't vans from the state distributing water to each and every home. i've seen kids with every strike against them and now their water is poisoned. >> it comes down to motive to me. how can they hide some of this stuff for 18 months. the inaction on that is ridiculous. >> reporter: the state agency tasked with testing the drinking water for safety is still trying to explain what went wrong. >> there was no nefarious attempt to put flint at risk. let me clear about that. >> reporter: this man heads the department of environmental quality. >> we all need to do better. the state, the city and federal government are partners at epa and we have a plan in place that is addressing the issue that will eliminate the led exposure

and ensure safe drinking water in flint. >> reporter: has there been a public apology to the people in flint? >> i have apologised to a couple of those who brought the issue forward >> reporter: are you sorry that the people of flint don't have fresh drinking water? >> i am concerned and certainly recognise that that's an issue for the city of flint and so, yes, we are concerned. >> reporter: you won't say you're sorry? >> i recognise flint is anxious and concerned about it and i feel a plan that we have addresses the issue. we're committed to seeing that plan through. >> reporter: during an october press conference, it was announced that flint was using proper precautions to stop led from leaching into the water supply. those precautions are known as

corrosion control. >> know that when the city switched from detroit water, that the city utilised corrosion controls. >> reporter: he know admits his public statement was wrong. when you said corrosion control was in place in flint, was that true? >> no. corrosion control is a term of art and there are multiple corrosion control techniques. i want to be real clear. flint needed more corrosion control and we understand that. >> reporter: would you call what you said, then, since it wasn't true, a lie? >> no. i wouldn't call it a lie. it certainly wasn't misrepresenting anything. >> reporter: how do you think you're going to regain the public trust when you just sat here and told me what you told the public was not true >> no. what i said to you was true. it was not that it wasn't true.

what i did want to indicate is to get the public trust back. that will only come from our actions. it will be demonstrated through our actions, and that includes resources to eliminate led exposure. it clues transparency-- includes transparency with respect to our testing process. >> reporter: water expert says not only did government officials mislead the public, those who tested were also misleading. why is it important to have a wide mouth? >> when people fill it up, it can only come out at a low rate. in flint what that meant was it would keep the led in the pipe and out of the sample that consumers were collecting. again, when they used a normal bottle, a normal glass and filled it up normally, led levels would be very, very high, but if you used the bottle that

the state was using with a tiny opening, it looked like the water was safe >> reporter: his independent tests significantly found higher led levels. >> when we had advice saying water was unsafe and gave instructions on how to avoid, the meq went to say it is what okay. >> it simply said the protocol we were using, i do not believe it was protective and more needs to be done in our testing protocol to ensure that we're identifying risk. >> reporter: overall you could give yourself a grade >> yeah. >> reporter: what would you give yourself? ist i'm going to have to let others grade me. i'm not able to put a grade on that. >> reporter: do you think you deserve an a? >> no. >> reporter: do you think you deserve an f? >> no. >> reporter: how does this look different from flint? >> it's clear. >> reporter: to leanne who has

since moved to virginia, the state of michigan failed her. when will it be done to you? >> when people are held accountable. >> reporter: how concerned are you that the exact same thing that happened in flint could happen elsewhere? >> we have about 13 million led pipes in this country. we don't know where they are. it has happened time and time again that people realise i'm sick or my daughter or child has led poisoning. they spend months trying to find it. it keeps going up and they realise it's the water a follow-up. i understood that the federal authorities should be managing some of these issues. isn't this being taken up at the federal level? >> reporter: yes. the epa are doing an audit on the city and the state and what they were supposed to have done there are federal rules that talk about how governments

should be testing water to make sure that there's not led in if. in november all of these key players, the water expert, the doctor, the woman, they came to washington to testify, the led in copper rule, there's loop holidays that allow led to goat into the water and people wouldn't know it and it's fine. they are hoping the loopholes are being closed. their hope is this would stop a future incident in flint or elsewhere if i go to a tap in a home in flint is it safe to drink? >> it depends on where you go and talk to and who you want to believe. some homes don't have led piping might be completely safe. the problem is, is the led pipes have been destroyed. even though they're getting water from detroit, the pipes

have been ruined. the led has been chipping off. they will have to replace the infrastructure. to get back to normal it will be more time of dealing with this and putting in the controls and eventually using the filters to make sure what you're drinking is safe what about the mayor saying it's a state of emergency? >> reporter: this is a mechanism that they're using to get the rest of the attention from other authorities. there have been advocates along long that said i wish the state declared a disaster zone so we can get the funding to pay for the ruined pipes. the real deal is the infrastructure has been ruined, it is aged, not going to last as long as it should have this is a community that has economic challenges to begin with >> reporter: yes. they're strapped for cash. it was directed by a state appointed city manager emergency manager because they were having troubles with their finances.

it will be a long road thank you for that. next, the way home. new approaches in the struggle to protect americans from a life on the streets. how much has an applies like this helped you get back on your feet? >> reporter: it has helped me a lot. a step up in progression the innovations for americans in need of moving in.

now a look at seeking shelter and some approaches to finding it. in some of america's high growth city, homelessness has taken on new meaning. people who can't afford rent.

exploding rents are seeing many tenants locked out. homeless advocates have a solution. they got it by thinking small. >> reporter: they call it the sanctuary, a cluster of tiny homes for the homeless. these micro homes in down town nashville are part of a growing national trend, a short-term solution to get people off the streets. mentally does it make it easier to set your goals and to move on when you can come home at night to a little home? >> yeah. come home, your privacy, gives you time to think on the next step, what you want to do. >> reporter: it's estimated that on any given day there are more than 600,000 homeless in the united states. the city of nashville counts 2300 people within in it's borders. local organizations think the number is nearly three times

higher. 60-year-old peter regan suffers from bipolar disorder. he has been on the streets most of his life >> we all have some kind of an issue >> reporter: we spent this stas night around-- december night around the community camp fire that he shares with others here. >> reporter: what is it like having your own key to your own house? >> it's great. you can lock your stuff up and you know it will be there when you come back >> reporter: how did this tiny community come to exist? its roots go back to 2011. peter and the others live on a lot owned by the green street church of street. it has long provided services, shelter and food to the homeless. -- provided. with rising crime against the homeless and laws criminalising sleeping in public spaces, it was time to do more. >> somebody had been here a good bit needed a safer place to camp so they asked if they could set

up a tent behind that. >> reporter: behind the storage thing? >> storage container >> reporter: what started as one tent quickly became 30 and the sanctuary was born. >> reporter: do you feel like you've been given a gift to be able to live here? >> yes. because if i wasn't, i would be outside doing something else, sleeping under a bridge and people did die out there. i've got a few more years to live. i'm not ready to go yet that is america tonight. please tell us what you think at al jazeera.com/america tonight. talk to us on facebook or twitter and we will have more on america tonight, tomorrow.

this is america tonight. >> i'm ali velshi, "on target", slick dealing. congress clears the way for america to export oil for the first time since disco was king. >> and the c.e.o. blasted for jacking up pharmaceutical prices, faces trouble on a different front it's almost sad how happy i am to report that your elected leaders are on the brink of a deal to keep the government shutting down. it's sad, because appropriating money to keep go