and how putin deals with china might change his strategy. and the boss is watching you, surveillance on the job like never before. i'll tell you what you probably don't know about tracking while you're at work. and the booming film business . i'm ai ali velshi, and this is "real money." >> this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show. tweet us @ali velshi or hit me up on facebook.com/ali velshi. russian president vladimir putin admitted for the first time today that western sanctions on russian assets are hitting his economy hard. so far investors have pulled out $68 billion from the russian economy because of worries over the escalating crisis with ukraine. but the russian president may have room to breathe now. earlier this week you may remember i told but a $400 billion 30-year natural gas supply agreement that russia signed with china. besides the boost it gives russian, you while russia slides into a recession. missing from today's meeting is american businessmen. they're heeding president obama's call to bo boycott becae of russia's involvement in ukraine. meanwhile, ukraine presidential elections will be held on sunday. >> putin signaled that he would be willing to work with whomever is selected president in ukrai ukraine. now petro poroshenko is widely expected to win the presidency in sunday's vote. a billionaire who made his fortune from chocolates. he would be ukraine's first elected official since the ousting of viktor yanukovych in february. that's what kicked this whole thing off. ukraine will have a whole lot on their played. erect economy, pro russian separatists in the east and ultra nationalists in the west. and a whopping gas bill that ukraine owes the gas company in russia. many think that poroshenko is pragmatic enough to negotiate the political minefield and tensions in russia. >> he needs her vote and the country probably does need something like a savior. petro poroshenko is far ahead in the polls but still doing retail politics. >> just the firshe won't be ukrt billionaire president. just the first one who didn't become one while being president. >> his money comes from people's sweet tooth and the chocolate and candy brand. he said he'll sell that company if elected but not his tv channel. it's coverage of the protest in kiev last winter saved the country. his stand for the demonstrators and his stand before the police gained the respect of many. in 2004 he helped viktor yanukovych lead the orange revolution, a people power fight against an attempt to steal the presidential election in that year. he served later as foreign and economy minister. he'll face giant challenges, a country fighting armed separatist in the east of the country which are controlled by the kremlin. but also a country where the majority in east and west want peace, prosperity, and if possible, a new politics free of corruption. nick spicer, al jazeera. >> with elections all eyes are on his strategy to bridge the gap between the east and the west in the deeply divided ukraine. we're joined from aunts, texas joined from austin, texas, lauren, thank you for joining us. i keep using the term escalating crisis in ukraine, but this weekend's activities, and the things that vladimir putin are saying are suggesting that maybe we have seen the worst of the escalation. >> i agree with you. we're at a point where everything is tapering off as far as the escalation goes. it doesn't mean that it won't escalate in the future, but everyone knows what will be happening this weekend as far as elections and poroshenko taking role as president. what is most important now is what comes after. this weekend we'll have elections. we'll see security forces crackdown and there will be more unrest in the east and in the south. however, all eyes now are on okay, so what now? >> you would know more than most. what do you think happens next? >> the most important thing next is what russia wants. russia has two things that they really are looking for next. first, they are looking for a decent utilization of power from kiev into the region. that's something that poroshenko is not keen on doing. he does not want to lesson his power. if they can't get decent power they are looking for gridlock. pure and simple gridlock in kiev for kiev not to move further west. this is to be achieved through snap elections. that's something that poroshenko said he was considering. >> at what point after there is a new election in ukraine does ukraine get to say, okay, we've had our election. russia needs to find it's own business. does this $14 billion natural gas bill influence anything? >> the unfortunate position for ukraine if you are president is russia has never mind it's own business. russia and ukraine are too intertwined historically, socially, culturally. that's not an issue that could ever take place. ned it's how does ukraine operate within the realm of having the west and having russia in a more neutralized position. that will face poroshenko next. the talks kick off tomorrow the day before the elections although they'll continue on next week. this is not just about the money. this is not just about the bill of what ukraine owes russia. it's more about how the three operate together in a way that does not benefit the west so ukraine can be in a more comfortable position for russia. >> the new energy deal with china, to supply china with natural gas for the next 30-40 years. does this boost vladimir putin's position in terms of how russians see him and in terms of how the world sees him? >> very much so. before russia was at the mercy of the europeans needing russian energy. it was a dual relationship. now russia has options. yes it will take three or four years for those options to come online, but it's still going to be options that will be coming in the very short future. and russia is negotiating discounted natural gas prices. russia signed with italy a discounted gas price. russia is playing nice with certain europeans and showing that they can switch the gas from west to east, and there are ways that they're shaping the situation in many ways that russia has many tools in its toolbox. >> lauren, good to see you. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> lauren goodrich, an eurasia analysts. >> investigating a dark side of the law >> they don't have the money to puchace their freedom... >> for some...crime does pay... >> the bail bond industry has been good to me.... i'll make a chunk of change off the crime... fault lines... al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're locking the door... ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... truth seeking... >> award winning, investigative, truth seeking... >> award winning, investigative, documentary series. the performance review. truth seeking... >> award winning, investigative, documentary series. 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. >> i'm joie chen, i'm the host of america tonight, we're revolutionary because we're going back to doing best of storytelling. we have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we haven't heard before... i think al jazeera america is a watershed moment for american journalism >> say what you want about thailand but the southeast nation is rarely boring. the coup on thursday marked the second time in a decade that the army has overthrowthrown the elected government and declared marshal law. today military rulers commonned dozens of former government officials, including the former prime minister. no violence was reported. to protest the coup the u.s. suspended $735 million in military aid. this all comes after months of political instability and anti-government protests. moody said the turmoil has put $60 billion of infrastructure projects on hold, and that's one side of the financial toll that the last six months has taken on a country that has been an economic star despite it's political volatility. but as reports, this time it looks different. >> the world bank classified thailand as an upper middle class country with $366 billion. fueled largely by exports, manufacturing, tourism and agriculture. it's the nickname t eflon thailand. because despite its politics it keeps growing. >> it used to be a rice experter, now it's a major exporter of auto parts around the world, and major exporter of hard drives for computers. thailand is part of the global supply chain. >> for the end of 2014 economies expected the gross domestic product to increase between 4 and 5%. but figures show first quarter of gdp actually contracted by .6 of a percent. thailand's $74 billion tourism sector accounts for a fifth of the gdp. but political instability has tourists rethinking their vacations. cancellations will cut earnings by $2.5 billion in the first half of 2014. the country now expects to have it's lowest number of visitors in five years. the bad news does not end there. since the rumbles of this latest last year, manufacturing dropped 2.7%. consumption has dipped 2.1%, and investment has fallen 9.8%. experts warn foreign investors fed up with the political upheavals may took to other lands. >> thailand is the detroit of the east. they guys said, look, we don't see where this is going, so we're going to look at places like indonesia. >> reporter: the toyota is threatening to reduce investment if political unrest continues. as of the end of trading thai markets were slightly down. experts say foreign investors have been reducing exposure to thai stock since late last year. al jazeera. >> well, thai stocks fell, u.s. markets closing above 1900 for the first time ever. but many investors fear that this five-year-old bull market simply can't sustain the games much longer. it's becoming one of the most common questions i get. is this market going to hold? what if i told you that the s&p could still move 20% higher this year. it's possible says doug flynn. he joins you go from his office in garden city, new york. doug, good to see you. a lot of people use that adage sell in may and go away. the implication is that the market isn't going to do better than it does in may. >> yes, that is a common thing we hear. and actually what we did is we looked at the last ten years to see if that held true because it certainly feels like it might work, but it only worked in three of the last ten years. so if you sold in may, seven of the last ten years you actually would have been worse off than in just hanging in, which i think is the lesson there. >> one of those years was 2008 when, you know, the bottom fell out of the market. the issue really is whether this market, generally speaking, forget adages, generally speaking is overpriced. i hear opinions across the board. if one looks to price to earnings it might a little bit, but generally speaking do we look at time spent running up as a reason to sell stocks? >> no, what you have to do is you look at corporate earnings. with the market running up s for corporate earnings. that's where you have potential with 15 to 20% with earnings before the market tends to get overvalued. companies have to continue to execute and continue to grow their earnings. if they don't, and the market keeps moving that's where the earnings are stagnant. the prices have gone up too much, and that's where you have an overbought market or expensive market. if the earnings continue to move forward then the market can support even a higher price and higher over all level than it does today. that's what you have to look at. >> you're not giving us stock names but categories that people should look at in terms of what to investor in right now. obviously values stocks, value stocks defying those type of stocks that seem under values or have more potential value as opposed to momentum stokes or growth stocks. >> that's right. you can get on the internet and look for large company value stocks. if you look at the market overall over the last 12 months, the s&p 500 is up 16%. value stocks are up 13%. and growth stocks are up over 20%. that's the 12-month numbers. if you look year-to-date value stocks are start to go outpace growth. what you tend to find is that when one outperforms another it tends to flip flop and there is more opportunity for those with that have under perform: plus those value stocks pay a decent dividend. a lot of people like the dividend. >> the residential real state is up 12% to 13%. some indices show some slowing down. why do you suggest real estate. >> that's a stock fund you can get in there. of all the 11 sectors in the s&p 500, there are 11 of them. real estate is the worst performing one over the past year, it's zero. however, year-to-date it's the best performer. that momentum will ride for a little while. the next best one is utility stocks, that has the second worst performing numbers over the last 12 months but the second best performing numbers for the year-to-date. and so those are trends that you can play if you already have a diversified portfolio and you're looking to add certain sectors. >> i skipped a step. you're not telling people get out of the market because it's overpriced. you're telling people look at it. look at your portfolio, analyze it, rebalance it, and you might want to sell some of the things that are winning and these are areas that you might want to look at as having some potential growth? >> absolutely. we have four rs here. review, reallocate, rebalance, and repeat. those are the four rs for success. timing the market, selling in may and going away does not work continuously. but what does work is looking at it. look at the 40 years in the market the best performing mix of assets would have been 80% stocks and 20% bond. the reason is having a little bit of fixed income, even if you're very aggressive where you think you want to be 100% stocks. having a little bit of bonds allows you to balance out of the market. if you have 100% stocks, what are you going to rebalance out of. so in a year like 2007 and 2008 where you have those huge swings that's where the value comes in. so that 80-20 mix over the last 40 years outperforms 100% stocks with a little bit less. >> is there anything, when you talk about risk in terms of event risk that worries you right now in the world, you know, we're talking about things going on. china's economy is slowing down. russia, ukraine, and china, things going on there. we were talking about thailand before i introduced you. are there any events in the world that worry new terms of investments? >> there is always that worry. that's one of the things you can't control, the geopolitical things that you may wake up to tomorrow, and have something completely out of the ordinary. if you need your money in the next two or three years you probably ought to pull things off the table for all. time highs. but if you don't need it for a decade or more you you need to look at it, but there is more room here. we have not had a 10% or more correction in quite a while, but that's an opportunity. let's say you do the sell in may and go away. you think i'm a genius. i lost 3% in 2008. but if you then held that and repeated it every year for the next couple of years you would have had a total return from 2008 to 2000 o now of 27%. that person who hung on until now, their total return would be up over 43%. >> interesting. >> even losing 37% in that first year, if you have--by hanging on, that's why we know having a long-term time horizon, you might have some bumps out the gate, but it will work itself out over time. you have to watch the valuations and not chase and throw money at the all-time highs willy-nilly, be smart about it, and rebalance, reallocate. do it yourself or look to a professional who can keep you honest on that and do it for you on a regular basis. that's what wins. >> doug, always a pleasure to see you. we'll see you soon. >> thank you,ally. you, too. >> doug flynn, coming up, spying at work with your every move under surveillance. >> we have a motion sensor. which has location and proximate glit you need to know what the boss knows to protect yourself. and why you may find it easier to get a mortgage these days if you're a first-time home buyer. keep it right here. >> al jazeera america presents the system with joe berlinger >> mandatory minimums are routinely used to coerce plea bargains >> mandatory minimums >> the whole goal is to reduce gun crime, now we've got people saying "this isn't fair"... >> does the punishment always fit the crime? >> had the person that murdered our daughter got the mandatory minimum, he wouldn't have been out. >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america >> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> we do have breaking news this morning... >> start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. first hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. the big stories of the day, from around the world... >> these people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place... >> and throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news... >> the life of doha... >> this is the international news hour... >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america 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 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can figure out that we're assisting each other. >> ben is president and co-founder of solutions, a company behind these badges an d a test subject for its own technology. >> this is a motion sensor and this is a bluetooth radio. >> sensors i in the badge record everything from how often workers get up from their desk an allows them to track social behavior. tracking call center workers found that they completed calls faster by taking lunch and coffee breaks at the same time. >> they're saving the company $50 million a year. >> reporter: it may seem novel but these badges are just one example of monitoring workers in the name of productivity. >> the average employee spends anywhere between an hour and two hours a day on their computer for personal use at while at work. >> reporter: brad miller is ceo of awareness technologies which sells monitoring software used by businesses and u.s. government agencies. >> we can see if there are certain alert words. >> reporter: the software allows managers to set up alerts to tell them when they use words like sexy or visit certain websites. anything from online gambling to facebook. they can receive notification every time their name comes up in an employee e-mail and supervisors can watch the recording of the workers computer screen. they have seen demand for the software explode as more companies allow employees to work from home. >> by monitoring their computer activities they can at least attempts to supervisor the employee the way they used to when they were in the office. >> an employer can protect its interests without this kind of wide invasive spying program. >> reporter: lou m altby said indiscriminate monitoring can hurt productivity. >> it makes people feel nervous and slows things down. >> reporter: but he counters that most workers accept workplace monitoring as part of the job and it gives badge data without individual employee names attached. now sophisticated tracking is spreading, targeting 60 million people who work outside of the office in industries like trucking, oil and gas even construction. >> it's a blind spot for the business. what we do is we're turning on the light. >> reporter: a black box hard wired into the vehicle feeds data wirelessly to software back in company offices. giving supervisors realtime information on whether a driver is braking too hard, using fuel efficiency or making deliveries on time. >> it's not really about watching the employee. it's more about how can we give them the tools that they need in the field to do a better job. >> reporter: touting major partnerships with ford and volvo, they said it won't be long before smart tracking systems become the norm no matter the industry. >> it's not just truck drivers, every single vertical industry in any sized company needs this kind of technology. >> reporter: david shuster, al jazeera. >> now even the most stride dent privacy advocateed advocates admit there are reasons to watch their employees reducing theft, and stop harassment and lower claims. 400 restaurant using theft monitoring software reduced theft and drink sales increased by 10%. it's been tough for first-time buyers to get a mortgage, but there are signs that lending could loosen up. i'll tell but that when we come back. lights, camera action, but not in hollywood. think the american south. keep it here. >> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. abe foxman >> we'll fight for your right to be a bigot. if you are a bigot, you're gonna pay a price... >> holocaust survivor and head of the ant-defamation league. >> there's an awful lot of hatred floating out there... >> and ending discrimination >> ...as long as the children aren't educated, it's gonna maintain... >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america >> president obama named yula julian castro as his housing and you are dan development. shaun donovan has been named the budget director. both men are considered rising stars in the democratic party. mike viqueira is here to tell us more about that. mike, interesting move. julian castro is a guy president obama chose to deliver an address to the democratic convention. and the nation kind of became somewhat enamored by him in the way that they had with president obama many years earlier. >> it's funny you should mention that. two auspicious addresses to the democratic convention. the president cookin asking julian castro to give that keynote address. both were raised by single mothers and both have harvard law degrees. in 2004, ali, it's a bit of musical chairs. both of these individuals are very well respected. julian castro just elected to third term as mayor of san antonio. the population of san antonio is growing. he's 39 years old. a lot of people talk about him as potential vice president running mate material. hud secretary is probably not the sexiest post in washington these days or in any administration, but he's talked about a rising star taking place of shawn donovan who has done a very good job. >> think about it, mike, think become to housing secretaries. you would know more than most people but people can name jack kemp and andrew cuomo. >> and henry cisneros. it's not a high profile gig. >> and you'll forgive me if i see politics in this and in virtually everything that happens in washington, particularly in an election year. people do talk about 2016. think this has as much to do about 2014 as well. hispanic are a key constituency of the president and midterm election. it's all about the core constituency, those who are motivated to get up and vote. the president has been working all year to motivate those constituents, particularly hispanic. many have applauded this nomination today, and it's excepted that he'll sail through. >> and all three are harvard men in one way or another. very interesting story. mike, good to see you as always. thank you very much for joining us. we have another sign that the united states housing market may be warming up. sales of new homes climbed 6.4% in april compared to march. that was better than what economists had expected and came after two straight months of declines. but compared to april of last year new homes sales were lower, they fell 4.2% compared to a year ago. yesterday we learned that sales of existing homes rows 1.3% in april compared to march, and that's the first increase this year. taken together the increases in existing which is most of the market and new homes, which is a small part of the market stimulates the economy more, taken together that gives us some reason to think that the housing market may be turning a corner after some months of cooling off that started last summer. apparently the alarm thinks i'm talking too much. the housing market slowdown has worried some economists and government officials including chairman janet yellen. it's decision to wind down a huge stimulus program sent mortgage rates up a full percentage point. that made it more expensive for first-time buy tours get a home loan. at the same time banks increased lending standards since the housing crisis. but now there are a few significant signs that some lenders are loosening up. mary snow has the story. >> reporter: the good news is that the door is slowly beginning to open for first-time home buyers. even though lending standards still remain tight by historical measures, a few lenders have started to become a little bess picky about who qualifies for a mortgage. average credit scores on purchased mortgages has edged down ever so slightly to 755 in march, down from 761 a year ago. more mortgages are being purchased with lower down payments. at the beginning of this year 16.4% of loans not insured by the federal housing authority included down payments of less than 10%. that's up from 15.6% in 2013, and 7.5% in 2010. lenders are creating new mortgage product s to entice first. time home buysers from a market they've largely been shut out of since 2008. federal credit union of virginia offers a mortgage of $417,000 with a loan down payment as low as 3% to qualified buyers. mtv bank offers qualified buy heirs mortgage product called white step a 30-year fixed rate mortgage which requires a down payment of only 3%. >> td saw the need for the u.s. housing market as it recovers. we saw the need to help stimulate the market, and to get first-time buyers back out into the marketplace because obviously there's been a disconnect in the past few years. >> critics contend that these new loans could start the ball rolling for much looser lending standards. a slippery slope which could lead to new housing bubble, but new lenders disagree. >> if you look at what's happened since the mortgage meltdown beginning in 2007 lenders across the country have continued to tighten their underwriting guidelines. >> reporter: to be sure credit is still very tight, and as long as it stays tight home sales will remain sluggish. >> the pendulum at this point is clearly swung far, far too far in the direction of overly strict lending standards, although it's beginning to shift as we speak. that's a good thing. >> reporter: so for now the door might be edging open a little for home loans, but unlike the housing boom of 2007 this time around it appears not every will be allowed in. mary snow, al jazeera. >> well, the cost of housing has been one of the biggest financial burdens weighing on american families who are still trying to recover from the budge crisis. america's middle class rebuilding the dream, tonight we want to check back in request the williams. they make a combined salary of over $1,000 but to stretch the needs of their four children is getting increasingly difficult. their home is currently underwater, and it continues to be a never-ending money pit. >> my insurance company called me the other day and said that i needed to paint the siding on my house and if i didn't do it by june they were going to drop us from the insurance. well, right now nobody will pick us up because the house depreciated so much. i can't afford for that to happen. between now and june when it dries up a little bit i'll have to get out there with my brothers and cousins and scrape and do it ourselves because i can't afford to have anybody else do it. >> we can't afford to hire--and the credit issue, you know what i mean, we can't get any more credit because we're above our means as far as the debt to income ratios, student loans. right now we have quote for $4,500 to fix our attic. which raccoons have gotten in and torn up. >> all the installation. >> and feces all throughout. where we had a guy come out and get the dead raccoons after--we don't know how they died but they tore up our attic. that's just one extra thing that we didn't need. >> can't win for losing. >> the minute we get out of one bind we get another one. >> well, we'll continue to report on the williams family, stephanie and kara as they approach their june wedding. and we look at the sabinos who stroll keep their marriage and finances intact. we'll go back to the city that even rocky balboa would not recognize. how so many families have fallen out of that city's middle class and what can be done. we'll tell you how hollywood is getting a run for its money. from the bayou to the boot, we'll show you why they're using sex and drugs to make their economy look a little more robust. >> on techknow... >> i'm at the national wind institute, where they can create tornados... >> a greater understanding... >> we know how to design for the wind speeds, now we design for... >> avoiding future tragedies >> i want a shelter in every school. >> 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 >> is there an enviromental urgency? only on al jazeera america ve, consider this on al jazeera america >> tax breaks incentives are breaking up. new orleans is becoming known as the hollywood of the south. >> the garden district is already a famous neighborhood, and now it's getting more attention. features formerly produced in california have moved south. it's all down to an incentive program offering production companies big tax breaks and it's worked. >> louisiana is now the top location for blockbuster movies, and that represents a major change in the movie business. >> last year louisiana made more than $1 billion from the film industry, but all of this is about more than cold, hard cash. it's led to jobs and opportunities, and now well established businesses run by local people. it's estimated that the film industry has created 14,000 permanent jobs, and a number equal to the state's seafood industry. when the tax incentives were launched 12 years ago few had any idea that they would be so successful. >> there are businesses that started here to service the louisiana film industry, and now we're servicing georgia, canada, new york, and even china. >> reporter: one of those businesses belongs to new orleans local andre champaign. he started his truck company with a handful of vehicles. now he has a fleet of more than 300, and his success is incentives to hire locals. >> the industry effects so many different job titles and positions it's one of the greatest economic development business incentives and stimulant packages i've ever seen. >> reporter: louisiana's new found fame as hollywood of the south has seen skilled workers moving to the state from the industry's more tria traditional locations. for many it's a move they don't regret. >> the work will come and get you. you don't have to look for work. here you can be a big fish in a small pond. in los angeles i don't care who you are you you are a very small fish in a very big pond. >> reporter: the next blockbuster, chances are it was made here in the hollywood of the south. new orleans, louisiana. >> well, the big easy is winning bragging rights for major marquee draws, the winner "12 years a slave" was filmed in new orleans, and so was "best buyer's club." talk about the business of filming outside of hollywood is a man you will recognize. actor, comedian and radio host jay thomas has experience filming in and out of hollywood spotlight, he's very familiar with new orleans, and he's from there. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i still have a home there, and i'm part of this economy that was built on tax credits because i have an 1872 duplex in the garden district where the reporter was standing, and i would say that maybe 40% of my rental business, which is by the month, is from the film industry. so i'm a big--yeah, i mean, i was just talking to the manager of my home the other day, there is talk in louisiana from the conservative legislature and our republican governor that they want to stop the tax incentives, and to us, to most of us who make money who live in new orleans, baton rouge and shreveport. we love that the films come there. maybe they don't work for the state but they work for the population. >> for a conservative politician they may say for every dollar we put towards this tax credit, we're not seeing that dollar back in revenue we can directly tie to that, but you're saying folks like you who have ancillary businesses, restaurant, service industries, they do feel it? >> well, you've got sandra bullock living there now, brad pitt and angelina jolie have a home and nicholas cage has live there had forever. i'm just naming the four or five actors that i've stalked, the ones whose homes i ride around. but there are lots of actsers and actresses. makeup people, carpenters. i know people who have changed their entire lives to move to new orleans, baton rouge, this is happen ing in georgia and texas, too. >> if you want to film a movie about molest, go to --if you want to film a movie about new orleans, you want to go to muscle. but you have all the structure require for making films and television, tell me why this even got started? why did we see real production leave hollywood? my personal belief is stephen jay canel, who did ""21 jump street"" and did thousands of television shows and then became a novelist, i was interviewing him once on my radio show in la, he said, you know, they ran me out of hollywood. i was having to pay for police and he went up to vancouver, and made a deal with the vancouver it is or the country and build a giant studio there. he kept say to go hollywood, this is going to be happen going to you don't watch it, and he was correct. as far as i know he stayed there his entire career and saved millions and millions of production dollars. i worked in canada, i've done four or five movies, television shows, i did the santa claus movies up there in vancouver, look, i don't know what the tax break is there, but you save on union fees when go to canada. in new orleans you save 30% of your production cost on a tax credit. >> and is new orleans--are there other places that i've seen that are developing in the way that new orleans is developing as a real viable alternative to hollywood? >> they may have changed the laws, but michigan, a lot of films have been done in michigan. maybe texas overturned it, i don't know. but what is amazing is after katrina, let's say you had $300 million worth of movies ready to come to new orleans, they moved to baton rouge where they built a giant studios, giant studios, and shreveport. they also have built studios in shreveport. the tentacles of it moved out. you know how much chefs we have charging $100 a plate for dinner, hollywood draws that in a very big way. when the big stars come to town, they live this fabulous life and beautiful homes, i think new mexico is a hot spot, and georgia. >> thank you for coming. we enjoy having you on the show. >> come to new orleans, and i'll give you a deal on my house. but you must stay a week. i'll give a receipt. >> ike right it off. it's all about the tax credits. can sex and drugs help the economy? turning to the red-light district for an economic boost. >> we're following the stories of people who have died in the desert >> the borderland memorial day marathon >> no ones prepared for this journey >> experience al jazeera america's critically acclaimed original series from the beginning >> experiencing it has changed me completely >> follow the journey as six americans face the immigration debate up close and personal. >> it's heartbreaking... >> i'm the enemy... >> i'm really pissed off... >> all of these people shouldn't be dead... >> it's insane... >> the borderland memorial day marathon only at al jazeera america real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. 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. >> this weekend, al jazeera america brings you the second installment of "the system." it's a documentary about the criminal system in america. looking at the pros and cons of mandatory minimum sentences. here is an excerpt. >> we live in a country where the criminal justice system has some real problems. so my series "the system" takes a look at these problems, so we look at things like mandatory minimum sentencing, false confessions, prosecutorial misconduct. >> it's crazy. no matter what happens, if you fire a gun, 20 years. it doesn't matter, why? >> in 2009 53-year-old orville lee wollard was convicted of aggravated assault with a firearm. he claimed he was firing a warning shot to scare away his teenage daughter's boyfriend who threatened his family with violence. >> what took place that night? >> my eldest daughter runs along here, and she gets her father and says, the young man is attacking sarah. my husband, he's holding the pistol down at the floor. he says to him, you have four seconds to leave this house. instead of leaving the house the young man decides to come forward. >> i firmly believe had i not done what i did that day my daughter sarah would be dead. >> i can tell you that back in the day in florida we were having a lot of problems. people were robbing, stealing, shooting, so crime was out of control. inmates were serving a third of their sentence. >> critics point out that mandatory minimums trap people like wollard in the system. but what happens when no mandatory minimums are not enforced. the murder of a honor student that captured national attention. >> michael ward and kenneth williams have been charged with her murder. >> to bury your child is just so hard. >> and the person that murdered our daughter, he was out already on a gun charge, and had he been there, had he gotten the mandatory minimum he wouldn't have been out, so our daughter would still be alive today. >> don't miss "the system" sundays at 9:00 p.m. eastern and 6:00 p.m. pacific. on al jazeera america. finally if you're a struggling european nation trying to reduce your debt ratio to comply with european union rules. you recount your economy in your gdp. italy has announced it's counting drugs, prostitution, and goo 'ol fashioned smuggling in the country's overall gdp to order its debt ratio. it's not like italy's only known for its pasta. but the country is going to do one better than that. it's going to retroactively include it in the gdp for the past years as well. the country will comply with the e.u.'s rules on how indebted it can be. i wish it could have been on the high ranking brain storms that led to this idea. a bunk of italian men sitting around a conference table saying what else are we good with the? what else do we make money on? it sounds like a joke. italy is dead serious on this. if the e.u. accept it's it math, if they do no doesn't other countries will follow suit. the black market account accounts for 20% of the country's gdp, and that is not churc chump change. thank you for joining us and have a great holiday weekend. the voice" > we looked after them very well. we provide them a good facility. thailand's military rulers detain former ruler yingluck shinawatra, and other political figures. [ speaking foreign language ] as anti-coup protests begin in the capital bangkok. hello, you're watching al jazeera live from doha. live from the prome

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