Transcripts For ALJAZAM America Tonight 20141010

Different from the. 1 that killed Michael Brown . And why is it raising the same questions . Trying to escape the new normal. More and more American Families forced to live in their cars. This mantra in my head just repeefrtd and over i want to go home. I just kept avoiding this one thought in my head that says, you know, please. You dont have a home to go back to. America tonight with an indepth look at this growing epidemic and one solution that could be the road to shelter. F good evening. Thanks for joining us. Each day now, there are fewer places in the world to be safe from ebola. The death of eric duncan in dallas under scores what Health Workers have been warning about, that the virus is spreading far beyond west africa and fast, as is the fear. Five u. S. Air ports are gearing up for new screens while Airline Cabin cleaners are going on strike fearing they could be at risk. Now, new signs of the viruss global reach. A britishman died en massedonia. His hotel has been sealed off with staff and guests inside. This spanish nurse who was the first person to contract ebola outside west africa is sicker now. Her dog has been youthnizeuthan. An australian red cross worker developed a fever and at the center of the hot zone, sickness, grief, and loss spreads as quickly as the virus. A view from america tonights lauri jane gleeha. Its loemnids this home in linebiera. Ebola wiped out mom and dad leaving these three children alone to fend for themselves. 7. 11yearold emanuel is a sur vales, his sister and brother, still teenagers helped care for their dying parents. Now, they are trying to cope in a Fearful Community with little support. She says if they go somewhere, people will wash and spray the chairs before they will sit on the chairs. Nobody will take their money. She says she and her siblings stay there by themselves. You know, on the one hand, you want everybody to be really careful and you need people to take precautions. But on the other hand, you dont want people to be shunned. These children are among at least 3700 in linebiera, sierra leone and guinea who lost a parent since the start of the outbreak and the numbers keep climbing. The cdc says ebola cases in lineria are doubling every 15 to 20 days. In sierra leone and guinea, they do you believe every 30 to 40. The world was not prepared for this. No one was prepared for this crisis. No one. Not the United Nations, not governments in the region, not governments abroad, not Health Agencies because this has never happened before. We have never seen it. In begun e, where the number of dead has reached nearly 800, the head of the United Nations Ebola Emergency Response Team called the crisis complex and multidimensional. It has already affected nearly 400 Health Workers across the hardest hit countries. The United Nations now is working at the fastest speed s its ever worked before on any crisis in the history of the United Nations because of what we understand. The world response isnt quite fast enough as overworked aid workers continue to call for more help and west African Leaders call for more speed resources. I think the response is well appreciated and its very good. We would like to speed it up. We already did not have a very strong healthcare system. So that which we had was completely then undermined. So you can see that as a result of this, we will have to rebuild the whole healthcare system. Spovenlding to pleas for financial assistance, the head of the world bank warned the west african region is on the brink of an economic disaster. An estimated Financial Impact of nearly 33,000,000,000. Every day we dont invest or put money into stopping the crisis is many, many more dollars and pounds that we are going to have to use later. It is extremely good investment right now to prevent this kind oflo loss to put all of the money on the table right now to get the response going. More marines touched down thursday for support as the cdc has warned repeatedly. Getting the crisis under control in africa must happen first in order to stop its spread to other countries and cut the risk in the u. S. Only then can the focus turn toward helping the survivors heal, including children like these who have already lost so much. Lauri jane glehall, al jazeera. Now from sam air it tans purse. Organization had two aid workers, kents brantly and in case writebols recover from ebola. Your organization is very much on the front lines in this. What is striking is that you are saying for all everyone has said that the United States is doing, that britain, that other world partners are doing to try to stem the tide, its not enough fast enough. Yes. So a lot of the things that are being done right now are the right things that should have been done 90 days ago. As we watch the spread of the disease as we get more into the remote areas of liberia, we arefied finding entire villages that have been decimated and villages that have 30, 40 suspected ebola cases in it. A lot of the effort that we are seeing right now is actually in mon rove i cant. Its up to the main highways on the country. This is a country with very little infrastructure. Its a country where the remote villages are difficult to access. We see, for example, the United States, our military . Yeah. Has begun to set up laboratories and next, treatment 70ers. It may take weeks for those facilities to be available. Thats true. And if you look at the projections of cdc, if you listen to the reports that the disease doubles every 15 days, every 20 days, every three weeks, youve got twice as many patients as you had before. And the entire bedload that is projected is 1700, 2,000, 2500. But the projections by the first week of december, 20, 30,000 active cases, where will those people be . What beds will they get in . So what is the solution to that . I mean there has to be some alternative if this infection rate is just spiraling like this. Well, i think that one of the important things is that no card can be taken offer of the table when it comes to fighting ebola. I appreciate all that the International Community is doing and encourage more to be done, but to say that we are not going to do homebased intervention or that that is not a preferred okay, well, maybe its not a preferred way. Its not as good as hospital bed. Its not as good as a Community Center but if my Family Member was sick and they are at home and i dont have access to a hospital, i need to take care of them at home. What your organization and some others are now focusing on, homebased care. What does that mean . Well, we are focusing, samaritans purse is focusing on Community Care centsers where they are sort of setting up tents for about 10 patients in community it is can isolate people who have ebola. The second thing that we are doing are Massive Public Health Campaigns and distribution of hygiene kits. You know, soap kills the virus. A lot of people dont realize that. Just soap . Just soap. Wash, wash your clothes, wash your hands, wash your house. Wash your environment and you can do a whole lot to reduce infection. Them the third thing is, if you have a Family Member that gets ebola and you go to a Treatment Center and you cant get in and we have allred the reports. Hundreds of people are being whats your option . Well, we feel like that we need to give liberians essential information and essential equipment to and help them take care of their loved ones while protecting themselves. They dont have a choices skwlvrn. People in the United States dont get why this is connected to their lives. Well, listen. Mr. Duncan died yesterday in dallas. In spain, there is a nurse now, a nurse who was in, you know, protective gear, and you would think a healthcare worker. How did she get that . I dont know. Isnt the point, but the point is the disease is now in two more countries in the world. More every day . I hope cdc is correct and they can stop in their tracks. If they dont, we are going to have more cases, and today, dr. Thom frieden from cdc said that there is a likelihood that this will become the new aids. The only way that this can be beat t has to be fought in africa. It needs to be contained in africa and defeated, managed, controlled there. Anything and everything that we can do to make that happen is what we need to be focused on. It can could be for years to come . It could very well be. Ken isaacs from samaritans purse, we appreciate you being here and your insight . Thank you. From a Global Medical university to a military won on syrias border with turkey, kurdish fighters backed by a u. S. Led air assault are holding the town of kobane. Nine u. S. Air strikes against isil target ins kobane aimed at combat vehicles and control centers. High level talks, though action between turkish, american and nato officials havent persuaded turkey to join the fight. 3 were killed in proturkish protests. The death toll stands at 26. More on the rise in diplomatic and military tension returning to ameriamerica tonights she mcviccer. This is the only thing keeping isils i am famous black flag from flying all over the center of this strategic town. Slowly Coalition Airstrikes are helping motivated but outgunned Kurdish Militia in the streets, push back the well armed fighters of the Islamic State in iraq and the lavant. Isil fighters seized a third of kobane. Kurds have retaken parts of it. The fighting is fierce. To the north, just a few miles away, across a flat plain, is the turkish border. The u. S. Led coalition is ramping up its air campaign here but concedes without ground support, the town will fall. Secretary of state john kerry was at pains again today to stress that the kobane battle is not the be all and end all of the u. S. Campaign against isil. It is one town, and there will be others where there will be conflicts with isil over the course of these next months. President obama has been absolutely clear and up front at a time as have i this is going to take a period of time. For tissuing nervously watching the war play out on its doorstep, time is tight. Nato and the u. S. Are ratcheting up pressure on turkey to get involved in the fight. Nato secretary general, along with the u. S. Envoy met with the turkish leadership to make the diplomatic push. But this nato member with the alliances second largest army is refusing to go it alone. Translator it is not realistic to expect turkey to launch a ground operation on its own. Talks are underway with our allies. Once we reach a common decision, turkey will not hesitate to fulfill its part. What turkey wants is a creation of a nofly zone inside the Syrian Border to protect territory from Syrian Military jets and to provide Syrian Refugees now flooding into turkey with a safe zone to gather. But nato, including the u. S. , is not considering those proposals which had ultimately involved western troops on the ground in syria. We are not considering the implementation of a buffer zone. We are happy to hear from our partners and listen to them and talk to them about a range of options that they are putting out there and they are proposing. It does not being on the table of any nato discussions yet. And it is not an issue which is discussed in nato. And isil is providing more headaches than iraq. Fighters in the west are threatening to overrun the key anbar province, the birthplace of alqaeda in iraq. And they are now at baghdads doorstep, having pushed over the iraqi army to take control of territory from the Syrian Border down to abugraib in the capitols western suburbs. The u. S. Says the coalition aims to degrade isil. These aerial stacks in syria are freeing up resources for syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad as they are making gains. America tonight sheila mcviccer joins us. This does point to that difference of opinion and what we were talking about yesterday, the focus of the United States and the focus of turk e different mission. Turksey saying very clearly we have to focus on the regime. They do not want to be left with a dictator ship of al assad. The United States has made clear thats not its game in turkey game in syria, rather. Its game is going after isil. Thats what it is limited to. The turks say, well, effectively, you are helping out assad because you are taking pressure off of him that isil was putting on different places. That leaves us with that am bif lance that looks like turkeys ambivalent toward supporting its ally in the fight. Turkey has a different opinion. Turkey has a different set of goals. One of its goals is the security of its southern border. It does not want to get its troops andrae dragged into a fight with the syrian regime. The other thing that we have seen is the limits this has been said over and over again, the u. S. Led airstrikes can only do so much . We are seeing the limits of the airstrikes in syria. And while they are stepping up the pace in syria, especially around kobane, we are seeing they are not effective in basically crushing isil there. We are seeing more success where there are u. S. Special forces working with iraqi kurds, the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga, where with those special forces on the ground, there is better leadership, and there are also Forward Air Controllers who can call in airstrikes k direct pilots to targets. Paint this place . Paint this place. Thats what we want you to hit. Without that, its very much more difficult. And so, throughout the rest of iraq where you have the iraqi milita military and in syria, its no the going so well. And indeed, isil has again made big advances towards baghdad. America tonight sheila mavvicar, thanks. When we return, who is in charge . North koreas dear leader disappears. The theory is gout, recovering from surgery or whether its diabetes or even a stroke. Is it just his health . Or is something more ominous happening in the hermit kingdom . Also ahead, on the street, ag n again. Not flash point ferguson but in neighboring st. Louis, correspondent Sebastian Walker, on whats different this time. These people have decided that today they will be arrested i know that im being surveilled people are not getting the care that they need this is a crime against humanity hands up dont shoot hands up dont shoot what do we want . Justice when do we want it . Now they are running towards base. Explosions going off were not quite sure. Fault lines Al Jazeera Americas emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series. Clues to whats going on inside north korea, thats especially true on this anniversary as north korea watchers try to find out what has happened to the man in charge 31 yearold kim jong un. He is usually the one with a frontrow seat as he was at his last public appearance, enjoying a north korean pop band with his wife. That was on september 3rd, more than a month ago. Since then, the other did leader hasnt been seen at the kind of events where his presence is usually expected and enthusiasm is compulsory. Thats led to rampant speculation about where kim is and why. Alex jensen is a radio host in seoul. He is a close observer of north korea . The fact that he is apparently indid i see posed to the extent he is completely out of the public spotlight, it does fuel that Conspiracy Theory that something much more serious is going on here. North korean state media fueled the question when it posted video of kim clearly limping in june. And then, just two weeks ago, openly addnated kim suffered from what was described as an uncomfortable physical condition. The theory is gout, recovering from surgery or whether its diabetes or even a stroke. Its not just kims absence. The unexpected appearance of his chief deputy and other key leaders at the closing ceremonies of the asian games also raised eyebrows as the surprise guests were uncharacteristically friendly with their south korea ian hosts. In this era of frontediness, it is totally unexpected and hugely significant that we saw north koreas effective number 2 come down to south korea. Especially since only a few weeks earlier, north and south exchanged fire cloos a disputed seaboarder and north koreas state t. V. Slammed the president of south korea as aircrafty profitstitute. So what changed . To see them genuinely sitting alongside one another holding hands, smiling, whispering into each others ears, you would have thought are these close allies . You would not believe that this is the regime in these North Koreans who were threatening war just a few months ago. Was it a sudden you thaw between north and south or a sign of something more ominous . Either kim jong un is absolutely in power still and has sent this delegation, maybe as a moak screen for his own Health Issues or this delegation is actually in power and has taken a trip of their own accord and using kim jong uns personal jet and is using his security agent did. Still, the conspiracy theories are growing. One puts kims younger sister, kim yo jong in charge at least for the time being. Its also possible nothing is wrong with kim. He has disappeared from view before although never for quite this long. The young leader has already problem himself to be full of surprises. He merging from obscurity as the untested leader after the death of his father, kim jong il three years ago, he has demonstrated a ruthless style of leadership, purging half of his top military advisors, having his uncle executed for alleged treason and reportedly eliminating an old girlfriend by firing squad as well. Against the evidence of repress, kims full of contradictions, educated in europe with an unusually modern wife, hes used western reporters to lur the u. S. To engage and found an unlikely friend and fan in former nba star definitelyis rodman, just another reminder that kim jong un may now be playing a high stakes game, or he may be truly benched. Remember joined now by ambassador dotroni, part of the sixparty talks with north korea regarding their Nuclear Weapons program and has had a number of opportunities to visit north korea, yourself. As you talk to americans about this, i think a lot of people are quite fascinated by the things kim jong un has done, but it matters. Right . It matters to our relationship in the global relationship of north korea. Absolutely, north korea, talking about north korea we are in a state of war, our key allic, we have 23 sorbing it does matter until there is reunification, peaceful reunification, it matters. Of course, there is the missile issue and the nuclear issue. We assess with high confidence north korea has nuclear capabilities, Nuclear Weapons, six to 12 and a delivery system. An unknown and eratic leader. This is a very good point on the leader. The last when he took over in december of 2011, when his father passed away, there was high expectation. But in the following two years, this is a man who launched missiles, nuclear tests, threatened the United States and south korea with Preemptive Nuclear strike, executed his uncle who facilitated the transfer of power, number 2, in the country. He did a number of things which indicated and moved Senior Leaders in the military every other month, people were changing. This is a leader who was unpredictable, eratic. So, there was a lot of concern. Tic there was a lot of concern. We note they hold several americans, u. S. Citizens within its boarders . Thats right. There have been some interesting signals. He has invited u. S. Journalists in to talk to these prisoners. Is there any indication that he has some opening to the west or to other parts of asia . I think what we have seen over the last week, certainlieding his number 2 person, vice marshal wong, sending him to seuol for the asian games and north korea won 11 gold meldzs. There was a reason to be there, to be very proud, to hear the National Anthem and the flag but, also, that was an approach. They were showing the more moderate, thele less strident side of kim jong un that we want to discuss things, we want to open up. Particularly toward unification with the south . With the south. There was a move towards the south. Absolutely right. And what does it also say about north koreas relationships with china which actually have been somewhat difficult . Extremely strained. I think the relationship with china over last two and a half years really has deteriorated significantly. They need china for fuel, aviation fuel, food, many things but its very strained. I think this move to the south, going in and basically, saying we are prepared to negotiate with the rok, south korea, i think china was pleased with that. I think in some ways, this is if saying we are flexible to open up to the south, dialogue. It will be krb. On america tonight this weekend, its a game of crops and robbers. Planting the seeds of international he is me espinoge a chinese spy ring planted in the fields of iowa. Here in the fields and schlepping some of these goods. Thats correct. What do you make of that . He must be handson. An americamerican tonight investigation and exclusive look at the man federal acts say was the ringleader. Thats on our program this weekend. Ahead this hour, a teenager gunned down by police in st. Louis ignites new outrage. Correspondent Sebastian Walker on why the shooting is different from flashpoint ferguson but the anger looks the same. I lived that character a hollywood icon Forest Whitaker my interest in acting was always to continue to explore how it connected to other people making a difference what is occurring in other places, is affecting so many different ways. Inspiring others we have to change those things, in order to make our whole live better every saturday, join us for exclusive. Revealing. And surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. Talk to al jazeera, only on Al Jazeera America now, here is a snapshot of stories making headlines on america tonight. A new report concludes Malaysia Flight mh. 370 went into a slow left turn and spiraled into the indian ocean after running out of fuels. Officials with the transportation used flight sim laces to recreate the aircrafts final moments as investigators launch a new underwater search this week. Mexico has captured the leader of the once feared juarez cartel. He was a fierce rival of joachin Shorty Guzman with the worlds most wanted drug boss until his capture in february. Crews fought a series of wildfires that destroyed five homes and are threatening bun,000 structures in california. Fires broke out on the same day and an air tanker crashed while it was battling a separate wildfire in Yosemite National park. One fire fighter died in that crash. Protests in st. Louis spread like wild fire last night. A white officer shot and killed a black teenager. Now, this shooting comes almost two months to the very day that white officer shot and killed Michael Brown in ferguson, missouri, a suburb of st. Louis. In this case, the officer said that von terret meyers shot at him three times so he shot back 17 times. Myers family said he didnt have a gun. Only a sandwich. But st. Louis police say that is not true. I know emotions are high, and i know tensions are high. But the reality is, what we have seen or what the evidence tells me right now is an individual pointed a gun at a Police Officer, fired at least. 3 rounds and continued to pull the trigger. That story, though, does not sit well with some people. They poured into the streets screaming and cursing at the police. Al jazeeras fault lines score respondent sebastian walk something in st. Louis. He was in the think of things as tensions came really to a head. Sebastian, tell us about this latest event. It was really an echo of what happened at ferguson. Well, it seems to be eerily similar to the situation that whooefshing about with the shooting of Michael Brown, two completely different narratives, on the police side and from witnesses who are actually on the ground and saw the shooting take place. The police are saying that this young man had a weapon, that he was actually pointing his gun at the Police Officer and fired. 3 rounds. People on the scene say that the young man did not have a weapon, wasnt armed with, was simply holding a sandwich he bought from a nearby store, but really, this is just feeding into the situation here in st. Louis of extreme tension in the days leading up to a weekend of demonstrations with people come from all over the country to take part in protests and solidarity with Michael Browns family and its something that seems to be happening over and over again here on the streets of st. Louis and the surrounding st. Louis county with officer involved shootings involvinging as for a security company, still wearing his uniform, this was a white male officer. The young man, we are hearing he was 18 years old and the police are saying he is no stranger to Law Enforcement. He is somebody that the police are making very clear had a record and thats something that people in this community are pretty upset by this, saying that already, people on the scene were saying that the character assassination is starting. They see these statements from the police as really, you know, going too far in casting as persians on the character of this young man. Really, the circumstances of the shooting are still unclear, and there is going to be an investigation. The officer fired 17 times and the young man was hit between five and seven times. The officer apparently was not injured in the encounter, but its just the latest in a long line of similar stories in this part of missouri that are valley contributing to extremely tension situation on the streets. Sebastian, obviously, you didnt know this was going to happen when you went down there. In fact, you have been down there all week, i understand, doing another story about the events of ferguson and whats happened since then. Can you tell us a little bit about your next film . Well, joie, we are really trying to explore whats behind the anger that we saw on the streets during those first days and looking at the system of criminal justice in this part of the state that people say is disproportionately targeted towards black people. We are hearing the stops that police make are predominantly for africanamericans and the courts are making a lot of revenue off of these small tickets and violations when people get pulled over for, you know, minor violations, driving with a sus spevenlded license or speeding. This seems to be really adding to the overall anger among people on the streets and its anger that exploded in the first few days. You might railroemember, we wer right there to see those scenes when they erupted. The demonstratods made it clear they would remain peaceful and requested the police to do the same. We are not out here to start trouble. Thats right. Please dont harass us. We are get down for Michael Brown. Get down for Michael Brown. For no reason that we could see, the mood shifted very quickly. So the police are now bringing out these heavy armored vehicles. You can see its an armored truck, something thats designed for basically conflict zones for places like afghanistan. This is an extraordinary sdmrait display of force to be honest. These guys are armed to the. There are more riot police arriving behind them. This is a crowd of a few hundred people. Its been completely peaceful heave. The guys on top of these vehicles are actually training high powered weapons on members of the crowd. A useful manner. Violence right now . Its people. They dont have to be here. Has it been like this the last few days . Its been like this for years. For years. This kind of policing . Yes. It has been like this for years. From birth in st. Louis. Put the killer cops in skwhal. The whole damn system is guilty as hell. [chanting ]. Like criminals, driving down the street. We are always guilty until proven innocent. It seems like they are throwing flash bombs now, explosions going off. We are not quite sure what the police are firing but we are going to get out of here. Now, the protesters that we have been speaking to who are organizing the events this weekend say that they are not anticipating the same kind of scenes that we saw in the first few days. They are hoping this is going to be several days of Peaceful Demonstrations and that the Police Response to those demonstrations will be similarly peaceful but this shooting thats just certain place is adding fuel to the fire. Its really got people extremely angry. We saw that last night on the streets with people absolutely furious that another shooting had taken place. Its really now something that is going to be on the front of everyones minds when they are getting out so to the streets sawyer and sunday. Monitoring the events to come. We will watch for your continued coverage on all of that, al jazeeras fault lines, Sebastian Walker, you thank you so much. Seb aian won an emmy on haiti in the time of colera. You can watch this episode of fault lines. Haiti in a time of cholera, this saturday at 7 eastern. When we return, revolution that began 25 years ago, when the power of the people proved enough to bring down the wall. Remembering germany and the peaceful protests that brought east and west back together. Later, on the road, though not by choice. More American Families forced to take shelter in their cars and a solution that could make their lives safer. Its easy to look the other way, not to notice, but years after the peek of the great recession, families are homeless, many forced to live in their vehicles. That was banned in los angeles until just recently and now, the city is looking north for some solutions that help keep homeless families safe michael oku with an indepth look to help families put their lives on track. Sants a barbara, a city famous for its coastline and moneyed mediterranean ease but there is another reality hidden in the shadows. Its hugh milating. The only life paula corb and her two daughters have known for the past four years is the one they have lived out on the road. Stopping once in a while for takeout, making grocery runs and pit stops for gas. Because the corbs entire lives revolve around their mini van. They are among the socalled hidden homeless, the roughly 213 americans who live in unsheltered spaces n making this pit stop is the equivalent of paying the present. We always think about gas prices, and i imagine for you it means something entirely different. It means we dont drive very far at all. I mean we go in about a fourblock radius. Its about 5 to 10 a da 5 to thats september dollars a week times 4. I mean thats, you know, more than we really, you know, have got. Homelessness, among families declined by 11 between 2007 and 2013. But families like paula corbs, families who never imagined this for themselves are still on the street and clinging to the last visitiges of a normal american life. You cut yourself off from everybody and everything. I mean we had to avoid, you know, any of emilys friends seeing the car if i were to go to the Grocery Store and see one of our old neighbors, you know, i would hurry up and leave. She led an enviable life here in Santa Barbara for more than two decades, celebrating christmases, watching her daughters pass through adolescents, making what was once a stable home with her exhusband, an engineer, in this 4bedroom house just outside of town. It was a fairy tale. It was the american dream. Yes have to work. I could spend on my kids as much as i wanted. But after a long drawn out expensive divorce, she went broke. After eight years of going through court, having no money coming in, by the time the house was sold, it was also right at the bottom of the housing market. So we didnt even get a million for it. And everything went to my debts and lawyers. Do you remember that first day in the car . Yes. I do. I remember it really well. It was scary. It was depressing. And really, what goes through your head is, i just kept thinking, how could this have possibly happened to you and this mantra in my head just repeated over and over i want to go home. And i just kept avoiding this one thought in my head that says, you know, please. You dont have a home to go back to. 18yearold emily is now a college freshman. After years of studying under street lamps during high school, she was awarded scholarships and she can now rent a room at a friends house. But she remembers the uncertainty about even the most ordinary things. The first concern is space. A lot of the time is how where am i going to sleep . Where am i going to put my things, my books so that they are safe, where will i put trash so it doesnt ruin my other things i am trying to organize . Another big concern is bathrooms. Will the bathroom be taken . Will they be cleaned . Will we have gas to go to that bathroom . When will it close . Paula has been a stayathome mom for more than 20s years now and has a hard time finding work. Her older daughter, alice receives government disability checks. On the night we meet them, she is busy online. I have my boyfriend i talk to all the time. I have i have friends that i have met at different conventions. I usually bism de my time. Its not really much else for me to do or that i can do. Paula is negotiating a suitcase and a micro wave along the drivers side seat, what in a few minutes will become her bed. I just, when i am ready to go to bed, i just take all of the stuff that i just piled over here all day long. I guess you could sort of well, its not really a night table, but and i just put it up on the dashboard and just get it out of the way. She gets maybe four hours of sleep before she is up again. We catch her before dawn doing the weeks laundry in a church annex. To avoid the crowds, she does this at 3 00 a. M. The corbs have been able to find a semblance of stability through an initiative. The Safe Parking Program works with churches, businesses and other groups willing to host a small number of homeless in their vehicles overnight. Of the entire homeless population, approximately 20 of those individuals and families are living in their vehicles right now. Christian schwartz is the executive director of the new beginnings counseling center, the nonprofit behind the program. What started as a program serving a couple of people in one or two lots has now mushroomed in to serving 112 people or more per night in 20 lots, and in a given year, we will serve 800 or 900 people through street outreach, through our Safe Parking Program and through whats called rapid rehousing in an effort to get people back into traditional housing. Its a multipronged efforts which goes beyond the chance to get a good night sleep . We meet with our clients every 30 days. Thats how long a permit is good for, and then they would have to come back in. So we always try to check up to make sure if they need any medical attention, if there is anything we can do, any referrals. We see how their job is going. Its illegal for anyone in Santa Barbara to sleep in a vehicle parked on public roads. For the hidden homeless, getting through the day is a struggle. But Patrol Officer craig burlet who has worked the streets for 13 years says since the launch of the program, the tension between people who seek shelter in their cars and Law Enforcement has eased. I think we have gocome 180 i this city. They have the paperwork correct paperwork. Now, they can feel safe sleeping in their vehicles or rvs, knowing that the police will do the perimeter check and then not being woken up at 3 00 oclock in the morning when they have children in their vehicles. So, i think its a winwin situation. In venice beach, roughly 90 miles south in Los Angeles County Homeless People in vans have become so much part of the local culture that they attract tourists. The number of unsheltered people is among the highest in the country. I think in l. A. Across all spans of homelessness, we are seeing an increase, especially with our Younger Generation and our families and that includes vehicles. And rv did in the area. In june, a u. S. Circuit court overturned l. A. Citys ban on living in vehicles so the homeless are no longer targeted by the police. But it hasnt resolved the conflict between them and the community. The Los Angeles Homeless Services authority reports that out of the nearly 40,000 known homeless, roughly 8,000 live in vehicles. Homeless advocates pursued a parking lot model much like Santa Barbarasss but it ran into opinion zilth in the community. Generjennifer heart dibs wit people assisting the homeless says they are still able to offer some services. It ended up being just a street outreach model where our Street Outreach Team we want out to the streets where people were originally park, helped them see what services were out there and what permanent Housing Options were available so that they could move from their vehicles directly into homes. Santa barbara might become the model for other cities. After years of hiding, paula corb has found the courage to t tell her story. Thats my crusade, to get people to change the stigma of homelessness. As i had to. Because i didnt want to be associated with a homeless community, which is why we stayed to ourselves for so many years but it was through these programs that started hooking Homeless People up to create a community. I spend a lot of time worrying about my mom and my sister and my family. I want to do everything for them. But at the same time, i need to focus on myself, and so it just i feel bad because i am i feel like survivors guilt almost. Her older sister, alice, stopped asking when the family could go home a long time ago, stopped thinking about the past. But tonight, she told us she will never it wake up and think it might be better in the morning. I think about it all the time, and i believe i believe its going to happen. And i am willing to keep going until it does. There is no point in stopping here they keep saying what does not kill me makes me stronger. After this, whatever doesnt kill me had better start running. A fighting spirit alive and well despite a life in the shadows. The corbs are not exactly what most of us envision when you think about homelessness. Most of us associate homelessness with an individual single person, but the experts will tell you that 40 of the homeless in america are actually come provides of families. The corbs consider themselves lucky to have each other, to have their car and to have a program that they can rely on, organizers of that program say that they have provided Technical Assistance up and down the west coast from municip is panties in sandiago to sonoma and sane ho san jose. But they say there should be structures programs all over the nation. I can see how this could be a safer option for the families in the shortterm. What is the longterm way out of this . Well, one component of this program,w one part of their mission is clearly to make sure individuals and families are a safe place to stay. Ultimately, thats about building enough of a reservoir of a sense of security that these folks can actually finally, focus on getting back on their feet. So the organizers put the homeless in touch with means to get medical care, with government assistance programs and with job programs as well. If you talk to the organizers, they will tell you that last year, 63 people who went through this program transitioned into actually living in homes and 20 folks got paying jobs. Thats tens of people who are no longer on the street. Some of whom actually have wages in their pockets. Organizers consider that a 6 and it bodes well for the longterm. Even if it is just one step at a time. America tonights michael okwu, thanks so much. German remembers the fall of the berlin wall. Still to come, the peaceful protest that led to the reunification of germany. Finally, from us, a view from our america tonighthome, the munewseum here in bashtdz, this is one of the newseums signature exhibits, the berlin wall, until november of 1989, it was on this day 25 years ago that a peaceful revolution began. The monday demonstrations which ultimately led to the collapse of the wall. Show of people power began in leipse g germany. Germany president said it was a day a thirst for freedom overcame fear. When it was all over 25 years ago, the head of the secretly police said he prepared for everything except for candles and prayer. The demonstration which led to german reunification happened after moss co said it would not intervene but maple because millions of east germans wanted to be free. Translator how well a democracy functions depends upon every one of us, on us, how much we defend it and when we look beyond europes boarders, we see people in hong kong have understood just that. A quarter century ago, 8,000 east germans crammed into this church where authorities usual left them alone for a peace prayer and then with riot police and stazi agent did on every Street Corner and rumors of a shoot to kill order, they marched. Chanting, we are the people. The police held their fire, but the communist government got hit hard by these pictures. This man filmed them, risking jail or worse and gave the cassette to west german t. V. For broadcast back into east germany. Translator they were our pictures we saw on t. V. , a full two minutes. It was a great feeling. We knew, this is it. This is the nail in the coffin of the gdr. It was perhaps the first nail in the coffin inspired by what they had seen on t. V. , east germans took to the streets. Fear had switched camps. Nine days after the leipzig demonstrathsz, east german president resigned. Within a month, the berlin wall had fallen. Within a year, germany was reunified. It gave more than give the people of leipzig pride. It helped put an end to a divided country that divided europe and the world in the cold war. Nick spicer, al jazeera, leipzig. Thats america tonight. Next week, an american tonight investigation, exposed to toxic chemicalcal did at the countrys Largest Nuclear worksite, many are sick, stricken with diseases like cancer. They are entitled to compensation and benefits. Some fear they may die before they ever see them. America tonight correspondent laurie jane glehall explains why they have been denied benefits for so long. Next week on america tonight. Remember if you would like to comments on any of the stories you have seen tonight action log on to our website, aljazeera. Com americatonight. Join the conversation with us any time on twitter or at our Football Game page. Good night. We hope to see you again with more of america tonight. Hundreds of days in detention. Al jazeera rejects all the charges and demands immediate release. Thousands calling for their freedom. Its a clear violation of their human rights. We have strongly urged the government to release those journalists. Journalism is not a crime