kids risking their lives? and what's being done to stop them? and an explosive combination. >> explosion with fire. >> hidden beneath our feet, aging pipes leaking deadly risk. a system so bad, we can't afford to fix it. >> this is a residential neighborhood. >> sarah hoye on the dangers hidden underground. >> that could light on fire. >> a silent and deadly threat in aging cities across the country. our in-depth report tonight on crumbling america. >> good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joie chen. just imagine the desperation, an unprecedented surge of children, children, crossing the border into the united states, tens of thousands of kids coming by themselves in a wave that has quickly overwhelmed the immigration service. how to turn back the risky crossings? "america tonight"'s michael okay one. >> in this -- okwu. >> in this convertwarehouse in nogales, arizona. >> we have seen children who are shell shocked, women are are dehydrated. >> lucille's son was rushed to the hospital last night. he hadn't eaten for days. >> i'm asking the public to help us especially for the kids. for doctors or nurse, because they are innocent. >> most have been flown into arizona from texas where a surge of unaccompanied miles an hour are crossing the border by the thousands. arizona's governor jan brewer is outraged at the conditions at the nogales detention center, if the obama administration put half the effort into securing our border as it has invested to institute this operation our state and nation would not be facing this situation. the number of children entering the united states illegally over the southern border has spiked. from under 10,000 in 2008 to nearly 40,000 in 2013. >> this is something that we have not seen before. >> reporter: tony venegas is the counsel to honduras to arizona. he spent the weekend at the shelter in nogales. >> this was a facility that was really not equipped to hold these many children. they are expecting 2,000 mattresses, because now they sleep on the grate. they get a small blanket. >> recently, we took a rook at this issue -- look at this issue. in this scene two americans speak with a 14-year-old from el salvador who felt he had no other choice. >> so what's it like in el salvador? what's it like to live there? >> did the gangs stop you from going to school? >> oh, really? >> who's all in the u.s., your mother and father? and when was the last time you've seen your mother? six years. did your mother make this same trek? did she tell you anything about the trip? >> the issues explored in borderland have taken on a new urgency with the revelations about nogales and an uncertainly what will happen next. >> when they leave the nogales border patrol they will be sent to a shelter. the shelter will process the paperwork to be reunified with their family members, they'll be going where they need to go, get a court date, go before a judge, make a case and he or she will decide what's the next step for family. >> reporter: until then, this is their new home. michael okwu, al jazeera. >> here on al jazeera america, we have put a sharp focus on the immigrants. meeting people from across the america, gary larson and randy stuflbean. we appreciate both of you being back with us. i wand to start with you randy. you met firsthand, were these young people able to express to you why so badly they wanted to go north? >> we were in guatemala and in a poor little village. and we were astounded when we asked a group of the kids, how many wanted to go to the u.s., virtually all of them raised their hands. they rely on picking coffee beans and stuff and there's not much money to be made in those poor little towns. >> sit just money though, or do -- is it just money though or do they have other fears, fears of crime, for example? >> in el porvenir there really wasn't a crime as we have seen but coming through we did notice some of that and a lot of what you hear is we can't make ends meet, we're afraid of the gangs, and so that's just kind of -- sticks in their head and that's why they want to move on and they want to come to the u.s. thinking it's the golden goose. >> randy, let's talk to you about this, you said it was heartbreaking to meet and hear the stories of these young people. at the same time you were quite angry with the system that allows these young children to be taken through the system and brought into the states. >> yes, absolutely. you know it's heartbreaking the conditions that these people are leaving. i mean, i understand the economics and the violence they are leaving. but i just -- it astounds me that a parent could leave their children behind. and then have faced all those dangers and then to put their children into the hands of coyotes, people who have no care or concern for their children, their loved ones and depend on those to get them up through the system? it's absolutely heart wrenching, it's gut wrenching and it's just a hor horrible system that has developed because of the economics and violence south of the border. >> did the kids talk about the rumor that if they made it across the border they would be in a sense home free? >> most of them used the term, the american dream. they want to live the american dream. >> gary, did you hear that from any of the children that somehow if they were to make it if they went with the coyotes that if they were somehow able to get into the states that they would be safe and it would be easy for them to stay here? >> yes, for a certain extent that's true. but what you also have is parents that have made it to the u.s. and the parents have established themselves and now they're sending for their kids. and just like in the story i followed with omar, he was sent with the neighbor lady to make the trek up. but omar actually stayed back. because the gal that he was sent with was having a hard time so he stayed back with her and he ultimately perished. and just because these parents they trust these people that they put their kids with, that doesn't mean they're going to make it. because they still got to make it through that desert and they got to make it through the trains and everything else. and there's just so many hazards and you look at some of these pictures that are being shown, these kids, some of them three, four, five years old. it's amazing. i can't imagine any parent putting their child through that. >> you've heard of this crisis, tens of thousands, far more than anybody was expecting, these undocumented and children traveling by themselves. could it be stopped by the united states offering them protects safety shelter and support now? >> it's going to take a whole lot more than that to stop this. the system itself is designed to drive these people and we've got -- it's so horrible what we have that's driving this system. just because we might be able to offer them some assistance up here, like gary mentioned. they've got the drug lords that they got to go through. they've got to go through the gangs, and the bandits all along the way. i just cannot conceive of a parent knowing conditions that they went through to get to the united states. and believing that somehow they should allow somebody else to manage their own children. i'm a husband, a father, and a grandfather. and there's not a chance that i would leave my family behind in those conditions. and then put my kids into the hands of somebody else to get them up through. and then to believe that our government now is somehow, because of all that illegal activity, should be responsible for helping these kids. my heart bleeds for them. don't get me wrong. but we've got a system that's horribly creating this. >> gentlemen, appreciate both of your thoughts from border land randy stufflebeenebean and gary, thank you very much. relisha rudd, we still don't know where relisha is, but her disappearance has galvanized activists to make sure other children are made safe. lori jane gliha reports. >> we're not going to let this happen, or let relisha lost in the mix. >> a couple of are weeks ago, she came as a volunteer in the search for a missing eight-year-old girl. we were looking for shoes, clothing articles hair, remains. we were looking for absolutely everything. >> reporter: they never found relisha rudd but wilson refuses to gif up hope that she'll be found alive. >> i feel strongly that she was sold. >> do you think that someone somewhere knows where she is now? >> oh, absolutely. someone knows exactly where she is. i feel she's not in the metropolitan area but possibly in another state. >> relisha disappeared from a place where 600 people call home, the dr d.c. housing compl. march 1st, in the sel care of a shelter janitor who later killed himself. >> we can really do best by finding out, being accountable, what happened. let us see the things that we did wrong so we can prevent it from happening again. >> albert sabier represents muslims as a member of the washington interfaith group, started meeting with shelter residents after relisha disappeared. >> they would be threatened or retaliated against or put out of the shelter and they voiced their concerns. >> we heard a lot of concern from d.c. general residents that the shelter was not in a good state, not a good place to raise children. we heard many parents say that d.c. general was like living in a jail. >> the concerns they heard were widespread, overcrowding, crammed into small rooms, the air conditioning is unreliable and hot water is inconsistent. beings accountability in this, the community, politicians the elected officials, those who manage the shelter? this is a problem that all of us have to address. ♪ we shall overcome >> at a recent rally the washington interfaith network made a peaceful and loud push for change. >> this is instructional for adults nor for kids. it is not a healthy environment at all. >> what has changed at the shelter since relisha rudd went missing? >> in termination of the social network or networks that were created i don't see much there. >> washington councilman jim graham. >> we learned that things were very slipshod. and that the systems that were in place really weren't working to protect the children. and so on the other hand, the mother in that particular case, you know, didn't want to file a missing persons report. she didn't want to do some of the things that others would have done. so that's part of it. >> he says employees received extra training about keeping track of residents and maintaining a curfew, and there were some residential meetings held in the shelter. but not much else has improved in the last 100 days. he calls the shelter out of control. >> so people are paying more attention to their duties which is good. but we're still left with a system that doesn't have the support that it needs for families in crisis. i mean we really have two choices. we can either shut it down, or we have to fix it at d.c. general. and it would take tens of millions of dollars. >> in april, the mayor announced plans to move 500 homeless families from cramped rooms into real apartments within 100 days. graham says the process is behind schedule but it's a step in the right direction. for now the shelter where relisha rudd was once living is still standing. it's believed her family is still there too. although the process is slow, people like derricka wilson feel things will change. not that it will help relisha. >> i think our elected officials are taking this seriously. homelessness is an issue in the district, just across the country period. >> "america tonight"'s rg lori jane gliha. what about the shelter itself have they described any changes they've made? >> a group called the community partnership and they use taxpayer dollars to essentially run the shelter. every time i reach out to them to see what they have done differently they have not responded to my request for interview. possibly they use taxpayer dollars from this, remember there is a criminal investigation which is ongoing, which involved one of the employees who is now dead, and his wife, who was found murdered. perhaps that's why they are quiet. the faith network really wants some answers, some change. >> the investigation itself where is relisha rudd? >> another frustrating thing is the police department has been very mum as well. every time i ask them for information, they say, black and missing does pass their tips onto the police department. the mother has been quiet lately and the grandmother of relisha rudd recently got a protection order against the mother of relisha. still no idea where she could be. ahead on our program, a case of mistaken identity that nearly cost him his life. >> do you believe that what happened to you couldn't happen to a guy today? >> no. i don't believe it. it depends on the jurisdiction. you can still send a person to death row in the united states by circl circumstantial evidenc. i don't believe you can ever stop sending a person to jail that are innocent. >> what happens when eyewitness testimony points to the wrong man? surprising information about justice mistakes and convicting the innocent. reporting tuesday, on "america tonight." later this hour: danger ahead and under foot. >> a lot of focus is on the old stuff that is in the ground and a lot of that old stuff is still performing perfectly well. so it's not a question of going and replacing something just because it's old. >> aging infrastructure and the risks it poses to communities across the nation. our look beneath the surface at crumbling america. ahead in this hour. >> al jazeera america presents the system with joe berlinger >> parole >> someone is going to get out and do something heinous it's goanna happen... >> when is enough...enough? >> i'm not sure why you didn't learn from your last incarceration >> some prisoners try to get it right >> i'm trying to go to school and get a nice job >> you're only 22, you can turn this around... >> and some just don't >> he actually told people in the halfway house, that he was amazed that they had given him parole >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> it is already the most expensive and baffling search in airline history. the malaysia 370 disappeared with 239 people on board. searchers are no closer to finding out what happened to the missing boeing 777. investigators will take another look at the aircraft's speed, flight path and altitude. campaign launched on a crowd funding website monday aims to raise $5 million to gain more information and as a reward. many families of those on board doubt they're getting all the facts. >> we just think that someone knows something you know? there's been so much contradicting information. we have been cut off so many times at the gate we have to now take things into our own hands, think outside the box and try to do something to find this plane. >> what the families think can make a difference now. joined now by sarah bajak, whose life pattern sam wood was on the plane. we can understand the sphrus traition of you -- the frustration of you and the family members. what can you do? >> well, as danica mentioned earlier, we can take a different approach. so you know we can't just at this timjust sitback and become. it is the perception of the families and many, many people out there including experts in the aviation industry that there's got to be something else that we don't know yet. so our hope is that a $5 million reward will provide the incentive necessary for someone who, before, perhaps was a little hesitant to come forward. because perhaps, they were afraid of losing their job. or perhaps they were willing to come forward, but they didn't have an ask to do that. because you know -- an avenue to do that. because the authorities we think are suppressing information. so if you are a whistle blower and you believe the authorities part of the problem you wouldn't bring the information to the authorities. but now with the families coming forward we hope they can trust us and bring their information to us so they can do something with it. >> do you have any idea, why authorities would be suppressing something? after all, it is an international search, with many different organizations. why is that? >> it is a search under the control of the malaysian government who is the owner of the malaysia airlines. if there is a cover july, it wouldn't be in their best interest to allow the information to come forward. i think malaysia is a lovely country but you know one or two bad people trying to protect themselves could foil entire thing. so we think we need to go forward with a fresh sheet of paper and to you know focus on finding the truth and finding fresh evidence. >> i know we're going to run out of satellite time in just a moment here. but i want to know if there's any indication you have now of an avenue a specific avenue that has not been looked at yet? >> there are about a half a dozen very serious lead streams that we have already. but nothing concrete yet. we need concrete information. so you know, the world needs to step forward and care about this. and we need everybody's support. i mean we can't do it without the funding, right? i certainly don't -- i'm a high school teacher. i don't have $5 million sitting in an account someplace. so everybody, we really need to have people go to the indi indyo site. with the support of a private investigation firm we can ferret out the truth. >> sarah bajak, thanks very much for joining us. when we return, boycotting brazil. >> translator: we turn the tv on and see the billions being spent on stadiums. they're going to give us $2 a day for lunch? >> correspondent christof putzel in brazil, ahead of the world cup kickoff. in a nation that lives for soccer, why so many want to disrupt the final plans and even urge visit toors stay away? what's -- visitors to stay away? what's the game plan forking brazil? and beneath cities large and small, an explosive threat. how crumbling america endangers us all. all. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. >> on techknow. we're heading to cutting edge cal tech campus >> here's a look at just a few of the students shaping the future of science >> see the latest research, discoveries and breakthroughs inside some of the worlds most advanced labs. >> how do you scale somethig you learned from a jelly fish? >> techknow every saturday go where science meets humanity. this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see. techknow. we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. >> now a snapshot of stories making headlines tonight. emmy-webbing actor tracy morgan, whose limo was instruc struck ba tractor trailer, his companion and friend was killed. husband and wife, jerald and amanda miller, killed two police officers, and one other person before they killed themselves. they openly killed about white supremacy and killing police. the taliban claims responsibility for a deadly attack on karachi, pakistan's airport. heavily armed men opened fire, at least 28 people were killed in the weekend rampage including the taken tackers. the taliban spokesperson told the pakistani paper, it is, just the beginning. world cup on thursday, it's likely that many visitors don't quiet share the excitement. strikes in sao paulo and rio are, what is to date the most expensive world cup yet. "america tonight" exonlt christof putzel travelecorrespo. >> it's 6:00 a.m. and roberto is supposed to be at work but instead he is here, protesting the world cup. i. >> we've had to fight lots of fatigue but we're very determined. >> roberto is one of thousands of security guards. he had a front row seat to be te construction of these stadiums. >> at the end of the tournament fifa is going to go away and we'll be left with the same conditions. >> changing that will require strength of numbers. >> the objective today is to convince the guys who are working that the employers are against us. that all of us need their help. >> jorge morales is one of the directors of the strike. with every guard that joins them the strikers gain vital momentum. and they're not alone. ♪ ♪ >> so right now, i'm in front of thousands of protesters who have turned out to protest the world cup here in rio. carrying signs that say they want health care, they don't want their tax dollars being spent on giant stadiums. >> across the country, bus drivers, steel workers, even teachers are taking their frustrations to the street. coming together in one place. riot police lining each side of the street. >> translator: we're the working class of the country. these stadiums cost millions of dollars. we don't believe the leaders represent us anymore. >> translator: the government is more concerned with the beaches, the tourist spots than they are with the average workers. the government fills its pockets. >> with the world cup due to kick off in a matter of days the stakes are only getting higher. we turn the tv on and see the billions being spent on stadiums. but they're going ogive us $2 a day for lunch? >> lionel is a bus driver planning to strike during the games. the things that matter most: >> when the games start of course we'll want brazil to win. but i'll also be route rooting for my -- rooting for my kid's school that she couldn't go to because they couldn't afford to need the kids lunch. >> you can imagine if there's a bus strike, that many people are going to be stranded and the city will basically shut down. the world cup was supposed to catapult this city to stardom but yet will go down as the most expensive ever staged. $11 billion and counting. the real cost will be the brazilians loss in faith. >> recent pew research poll found 61% of brazilians oppose the world cup. a tweet asked, i'm not going obrazil because that's gone viral now. here is a sample of some of the responses done by the online milks, think progress. i'm not going obrazil because while half the planet looks the other way, another one: i'm not going to brazil, because this is sad reality in brazil. "america tonight"'s christof putzel is with us in new york. cristof. >> this is something brazil really hasn't seen before. there's always been so much excitement in the air and this time with it being hosted in brazil and all the controversy, i don't see it going away. people are just infumed over the amount of money that is being spent on just a couple of stadiums when there are so many other priorities that people feel the country should be spending their money on alike hearing, social aspects. >> is there any concern over brazil's big bloom, is that going to be demands because of all this negative attention? >> i think the anxiety really reflects something deeper going on in brazil right now. a lot of people question, where is the country headed during this economic slump that is happening right now. essentially when brazil was awarded the cup seven years ago, there was tremendous excitement, people going off in the streets celebrating, because brazil had one of the fastest growing economies in the world and seventh biggest economy in the world but right now it's been on the down. and people are essentially incredibly upset and nervous about how the country is spending its money during this time. because only a few people are getting rough off of this and some are even saying that fifa right now is as popular in brazil as fema was after hurricane katrina. >> "america tonight"'s christof putzel, thanks. behind the glitter of one of the world's favorite sporting events. darker scores. >> 30,000 of those are killed by gunshotting injuries. brazil is not only the world champion in football, it's the world champion in homicide. >> the crack down in crime ahead of the world cup, and ordinary brazilians suffer the consequences. our report on brazil continues tuesday on "america tonight." and coming up it next on this hour, coming up, the bill comes due, graduating to the reality of college loans and what the government aims to do, to help. help. >> it was an explosion that leveled two east harlem buildings a couple of months ago, that raised new concerns about aging infrastructure. a gas leak was suspected. but how to tackle thousands of miles of old me metal pipes underneath our cities. here is "america tonight"'s sarah hoye. >> eight people were killed and over 70 people injured when a building exploded in east harlem in march. minerva was in her building next door. >> when that happened, i just thought i was going odie. i thought this building was going to have collapsed. i was worried about what might have land to my kids. four of them were already at school. >> reporter: the blast happened less than 20 minutes after a neighbor called the city to report the smell of gas. >> i was here in the kitchen. i was cooking. and i heard a big explosion and the building was moving. >> outdoors, panic set in. >> i thought it was a bomb. i don't know what came into my mind. you couldn't see anymore in the streets. it was full of smoke and dust. >> the mendosa family who were among the more than 100 households displaced by the explosion, was placed in temporary housing provided by the city. the memory of the blast still haunts her. >> with any noise i get scared. any noise. where i'm staying now i was cooking and the alarm went off and i was about to run out. >> in one word, devastating. >> according to the national transportation safety board, the spark that started the blaze remains a mystery. the deadly blast cast a spotlight on the labyrinth under new york and also cities around the country. the older cities on the east coast are especially vulnerable. >> that's a dangerous concentration. right there, if you could drop a match down there, that could light on fire. >> if there were to be an explosion we're talk ugh about this is a residential neighborhood. rob jackso jackson an environmel scientist is on a mission. >> the inlet port is on the front. >> ing he and his team have scoured boston and washington, d.c. looking for gas elaboration washington's gas mains are cast iron. an outdated technology that's prone to leaks. >> we saw six, seven, eight, strayed on seven the longest. how bad a leak is that? >> that's a very high concentration. that's 70 parts per million, over the explosion threshold. if you were to have a spark -- >> could be a match, a communication line. >> that's potentially dangerous. >> reporter: in january his system released their d.c. findings. nearly 6,000 gas leaks, over 1500 miles of road. including 12 potentially explosive pockets of met methan. >> you go from manhole to manhole. >> we only do this when we know there's a leak. otherwise it would take forever. >> natural gas pipeline failures cause an average of 17 fatalities, 68 injuries and $133 million in property damage across the country annually. con-edison one of several east coast utilities, is responsible. investigators haven't determined whether con-edison was at fault. two minutes from the resident reporting a gas smell. the blast happened around 9:30. >> the only indication of danger came about 15 minutes earlier when a gas leak was reported to con-edison. con ed dispatched a team to investigate, the explosion happened before the team could arrive. >> new york's public utilities commission told state legislators final responsibility rests squarely with the natural gas companies to ensure the reliability and safety of the gas distribution system. if a utility is found at fault for violating gas safety codes there are hefty fines. for con edison's shareholders, that would mean a loss of $29 million this year if performance rnth standards are not met, according to the psc. mike clendennon says it's not about the money. >> this serves as a strong regulatory message that this has to be taken seriously. but many of our workers, our 15,000 employees live and breathe and work in the city of new york too. they use the facilities, they do too. for their own safety, and everyone's safety we want to make sure this doesn't happen. it's in everyone's interest to make sure we do a good job. >> utility companies receive a yearly evaluation. with emergency response leak management, con edison is the only utility company to improve in all areas. >> the viewer may say, look you guys are negligent, why is there gas leaking under our city? how dangerous is it? >> mostly we are called by people, they smell gas, usually it will be a type 1 leak. there are other types of elaboration that are minor -- leaks that are minor. the thousands of leaks that are currently in the system. >> why can't the utility company just fix it? is it that simple? >> no, it is not, it is a very complicated and costly job. a lot of focus is on the old stuff that is in the ground i know and a lot of that old stuff is still performing perfectly well. it is not a question of going and replacing something just because it's old. but if we did, if we were to replace all the cast iron and unreinforced steel in the system, you are talking about a $10 billion price tag. >> $10 billion? >> and it would be like throwing money down the drain too. >> spending the money isn't up to the gas companies. utilities systems figure how much can be spent on repairs. national grid while they replace aging pipes. >> we're in the mid wood section of brooklyn today. and we're installing 2300 feet of 12 inch wrapped steel pipe and this is part of our program to increase the reliability of our system here in brooklyn. >> jerry lundquist says, national replaces 4300 miles of pipe a year. just in their territory alone. >> in the 1800s they started to grow. a lot of their first systems were cast iron. older vintage pipe. >> should people be worried about the piping underneath their cities? >> it is an older system however, over the last few years we've reduced our leak rate by 49%, almost half. >> lundquist says explosions aren't common. >> they are very rare in occurrence, we take those things very seriously. to replace our pipe and to modernize and upgrade our system is exactly to do that, to make sure we're being and operating in a very safe, public safety conscious manner. >> those words give little comfort to minerva mendosa. >> i feel very nervous to come back. i don't know if the gas will be correctly done or not. when i'm over there i'm okay but when i'm here i get afraid. thank god we were okay. we were scared but we were okay. >> sarah hoye, al jazeera, new york. >> ahead on our final thoughts this hour. the lost millennials. drowning in debt before they've even had a chance to start their careers. a look at the other america and the challenges they are facing. their ambitions is next. next. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> as we wrap up this hour, a thought about what lies ahead for a generation drowning in debt. those left with hefty student loan debt, got a great from the president. his new executive order will allow millions of students with federal direct loans to cap payment at 10% of their monthly income. >> the good news, that is something we should be proud of and celebrate. more of them are graduating with debt, despite everything we're doing, we're still seeing too big a debt load on too many people. i'm directing my secretary of education, arne duncan, a chance to cap those payments at 10% of their income. we call it pay as you earn. >> president calls on congress to pass a broader bill, may be able to take advantage of the presidential order including christina gorgi, owning more than $60,000 in student loans. we introduced her to you earlier as part of our other america series. >> i wish that i could actually go back and have someone tell me, just one little thing about how it would have turned out. because really, most people say they don't have regrets and wouldn't do things differently, i would, 100%. my flame is christina gorgi, i'm 26 years old and we're in oakland, california right now. i was going to marymont university in virginia, i went there for a year of studying fashion design. looked like i was going ofinish fast. i was thinking maybe three years i was going to graduate. but i felt like i was going to go somewhere, where -- that someone would notice me so i could actually get a job out of school. i told my mom like two weeks before i left, hey i'm moving to san francisco to go to school. she was like, i went to classes and i remember the first class i went to they gave me a list of supplies that was like this long, and everything was like, 50 to $100 so i covered all my living expenses with loans. i'm like i can pay for all of this stuff and i'm going oget this awesome job after school and i'm going to pay it back like that. let's see, i have five messages. you have loans which are past due. i was talking to my mom who had taken out the initial first loan. she was like this is expensive. you have to take out the rest of the loans. and that's when i was like, uh oh. >> when i got this loan, i thought that i was going to finish school two years later. started as a $25,000 loan. that was in august of 2006. i was going to sign up for the next semester's classes. i called them and i'm like what's happening here? i've taken out a loan before. they're like we can't give you any more loans. i'm like i can't pay these loans out unless i get a degree. he's like that's not my problem. i had this moment when i just fell apart. i'm broke and i can't pay the bill. my grand totals: 65,504. went up overnight. now i don't have anything to show for my schooling, except for a $65,000 bill. no degree. i have $9 available in my checking account. but i have negative $12 in my savings. for the fees that you pay. i just love putting the print down on the fabric, that hands-on feeling. i really wanted to do the fashion thing. my mom was the only one behind it. aunts, uncle, everyone was kind of like, hmm i don't know about that. at the same time i wanted the education where i really know what i'm doing so i can get into the industry. i thought about writing the president a letter, please help me like i want to be a good citizen. i'm trying. it took me about two years actually to land a retail job. i felt like i went on about 15 or 20 interviews throughout those two years, probably more. i think i submitted like 300 resumes. i started looking for retail jobs, so at least i could -- because i thought okay, at least maybe i can climb the ladder. maybe i can go this back way instead of doing it the school route. and that's when i got the job in nordstrom. i've been work in shoes for about two years. >> if i didn't get my work check today i would have to -- i would have to sell most of what i have to probably make it back. >> this is where i work. i'm about to go in and sell some shoes, hopefully. >> i don't blame my mom at all, because she was a single parent. she worked like three jobs. she had no idea. and i recently actually was talking to my dad about this on the phone and i was like, why didn't anyone tell me anything? his response was god, like, me too. hello, you're the one who's supposed to tell me. nobody said anything. nothing. just one little thing about how it would have turned out. i had a pretty good day. i sold a lot of shoes but i also had a lot of returns. only get commission on 2282 dollars. >> i want to graduate. no matter how smart you are, how good you are at something, if you don't have the degree, nobody seems to care anymore. so it means like everything to me right now. >> well perhaps president obama's news will be a helpful step forward for christina and thousands of other fellow millenials. that's it for "america tonight." don't forget tomorrow as the world cup approaches we're going to take you into the slums of brazil, the favelas, where the police are cracking down but at what cost? we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. i think that al jazeera helps connect people in a way they haven't been connected before. it's a new approach to journalism. this is an opportunity for americans to learn something. we need to know what's going on around the world. we need to know what's going on in our back yard and i think al jazeera does just that. snow snow las vegas reeling from a public shooting at the hands of a husband and wife who may have been white soup rem sifts of the should we fear more attacks? 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