It help free political prisoners, and would not enter toll ticks a bomb exploded on a bus in tel aviv moments after it was evacuated. A passenger noticed a package, alerting the driver, who ordered everyone off. Emergency crews are certainlyinging for people trapped in homes after a train derailed on a slum. Six people there from hurt. It is on its way to uganda. Those are the headlines. Im jonathan betz. Ill be back in an hour, but first, america tonight weekend is next. You can always find us at aljazeera. Com. Have a great day. And good evening. Thanks for being with us for america tonight, the weekend edition. Im joie chen. There can be no morp intimidating, isolating environment than the walls of the prison system especially for those wh whom disabilities is challenging. Life behind bars for the deaf and disabled is difficult. Al jazeera spent years making contacts within the Prison Community and deaf and disabled community to get an indepth look. We begin a report with the story of a deaf inmates attempt to navigate the Justice System and his struggle to survive in prison. Theres no question that individuals with disabilities in prisons and gaols face a very scary life. We know from the research thats been done at the National Level about prison rape and abuse that individuals who have mental illness, individuals who are elderly, individuals with a physical disability or mental disability are oftentimes targeted for sexual abuse and assault. Its laughable because it seems far out there, far fetched that we treat people the way we treat people in prison, not just the deaf, deafblind and blind, but anyone in the prison system in the United States is terrifying. Im telela louis im the founder of heard helping the rights of the deaf. Preventing deaf wrongful convictions and prison adduce. We have under 300 men and women who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing in our database. The percentage that has been raped is well above 80 raped or abused in some manner its mined blowing. I met felix in june 1998. I got a package, a little note said, this is a charity case, see what you can do. I looked at the case, i started checking it out and it grabbed me. I said, that will be my son, i will be his mum, i will be that person for him. He has been through so much without nobody. This is the box containing felixs trial. The attorney three times alerted the court and the state that his client could not understand, could not hear, and that he could not assist him in his trial. A sixth amendment violation. He didnt have an interpreter. He said, i didnt hear the testimony. I didnt hear them say anything. He did not hear any witness testimony. An interpreter definitely would have changed the result. From the al jazeera Investigative Unit and the challenge of the disabled and deaf behind bars. We consider those that face the ultimate penalty that were wrongly convicted. The innocence projects have pursued a Second Chance at justice for many, including reg nald griffin, he was the 143 rld death row inmate to be exonerated since call tall punishment was reinstated. Many more have died in a system where prosecutors have incentives to convict and crime. Reggie griffin thought he would never be free again. For 23 years hes been in prison, sentenced to prison for a murder he did not commit. Im lost. Saying, you know, its a bad dream, i dont believe it, i know its real. On death row reggie and his family waited as one by one his fellow inmates, 69 of them, were executed. How do you get ready to die . My mother will come and see me. Shed be like, us know, i dont want them to kill you. Hes like mum, i havent done anything. I know reality that i could be killed because im seeing people around me getting killed. In prison for assault, griffin was convicted of fatally stabbing another inmate at the center. One witness died before trial, another recanted his evidence. Prosecutors knew that the knife was found in the hands of another inmate. Prosecutors cited a conviction which was by another man with the same name do you have faith in the system any more . Do i have faith in this little. Its a familiar story here. In the death belt, in midwest. 123 have been exonerated, 18 cover. Mistakes. We dont listen very well to the clients. The prosecutors dont listen well to the evidence. You are implicating the prosecution, the system judges, defense attorneys. Police, all of us. With three decades of life lost, griffin is discovering the changes the years can bring cell phones, cars that bring directions and is questioning the system ta seemed determined to kill him. Me and a lot of other people are used as stepping stones to broaden peoples careers. You know, like who is he, hes nothing to me. He can help me get where i want to go. So hes just a pawn in a big game. Pawns are sacrificed. The odds are long. Prosecutors are immune to lawsuits with few challenges. On america tonight some of the darkest days of our shared history. Vicious attacks defying explanation and why so many wounds are still left open. It happened then, its happening now with the murders and beatings and whippings going on. We would be terrified. Every sunday night join us for exclusive, revealing and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. Tonight ive spent my whole life thinking about themes and thinking about how to structure movies so this is highly unusual. The director of the sixth sense says there are five things we can do fix education in america. The United States has education apartheid. Thats the facts. Talk to al jazeera with m. Night shyamalan. Tonight we return to a dark time in American History and deeply painful wounds that may never be healed. Vicious crimes murders, lynchings, horrors that took place in hidden corners of the deem south in the civil rights area. To this day many crimes are unsolved, no one held to justice. A few years ago those cases were brought to life, if not to closure. We look at some of those shocking cases, with a report from al jazeeras andy gallagher. The archives of ferridays newspaper is a mirror into the past. There are stories here some would prefer to forget. This is september. Three nights before frank died. This is his advertisement. He ran it every week. The man that died was frank morris, a successful businessman who owned a shoe repair shop. He was well liked by the entire community. His white customers would oven let their Children Play in his chop. That, say investigators was reason enough for the ku klux klan to target him. In 1964 franks business was set on fire. He was forced to stay inside at gunpoint. He was last seen running with his clothes on fire. Four days later he burns. All facts from not clear. Stanley nelson spent years piecing together the evidence. What he found shocked him. The more you dug the more you realised there was some really bad people here, and that what happened then, if it happened now murders, beatings and terrified. What happened here is not unusual. Across the deep south there are around 70 unsolved murder cases, most brutal and motivated. The lord will bridge justice. For people like robert lee that remembers frank morris, theres some comfort that his murder has not been forgotten. At least somebody see it, lets find out what happened to this man and who was responsible. Now the world knows who frank morris was, knows what kind of person he was, and have some idea who were responsible. Despite fresh efforts to investigate the socalled cold cases, its unlikely many people will be brought to justice. Witnesses are dying, memories fading. In ferriday the memory of frank morris lives on. For those left behind, that may be the only justice they get. There are Unanswered Questions about the murders that took place. Across the mississippi Clifton Walker was killed. 50 years later his family is seeking closure. In the backwoods of mississippi, two sisters returned from a dark place to their childhood. We lost our father here. My mother lost her husband here. Today is an opportunity to say, truth. In 1964 cathy and shirleys father Clifton Walker was driving down the road when ambushed by white men and shopped. These women were barely teenagers, but despite that, the First Contact with the fbi was a letter saying they were closing the case. You handed me a letter saying you were closing the case, but never met with the family to discuss findings, interviews, walker. Its an outcome that doesnt surprise cold case reporter ben greenberg, and spent years investigating the walker murders. He says the fbi agents didnt have the resources or will to investigate the killing. This is an opportunity to wage the wore war on americas demands from the past. The opportunity to bring that to history is diminishing that. At the fbi headquarters we put the accusations to the man in charge of the Cold Case Initiative. The aim is to prosecute. When that doesnt happen, he says the project is a success. In terms of putting the evidence together and the stories together. That we have achieved something historically. We have achieved something to tell the tale about what happened, and hopefully bring victims. Since the Cold Case Initiative began in 2006, no one has been brought to justice. The fbi said they are confident prosecution will follow. For the Walker Family and others whose cases have been closed, theres an overwhelming assistance of disappointment, that they werent taken as seriously as they could have been. For many in the deep south, cases like Clifton Walkers murder are an open wound, a reminder of a time many will forget. For some, its a wound that will never heel. We cant say its justice. It will never be served. Justice has not been served. Now on to detroit, where we have been reporting on the motor citys struggles with bankruptcy as it tries to figure out what valuable assets it can sell to pay the bills. This week it got estimates from christies that its Art Collection was worth 877 million. A few famous pieces van gos selfportrait could fetch up to 150 million. And the wedding dance, could go for 200 million. The director of the institute of arts explains how all the art ended up in detroit. Well, it was when great works of art came on to the market at an enormous rate at very, very good prices, along with cleveland and philadelphia, cities that saw huge explosions in the industrial era, it relates an extraordinary moment in American History and a bringing together of cultures from all around the world. This week we spoke with robert de meshel that shared the history of art in detroit. Its through the efforts of lumber barrons, families, russell elder, james and george script, media tik ons. The big names of detroit. Right. And charles frooer, part of the freier gallery from the smithsonian, he was a detroiter. And many others. You have the fords and fishers. Rogers. Going back to the turn of the last century, what was it in detroit that sponsored a great interest in art . I think the people that were affluent went to europe, saw the european museums and felt it was something they wanted to see here in detroit. So they collectively pulled together and acquired and kept acquiring and it was a tradition started in the late 1800s, and up through today. We may forget, though, that detroit was a wealthy place. Yes, the growth in the detroit area was amazing, detroit as a city acquired places around it. Its footprint expanded between the late 1800s through the 30s, taking on additional land from its growth and prosperity. What are the great names of collection. In front of the museum theres ogust rodan, the thinker. Hes thinking long and hard about whats going on inside right now. Pablo picasso, van gogh, amazing works that are in there that are not available on the market. Hopefully they do not come on the market too soon. These are artists, pieces coveted by the great museums of the world. Yes, every museum in the world is watching. If they do come to the market, i am sure theyll be interested. Hopefully they can come up with Creative Ideas where the art can stay put and they can solve the financial problems of the city another way. You are a detroiter, a Third Generation in the art gallery businesses yourself. It must be heart breaking for you to think about this choice for the future of your city or the future of its Art Collection. Well, we prefer to stay here, a lot of people love the art in the collection and they are a fan of the arts and there are a lot of people around the sidelines who are involved. They want to see the arts stay put and are willing to offer ideas, solutions, towards a different approach. We will see what the resolution of all this is. Thats an art gallery in detroit michian, thanks. Ahead is it a break with tradition. Tough lessons for black colleges and universities, the fight to survive next. Tn the Grambling State UniversityFootball Team received more publicity this year than it has in nearly three decades. How . By not playing a game. A player dispute there drew attention to a bigger set of problems. In recent years historically black colleges and universities like grambling faced mounting challenges in funding management and student recruitment, raising the question are hbcu relevant and should they be saved. Sara hoy reports. Its the 40th anniversary of the bayou classic. A story match up between southern and grambling universities. The legendary battle of the bands gardeners as much attention as the game itself. Staunch rivals, historically black institutions have competed in the bayou classic held in new orleans sin the 70s. The first of such grid iron bouts helped the playing fields for black collegiate athletes barred from other teams. This fall. Gramblings team led for decades by College Footballs coach eddy robinson, made headlines for a different reason. Players boycotted practice and a game, protesting the Poor Condition of the teams equipment and facilities like mouldy walls and ceilings. This is a story about more than football. This is a story of a fight for survival for hbcus in a education. It was never solely football or never solely a white room or the floor in a white room or mould on the campus. Gramlings campus says they pulled back the court hurdles we face are more public. I dont know of a hbcu including grambling that was equalry funded. At the re beginning or now we are not equally fumbled. According to a Foundation Study nine h b. C. Us had the accreditation threatened since 2009. Five closed permanently in the last 20 years. A handful of h b. C. U president s ri signed, including sidney ribeau, a flagship hbcu, who left amid a downgraded Credit Rating and drop in enrolment. I think howard, the top hbcu, it has a ripple effect, an effect on every single hbcu. What howard does, so goes hbcus. And its really important for us to continue to go what we what we were built to do, serve the underrepresented. Hbcus were created after the civil war to educate blacks prohibited to attend allwhite institutions. Until the mid 1960, hbcu were the only College Options for most blacks. Today they are steeped in legacy and tradition. 105 hbcu represent less than 3 of colleges and universities across the United States, they graduate 20 of all blacks earning undergraduate degrees. The financial unravelling put a spotlight on their survival it sparked with National Conversation about their development. Mairieboth gasman specialised in minority serving institutions. For some reason people say black institutions as segregation, but not historically white institutions that way. Thats american racism for you, right. So what i typically tell people is they are absolutely relevant, and i can give you a great example. If you were to get rid of historically black colleges tomorrow you immediately have a huge drop in the number of scientists, black scientists, doctors, nurses, teachers, pharmacists, lawyers, judges because hbcu prepare students in those areas. Gasman argues hbcu seek out students that would otherwise get left behind. Many are taking val dick torians and students that are highly sought after. In many other cases hbcu are taking students from areas of the country that we forget. Detroit is a good examples. Students that others think its too hard to educate them, that society gives up on. Cel. A soto could have slipped through the cracks. She was among the growing number of lat een joes attending hbcu. She moved from dallas to tony leung chiuwai. She worked at a fastfood restaurant before graduating high school. But Paul Quinn College found her scholarship. I dont have a Social Security number. My opportunities do be eligible for Financial Aid is non. If i have a scholarship, it is private, from the school. Without paul quinn i wouldnt be here receiving an education and change my mind and peoples minds to improve their communicatees, families and country. Sotos she is proud to be among the ranks in a historically black college. You see me right here. Im not africanamerican. Im hispanic. The hbcu are reshaping, bringing in a new phase, evolving from what they were and serving new minor ties. Paul Quinn College may offer a model for the way forward. We love our students. In 2007 when president Michael Sorel stepped on to the campus the school was on the good. For paul quinn to make it sorel knew he had to clean house. He tore down abandoned buildings, upped the entrance requirements, gated the campus and enforced a dress coe. Then he did the unthinkable where football is reliageon. Got rid of the football program. People make a big deal out of that because it was texas. We lost every game. Its not as if we were playing for the rose bowl. Right. Ill never forget how angry the stupid got. The Football Team cost paul quinn 800,000, a hit the afford. Field. It did. This is where the fighting tigers used to play their games. We converted it into a two acre organic form. As you look around its a fullservice farm. I see a scoreboard and a goalpost. Did you forget that. We have a sense of humour. We left it up so people could be reminded of what it used to be. Past. The we over me farm symbolizes the colleges dedication to a different kind of team. Theres no glory moving someone from good to great. If i can take you from never believing you have a shot to be average, and inspire you to greatness well, now you have done something that is worth any of being discussed, emulated and worthy of a legacy in the shoulders that you stand. One of the biggest hurdles for College President s is despite dramatic strides in black Living Standards significant Racial Disparities exist. Over the last 50 years unemployment and Home Ownership gaps between blacks and whites remain wide. Put another way, blacks earn less, own less property and more likely to be unemployed. 71 of students at hbcu received programs, meaning they come from families earning less than 30,000. At paul quinn 90 have grants. Now they have a sixfigure surplus and forsorel the challenge is not for cutting back, its expanding. We are here. We are going to be here. Our issue now, we are working most aggressively on figuring out how to get 2,000 of our kind of kids. At the classic, school pride is on display. With the winning Team Southern university mason isnt considering sorels move to eliminate football, but he has to work hard on fundraising. The extra challenge pore hbcus is the weakest part of the Higher Education erred in a sense that we are an institutional institution. And we serve low income black folk for years. So its difficult for us to generate wealth and we have not been able to accumulate wealth so when the tough times come and you need a cushion to get you through the tough times, you can wait for the better times, and its hard for us to do that. If theres one thing the president s fra op, its that fight. At this stage in americas history we need as much Human Capital as we can muster. Its not just an issue for black people, but the people of america. We have more work to do. Next up on america tonight a religious leader challenging traditions and leading the light of reform. vo Al Jazeera America we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. The efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. vo we pursue that story beyond the headline, past the spokesperson, to the streets. Thousands of riot Police Deployed across the capitol. vo we put all of our Global Resources behind every story. It is a scene of utter devastation. vo and follow it no matter where it leads, all the way to you. Al jazeera america. Take a new look at news. At this time of year we pause to consider faith and fellowship and those that break ground to bring us both. Here in washington america tonight met a spiritual leader who challenges assumptions and gives us reason to challenge our own. The beautiful thing about god is if you change your attitude and say, god i need hep and you. It may seem like any number of muslim gatherings across the country. Welcome to the light of reform mosque. Conyes gants listen to a surman, followed by a prayer. There is Something Different about the man leading this service. My name is imam daayie axebdullah. Im the director and educational director in washington dc. We are out there trying to make a difference. This imam is gay. Believed to be the only openly gay imam in the americas. Theres never been one monolithic isolated formulation of what islam is. He has been condemned, called twisted and perverted. Some local imams refused to greet him. Being openly gay, i do get a lot of feedback and kickback, but that is okay. I have to have a lady in the front. When people are not familiar with things they tend to have an it. During his service, women and men kneel side by side and women are allowed to lead players. We do not limit people by gender or Sexual Orientation or an aspect of muslim or nonmuslim. They are there to worship and people when they feel welcome bring the best of themselves to it. Imam was born and raised in detroit. Baptists. I told my friend at eight that i didnt think the form of remagon was help. They said its not the issue of what faith, but that you should have faith, its important to have a sense of faith to hold on during those difficult times. At 15 he came out to his parents. At 33 he converted to islam. As a game hand he saw that lgb team of unmet spiritual needs and became an imam to provide community support. His first act performing funeral aids. Necessity is the mother of invention. Role. While many muslim religious leaders may not improve. In islam its the congregation not religious authority that chooses the imam. In the islamic faith theres no hierarchy. Theres a pope and various bishops, we dont have that. If you go to most muslim scholars. Theyll tell you that theres no way around it, homosexual acts are not allowed in islam. This doctor coauthored a report on homosexuality and american islam communities. What we are seeing in the United States is a question of going back to showerses and rereading the sources. The tradition was that condition. On this night during the month of ramadan the imam organised a gathering of his community and provides other services unique for an imam of a muslim community, like marrying samesex couples. Hes performed over 50 weddings. How are you. Welcome, welcome. The light of reform mosque is unknown for those familiar as the gay mosque. Congreg ants say thats not all there is too it. A lot of us feel like we only had the choice to be muslim in name only and do what we want or leave the religion altogether because there was no place for us in the religion, and the first time i talked on the phone, i didnt know, i didnt know there could be a place like this. I didnt know. Not all wemers of the congregation are gay. Many are muslims, looking for a mosque that accepts all kinds. We wanted to have a mosque where a child is welcome. I think god is saying i can be gay, muslim and tend to people that are also gay and muslim and this is part of their identity. And islam may embrace all parts of their humanity. Imam maintains there is room in his mosque for his kind of reliageo, that imam has a tradition of reform and renum. Every 100, 150 years theres discussions and people that oppose these issues. Its not something i am just coming up with as a scholar, but something that has been in existence since time immortal. This is our relationship with god and each other that establishes our faith. And coming up in our final segment we switch gears to check in and wrack up the miles. The round trip and red eye of the stream is uniquely interactive television. We depend on you, you are one of the voices of this show. So join the conversation and make it your own. The stream. Weeknights 7 30 et 4 30 pt on Al Jazeera America and join the conversation online ajamstream. Was Prince William was dating kate middleton. Ross shimabuku is here with sport. Dennis rodman is in north korea to train basketball players for an upcoming player. He wants everyone to know hes not a joke. This is the same guy who dressed up in a wedding gown and will rite a book with his bff, kim jong un. The 52yearold rodman, who never shies away from the spotlight arrived in north korea start with one issue education. At this time of year a lot of us are travelling around, not always for the reasons you expect. Instead of catching up with family and friends, this december some are catching up on miles, mileage runners are frequent flyers in limbo, a few thousand miles away from gaining or keeping their elite airline status. Americas alan may went alodge for the ride. Jared baumeister grew up afraid of flying. I did not want to fly at all. I skipped Family Vacations on occasions because i was so convinced i would die if i got on the plane. My father was an aviation attorney, dealing with plane cars. Pan am flight 103. The 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center dinner conversations in the Jared Baumeister home. It wasnt until 2009 that Jared Baumeister gave air tral a Second Chance. I went from here to asia, back to europe and back here, and realised that there was a huge amount of places in the world i wanted to see. A flight to chicago that i will take will be the year. Like jared, steve moro was a runner. My fis mile run was back in the 90s, when pan amwas in existence. They were so poorly managed towards the end that essentially every other flight you did, they were giving away a free ticket. The new goal is status. Goal, platinum and the firstclass seats, luxury lounges and complimentary champagne that go along with it. Mileage runners travel thousands of miles to earn status and turned routine business trips into luxury get aways. The difference in the seats to the back of the planes, sitting in an upgraded seat is huge. Tolerable. Those seats come at a price 25, 50 or 100,000 miles in a year, giving him one key status the only level above him, uniteds exclusive Global Service status, but its invitation only and steve moro has never been invited. Worse, hes on the verge of dropping to silver, the lowest tier if he doesnt do something about it. I have not flown that many miles. Im doing a lastditch effort to get to gold to make the most of the miles i do have. If you dont have status and a lot of miles, it can its not as easy to use them. Steve moros global ticket, find the lowest ppm. Price per mile. Once you find the flight you get out of town. Steve moro considered a complicated iteminry to singapore, tokyo, a trip getting him to platinum, but a good deal in december are setting him on a different course, to the tropical beaches of way ki ki. Mileage is now a purist, five days on the beach make steve play. You have stacks of boarding passes from the last couple of months. San francisco. San jose. Houston. Yes, that was all that back and forth mileage. There was, like, 200 something bucks. La guardia, san jose and return. I have never been to san jose. Internet blogs like flyer talk and the point guy help the runners plan their trips, but other websites are dubious. I found a route where i can fly from houston, new york and los angeles and back to houston on a saturday. It cost 550, takes 22 hours and i get 5,248 miles. You are a frigging idiot. Extreme. I would fly across the country to get miles. Pleasurable. The extreme frequent flyers are a lot like clooun George Clooneys character in up in the air. You have to fill me in on the miles this year loyalty has gotten pricier. Starting february 1st, delta reward flights cost more files per trip. United is increasing the number of miles required for upgrades, to destinations like europe. We see this as a devaluation of hardearned miles. Now im cashing in miles and trying to burn as many as possible because starting on february 1st of next year they are devaluing the program. Unida. I dont want to do it. Burn. Close to 800,000 piles. Incredible. Just a few more things to pack and gerard embarks on a mileage run, running through the last of his files. Got a flight from new york to chicago, and then you connect from there to tokyo, flying from there through frankfurt, stockholm. Yet. Weve paid 92,000 in taxes. Fly miles are great. With that, Jared Baumeister is off to laguardia where we take off on the first of eight legs around the world. He was gracious to invite us to the lounge. Since we didnt have our own miles, we headed to newark. Will his onecase status give him the upgrade to a sleepy pod and first class. Thats a lot better than me stuck back in row 31, with the laptop, headphones and individualized council. Jared baumeister on the other hand started his trip in a wide firstclass seat and the flights kept getting better. Im the only person in first class. Lets hope that holds up. There are eight seats in first class. The only passenger today. Pretty much hit the jackpot. The service has just started and time. Im not sure if you can hear me. Its 12 50. We are at in tokyo. 6 22am. Im on the redeye express so i can catch my flight to frankfurt and sweden. It will be a long day. Its 10 55 we took off heading to frankfurt. Im able to travel in first class. Its awesome. Its 2 30pm german time. Im in the first class lounge in bar. So far on this trip i have glen 14,791 miles and it brought me to a dark winter in sweden. Jared baumeister runs down the last of his miles in the dark, it 11 hours in economy plus brought steve moro halfway to gold. We made it. York. You can say that again. Its a long time on the plane. Its an 11 hour flight. Is it worth it to get that status. Combined with the fact that its a bit of a vacation, it is. The next time we saw steve he was on the beach swimming into the sun set, thinking about how to get into the first class seat on the ride back home. Clearly those guys have plenty of time on their hands. Thats it for us on america tonight. If you want to comment on the stories you have seen, log on to the website. Aljazeera. Com. Go there, you can meet the team and get sneak previews for stories you are working on and tell us what you want to see. Join the conversation with us at any time on twitter or at the facebook page. Goodnight. Well have more america tonight coming up tomorrow. And now a techknow minute. San franciscos bay bridge, an engineering marvel, built to survive the worst earthquake country has to offer. How close are we to one of those faultines now . We are very close. This bridge uses three inovations to fight the forces of nature. Deep inside the bridges underbelly is a hinged pipe beam built to absorb horizontal movement. At its base, is a support structure, called a battered pile, they stand at angles, instead of straight up and down, to better handle movements. At the top of the bridge, are shear link beems, designed to flex and deform, instead of of the bridge tower itself. Where would you wanna be if a big quake hits . On the top of the tower of this bridge, will be one heck of a joyride, but it will be a safe one. For more information on this and other techknow stories, visit our website at aljazeera. Com techknow dont miss techknow sundays 7 30p et 4 30p pt on al jazeea America Swire this is Al Jazeera America live from new york. Im jonathan betz. An al jazeera exclusive. South sudans Vice President is clear he wants to be in charge. Keeping the Movement Alive ukraine protesters struggling to keep up the pressure. First a security breach, and now millions of target customers hit with limits on how much they can spend. Topping the news the evacuation of americans out of south sudan as the violence grows in that troubled country. The United Nations is moves