in appalachia. >> it's called appalachiacola gold. >> dodging copperhead snakes in what some call theost lucrative legal hern o herb on . >> sometimes they stay in the ground ten to 12 years before they come up. >> chinese value the herb as a l remedy, consumers pay more for wild north american variety. >> most of the dried market goes to china and chinese consumers prefer that wild root because it has deep rings on there, grown slower, so they feel like in their philosophy it's gotten more energy more information from other earth. >> these ten pound boxes hold more than $5,000 worth of ginseng. this plant is too young to pick. you pick it at this age and it won't reseed. but something like this, a digger could get $40 for this but could be worth thousands by the time it reaches markets like korea. coal miners whose shafts have shut down and poachers on private and government land, some limit to prevent overharvesting. >> all of this was ginseng from the prior season. >> natural resource officers confiscated more than 190 pounds of illegally dug ginseng, worth more than $180,000, grow

. >> reporter: on the shaded mountains of appalachia, the autumn gold rush has begun. mills and his family have been digging up ginsing roots for nearly half a century. dodging copper head snakes in search of what some say is the most lucrative root in the state. >> they can stay in the ground ten or 12 years before they come up. >> reporter: chinese and korean consumers value the root as a medicine. there is a market for cheaper cultivated ginsing, but consumers pay far more for the wild north american market. >> most of the market goes to china. and they prefer the wild root, because it has real deep rings on there. it's grown slower, so they feel like that in their philosophy it has gotten more information from mother earth. >> reporter: these boxes each hold more than $5,000 of ginsing. this plant is too young to pick. you pick it at this stage, and it won't reseed. if you get a big one, something like this, a digger could get $40 for this, but it could be worth thousands by the time it reaches markets like korea. those prices have lured newcomers, coal miners, and

. >> here in poor but proud appalachia, many are happy to get by grom gifts on the soil.l jazeera, big creek, kentucky. >> in hong kong, a mad cram bell for cash after an armored van spilled more than $2 million u.s. dollars on the motor way near the financial district. the driver was oblivious to the fact that the van's back door was open. police have appealed for help in tracing the money. they warrant anyone who fails to return it may be committing a crime.

thankfully, america's family values are kept alive in small towns like in kentucky in the heart of appalachia i can't. >> about 335-340 people. we all know each other. >> everyone knows each other. we're pro gun, hard working. country people. it's a fine town. stephen: a fine town. but for how long? meet the mayor johnny cummings. go back. too far. go back. a little more. good. >> hey, i'm johnny cummings. i'm the mayor here. [bleep] >> stephen: aren't you forgetting something. >> kentucky. stephen: no, the other thing. i am a gay man. stephen: a gay man and a gay mare destroying america. ... a gay mayor destroying america. [ cheers and applause ] >> stephen: americans count on smawn towns to uphold traditional morality. but mayor cummings is using his office to implement the gay agenda. >> he's the best one mayor we've had here is him. >> as mayor of the city, he's done an outstanding job. >> he's changed everything. made things better. >> stephen: better if you mean gayer. >> the workers went out in the middle of the night and patched the potholes. >> stephen: gay. put a new bridge to the s

in rural appalachia as opposed to the urban appalachian community, you do tend to have sort of familieswhere you have a dad in mom living in the house. my dad was living in the household, had a job in that was different because the girls that i tot in cincinnati, largely their dads were out of the picture. they have biological dads obviously, but there were not part of their everyday lives. their moms were starting to lose it because of the drug issue, so their families were beginning to be worked apart. but i found this appalachian community in cincinnati is similar to what you see another urban families at the grandmom kind of steps in and starts taking over and taking control of the family. in fact, one of my students i read about, her grandma was her central caretaker and that was pretty common. >> host: how did you get out? package it to college? >> guest: the one key word is education. i have to be very grateful. i was a very naÏve working-class girl. i was a little bit of an anomaly because i love books and i loved reading. i was kind of a bookish little girl. i think because of

. >> here in the foothills of appalachia, they said they're giving their dead the dignity back, one grave time. >> what's the significance of what you just did? >> what i just did was the last respectful thing that anybody's ever done for this person. you look down this row. there's nowhere else in our society do we treat people like this. i think if your parents took the time to give you a name, then, you know, nobody has the right to take that away from you. >> today a name is one of the few things we know about the person buried here. albertina carlson left a life in sweden for a final chapter in the united states, settling here in ohio in 1890. a year before she died albertina was admitted to the athens asylum for the insane but 75 years after she was laid to rest beneath a numbered head stone a genealogist more than 2,000 miles away is making sure she's not forgotten. he happens to be albertina's distant cousin. he missed the ceremony, he no longer flies. so "america tonight" showed him the footage. >> to see the stone there her name there the stone going in her getting her identity,

people argue in a poor white community saying appalachia, similar sense of fight against police.u agree with that? >> well first i think it's important to send our condolences to the garner family. there's a lot they are going through. it must be an intense moment to see people all over the world standing up and fighting in your husband's or son's name. one thing i think is important for us to consider is that we're as a country still trying to grapple with what does racism look like. a lot of times what we think is that racism is about people beating each other. we try to bring up examples of places where there's not patterns but the reality is that most folks, right, would agree that there's a pattern of police abuse and police violence against black communities. and so whether or not that particular officer was motivated by that is a hard question to answer but what the statistics and the data tell us again is that every 28 hours in this country a black person is murdered by police or vigilantes. >> final question to take this full circle on your point about solutions and prot

the first dark night, they might literally head for the hills, the hill country of appalachia became a great haven for people who had escaped from -- fled from military service, deserters. and until such time as they made their getaway, they spread the cancer of their lack of commitment among the good and faithful soldiers who remained. just in this subject of desertion, in the late summer, early autumn of 1894, there is almost a dynamic equilibrium of desertions of confederates deserting to the union army and unionists deserting to the confederate army at petersburg. the confederates would put out flyers in german and belgian and dutch and gaelic, inviting these new individual replacements to come over to the confederacy. all of that begins to change in mid-november of 1864. on november 8, president lincoln is overwhelmingly reelected. the peace democrats, the copperheads, are completely repudiated by the northern people. it becomes unmistakably clear that there will be four more years of unrelenting war. and one week to the day, after the reelection of lincoln, general sherman cuts

. >> reporter: here in poor, but proud appalachia, many are happy to get by on gifts from the soil., al jazerra, big creek, kentucky. >>> plenty more still ahead for you on the al jazerra news hour. including this 13-year-old girl says her father gave her to boko haram to become a suicide bomber. plus the parents of 43 missing students in mexico share their sorrow by releasing a video messaging. >>> and in sport, we'll tell you about the gift this former italy forward has received this christmas. >> saturday on tech know. a brutal killing. a thorough investigation. >> we're pushing the envelope. >> but this is no ordinary c.s.i. >> what went on right before that animal died? >> hunting the hunter. >> we're gonna take down the bad guys. >> solving the crime. >> we can save species. >> tech know's team of experts show you how the miracles of science. >> this is my selfie, what can you tell me about my future? >> can affect and surprise us. >> don't try this at home. >> tech know, where technology meets humanity. saturday at 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >>> welcome back yo

preacher man, i'm going to use my voice to speak to speak to the black lung disease and and overty in appalachia said i'm going to use my voice of the to the problems , not just for blacks. e fred hampton who told some of my friends, i understand your willingness to worry. i understand your cries for justice and how you want to sacrifice for justice, but we don't need to organize only in the black community. you need to organize in the white community to tell your brother and sister that we are all in this together. and all a rainbow coalition for justice and equality in america. a fred hampton that loved to dance and loved to play basketball and fred hampton who ever smoked nor drank. a fred hampton who loved his mother and father and his brothers and sisters. a fred hampton who was tried and robbing a good humor man of $310r worth of ice cream. ice cream bars on a summer's day in maywood, illinois. and fred was saying to anyone o would hear, i'm a big man, but i can't 310 ice cream bars. if he took the ice cream bars from the good humor man, then he passed them ut, gave them out to the young p

. >> as much as i did talk about going on the appalachia trail. is that where i ended up?'t. and now mark sanford and three fellow infamous politicians are the stars of tail spin, an off-broadway comedy about their sexual exploits. >> how is my favorite person. >> and they are verbatim, exactly as how they were spoken, texted or tweeted. >> this thing is ready to do damage. >> it was instant chemistry. >> and standing next to them is rachel drach. you may remember her as saturday night live's debbie downer. and now she is live again. >> come on, i'll show you. >> this is life in the theater. when you leave tv temporary, you put on your own makeup. >> she played the wronged wives and the other women too. from one of anthony wiener's buddies. >> i'm just a person. >> to mark sanford's argentina cell pate and now his former mystery. >> can you believe all of this stuff was real? >> the thing i was most shocked at was the graphic nature of the talk. like you hear, oh, they were sexy and then you see and what were they sexting. this is beyond my sexting skills. they are pretty

. >> buried treasure in the hills of appalachia, where ginseng is good as gold. not all those digging are doing so legally. >> we leave you with a live look at bethlehem, it's three ok in the afternoon there. >> these people have decided that today they will be arrested >> i know that i'm being surveilled >> people are not getting the care that they need >> this is a crime against humanity >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> hands up! >> don't shoot! >> what do we want? justice! >> when do we want it? >> now! >> they are running towards base... >>...explosions going off we're not quite sure... >> fault lines al jazeera america's emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series... >> al jazeera america presents >> somebody's telling lies... >> it looks nothing like him... >> pan am flight 103 explodes december 21st, 1988 was the right man convicted? >> so many people, at such a high level, had the stake in al-megrahi's guilt >> the most definitive look at this shocking crime >> the major difficulty for the prosecution that there was no evidence >> al jazeera america p

he says the emerald hills of appalachia, the farms of small towns of the midwest, the granite peaks of the rockies, the rugged deserts of the southwest, and finally, the panorama of southern california. it truly is america the beautiful. and god has indeed shed his grace on the. [applause] >> thank you. you guys and switched up on me. at wanton -- i don't know who wants to go next. >> we saved the best for last. >> ainslie just spoke. [laughter] >> i didn't mean to slight you. that's why i have to do so many hours in the air. have to make up for what i don't have an talent with volume. [laughter] but i will tell you this. i feel incredibly blessed by god. i am lucky enough to make my living in the communications business, broadly stated. basically, i talk for a living. it's the best job you can have. it's usually in an air-conditioned room. but there is ugly emotion called envy. i am deeply envious of the communications abilities of president ronald reagan. i have been in journalism for almost 40 years, and one of my deeper gretz is that i never -- deep regrets is that i never met the

the hill country of appalachia became a great haven for people who had escaped from -- fled from military service, deserters. until such time as they made their getaway they spread the cancer of their lack of commitment among the good and faithful soldier who is remained. just in this subject of desertion in the late summer and early autumn of 1864, there is almost a dynamic of ee quul lib rum desserting to the union army and dessertests to the confederate army. all of that begins to change in mid-november 1864. on november 8th president lincoln is overwhelmingly reon ee -- re-elected, and it becomes unmistakenably clear there will be four more years of unrelenting war. one week to the day, after the re-election of lincoln, general sherman cuts loose from atlanta to his march to the sea, which devastates much of the interior of georgia. and with these two monday mental blows to the skikypsyche of the confederate war. so, joe, thank you for that question. please. >> we have time for one more quick question. >> i won't promise a quick answer though. >> good evening. you talk about strategic

and the first dark night they might literally head for the hills, the hill country of appalachia becamers who remains. in is subject of desertion of confederates deserting to the union army even union army dessert together con fed rates at unionsburg. there would be flyers in german and belgium and french and dutch and and gailic. inviting these new individuals to come over. all of that comes to bear in 1864. on november 8th, president lincoln is overwhelmingly re-elected. it becomes unmistakably clear that there will be four more years of unrelenting war. and one week to the day after re-election, a general sherman cuts loose from atlanta for his march to the sea which devastates much of the interior of georgia. and with these two fundamental blows tolt to t /* /* to the psyche of the confederate war effort, greatly increases from jrhe defeks over the union lines. the psyche of the confederate war effort, greatly increases from the defeks over the union lines.feks over the union lines.efeks over the union lines.cfeks over the union lines.tifeks over the union lines.ofeks over the union

host: all right, jack is on the line now from appalachia, new york. hey, jack. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: what do you think? caller: i am jack strickland that i wanted to say that this program can suck my balls. host: we are moving on to mark in kingston, jamaica. go ahead. who had the best and worst year in washington, 2014? caller: the democrats got the worst year because of the election. host: tell us more. caller: the democrats lost big-time in the midterms. i think the republicans definitely had a better year this year. host: thank you for calling. when he writes that the best year was had by propaganda politicians, the worst year was the middle class. host: of course, we know the republicans took over in the last election. this is on the huffington post piece on the official big losers of 2014. chris christie, they write "taking the fight to the wrong nurse." that was after the nurse and the governor got into a battle over that issue. host: more on that a little bit later. matthew from washington, democratic line. caller: i was going to