this is "real money." now are the most important part of the show, so tell me what is on your mind. the united nations and its arab allies struck targets in syria for a third day in a row, reportedly killing at least 14 isil and five civilians. today's strikes pounded isil's economic assets including its trade in oil that helps pay for isil's fighters, weapons and provides services in the territories it has seized. but degrading their oil trade is going to take more than a day of bombing, and stopping the stream entirely may be impossible. that's because the oil-smuggling area have been decades in the making. a development that he u.s. is at least partly to blame for, because back in 1991 when iraq invaded kuwait, the u.s. lead the campaign. and they triggered sanctions that triggers a boom in smuggling that flur - flourishes to this day. they move products at steep discounts through syria, iraq, to turkey, lebanon and jordan. here is where it gets tricky. some of those people are the iraqi kurds, the very people fighting isil on the ground. in recent months that oil trade has become a lifeline to the kurds as iraq's central government holds back budget payments. but it's difficult for the kurds to crack down on this trade now, because they run the risk of doubling or tripling local gasoline prices at a time when the kurdish regional government is nearly bankrupt. so iraqi kurds are potentially putting money in isil's coffers at the same time they are battling this group. for more, patricia sabga has this report. >> reporter: hitting isil where it hurts. wednesday u.s. and arab allied aircraft bombed 13 isil targets inside syria, including 12 rebel-controlled oil refineries in remote parts of the east. >> they provide fuel to run isil operations, money to finance their continued attacks throughout iraq and syria, and they are an economic asset to support future operations. >> reporter: the u.s. military estimates they produce up to 500 barrels of products per day, contributing to an estimated 1 to $3 million in daily isil energy sales, the goal was to commission. >> we want to keep some infrastructure available in the hopes that it can be -- these refineries can be used again one day by the moderate opposition. >> reporter: illicit sales of seized oil are believed to be isil's biggest money maker. while crippling isil's refining capacity is a blow to the group, it can still profit from sales of raw crude. >> crude oil is still valuable and smuggleable. they need to get it into a big truck and sell it to somebody who is willing to take the risk of driving it to a refinery. >> reporter: it sells plundered oil and refined products on the cheap directly to truck drivers who move it through the smuggling networks. the most heavily border is believed to be turkey. so far turkey has been reluctant to crack down hard on the black market networks that move isil oil, but with nearly 800 miles of border to police with iraq and syria, crushing the trad will be difficul no much they effort. turkey is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't play ball with the us-ld coalition. that's according to this man, he is the author of "political islam in the age of democratization." why do you ta turkey is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't? >> the problem is -- ali that the turks see a fire burning on their southern borders. they want to be able to deal with it, but then there are too many players dealing with it, starting with the united states, saudi arabia, qatar, and everybody has a significant difference. i mean the qatars are completing with the iraqis. it's a mess that the turks have to handle. if they join the coalition, they don't simply want to be a member or partner, they would like to be in the driver seat, but they can't be, because you have the united states leading the effort. and at the end of the day everybody can walk away from the mess, but turkey can't. >> i would imagine that people in america would welcome turkey running this operation. what is stopping them from need? >> i think there are serious differences in terms of how both sides want to process this, move it forward, the military campgn. there are a lot of fault lines that the turks are more sensitive about than the americans. the united states can work with proiranian ak no, sir iraq, while working with anti-iranian actors in syria, both with the goal of defeating i.s. the turks don't want to get into this sectarian conflict, that's number one. and there is the kurdish issue, how do you control that border? u are under pressure to say, okay, you need to stop the oil flow, but the turks say we need to worry about kurdish separatists moving across the border, and the jihadist if this war against i.s. metaphors into a war against assad and you have a collapse of the regime. >> i was speaking in new york to this man, and he was saying categorically turkey is not buying isil oil. the allegation isn't that turkey the country is buying isil oil, it's that brokers in turkey are buying isil oil and perhaps the turks can do something to stop this. is that true? >> they can, definitely. but at the same time, it requires -- this process will require first acknowledging that it is happening, and that will contradict from e line of the president. and then it's not easy that you lay out how do y control these smuggling networks. that requires a whole lot of investment and resources, and already it's as if the turks have their hands full. they are trying to create a buffer zone to manage the flow, the kurder separatistsism, from the point of view of the turks, they have to come up with a mechanism in order no not end up like pakistan today after 35 years that began against the soviets that war still continues, albeit in a different form, and we know this is going to be a generational struggle. so the turks when all is said and done, they want to be process. >> that puts it in stark relief that that is the danger that turkey faces. thank you so much for being with us. the author of "political islam in the age of democratization." >> coming up the f22 finally sees some action. i'm going to look at why takeoff look so long. money" continues. ♪ on tech know, >> i landed head first at 120 mph >> every saturday, al jazeera america brings you controversial... >> both parties are owned by the corporations. >> ..entertaining >> it's fun to play with ideas. >> ...thought provoking >> get your damn education. >> ...surprising >> oh, absolutely! >> ...exclusive one-on-one interviews with the most interesting people of our time. >> you're listening because you want to see what's going to happen. >> i want to know what works what do you know works? >> conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> talk to al jazeera. >> only on al jazeera america. >> oh my! ♪ the f22 is considered one of the most sophisticated jet fighters ever built. but it has been essentially just collecting dust for ten years. today it finally made his debut. the pentagon said it was a success, which raises the question what took so long to use it. >> ali this is one of the most expensive and certainly one of the most sophisticated airlines to ever take flight, and this was its first true test. let's first talk about the money. it is built by lockheed martin and boeing, and paid for by you. one of the most expensive fighter jets in history, the program cost $67 billion. but according to some reports the cost was as much as $678 million per plain. one of the planes it replaced cost a fraction of that. and the high price tag fuelled controversy of why the plane was built in the first place. but for the cost you get quite a punch. the f22 is 62 feet long, a wingspan of 44 feet, and can reach an altitude of more than 50,000 feet. it is virtually undetectable. and then there's the speed. it can go faster than 1.5 times the speed of sound, beyond 1,000 miles an hour. as for armaments, consider the weaponry. six radar guided air to air missiles, a 20-millimeter barrel cannon, and 1,000 pound bombs. plus it can fire its missiles even while the plane is rolling over rapidly. >> ali as i say it is really a tremendously sophisticated plane, but it is just the strangest process getting one of these off of the grown >> yeah, we're in this world of sequester and budget cuts. >> yeah, there is this whole cottage industry built around building these black budgets. this classified budget that the air force has is $12.6 billion, and that's just for the little projects that we know about. the individual line items are staggering. they have a line item for pencils and one for pencil sharpeners, and all the air force has to do is call something aurora. the whole project is in one line item. money. >> what is the conclusion one should draw about this aircraft. it's crazy expensive, but that's pretty impressive. >> it is an extraordinary thing. it is one of the last manned aircraft that is this good. human beings almost shouldn't be flying it. can it turn a lot faster than the human body can handle. so there's a sense that the same scary place that this was built, this top secret manufacturing facility is also where people have built the x47b which is an unmanned fighter aircraft that some day will be flying off on combat missions like the f22 did. so i think it's the last generation of this incredibly sophisticated very expensive manned aircraft. >> fascinating. jake it's great to have you here. it has been fantastic to have you here, you are on the show anyways, great to see you. listen when he is talking about these unmanned aircraft, let's talk about drones. six movie companies received permission to use unmanned aircraft. it marks the first exceptions to the ban on drones. they say the drones don't pose a threat to air traffic or national security. the unmanned aircraft can be used only on closed sets, fly only up to 400 feet, and a certified pilot has to operate the drones. the resignation of eric holder did his justice department let the banks off easy in the wake of the financial crisis. we'll delve deeper into holder's complicated legacy. that's coming up next. >> we pray for the children in the womb >> a divisive issue >> god is life , so it's his to take >> see a 10 year old girl who's pregnant, and you tell me that's what god wants... >> a controversial law >> where were you when the babies lives were being saved? >> are women in texas paying the price? >> who's benefiting from restricting access to safe abortions? >> fault lines... al jazeera america's hard hitting... ground breaking... truth seeking... breakthrough investigative documentary series access restricted 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 ♪ i got another car recall to tell you about involving, guess what, faultsy ignition switchers. it's chrysler this time. it's recalling 350,000, 2008 vehicles to repair defective ignition switches. sound familiar? the recall includes dodge sedans, and station having a gones. it says it is aware of one accident and no injuries. it is similar to the recall of the gm cars that have been linked so far to 21 deaths. eric holder announced his resignation today, president obama accepted it, praising holder for his situation years of service. randall pinkston joins us from the white house. eric holder addressed some controversial issues, he was a lightning rod for republicans. they never liked him. was this a scheduled departure or was he forced out. >> well, actually he had been talking to the president for sometime now, several months at least about the resignation that was announced today. back in february holder had a health scare, some sort of fluctuating heart beat that went away, but at that time, reportedly holder decided to take a real close look at his life and family. so there is no indication of a forceout, this was his decision. >> eric holder may have been one of the most despised attorney generals by -- by republicans ever, possibly. and there was a lot of talk that it might have been because he was black. >> reporter: you know, ali it is difficult to know the truth of that. what we can say is that at the point that eric holder went before the senate judiciary committee for his confirmation hearing, the senate judiciary hearing with republicans and democrats the committee approved him by a vote of 17-2. then when he went before the full senate, he was approved by a vote of 75-25. so he had overwhelming approval coming into office. he is a former judge, appointed by president region, a republican. so there was a lot of goodwill support, by partson support. the republican from california did all he could to give holder a rough time ever time he went in front of his committee. >> yeah, and the relations were never repaired and eric holder never get got that kind of support from congress. randall good to see you. thank you so much. >> reporter: you bet. a big part of his job was dealing with banks. on that he has a mixed record that drew plenty of criticism. mary snow has the story. >> reporter: in the last year, u.s. torn general, eric holder reached record settlements with banks for their role in the financial crisis, the most recent coming just last month. >> the department of justice has reached an agreement with banc of america. >> reporter: but those billion dollar fines, say observers mark a dramatic change. >> there is a big difference between the early holder and the later holder. >> reporter: the $1.9 billion settle with habc saw the bank fined while no individuals were held responsible. critics said he wasn't aggressive enough. >> i'm concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy. >> reporter: comments like those still controversy, but holder distanced himself from them. >> no institution is too large to prosecute. >> reporter: but individuals of the banks at the center of the banking prosecuted. >> if you go back to the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, several hundred executives were indicted and went to prison. here we don't have a meaningful criminal conviction of a single executive. i want to tell you about another story today, u.s. stocks took a tumble. the dow jones shed 1.5%, and the nasdaq lost 1.9%. the losses were lead by apple, which lost 4%. that is the stock's biggest single-day drop for the year. blame its snafu over bending phones, but it was much broader than that. 80% of the stocks traded closed lower. no one thing to point to for this market tumble. but invet fors cited a stronger dollar that has been hurting exports. coming up next, tensioned between ukraine and russia are making some baltic states very nervous. coming up, you'll hear why the president of estonia says the stick around. ♪ >> my name is shaquan mcdowell i'm a 17 year old teenager. i go to a public high school outside of the city limits of atlanta. it's 99% african american we do get a quality education. you know we have teachers that really care about us as far as the african american stereotypes, all the music they listen too is rap, they only use ebonics, they don't know how to speak proper english, they've never read a book in their life, all they do is get high, smoke weed, no... i've never been exposed to anything like that... coming from a mom who as a single mother, had her first child at 16, who is the ceo of her own company, me being someone who is about to graduate, who is the recipient of a full scholarship, the stereotype is absolutely flawed. >> did it ever cross your mind that. being a single mother that, your children may end up like the statistics say they're gonna fail >> being a single mom... raising five kids, i've always said you guys, you be 100% the best that you can be >> i would like to run for the senate in 2032. then it leads to the great big goal in life, to run for the office of the president of the united states of america >> catch more stories from edge of eighteen on al jazeera america president obama was at the united nations general assembly earlier today calling on the international community to do more to stem the spread of the ebola virus in west africa. he called the virus, quote, a growing threat to regional and global security. and said the world was doing too little to fight the disease. virus has claimed nearly 3,000 lives in west africa. and the president warned it could hundreds of thousands more. russian supports for rebels in ukraine has a number of nato mens, like estonia, concerned over their own situation. vladimir putin's insistence that moscow has the right to intervene in nearby countries has governments deeply worried. a quarter of the people in estonia are ethnic russians. the president claims that russia's interference in ukraine effectively collapses the security system. i asked him why he's so dismayed by the west's response to russia's medaling. >> i'm not worried about countries in nato abrogating their agreements, i'm worried about a world in which you can no longer assume that all of the other agreements work. we have seen this dramatic increase in air incursions throughout europe and even in the united states we see these things happening, and we have worked hard ever since world war ii to create a brood range of agreements that keeps the world from going to war. and now we see in 2014, the agreement -- the -- the framework that was set up in 45, and we have developed since then rather extensively is not holding anymore. >> in your speech to the united nations, you also referred to georgia. what happened in georgia six years ago, you said it was alarms bells rang, but no one heard the wake-up call. we must take conflict more seriously and support states in their choice of democracy. the russian argument is that they are supporting their ethnic-speaking, ethnically russian population in eastern ukraine. you have one of those in estonia as well. what is the dynamic there? do they feel discriminated against? protected? do they feel there is a greater russia here now, and we would like to be part of it? >> if the average salary of a russian in ukraine is $250 a month. the average salary of a russian minor in estonia is 2,000 euros a month. so economically it's not as many there is this richer country next door. the opposite is true. when we do polls, we say do you want to join russia? no. no. no. and the rights and freedoms you have in the european union work anywhere, if you are a resident of any e.u. country you can work anywhere in the e.u. all of that is very different from -- from what we see in russia, and on top of that, we are, in terms of press freedom and internet freedom, we are one of the leaders in the world. and what is happening here, the liberal democrats in russia are moving to my country, some of the sort of top figures in the there. >> with one eye on ukraine, do you have to think about things that have to be done to make sure that the russian speakers in estonia feel safe and welcome, and don't feel like they need to agitate for something? >> well, right now, i mean, i guess living in a prosperous european liberal democracy with one of the highest rates of freedom of speech anywhere, problem. >> an economist has said if there is one further degree of escalation in the trade sanctions between europe and russia, it will be very bad economically for europe. how are these sanctions affecting you, your country? and what is your sense of them? should they be escalating? are they working? should they be de-escalated because they are hurting europeans? >> well, we are among the top russia. >> right. >> so it clearly has an effect on us, and then there is the food import ban on the russian side which perhaps effects us even more, but not directly. it's rather what has hand as the price of milk or various food products in europe has decreased everywhere, because there's less demand, and so we have some -- all of europe has to deal with an agricultural sector that is not happy. now i don't know whether there will be a dramatic change if -- if sanctions increase. on the other hand, estonia and its neighbors, latvia, and lithuania are the countries -- and poland, all four countries have very strong trade ties, but we have been willing to grit our teeth because we consider the situation in ukraine to be serious enough that we bite the bullet and deal with it. not all countries in europe feel that way, but they tend to be action. >> what is your sense as we are getting into colder weather about the threat of gas flows from russia? we have bits here and there, but are you worried that russia will do what it has done in the past when it comes to natural gas flows when it can really hurt europe? >> i think ukraine is the country -- biggest, sort of -- and the most dire straits in this case, because ukraine is a country that has difficulty paying for their energy. countries that pay for their energy generally have not had big problems -- i mean there have been some -- but given the economic situation in russia today, since all -- what is always talked about big trade between e.u. and russia, well the fact that big trade basically is gas coming into europe, and that's their main source of income. more than 50% comes from exporting gas. if you are already in economic difficulty, cutting off gas is probably not good for your own economy, but that is an issue that we have to -- we'll clearly have to face. >> the president praised the ukrainian president, he noted the new ukrainian president's background as a successful billionaire businessman and admires his commitment to governing yuk instead of sitting back and enjoying his life. all right not in my backyard. you would think that would include the storage of nuclear waste. so why are some states laying down the >> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live... >> 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 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electricity. up from about 11% in 1980. he nuclear industry boasts that it creates clean energy that doesn't produce greenhouse gases. that is true, but it is a power source that is far from perfect. one problem is nuclear waste. the commission allowed the government to skirt its legal obligations to dispose of the deadly material in a centralized location. nuclear power plants can now store radioactive waste on-site indefinitely. they produce larges amount of spent fuel. most scientists and government officials agree the safest way to get rid of it is to bury it a thousand feet deep forever. patricia sabga explains. >> reporter: the nuclear industry has a storage problem. radioactive waste is piling up with no place to put it, even as new reactors are brought online. the nuclear energy industry has produced about 72,000 tons of spent fuel. that's enough toxic waste to cover a football field about seven feet deep. president ronald reagan designated a mountain outside of las vegas as the country's nuclear waste disposal site. isolating the waste a thousand feet underground until it is no longer dangerous, about 10,000 years. the department of energy has spent nearly $15 billion to evaluate every environmental and technological detail they could think of to ensure the site's relative safety. but no amount of study could convince the people of nevada to turn their backyard into a nuclear dumping ground. in 2010, president obama stopped the review process, effectively killing the site as a storage option. so far the white house hasn't offered any alternatives. instead most spent fuel is stored at temporary waste facilities many of them on-site at nuclear power plants. there are now at least 90 storage facilities in 34 states. most of this waste is kept in cooling pools with water circulating through fuel rods to keep them from overheating. it is a short-term solution that is far from perfect. after an earthquake and tsunami hit fukushima in japan, the reds failed to cool the waste. and more than 100,000 people were forced toe evacuate. about half of u.s. nuclear plants also use dry storage, these steal and concrete casks use passive air flowing through the outer hall to cool spent fuel rods. scientists say they are less vulnerable to natural disasters or attacks, but the containers have only a 20 to 60-year life span. the obama administration insists it is developing a long-term storage strategy with plans to open an interim test site by 2021. the permanent geological disposal site will follow in 2048, and officials are already looking for railroad equipment to haul radioactive waste to its new home, but where that will be, nobody knows. patricia sabga, al jazeera. bill gallo, heads a technology firm that works to stabilize nuclear waste for permanent storage. it was one of the companies that was one of the first on the scene at the fukushima power plan in japan. he joins me now from washington state. bill thank you for joining us. we have seen what can happen when a short-term storage facility breaks down, so why don't we have a long-term waste? >> first of all, thank you for having me. it's a pleasure to be here. the issue of long-time storage is extremely complex. the base has been the mount which was selected in 1987. there have been several issues with that, not technical but wrather from a political and constituency stand point, the people in nevada just don't want it as you said. so in 2010 any president chartered a commission to identify an alternative. it reck mentioned continued study of deep geological repository as the eventual baseline for storage or disposal of high-level waste, but also recommended that the government consider an interim storage facility and also recommended that in citing this storage facility, steak consulted. >> when you see a one-two punch of an earthquake and tsunami like they had in japan, how confident are we that above ground storage facilities are safe? >> in my opinion they are safe. spent fuel is stored at reactor sites in casks which are licensed and which have design lives up to 60 years, and these have demonstrated the ability to store the waste in a safe manner. in my opinion they are safe. and by the way this is the type of system that would be used in an interim storage facility. >> why do people want these things -- first of all you said 60 years. we think it takes 10,000 years to degree, so that means we're going to have another plan. why does anybody want this? >> it's not a question of anybody wanting it. but when one looks at communities around the country, there are communities that are nuclear friendly. they are home to nuclear facilities, and which should be consulted as to whether or not they would be interested in facility. >> what do other this? >> well, i would say the country of reference would be france where they have had an integrated closed fuel cycle program, where they recycle used fuel, and the residues, the truly toxic elements that remain are stored in a building in bitfied ways, stored in stainless steal canisters. >> and when you think of these having a design, is there something to be said for the efficiency of them. do now nuclear plants generate less waste? >> they do generateless waste, and in my opinion nuclear power needs to be part of the mix in terms of future energy needs. >> bill, thank you for being with us. >> thank you very much. coming up next, i'm going to share some thoughts on the u.s. sports story that you don't need a moral compass or a law degree to follow. >> the stream >> your digital community >> you pick the hot topics and express your thoughts it's your chance to join the conversation the stream, only on al jazeera america >> now available, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. 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 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