so detroit -- detroit was particularly hit hard because detroit used to raise its own taxes. now through the state legislature through lansing, we can't do it anymore because we were revenue sharing with the entire state and withheld a third of the revenue from the city which forced us into bankruptcy. so they are direct lir responsible for it and they should be directly responsible for give us that money back so we can ghof vern ourselves. we have a in mayor and city council and what we don't need are more layers of government from vat corporations like kevin or paying lawyers $$900 afternon hour to -- 900 an hour to do the same job. >> this money they agreed to pay the federal government and they still may face other charges but the $13 billion they agreed to pay, how about we free it up to cities like detroit and lansing and other cities that have been paying the price? it's middle class america we're the ones that have had to cut back services because there's no money available. our businesses are suffering. main street is suffering. this has been a welcome-way transfer f

the city of detroit and michigan have come to a deal to get detroit out of bankruptcy.ick scott, the governor speaker, michigan's house of representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the deal. , michigan's house of representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the dea o, michigan's ho representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the deaf, michigan's houf representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the dea michigan's house representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the deaof michigan's hou representatives and the democratic minority leader all praise the deal. >> let's change the direction of detroit, the city is coming back in many ways but from a public sector perspective this helps create success. >> this is a day that serves the michigan citizens who are residents of detroit. and this is a day that protects the hard-working taxpayers all across the state of michigan. importantly, this legislation protects retirees, made sure that they are not forced into poverty due to draconian c

detroit has changed me. and for people who say i only photograph the negative of detroit, i beg to differ. i think i show the world that hey, look at me, give me some help. come at me altogether you want. but detroit is my life, my love, and i will never ever talk bad about her. >> interesting sight, tony met his wife, natalie on instagram. and they take pictures together in detroit. >>> someone is going around the country giving money. anonymous millionaire drops clues of hidden cash, and so far, he has given away about $4,000, and he's on his way to los angeles and new york. and not surprisingly, he has over 60,000 followers already. >>> coming up, i'll tell you why the 800-pound gorilla of online book sales has major authors, feeling like they're being squeezed with bananas. straight ahead, don't go away. >> coming up right after "real money," getting out of afghanistan, it's america's longest war, and now the president explains when all of the u.s. forces will be coming home and what the u.s. troops will

sexy as detroit might be, of course. they will yield significant results down the road for generations in fact. so these are big plays we're trying to make. five, ten, 15-year efforts to move things forward -- >> does that message resonate in the long term? folks are looking for immediate relief but long term -- >> what we deal with -- we kind of mediate win this world of immediate si -- immediacy and then the long term reality. everybody wants everything tomorrow. a lot of folks in detroit in extreme need and also people in detroit who have extreme expectations, who don't actually live in the need, which is also interesting to balance. people understand that the issues we're facing there and in many other cities across the u.s., these are issues that can be dealt with over time. they're going to take generations and one thing we ask yourselves in detroit to think beyond our own block, our own neighborhood to think of the city as large, not just what makes the most sense for you and you have to think about your own time.

detroit can lead in this regard. and lastly in many of these areas, you can tell, it is not as if nothing is there, right? there is a house here. there's probably a house around the corner. miles, in the 26 square 90,000 peopleu, live here. they have needs. these are people who are older, people of color, people with poor access to mobility -- excuse me, people with poor access to health care services. these people are isolated. we need to rethink how they can move around in the city. the idea is, no one is getting dislocated here. how can we build these on-call paratransit networks that will allow people to get around more easily without requiring a dedicated fixed route of to come down their street five times a day when only one person needs to go to the doctor on a tuesday? these are the things we can think about, a whole platform of opportunity around areas that in the past have indicated our failure. for detroit, it is all about flipping these liabilities into assets and we will continue to do that as we move fo

and what they found is that there are over 80,000 blighted structures in detroit.a report that was compiled by businesses as well as the city of detroit. and they estimate that it will cost $2 billion, if not more, to rid the city of all the blight over the next several years. this afternoon, the city's emergency manager kevin orr addressed the media and said that this report is essential to moving detroit forward. >> for the first time in this city's history, you have a comprehensive proposal to analyze all the properties in 144 square miles of city, including lakes and rivers, with the resources and technology to address the issue you. >> reporter: as the emergency manager mentioned, this blight issue has been something that has been lingering here in detroit. not just years, but decades. and i had the opportunity to talk to a detroiter who has lived here all of his life and he had issues of in his community and then he decided to take things in to his own hands. despite what it looks like, this is not your typical farm. these ghost, turkeys and chickens are bein

detroit can lead in this regard. lastly, in many of these areas you can tell it's not as if nothing is there. there's a house here, probably a house around the corner. people insuring fact in the 20 square miles i'm showing you here, 90,000 people live there. these folks have needs, of course, and many cases folks here are older, people of color, people with poor access to mobility, they have -- poor access to health and services. these folks are isolated. we have to begin to rethink how they can move around in the city. the idea is no one is getting dislocated here. how do we begin to then develop on-call paratransit networks that allow people to get around more easily without requiring a dedicated fixed route bus to come down their street five times a day when one person needs to go to a doctor on the a tuesday. these are things to think about a whole platform of opportunity around areas that in the past have indicated our failure. right? and so for detroit it's all about flipping these liabilities into assets, and

i mean, that's my point about detroit. to say there are more detroits on up there, are we overstating the problem? because that is a city that saw massive population flight. so only now we're seeing sort of investment coming back in. with the tax base shrinking and the unfunded pension obligations, that creates a problem. and the inability to actually go to market and issue debt effectively. that's when it all catches up. but until all those things happen, you know -- >> i don't think there's another big detroit out there because what happened with detroit is you had had a massive and rapid population decline. detroit was a city built for 2 million residents. it's now well under 1 million residents. right around about 700,000. and so it can't afford to sustain itself. we don't have cities to where they're going to lose 50% of their population. >> richard, is there -- is there an answer here? is there a solution here? >> yeah, there is a solution. first of all, let me, if i may, correct one statement. the decline in populat

we love being in detroit. people hear difficult stories out of detroit.ories. there is refreshing and positive news that comes out of the city. for instance, we started two years ago we started with five people. today we're up to 260 people. 80, 85% are out of detroit. a lot of people are looking for jobs. we've hired those people. we found that they wanted to work hard. we built an incredible team there, to such an extent the work coming out of that factory today is such high quality, on our watches we offer a lifetime warranty. we feel so quality about the quality of those watches. liz: go detroit. adam: fossil doesn't give you 10 years. where are is great demand for watches? is major cities like detroit, los angeles chicago, new york? >> it is across the board. we're supported in a huge way by the city of detroit, obviously the state. but our demand is coming from across the united states. it's a product made for the united states white house we're very high-end. liz: the september issue of vogue is hottest when it comes to advertising. >> right. liz:

be concerned about the detroiter. the good american who has said enough is enough. >> community activists reverend charles wilson who is trying to repeal michigan's stand your ground law, seem it differently. >> i think we need to certainly look for every alternative possible, before we move into a place where we turn our neighborhoods into the wild wild west. >> but the risk of danger led two-year-old arielle howard here. >> i am not really fairly excited to carry a gun, but unfortunately, the crime in detroit and me being a young woman, it probably will be a wise decision for me to have one. >> she says owning a gun is essential for survival. especially in detroit. >> al jazeera, detroit. >> a new victory for a drug that doctors say is 90% effective in preventing hiv. why they are now telling more doctors to prescribe truevada. s blood pressure >> we're here in the vortex... only on al jazeera america have a update to a story we brought you last month. the cdc wants more people that are at risk of getting h,v to tak

morgan says it will invest in detroit grand bargain or not. but if the deal falls apart it could be years before the bank gets anything back. for "nightly business report," i'm scott cohen. >>> yet another auto recall from general motors, the 30th one so far this year. the newest involves 218,000 chevys made during the years 2004 through 2008. this time for a possible fire hazard in the vehicle's daytime running lights. >>> shares surge after the retailer reported sparkling first quarter earnings, tiffany beat analysts estimates as the world sales jumped double digits with the sales jumping in the u.s. looking at the stock it popped 9% to $96.30. >>> lowe's says the rough winter weather weighed on the first quarter results but the home improvement retailer raised the earning forecasts saying business has already started to turn around. still earnings missed estimates and shares fell slightly to $40.41. >>> american eagles first quarter profits plunge as the retailer was hit by weaker sales and margins. investors were disappointed at the news t

but droits neglecte detroit's n.i onile-ere has the story. >> they call themselves the detroit mower gang. it's a group of volunteer landscapers who spend one night every other week mowing and trimming some of the droift dets neglected parks. >> kids will come out and play on the swings and that sort of thing. that's very satisfying. before you got there they had no place to play and after you left they did. >> the bankrupt city has more than 300 parks but can only afford to maintain about half them. the result, parks overwhelmed by overgrown grass and trash. parks have become places to avoid. >> that watt pretty bad and it -- was pretty bad and wasn't well kept at all. >> rhonda smith said her neighborhood park began to deteriorate whether the budget strapped city began to be l are neglect it. the mower gang swept in and the residents were thankful. >> there is someone there to be able to step up and make things happen and we don't have to step up and wait for city to provide services that we can take. >> volunteers

i do think that detroit hit bottom, remember that if not the same old detroit, new business environmentay not be as good as is once was. neil: i am looking at a thousand bucks, a lot of people say they need work, it is a thousand bucks. >> and you are forced if you buy, you cannot be a big time developer, you have to personaly spend $20,000, to fix it up. be there for people. neil: revitalizing neighborhood. >> whether you believe you could live in detroit, i have to be honest, city manager has done a terrific job but he is pulling out, i have not seen signs they have unions under control. neil: there has to be something. >> they have to to something. this is a incredible retirement strategy if you can handle cold weather, if you can move on a very low-cost area, i would worry about property taxes going on because of financial straights, but if you can find a low cost environment to live in, a house, you will be fine in your retirement. detroit is cold, but, this is way you need to be thinking in this day and age. neil: how different, is it, if you think about it with new orleans. after

it's been so months since detroit filed for bankruptcy. >> detroit blight task force has spent the last eight months analyzing every single property in the city, and they found there are over 80,000 blighted structures throughout detroit. this was compiled by businesses as well as the city of detroit, and they estimate it will cost over $2 billion to remove all of this urban decay over the next several years. the city's emergency manager spoke out today saying that this report is essential to moving droid forward. >> for the first time you have a comprehensive proposal to analyze all the properties in 144 square miles of city including lakes and rivers with the resources and technology to address the issue. >> detroit's blight issue. this is nothing new. this is a problem that has lingered now for decades. i had the opportunity to speak to a long-time detroiter who had issues of blight in his community, and he decided to take things in his own hands. >> despite what it looks like these are not your typical farm. these goats and chickens are being raised on detroit's east side. the farm

i love you as a host and i'm happy to be here to promote detroit. >> thank you, sir. >> detroit has unprecedented real estate opportunities, this thursday is the same as every thursday, at 10 o'clock there's bank foreclosures at city hall. my class, and as a real estate professional, we closed a couple of big end dollars, i am interested in creating the next generation of developers bringing our city forward and making sure it takes its proper place in the world. we have a hands-on approach. my students tonight, in class, is going to be looking at the legal moves and in the next couple of days they'll look at the properties that they found on the legal news. so they'll be prepared on thursday to bid. >> this is - the stuff the city is doing, it's getting rid of homes starting at $1,000, but these are holes that are vacant, that are abandoned. the deal is you buy one and you have to fix it up and occupy it within six months. the ones that your students are buying might be occupied. >> very much so. as a matter of fact, a goal is to empower home owners so that they know what their rights are. many

jpmorgan chase invested $100 million in detroit. detroit of all places because of this opportunity.ittle bit more than a week after we were selling homes there, then one of the smartest technological minds of our generation, cofounder cd case is among other things awarding 100 money towards this. the man who was responsible for one of the most talked about controversial mergers. but he made money hand over fist. steve joins us right now. it's very good to have you. >> it is good to see you. neil: tell me about what you are up to? particularly the detroit parts. >> i have been talking for a while about the great technology companies in golden valley in new york city are also great companies around the country. and it would broaden our ecosystem of entrepreneurship across the country. there is up to four cities in detroit really is an example of what happened when the market was strong and innovation with strong in its fight against weight back now and focusing this in the downtown area. neil: detroit was the silicon valley of it. the auto industry that we would change the world, how

. >> she says owning a gun is essential for survival, especially in detroit. >> and from detroit philadelphia, another life claimed by gun violence, devon bullock, a top student and high school basketball star was shot in broad daylight last month. bullock was an innocent bystander caught in a drive by. he died two weeks later. erin carter is a staff writer for the "fillie news" that has been covering his career. he joins us from philadelphia. you are a writer for the philadelphia "daily news", is that right. >> yes. >> i wanted to make sure i got that right. thank you. give me your reaction to this story. you have been covering this story. what kind much person was devon. >> for the people i talked to - i talked to his team-mates, coaches, administrators at the school, a word came up when talking about devon, and that was leadership. i watched him play a couple of times. he was a guy that was vocal on the floor. you could tell that he loved the game. always a smile on his face. it's a sad thing that happened. >> what was it about basketball for him? >> basketball for him was everything. it w

bisi onile-ere joins us live from detroit.hese recalled vehicles are not going to get fixed? >> david, according to a

al jazerra detroit. >> and over the next week creditors will be voting on whether to approve detroit'skruptcy plan that proposal would help reduce the city's $18 billion debt. >>> a massive fire shutting down the main freeway connecting los angeles to las vegas, the 15 will be closed for up to two days, the fire was accidentally started by construction worker on monday. it burned all last night. parts of it collapsing onto the freeway below. drivers are being told to stay away because of the debris that continues to fall. >>> coming up on al jazerra america, has it been found an archeologist claims to have found the legendary biblical citadel of king david. >>> women comwelcome back to ala america i am del walters. climate change say present day danger. the reports says human consumption of fossil fuels is hurting every part of the united states. from heat waves to flooding. outrage is growing around the world after more than 200 girls were kidnapped in nigeria last month. eight more today. this is a protest never los angeles. a wrote ter being held in knee gentleman vinnie capital. pe

bisi onile-ere has more from detroit. >> reporter: they call themselves the detroit mower gang. a group of landscapers who spend one night every other week caring for detroit parks. kids will come out and play on the swings and that type of thing. that's very satisfying. before we got there they didn't are a place to play, and now communities landmarks people once flocked to have become places to avoid. >> it was pretty bad. it was not well-kept at all. >> reporter: rhonda smith said her neighborhood park began to deteriorate when budget cuts forced the city to stop maintaining it a few years ago. the city eventually resumed taking care of it you but during the gap the mower rolled in and smith was thankful. >> when services are locked, there is a ram in a bush, there is someone there to step up and make things happen and we don't have to sit back and wait for the city to provide services that we can take the reins ourselves. >> reporter: volunteers will spend hours working on this one project. they're driven to take on grass and weeds in some of detroit's toughest neighborhoods

they are trying to recreate that come back in detroit. tearing down more than 40,000 structures, but the emergency manager says he is optimistic. is issue has been coming to us since the depression in 1931. hire we are now 83 years later. >> and there are still roughly 6,000 vie can't lots. trying to decide if they should be repaired or demolished. >> racing out of the fort pit tunnel welcome to pittsburgh, the former island steel capitol of the world. the city known for it's bridges is today also a sense of financial services companies medical centers and hi-tech industries. pittsburgh's mayor said it had to be flexible to survive when the steal industry left town. >> you can burn a city, you can flood a city, or you can tear the economic heart of a city out. as long as you invest back into the people who believe in that city, the city will come back. the mayor says he has talked with detroit about there. unlike detroit, pittsburgh never accepted federal government cash, but never the less, it has taken 30 years to row back from when gia

several miles across the city line from detroit. and after a few beer, the partiers decided to drive over and buy some marijuana from old man bob. >> call up, go to the back door, there. that's what we were going to do that night. >> so john and four friends hopped in a car which was a white plymouth horizon and walked up to the back door just as the eyewitness later told the police, except for one detail, and it was a big one. the eyewitness identified the hires brothers as the young men he saw in the drove way, but, said john hellsher, it wasn't them. it was him. he and one of his grosse point buddies went up that driveway. >> as soon as he opened the door i heard commotion behind my. and we saw people jump over the fence coming towards us, one with a gun leveled at us. and we saw all the other people running towards bob. especially a guy with a shotgun. i just remembered, i'm dead. that's the first thing that came to my head. he's going to shoot me. i froze. we froze. and all he said was get the [ bleep ] out of here. and we turn

the question is can detroit learn from what pittsburgh has learned in the last 30 or 40 years? we tried to find out and here's my report. >> welcome to pittsburgh, the former island steel capital of the world. the city, known for its bridges, is today home to medical centers and high-tech industries. pittsburgh's mayor said that it would have to be flexible to survive when the steel free left town. >town. >> you can bomb a city, burn a city, flood a city or tear the heart out. as long as you invest back into the people who believe in the city, it will come back. >> the mayor said that he has talked to detroit about there. they need 2-$3 billion to clear the blight. blight. earmarked. ed 3 to $4 billion. they have never kept accepted cash, but nevertheless, it has taken 30 years to roll back when factories like this, now long abandoned, dominated the city. the stacks from the u.s. home instead now stand and employ tens of thousands of people. the city raised $300 million for this shopping mallet site and it carries all of the big brand names. but how has pittsburgh raised the ca

drive through parts of philadelphia and you might think you're in detroit. vast blight.f philadelphia's middle class is no more evident than in middle of the city. once bustling communities. they didn't go far. >> cheshire county, being montgomery county. those economies have grown significantly over the past years and their success has come philadelphia. >> there are vibrant parts of the city. now comes the task of luring those middle class people back to a city that is starting to stabilize. gentrification and a flush of jobs from universities like penn, temple and drexel are showing the beginnings of a new middle class. >> my house is the house on the corner. >> greg de stephano is the owner of a cafe. he says gentrification is happening quickly and there's money to be made. >> so this doesn't match the story we have of a hollowed-out philadelphia? >> anything but. i guarantee you they are being gentrified as we speak, people are buying them up. >> as home values, rise, the city has decided to reassess its property taxes, which could be a real problem. greg's property

it's not all sweetness and light, but pittsburgh is ahead of detroit at the moment. the point of this is that they can learn from it in michigan. >> it's a great city. let's hope that detroit can experience a similar renaissance. >> muslim fighters are blamed for an attack in a catholic church, that attack leaving 15 people dead. thousands have been seeking ref final from the countries civil war. witnesses say the government stormed the church, firing weapons and throwing hand grenades. christian vigilantes and muslim rebels have been fighting for control of the city since december, more than 1 million fled their homes. >> nigeria's president vows a total war against boko haram. they kidnapped 200 girls from their school last month. the penalty has told the army to take action against terrorist threats. he is facing increasing pressure. >> during the president's speech, designed to mark 15 years of uninterrupted democracy in nigeria, he mentioned the government's efforts to try and rescue and find the more than 200 girls that were kidnapped now way back in mid april.

now blight clearly has been an issue here in detroit for quite some time. had the opportunity to sit down with a detroiter who is taking the issue head on. >> despite what it looks like, this is not your typical farm. these goats, at your keys and chickens are being raised on detroit's east side. the farm yard belongs to mark. he's lived in the neighborhood all his life. abandoned and rotted out homes, illegal dumping, his once thriving community became one filled with decay. he decided to take on the blight himself in 2008. >> i said i wanted to shine the most positive light on my neighborhood as possible. >> first he started mowing the grass, then bought this abandoned building and built a farm yard and community garden. >> what do you have here? >> broccoli, kale, brussel sprout and lettuce. >> it's know noun as the georgia street community collective. >> the idea for the neighbors is to come and pick whenever they want to pick and have whatever they want to have, and get help if they need it. >> in a bankrupt city, he is considered an innovator, but the

it's the wall street outpost in detroit. and she marched up to the floor where the new york bank of melon, which holds her mortgage, was located, and she said can i have an appointment in talk to somebody about my mortgage? hundreds of people just lost the dumpster and i don't think 'er going to be able to four, on me, so let's work something out. and the sect said, i'm sorry, you can't come in because you don't have an appointment. and so bertha took a deep breath and wearing, again, pressed, perfect suit, wide brim hat, she laid out in front of the door of the office, and when the secretary said, what are you doing? she said, well, if i can't come in, none of you people can come out, and she stayed there for a very long time, and the next day the banks lawyers called her lawyer and said, could you please call off the dogs? she wants her house, she can have it. and when i met with her that afternoon for the first time on sunday, she had just signed the papers to own her home outright. for the first time. in her entire life.

detroit's plan to fill empty homes in the bankrupt city of detroit.ebuilding the dream on real money with ali velshi on al jazeera america >> this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. there's a lot more to cover this half hour. including serious consequences for many users of synthetic marijuana. i'll talk to a doctor who's had to treat young patients. plus, rest you cued from a wrecked car after being trapped for days. >>> and going for gold. deep sea recovery of millions in gold. be richelle. >> separation of church and state. justices ruled that omg prayer in a -- opening prayers in a town council meeting do not violate separation of church and state. the content of prayers is not significant unless it de denigrs nonchristians. the ceo of l targ has stepped down. stepped down in the wake of a hacker attack of tens of millions of customers you probably remember that and also caused the company sales to plummet. he had been with the company for 35 years. been the chief executive since 2008. >>> the president of nigeria, vows to f

al jazeera detroit. >> and something different, gadgets are taking stage at the white house today, theresident is hosting a science fair and featuring the winners of those devoted to science and technology and math. and promoting the educate to innovate campaign and enkurnling the students to excel in all of the subjects. we are going to take a break. we'll be right back. right back. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. nigeria is saying they know o the location of the missing girls and they are not going to use force to rescue them and many are accusing the government of not doing enough. >> memorial service held today for the victims of the california killing rampage. and we are following this hour breaking news out of washington, al jazeera confirmed that the president is planning to leave ten thousand u.s. troops in afghanistan in 2015. we are joined by phone with all of the details, mike, bring us up to date. >> del, we have a number, 32,000 american troops in afghanistan, that of course is way down from the previous peek of a hundred thousand during

john in detroit. >> reporter: researchers in the united states are reporting the spread of a parasitic threat to honey bees and the zombie bees are accused of the attack on other honey bees. >> they have flown out in the middle of the night. >> reporter: they witness a strange and unnatural event, honey bees leaving their hives to die in the middle of the night. having collected the dead bees back in the lab the cause becomes clear. they are infected by the tiny zombie fly which lays it's eggs in the bee and hatches out, killing the bee in the process. and bee keepers are reporting the phenomenon in more and more populations across the united states. >> i had people call me and say you have to move these bees, something is going on with them and yards would be littered with hundreds of bee carcus all from the bee parasite. >> reporter: known to target bumble bees and wasps and now the honey bee and dealing with this and increased pesticides and research has this website and encourages volunteers and so called citizen scientist to report sightings and specimens. >> citizen scientists ha

do they get out of the city of detroit?he koch brothers are not involved in >> but they aren't -- but they are funding this? much of your funding comes from the koch brothers? >> i cannot tell you. i raise the money in michigan, and they have stuck -- shutdown sectors for not raising money. we passed the test. , thank yougerstrom for joining us on this. also, michael mckee. leo hindery is staying with us because coming up, a move that could be a grand slam or a foul ball, what ben bernanke would do if he becomes the next commissioner of baseball. ♪ >> it is time for today's bloomberg big number, $111 million -- that is how much "x -men -- days of future past" weekend,on opening while "godzilla" garnered over 39 million dollars. the memorial day weekend is routinely ranked among the biggest of the year for hollywood. summertime -- another favorite summary event is baseball. lastly, major commissioner bud selig moves closer to the end of his tenure, announcing the formation of a seven-person search committee who must find a s

another big blow for detroit. a city task force demanding 40,000 buildings being demolished and cleaned up immediately due to dire conditions. comes with a hefty price tag, 850 million bucks. the real cost could be billions or higher. charlie what do you think about this one? you've been reporting on this for a while? >> listen, detroit is in desperate shape. i do know wall street firms advised them to basically downsize the city and sell off chunks of it. abandoned land or city's condemned land. there is lot of abandoned buildings. melissa: 40,000 buildings to be demolished. >> and miles upon miles. detroit is huge city sizewise. one of the biggest cities in the country. they have been saying downsize the city. make it a lot smaller. sell the land, possibly to private equity. now this is being bounced around t was no in this new report that came out. melissa: from the task force. >> i will tell you there are wall street advisors have told them that is one way at this. listen, detroit is on a lake. if you did cond

city of detroit is notorious for bankruptcy and debt. he is taking the first steps towards survival. john hendren reports. >> the motor city has a major problem. in the shadow of detroit's auto empire lie 80,000 abandoned and blighted homes. the world's largest bankrupt city is making would-be home openers an offer they can't refuse, a house in a neighbourhood with a neighbourhood of $1,000. >> anyone and everywhere has checks, they can afford this. >> the first of a dozen homes is auctioned online with the bidders taking advantage of a chance to buy low and grow with detroit. >> there's a lot of opportunity, architectural gems. it's a place to put your money, and a place where you can really see your investment grow. >> detroit may be bankrupt, but the city center is looking more prosperous than ever. downtown detroit is surrounded by a landscape of boarded up and blighted homes in worse shape than ever. >> mike duggan is the first white mayor in 40 years. the majority black city was so desperate for a man to revive it few cared about h

how pittsburgh escaped troubles detroit faced. how it can turn around its fortunes.hat's coming up next. >> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. first hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. the big stories of the day, from around the world... >> these people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place... >> and throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news... >> the life of doha... >> this is the international news hour... >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism >>> you may have heard that china's economy is cooling, even so, it's on t

how pittsburgh escaped troubles detroit faced. how it can turn around its fortunes.hat's coming up next. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. rosie perez >> i had to fight back, or else my ass was gonna get kicked... >> a tough childhood... >> there was a crying, there was a lot of laughter... >> finding her voice >> i was not a ham, i was ham & cheese... >> and turning it around... >> you don't have to let your circumstance dictate who you are as a person >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >>> you may have heard that china's economy is cooling, even so, it's on track to grow more than 7% this year, breakneckcock compared to the united states. all that growth requires energy. china doesn't produce enough of it at home to meet its growing needs, especially for oil and natural gas. >> that's one factor that drove that recent mega natural gas deal between russia and china, the culmination of a decade's worth of talks. >> that's one example of how china has been pushing beyond

how pittsburgh escaped troubles detroit faced. how it can turn around its fortunes.hat's coming up next. >>> you may have heard that china's economy is cooling, even so, it's on track to grow more than 7% this year, breakneckcock compared to the united states. all that growth requires energy. china doesn't produce enough of it at home to meet its growing needs, especially for oil and natural gas. >> that's one factor that drove that recent mega natural gas deal between russia and china, the culmination of a decade's worth of talks. >> that's one example of how china has been pushing beyond its borders to find new energy sources making it a major player in global energy markets. patricia sabga has the story >> reporter: after 10 years of n negotiatio negotiations, china strikes a $400 billion natural gas deal with russia. while in the south china sea, chinese coast guard boats joust with vietnamese vessel over oil drilling rights. polar strategies with a singular aim of meeting china's growing energy demands. >> their appetite is huge whether you talk about oil or nat

i'm bullish about detroit, and we're all in. are the cities that hit the bottom of the list when it came to the best cities to start companies, los angeles, chicago, san francisco, new york city, and yet new york city ended up being on a different survey that said it's number one in business retention. so do you put less stock, for example, into these studies and look at what are the best ways? rich edson was just life from dallas and says -- live from dallas, and says, he calls it, basically, the national register of regulations. the fewer the onerous regulations, the more friendly it is for businesses to start up. is there something nationwide that we could do to work on something like that? >> well, i mean, i think this notion that it's an either/or thing on the regulation front, for me, i don't buy that. i mean, there is nothing inconsistent between job growth, business growth and the presence of common sense regulation. we saw that in the housing market. part of the reason the bubble burst is that it was the wild, wild west

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