Latest Breaking News On - Troy martin - Page 1 : vimarsana.com

Transcripts For ALJAZAM Real Money With Ali Velshi 20140929

i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." this is "real money," you are the most important part of the show, so tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me or hit me up on facebook. it is being called an umbrella revolution in hong kong. tens of thousands of protesters occupying the streets and they are not leaving. they demand china back off moves to nominate candidates for the elections in 2015. the tactics to get them to disperse are not working. the sun is up in hong kong, the police have pulled back at least for a while. meanwhile the number of protesters camped out as swelled to as high as 80,000 for the weekend. it's a very rare seen of discord in one of the world's biggest financial hubs. protestest similar 25 years ago that were violent by suppressed in the end. we have this update from hong kong. >> reporter: exactly how many people are out here. what i can tell you is these protest verse taken up about two miles of this several-lane highway, which is usually busy day and night. i'm also hearing across the harbor in a couple of financial districts, they have also managed to take over those areas. police are standing by, but they have had very little interference. they are mostly watching very closely in pockets, not too visible. people are concerned that there could be a repeat of the tear gas that broke up protests several days ago. they have come with gas masks, with cling film, and they have been handing out towels and other such items that would protect people from tear gas or pepper spray, but it has been largely quiet here. every now and then you'll see the momentum lifting with singing and chanting, but it's mostly people gathering and expressing their concerns. this is very important to beijing who are thinking about how they are going to handle these protests. there has been largely a lot of support for the protesters, mainly from the youth camp, but also from the older generations who are a lot more cautious but also have been expressing their desire for full democracy in lo hong kong. >> local residents have civil liberties that are not enjoyed by most chinese like freedom of the press. the densely populated port was returned to chinese control in 1997 after a century and a half of british rule. hong kong was able to preserve some of the institutions that the british left behind. they include independent courts, and a low-tax ethos that helped turn hong kong into an international powerhouse. china also promised they would let them vote for their own leaders, but that changed last month when they gave officials veto power over those who may run. adrian brown has the story. >> reporter: china's leadership has been restrained in its events in hong kong, but it's clear they think unnamed countries are behind the unrest. >> translator: we oppose any country that interferes with china's internal affairs. we also firmly oppose any country that supports the movement in any way. >> reporter: the student-led protests bring back uncomfortable memories of what happened in beijing more than 25 years when the occupation ended in bloodshed. but what will china do if unrest worsens in hong kong, where it has 6,000 soldiers. >> they don't need to go to the last step. it is very, very pragmatic to let the whole process run its due cause. and people will come to the realization that peace and stability are more precious than chaos and instability. >> reporter: but is this another hint of government thinking? the article says china's armed forces could restore order in hong kong. it appeared on the website of the global times newspaper but has since been deleted. on the streets most people told us they were unaware of what was happening in hong kong. the few who did know say the protests have gone too far. >> translator: they have a legal right to protest, but occupying the city center is too aggressive. >> reporter: strict media controls have been tightened. state tv is mentioning though unrest but has not been airing photos. china hopes that the protest it calls illegal will simply taper out, expressing confidence that the hong kong authorities will contain the unrest and insisting it will never give in to the protesters demands. a display of solidarity of the students in hong kong. its president spoke to al jazeera before the hong kong protests, insisting beijing must be prudent in how it handles decent. >> translator: it's not only important to the people of hong kong, the people of taiwan are also watching. >> reporter: but no one is watching more closely than china's government. >> this is all happening at a pivotal time in history, china is forecast to overtake the american economy this year, although it is slowing down. but it is still much lower than the double-digit growth china has been seeing for much of the last three decades. hong kong, you can see people are starting to mill around, many are sitting down and lying down as daybreak has set in. this has been the conduit for foreign capitol fuelling that growth. so china's leaders have mostly agreed to let them be free, but that appears to be changing. the question is how far will china go to break up these protests. not reacting firmly enough could embolder disdense in the rest of china. militia chan spent over five years as the network's china correspondent. she joins us now from san francisco. melissa you understand this very, very well. the narrative is that this protest is about hong kong pressing for more control over who its local elected leaders are. but that's about half the story, isn't it? >> absolutely. that's definitely what people in hong kong are saying right now, but this is a story that has been long time going. frankly over the past decade or so, the middle class have be shrinking. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. so this is the economic situation in hong kong. prospects are really bad for people there. and it has being translated. there is a political call right now. you might wonder why people aren't making those economic demands. well it is because they have been for the last year. it goes without saying for the people on the ground that this is partly to do with the economy, they have just shifted the conversation right now. it's something that i do feel that the rest of the world is overlooking. >> let's talk about this. like we talk about the income divide, the difference between the rich and poor, that is magnified in a city like hong kong, when you are landing, it is gleaming, it's beautiful, it looks like one of the most prosperous places on earth, but you find some of the most densely populated areas in the world. the property values that are some of the highest in the world that a working person in hong kong would sometimes find it hard to afford. >> absolutely. a lot of educated people in hong kong don't have the kind of employment tune that's they expect. that they expected back in the 1990s, for example. you see the discontent with college-age students. they are driving this protest now, because they are looking at their prospects and there isn't a future for them. for a people in their 30s and 40s, people do eventually want to move out, and start their own families, and you are looking at a housing crisis where people can't afford to do that. it has gotten so expensive, and there is a little bit of a mainland china element. because a lot of people from china internally have been fuelling the housing boom, buying up property, and essentially squeezing out the locals and their ability to really buy a house in hong kong. >> i was saying that china has had relative freedom of the press. in the last month or so, there have been actions taken against newspaper that seem to have some connection to the prodemocracy movement, some advertisers have pulled some advertising. it's almost like china is encroaching its press restrictions into hong kong. i think that's something to watch for. >> that is absolutely something to watch for. and i think the really important thing to understand is that people in honk kong, there is a very robust civil society. they value things like press freedom. it is part of the economy, but part of the issue is of course the politics. they are used to a very free willing media. it is more free willing than singapore, and arguably in japan where a lot of the media organizations have close relationships with the government. so people do not like that kind of infrankment, and over a decade ago people were already protesting when they considered that the rule of law was being violated by beijing and china. this is not the first time a lot of people in hong kong have turned out on the streets. there was a protest against a certain article in the hong kong constitution where people protested. it was a clause that said that people in hong kong could not say anything negative against the chinese government, and really, frankly, you are seeing that happen right now on the streets. >> interesting. melissa thank you for your analysis. up next, it has been six years since the government bailed out insurance giant aig. now the ceo says it wasn't a bailout. it was extortion, and he is suing the government. plus the ripple effects of crushing student debt crisis. even the housing market is feeling the pain. those stories and more as "real money" continues. keep it here. ♪ ♪ the initials aig are enough to send shiverst down the spines of many of us who lived through the horror of the 2008 financial crisis. i'm one of them. american international group is the insurance giant bailed out by the u.s. government at a cost of $182 billion. well, today a lawyer for aig's former chief said the terms of the bailout were extortion. the attorney is just one of the key characters in this unusual trial look going whether the government broke the law when it took control of aig as part of the bailout. the lawsuit came from star international lead by this man. star was aig's largest shareholder. next week on deck to testify, three very familiar faces, ben bernanke, tim geithner, and henry pahlsson. gina was at the trial today. she joins me now from washington. now gina this is a new trial, but not a new concept. hank greenberg said that aig was held to a different standard than even the banks in terms of their culpability, their responsibility for triggering the crisis, and that they were treated unfairly. what is the meat of this argument? >> yeah, you are right. he is arguing that aig got much harsher terms, about 14% on their loan, which they described as extortion in the court hearings today. that was very different from banks like citigroup or morgan stanley who they said contributed to the crisis, but got a much lower interest rate on their loans. and they questioned why that was the case, also the government took a 79.9% stake in aig as part of the bailout terms. they argue that the government did not do that to the other banks that again, contributed to the crisis, so they are questioning why they are the only ones being punished and the other banks much got much more favorable terms. >> let's look at this. most people would probably think this would be a boring trial to cover. this is probably one of the most juicy things i have heard in a long time. the government lawyer said the goal was not to save aig, but to save the world from aig. aig says it was not responsible for manipulating mortgages. that's true. but they sold these credit default swaps and that's what the government held it responsible for doing. >> no, you are exactly right. i mean, aig is trying to act like a bit of a victim here, the shareholders are trying to act like a bit of a victim, but they argue that aig also had responsibility for knowing what was happening on its books, and they did not know for a long time. and the hole they estimated they had kept getting biggerer, and they eventually need $182 billion. so aig is definitely not without fault here as the government argued today. >> and the board of aig is not party to this lawsuit. why? >> no, you are exactly right. and that's something that the government pointed out today, that aig and the board had an opportunity to join this lawsuit with mr. greenberg, and they declined, and in the worlds of the government attorney, he said that their message instead was thank you america. we actually appreciate what you did for the company in rescuing us, since the alternative was bankruptcy and possible economic catastrophe. so the government made a point of making that distinction that aig and the board were appreciative where mr. greenberg was not >> the government's lawyer made pint of this is the epitome of too big to failure. hank greenberg understood that aig was so critical to the global economy that he felt he should have been able to get better terms. >> yeah, exactly. that basically he and the other shareholders felt entitled, essentially to get a better rescue, a better compensation, and the government is pointing out that aig and its shareholders were never entitled to a bailout. the government could have let them fail and it would have been a bigger moral hazard to allow a firm in distress to dictate the bailout terms, because what could that say in the future of other financial institutions taking risks, because they know the government will rescue them on their terms. >> this is going to get a lot more interesting to the world if the three have to testify. i believe they have already been deposed. >> yes, that was supposed to be sealed testimony, although some of it has already leaked a bit, as you can imagine of the interest in this. and next week it will be the first time they are publicly questioned about what went on at the fed, at the treasury, during the bailout and how did they decide who to rescue and who to let fail. >> that in itself is going to be interest testimony. are we going to have ben bernanke testifying? >> there was a scheduling issue. but the judge specifically said that they have known for months when the trial was supposed to take place, so the witnesses really needed to make every effort to show up, and they said they had worked it out. so we will expect to see all of them next week. >> all right. gina thank you so much for that. investors are reportedly pulling billions of dollars from investment firm pemco after bill gross left the firm. last week the firm said its leadership team and gross has quote fundamental differences about how to take pimco forward. the wall street journal reports that investors have bulled about $10 billion from pimco in the wake of gross's departure. last week i told you about the bad year gross had been having, the $222 billion total return fund, check your ira 401k, you might have some in portfolio. they are now investigating whether they artificially inflated its returns. coming up our series on america's middle class continues, with an update on the williams family. you won't believe what happened to them this time. stay with us. ♪ >> an al jazeera america special report families torn apart, fleeing isil's brutality >> the refugees have flooded this small town... >> can they survive? don't miss primetime news on al jazeera america all this week ♪ it's time now to check in with one of the victims we have been followed -- one of the families we have been following as part of our series rebuilding the american dream. tonight a troubling development for the williams family. stephanie williams landed a higher-paying job mentoring math teachers. but that meant the family of six had to move into the city. so they left their suburban home which is underwater, meaning they owe more than it is worth. they were renting a duplex, then they received the news that the owner of their new app -- apartment has gone into foreclosure. >> we may be back to square one with nowhere to go. >> on moving day i was very happy. i was ready to just start a new life. >> i just fell in love with the home. it's almost like a dream home. it's everything we wanted. it's space, and a decent price compared to what these homes are around here. when i first heard the home was in foreclosure, you know, i was in total disbelief and shock at that -- at that moment, because here i am thinking that i found my perfect home and the next thing i know it's like a gut punch basically. so what ended up happening is the home sold august 28th. and we're still waiting to here if they are going to tell us we have to move. >> if we have to leaf, it will be a struggle to pack up with the kids. >> i don't even want to move them again. that's the devastating part to me. i feel just disheartened by that. especially when they just get used to being where they are, and loving it as well. i try to keep a positive mind about it, and not be pessimistic. >> if they can't find anybody to sell the place to, they are going to say, get out, and we're going to let it sit empty. so i'm hoping either they don't sell it, and they just go ahead and keep collecting from us, or, you know, they do sell it, and the new landlord is trying to have it as a rental property versus a home for themselves. >> perfect scenario, is the bank will say, we'll work with you guys and give you a mortgage. >> stephanie is obviously still feeling burned from her experiences as a homeowner. the williams are still debating whether to go into foreclosure in the home that they own which is underwater, or try for a short sale where the lender agrees to take less than what is owed. buying a mid-range home is still out of reach for many families. the obvious question is why? red fin published a report titled in 2014 plenty more homes for sale that you probably can't afford. troy martin is the author of the report, and i asked him why mid-range homes are not affordable to the middle class. >> we have seen less inventory on the market, and sellers have reported that things have gotten more competitive. but when we dug into that data to see what has really been going on, what we found was that most of that inventory has come out of the middle price range in the market. so we have a lot of sellers who have been facing high competition not just for other buyers, but from company investors who have been buying up multiple properties and converting them to rentals, and also all-cash purchasers. more than 30% of the transactions last year were all cash. and it has contributed to this really competitive market, and for people who are looking in the middle range, it has gotten tougher and tougher. >> we have done stories on those companies that are buying up homes and some people say creating a renter nation. and some people say we're glad they had them. but where is the rest of the market? are these investors or not americans or just folks with cash? >> it's folks with cash who figure there's money to be made. there's not a lot of new construction so people who have the liquidity to do it are coming into the market, looking for opportunities, finding homes that could use some rehab, flipping it and putting it back on the market at a higher price. >> i would imagine, though, this is -- we think about the housing market. it is called a market for a reason. why hasn't the market fixed this problem because folks are greedy so we're not really considering the needs of this -- this group that needs to be able to buy houses that they can afford? >> well, a lot of that activity has happened already. prices have come up. and we have start to see cash buyers start to come back a little bit this year, but now prices are higher and there is still not a lot of inventory. and there hasn't been a lot of new construction either. we have seen some increase in that this year, but we're still coming off of historical lows -- >> and a lot of that new construction has been at a higher end. >> that's absolutely true. >> so what happens? noeshl norm oolly i can see something happening and i can understand what the correction is going to be, but i don't understand what this correction is going to be. >> it is a struggle and it is going to continue to be a bit of a struggle, but we're optimistic that the market is going to balance out a little bit more. we're hopefully going to continue to see new construction. and we have seen about a quarter of all homes listed for sale have had price drops, which means that sellers are getting the message that 2014 isn't going to be like it was last year, they can't list their home for a really high price and sell way over list. buyers are not responding to that, and they can't afford homes in the price range they are being listed at. >> for those people that can't afford to buy a home commensurate with where they think they are in life, what does that mean? they become renters? >> they become renters or they have to stay patient or maybe save up for larger down payment so they can have more leverage against these different types of competition. coming up next, i'm going to tell you how the student debt crisis is burning home sales. plus mending fences with india. ♪ >> 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, documentary series. chasing bail only on al jazeera america ♪ it's getting harder to assess the health of the housing market. the national association of realtors says contracts to purchase existing homes fell more than expected in august. the group's performance fell 1% in july. and that followed a gain in june. the index plunged last year, but has been rising since this last march. analysts say the decline is partly because investors are buying fewer homes. the chief economist is optimistic that an improved job market will mean more first time home buyers come in and replace investors backing away from real estate. but here is a reason to worry that first time home buyers might not be able to pick up the slack. the average american who has student debt owes roughly $33,000, and that may cost the u.s. economy more than $80 billion. >> reporter: 414,000 homes will be unsold this year, because would-be buyers who are so saddled with debt, they cannot afford to buy. in that amounts to $83 billion in lost home sales. beth acres is an economist with the brookings institution. >> there is going to be a relationship between student loan debt and the ability of young people to buy houses. >> reporter: banks have their hands tied. in exchange for strong legal protections, banks cannot approval applications if the borrowers anticipated sdet more than 43% of its income. a student debt-free household applying for an fha loan with 3.5% down, qualifies. but throw in a monthly student debt of $250 or more, and the bank will deny the application, because the total monthly debt would be greater than 43% of its income. critics of the analysis say the overall effect is more complicated. >> any estimates that are only capturing the effect of having to make those payments are really missing the other piece of the equation. they have the extra bills, but have higher earnings that go hand in hand with that. >> every $250 of monthly debt lowers the mortgage limit by $44,000. that creates a catch-22 as more people take on student debt, they might also be reducing their likelihood of buying a home. that's an interesting conundrum, isn't it? today nearly 6 million households pay $250 per month in student debt. that's up from 2.2 million in 2005. joining us is moody's analytics economi economist. he has done extensive research on this situation. and he says the number of 400,000 unsold homes sited in the study duarte told us about is too high. to chris, is there a number you can attach to unsold homes because of student debt? >> thank you for having me on the show. i would say it's very difficult to isolate. there are so many moving parts between tight mortgage credit. income growth that's very stagnant and a job market that still needs to grow. it's very difficult to assign a specific number to any individual part of this. clearly student next has an impact it's just debatable what the size of that is right now. >> we hear this number, but this is a thing where averages and cumulative numbers don't actually help you. we need to figure out what the graduating student typically had on hand, and this is one of those things where these generalities are difficult to impose on the situation. >> that's absolutely right. and is the question that student debt is too high or income too low? i would fall in the camp that income growth is lacking, wage growth has been stagnant and that is really what is keeping first time home buyers from coming into the market. >> do mortgages need to change? because one of the things we heard about in duarte's piece is not having your debt average more than 43%. is that a way or are we looking at this the wrong way? >> mortgage credit is definitely tight. the banks are all very worried about another mortgage crisis. so credit conditions definitely have to thaw. we need a little bit more loosening to attract more buyers. but i would say it's really more about the job market and income growth that would solve a lot of the problem. >> what role in your mind do students -- or people recently out of school, in the last ten years, is that sort of a segment of the home buying population that we need to be thinking about? we have spoken to home builders who say they need a different product. and the product that's available right now is priced out of the range of that typical first-time buyer. >> yeah, i think there's some truth to that. certainly on the mortgage side of things a little bit more flexibility in the product. understanding where these buyers are coming from. and we're seeing a lot of changes in taste, and will need new product in terms of the houses these individuals want to by. more multi-family. more condos. people are attracted more to the urban areas now. and that's why it is difficult to assign a specific number to any of these moving parts. >> thank you so much for joining us, chris. >> thank you. the city of san francisco is making a bold push to support urban farming, but housing advocates are pushing back. they say a new tax is too again rousz. >> reporter: in the middle of san francisco sits a bee farm. run by volunteers who plant flowers and fruit trees, and produce honey for the neighborhood. >> this was basically an old vacant lot. and it had never been developed because it has a bill board on it. >> reporter: now this lot's owner and other interested landowners have an extra incentive for setting up community gardens. a new city tax break. someone paying $10,000 in taxes before would now pay about $100. their property assessed at farm land instead of prime real estate. urban farms must sell or donate produce to the community or act as a teaching site. >> this legislation would help encourage or incent those property owners to think about turning a corner of the city that is blighted or vacant, turning it into an urban garden, a little urban oasis. >> translator: san francisco is not the only city to have passed a law encouraging urban farms, places across the country have come up with incentives like this one. however, with san francisco's tight real estate market, some wonder whether the city can afford to use any space for anything other than housing. >> the median home prize is hovering around $1 million. the median rents or between $3,500 and $4,000. this is a crisis. let's use every bit of land as smartly as we can. >> reporter: but there are few empty lots and advocates have no illusions about how many plots can sprout up. >> we're not naive to think we can feed ourselves in a city like san francisco. but how much question we do? >> reporter: this urban farm serves those living below the poverty line. >> they will provide over a thousand pounds of food that gets given away to people who have a immediate for fresh pro do you see >> reporter: advocates hope this will inspire more to join the movement. up next, inn dea's prime minister is taking the united states by storm. i'll tell you how we managed to change his image, and why the u.s. now considers him a necessary global partner. ♪ president obama is hosting prime minister narendra modi at the white house tonight following a soldout event at madison square garden last night. his rock star appearance represents a remarkable turn around for man that once was denied a visa into the united states. that rejection came out after riots broke out in the state where he was chief minister. he was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence. modi is now heard of the second-most-populous country in the world, and president obama wants to improve relations between the two countries. convincing america, inc. to invest in india. he met the ceos of several large companies. modi is promising a friendlier business environment and wants american companies to help india boost its slowing economic growth. behind me you can see a one -- well, you can see modi at the moment, but in theory you are going to -- there we go -- a year on year comparison of the long-term foreign money that has come into india's economy this year versus last year called foreign district investment, it already shows -- i see -- 2014 is this collar, 2013 is purple. it already shows a positive trend since modi took office. i don't know what that is talking about. let's get rid of this. let's talk with the american who considers modi's meeting with the corporations more important than his meeting with president obama. great to see you. >> good to see you too. >> what happened here? this guy -- virtually nobody gets that kind of attention. soldout crowd at madison square garden. he is pivoting around. indian heards who were not nearly as controversial never got that. >> that's precisely the message. he was denied a visa in 2005. the night before meeting obama there is 20,000 people cheering him on. if that's not an example of laeb frogging, i don't know what is. so he shows up, and there was sort of this set up, with bali wood dancers, balloons, and classical singers. so the stage was set for him. >> very interesting. why -- look america cares because this is the second-most-populous country in the world. it is growing at a rate that it will become larger than china. obviously americans want access to it. but the problem has been on the indian side. it's harder for american companies to do business in india. >> absolutely right. for all of the stories of the growth in the last 15 years, you talk to american who goes over there to invest, and say what was your impression? and they said we didn't know it was still going to be so poor. that airport was a disaster. so we needs to turn that around. >> he did that in his home state. so there's some feeling he can do this in the whole country. a little reminiscent to when obama became president. it's harder to turn things around than it appears to be. >> that's right. and we're talking about really turning around a socialist economy, opening it up, getting rid of some of the strangle hold, and fixing those roads and infrastructure. >> what is the biggest hold up in what is the hardest about india to do business in? because really, people will jump over a lot of hurdles to do business with that big of audience. >> i think if you would talk to the ceos, they would say red tape, corruption, and it takes so long to do anything. >> what is the fastest way for india to make this happen. they have gone to these joint venture ideas, where an indian company will pair up with an american company. but now we're looking at district investment. what are the early things he should be thinking about? >> for sure there is opening up more sectors, but then there's also taking the sectors that are already liberalized and act like they are truly liberallized. so the mining sector has years of delay to get permits. as long as it has resources folks will still be lining up, they just need to make it easier. >> india has a border with china. and they have had some tension recently. in this pivot away from china, is that a role where india needs the u.s. and u.s. needs india. >> i would say india needs the u.s. if the two align that might make life easier. right now is that on the table with obama? modi has said no, you don't need to intervene in these border issues. so he has been caution about invoking u.s. muscle in his problems. >> but hanging around in the u.s. and being a rock star when he is there -- >> he's take that. >> yeah. >> if you are not regularly on quart -- quarts you should be. all right. bill gates is the richest man in america again. a lot of newcomers to the list, 27 of them to be exact. many earned their fortunes in silicon valley. some of the new kids on the block, including some guy i don't know -- well, i know, i just can't say his name. all right. coming up next, big bertha on ice. the highway project is on pause. a construction project is off schedule, probably doesn't surprise anyone, but the reason behind this delay is mainly because of a broken drill. an $80 million drill named big bertha that has received plenty of attention from this show and others. >> reporter: this is a huge project, the essence of a mega project. chris dixon is the man in charge here, running the biggest tunnel-boring machine in the world. the machine, nicknamed bertha is big all right, 7,000 tons. big enough to have its own control room. but it is stopped dead and hasn't made any forward project in ten months. >> we're in about 1,000 feet of tunnel. >> bertha's massive drilling head broke down when it chewed into an 8-inch steel pipe. do these other go exactly the way you think they are going to go? >> no, there's always hiccups that occur. >> reporter: to fix it the drilling head will be taken out, repaired, strengthened, and reinstalled. while there is still plenty more work to be done, bertha will not be able to work again until next march. this is one of the biggest construction boondoggles in the country. >> it's really a loss that we can't afford. >> reporter: the tunnel will replace see ats 60-year-old earthquake damaged waterfront highway. it carries more than a hundred thousand cars aday. voters picked the tunnel option. total projected cost, about $3 billion. including nearly a billion in federal money. project managers say they are not over budget yet. >> the contractor is committed to completing what they started, and frankly so are we. >> reporter: do you still have full faith in what you call the tbm and everybody else calls bertha? >> yes. >> reporter: meanwhile work goes on with 90% of that two-mile tunnelling job still ahead. okay. boondoggle or not, seattle's big dig is the biggest transportation project out there today. and no one can deny more needs to be done to repair the infrastructure. the american society of civil engineers gave this country's road and transit systems a d. the group said 42% of american's major urban highways continue to suffer from congestion, costing $101 billion in wasted time and fuel ere year. seattle was forced to do something because of the dangers the highway posed f after sustaining a earthquake. it decided to take an expensive root. it's clear now the $3 billion estimated price tag will go up, but that's no reason not to complete the project, and just because such mega projects come with mega costs doesn't mean we should put off making necessary investments to repair america's infrastructure. yeah, big projects typically come with cost overruns. that speaks ill of planning and approval, doesn't speak ill of the need to fix america's decaying infrastructure. america's only going to keep its competitive edge by making the necessary investments to build and maintain a first-rate infrastructure that is going to helping us all grow. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thank you for joining us. ♪ hi, earn, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. fighting for democracy, and defying beijing, the protesters in hong kong wait for china's next move. and the white house intruder made it much further than previously thought. plus a former isil fighter on why he became a killer, and why he gave it

Transcripts For ALJAZAM Real Money With Ali Velshi 20140930

i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." this is "real money," you are the most important part of the show, so tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me or hit me up on facebook. it is being called an umbrella revolution in hong kong. tens of thousands of protesters occupying the streets and they are not leaving. they demand china back off moves to nominate candidates for the elections in 2015. the tactics to get them to disperse are not working. the sun is up in hong kong, the police have pulled back at least for a while. meanwhile the number of protesters camped out as swelled to as high as 80,000 for the weekend. it's a very rare seen of discord in one of the world's biggest financial hubs. protestest similar 25 years ago that were violent by suppressed in the end. kong. >> reporter: exactly how many people are out here. what i can tell you is these protest verse taken up about two miles of this several-lane highway, which is usually busy day and night. i'm also hearing across the harbor in a couple of financial districts, they have also managed to take over those areas. police are standing by, but they have had very little interference. they are mostly watching very closely in pockets, not too visible. people are concerned that there could be a repeat of the tear gas that broke up protests several days ago. they have come with gas masks, with cling film, and they have been handing out towels and other such items that would protect people from tear gas or pepper spray, but it has been largely quiet here. every now and then you'll see the momentum lifting with singing and chanting, but it's mostly people gathering and expressing their concerns. this is very important to beijing who are thinking about how they are going to handle these protests. there has been largely a lot of support for the protesters, mainly from the youth camp, but also from the older generations who are a lot more cautious but also have been expressing their desire for full democracy i hong kong. >> local residents have civil liberties that are not enjoyed by most chinese like freedom of the press. the densely populated port was returned to chinese control in 1997 after a century and a half of british rule. hong kong was able to preserve some of the institutions that the british left behind. they include independent courts, and a low-tax ethos that helped turn hong kong into an international powerhouse. china also promised they would let them vote for their own leaders, but that changed last month when they gave officials veto power over those who may run. adrian brown has the story. >> reporter: china's leadership has been restrained in its events in hong kong, but it's clear they think unnamed countries are behind the unrest. >> translator: we oppose any country that interferes with china's internal affairs. we also firmly oppose any country that supports the movement in any way. >> reporter: the student-led protests bring back uncomfortable memories of what happened in beijing more than 25 years when the occupation ended in bloodshed. but what will china do if unrest worsens in hong kong, where it has 6,000 soldiers. >> they don't need to go to the last step. it is very, very pragmatic to let the whole process run its due cause. and people will come to the realization that peace and stability are more precious than chaos and instability. >> reporter: but is this another hint of government thinking? the article says china's armed forces could restore order in hong kong. it appeared on the website of the global times newspaper but has since been deleted. on the streets most people told us they were unaware of what was happening in hong kong. the few who did know say the protests have gone too far. >> translator: they have a legal right to protest, but occupying the city center is too aggressive. >> reporter: strict media controls have been tightened. state tv is mentioning though unrest but has not been airing photos. china hopes that the protest it calls illegal will simply taper out, expressing confidence that the hong kong authorities will contain the unrest and insisting it will never give in to the protesters demands. a display of solidarity of the students in hong kong. its president spoke to al jazeera before the hong kong protests, insisting beijing must be prudent in how it handles decent. >> translator: it's not only important to the people of hong kong, the people of taiwan are also watching. >> reporter: but no one is watching more closely than china's government. >> this is all happening at a pivotal time in history, china is forecast to overtake the american economy this year, although it is slowing down. but it is still much lower than the double-digit growth china has been seeing for much of the last three decades. hong kong, you can see people are starting to mill around, many are sitting down and lying down as daybreak has set in. this has been the conduit for foreign capitol fuelling that growth. so china's leaders have mostly agreed to let them be free, but that appears to be changing. the question is how far will china go to break up these protests. not reacting firmly enough could embolder disdense in the rest of china. militia chan spent over five years as the network's china correspondent. she joins us now from san francisco. melissa you understand this very, very well. the narrative is that this protest is about hong kong pressing for more control over who its local elected leaders are. but that's about half the story, isn't it? >> absolutely. that's definitely what people in hong kong are saying right now, but this is a story that has been long time going. frankly over the past decade or so, the middle class have be shrinking. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. so this is the economic situation in hong kong. prospects are really bad for people there. and it has being translated. there is a political call right now. you might wonder why people aren't making those economic demands. well it is because they have been for the last year. it goes without saying for the people on the ground that this is partly to do with the economy, they have just shifted the conversation right now. it's something that i do feel overlooking. >> let's talk about this. like we talk about the income divide, the difference between the rich and poor, that is magnified in a city like hong kong, when you are landing, it is gleaming, it's beautiful, it looks like one of the most prosperous places on earth, but you find some of the most densely populated areas in the world. the property values that are some of the highest in the world that a working person in hong kong would sometimes find it hard to afford. >> absolutely. a lot of educated people in hong kong don't have the kind of employment tune that's they expect. that they expected back in the 1990s, for example. you see the discontent with college-age students. they are driving this protest now, because they are looking at their prospects and there isn't a future for them. for a people in their 30s and 40s, people do eventually want to move out, and start their own families, and you are looking at a housing crisis where people can't afford to do that. it has gotten so expensive, and there is a little bit of a mainland china element. because a lot of people from china internally have been fuelling the housing boom, buying up property, and essentially squeezing out the locals and their ability to really buy a house in hong kong. >> i was saying that china has had relative freedom of the press. in the last month or so, there have been actions taken against newspaper that seem to have some connection to the prodemocracy movement, some advertisers have pulled some advertising. it's almost like china is encroaching its press restrictions into hong kong. i think that's something to watch for. >> that is absolutely something to watch for. and i think the really important thing to understand is that people in honk kong, there is a very robust civil society. they value things like press freedom. it is part of the economy, but part of the issue is of course the politics. they are used to a very free willing media. it is more free willing than singapore, and arguably in japan where a lot of the media organizations have close relationships with the government. so people do not like that kind of infrankment, and over a decade ago people were already protesting when they considered that the rule of law was being violated by beijing and china. this is not the first time a lot of people in hong kong have turned out on the streets. there was a protest against a certain article in the hong kong constitution where people protested. it was a clause that said that people in hong kong could not say anything negative against the chinese government, and really, frankly, you are seeing that happen right now on the streets. >> interesting. melissa thank you for your analysis. up next, it has been six years since the government bailed out insurance giant aig. now the ceo says it wasn't a bailout. it was extortion, and he is suing the government. plus the ripple effects of crushing student debt crisis. even the housing market is feeling the pain. those stories and more as "real keep it here. ♪ >> 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 ♪n al jazeera america the initials aig are enough to send shiverst down the spines of many of us who lived through the horror of the 2008 financial crisis. i'm one of them. american international group is the insurance giant bailed out by the u.s. government at a cost of $182 billion. well, today a lawyer for aig's former chief said the terms of the bailout were extortion. the attorney is just one of the key characters in this unusual trial look going whether the government broke the law when it took control of aig as part of the bailout. the lawsuit came from star international lead by this man. star was aig's largest shareholder. next week on deck to testify, three very familiar faces, ben bernanke, tim geithner, and henry pahlsson. gina was at the trial today. she joins me now from washington. now gina this is a new trial, but not a new concept. hank greenberg said that aig was held to a different standard than even the banks in terms of their culpability, their responsibility for triggering the crisis, and that they were treated unfairly. what is the meat of this argument? >> yeah, you are right. he is arguing that aig got much harsher terms, about 14% on their loan, which they described as extortion in the court hearings today. that was very different from banks like citigroup or morgan stanley who they said contributed to the crisis, but got a much lower interest rate on their loans. and they questioned why that was the case, also the government took a 79.9% stake in aig as part of the bailout terms. they argue that the government did not do that to the other banks that again, contributed to the crisis, so they are questioning why they are the only ones being punished and the other banks much got much more favorable terms. >> let's look at this. most people would probably think this would be a boring trial to cover. this is probably one of the most juicy things i have heard in a long time. the government lawyer said the goal was not to save aig, but to save the world from aig. aig says it was not responsible for manipulating mortgages. that's true. but they sold these credit default swaps and that's what the government held it responsible for doing. >> no, you are exactly right. i mean, aig is trying to act like a bit of a victim here, the shareholders are trying to act like a bit of a victim, but they argue that aig also had responsibility for knowing what was happening on its books, and they did not know for a long time. and the hole they estimated they had kept getting biggerer, and they eventually need $182 billion. so aig is definitely not without fault here as the government argued today. >> and the board of aig is not party to this lawsuit. why? >> no, you are exactly right. and that's something that the government pointed out today, that aig and the board had an opportunity to join this lawsuit with mr. greenberg, and they declined, and in the worlds of the government attorney, he said that their message instead was thank you america. we actually appreciate what you did for the company in rescuing us, since the alternative was bankruptcy and possible economic catastrophe. so the government made a point of making that distinction that aig and the board were appreciative where mr. greenberg was not >> the government's lawyer made pint of this is the epitome of too big to failure. hank greenberg understood that aig was so critical to the global economy that he felt he should have been able to get better terms. >> yeah, exactly. that basically he and the other shareholders felt entitled, essentially to get a better rescue, a better compensation, and the government is pointing out that aig and its shareholders were never entitled to a bailout. the government could have let them fail and it would have been a bigger moral hazard to allow a firm in distress to dictate the bailout terms, because what could that say in the future of other financial institutions taking risks, because they know the government will rescue them on their terms. >> this is going to get a lot more interesting to the world if the three have to testify. deposed. >> yes, that was supposed to be sealed testimony, although some of it has already leaked a bit, as you can imagine of the interest in this. and next week it will be the first time they are publicly questioned about what went on at the fed, at the treasury, during the bailout and how did they decide who to rescue and who to let fail. >> that in itself is going to be interest testimony. are we going to have ben bernanke testifying? >> there was a scheduling issue. but the judge specifically said that they have known for months when the trial was supposed to take place, so the witnesses really needed to make every effort to show up, and they said they had worked it out. so we will expect to see all of them next week. >> all right. gina thank you so much for that. investors are reportedly pulling billions of dollars from investment firm pemco after bill gross left the firm. last week the firm said its leadership team and gross has quote fundamental differences about how to take pimco forward. the wall street journal reports that investors have bulled about $10 billion from pimco in the wake of gross's departure. last week i told you about the bad year gross had been having, the $222 billion total return fund, check your ira 401k, you might have some in portfolio. they are now investigating whether they artificially inflated its returns. coming up our series on america's middle class continues, with an update on the williams family. you won't believe what happened stay with us. ♪ >> 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. ♪ it's time now to check in with one of the victims we have been followed -- one of the families we have been following as part of our series rebuilding the american dream. tonight a troubling development for the williams family. stephanie williams landed a higher-paying job mentoring math teachers. but that meant the family of six had to move into the city. so they left their suburban home which is underwater, meaning they owe more than it is worth. they were renting a duplex, then they received the news that the owner of their new app - apartment has gone into foreclosure. >> we may be back to square one with nowhere to go. >> on moving day i was very happy. i was ready to just start a new life. >> i just fell in love with the home. it's almost like a dream home. it's everything we wanted. it's space, and a decent price compared to what these homes are around here. when i first heard the home was in foreclosure, you know, i was in total disbelief and shock at that -- at that moment, because here i am thinking that i found my perfect home and the next thing i know it's like a gut punch basically. so what ended up happening is the home sold august 28th. and we're still waiting to here if they are going to tell us we have to move. >> if we have to leaf, it will be a struggle to pack up with the kids. >> i don't even want to move them again. that's the devastating part to me. i feel just disheartened by that. especially when they just get used to being where they are, and loving it as well. i try to keep a positive mind pessimistic. >> if they can't find anybody to sell the place to, they are going to say, get out, and we're going to let it sit empty. so i'm hoping either they don't sell it, and they just go ahead and keep collecting from us, or, you know, they do sell it, and the new landlord is trying to have it as a rental property versus a home for themselves. >> perfect scenario, is the bank will say, we'll work with you guys and give you a mortgage. >> stephanie is obviously still feeling burned from her experiences as a homeowner. the williams are still debating whether to go into foreclosure in the home that they own which is underwater, or try for a short sale where the lender agrees to take less than what is owed. buying a mid-range home is still out of reach for many families. the obvious question is why? red fin published a report titled in 2014 plenty more homes for sale that you probably can't afford. troy martin is the author of the report, and i asked him why mid-range homes are not affordable to the middle class. >> we have seen less inventory on the market, and sellers have reported that things have gotten more competitive. but when we dug into that data to see what has really been going on, what we found was that most of that inventory has come out of the middle price range in the market. so we have a lot of sellers who have been facing high competition not just for other buyers, but from company investors who have been buying up multiple properties and converting them to rentals, and also all-cash purchasers. more than 30% of the transactions last year were all cash. and it has contributed to this really competitive market, and for people who are looking in the middle range, it has gotten tougher and tougher. >> we have done stories on those companies that are buying up homes and some people say creating a renter nation. and some people say we're glad they had them. but where is the rest of the market? are these investors or not cash? >> it's folks with cash who figure there's money to be made. there's not a lot of new construction so people who have the liquidity to do it are coming into the market, looking for opportunities, finding homes that could use some rehab, flipping it and putting it back on the market at a higher price. >> i would imagine, though, this is -- we think about the housing market. it is called a market for a reason. why hasn't the market fixed this problem because folks are greedy so we're not really considering the needs of this -- this group that needs to be able to buy houses that they can afford? >> well, a lot of that activity has happened already. prices have come up. and we have start to see cash buyers start to come back a little bit this year, but now prices are higher and there is still not a lot of inventory. and there hasn't been a lot of new construction either. we have seen some increase in that this year, but we're still coming off of historical lows -- >> and a lot of that new construction has been at a higher end. >> that's absolutely true. >> so what happens? noeshl norm oolly i can see something happening and i can understand what the correction is going to be, but i don't understand what this correction is going to be. >> it is a struggle and it is going to continue to be a bit of a struggle, but we're optimistic that the market is going to balance out a little bit more. we're hopefully going to continue to see new construction. and we have seen about a quarter of all homes listed for sale have had price drops, which means that sellers are getting the message that 2014 isn't going to be like it was last year, they can't list their home for a really high price and sell way over list. buyers are not responding to that, and they can't afford homes in the price range they are being listed at. >> for those people that can't afford to buy a home commensurate with where they think they are in life, what does that mean? they become renters? >> they become renters or they have to stay patient or maybe save up for larger down payment so they can have more leverage against these different types of competition. coming up next, i'm going to tell you how the student debt crisis is burning home sales. plus mending fences with india. ♪ >> 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, documentary series. chasing bail only on al jazeera america >> an al jazeera america special report families torn apart, fleeing isil's brutality >> the refugees have flooded this small town... >> can they survive? don't miss primetime news on al jazeera america all this week ♪ it's getting harder to assess the health of the housing market. the national association of realtors says contracts to purchase existing homes fell more than expected in august. the group's performance fell 1% in july. and that followed a gain in june. the index plunged last year, but has been rising since this last march. analysts say the decline is partly because investors are buying fewer homes. the chief economist is optimistic that an improved job market will mean more first time home buyers come in and replace investors backing away from real estate. but here is a reason to worry that first time home buyers might not be able to pick up the slack. the average american who has student debt owes roughly $33,000, and that may cost the u.s. economy more than $80 billion. >> reporter: 414,000 homes will be unsold this year, because would-be buyers who are so saddled with debt, they cannot afford to buy. in that amounts to $83 billion in lost home sales. beth acres is an economist with the brookings institution. >> there is going to be a relationship between student loan debt and the ability of young people to buy houses. >> reporter: banks have their hands tied. in exchange for strong legal protections, banks cannot approval applications if the borrowers anticipated sdet more than 43% of its income. a student debt-free household applying for an fha loan with 3.5% down, qualifies. but throw in a monthly student debt of $250 or more, and the bank will deny the application, because the total monthly debt would be greater than 43% of its income. critics of the analysis say the complicated. >> any estimates that are only capturing the effect of having to make those payments are really missing the other piece of the equation. they have the extra bills, but have higher earnings that go hand in hand with that. >> every $250 of monthly debt lowers the mortgage limit by $44,000. that creates a catch-22 as more people take on student debt, they might also be reducing their likelihood of buying a home. that's an interesting conundrum, isn't it? today nearly 6 million households pay $250 per month in student debt. that's up from 2.2 million in 2005. joining us is moody's analytic economist. he has done extensive research on this situation. and he says the number of 400,000 unsold homes sited in the study duarte told us about is too high. to chris, is there a number you can attach to unsold homes because of student debt? >> thank you for having me on the show. i would say it's very difficult to isolate. there are so many moving parts between tight mortgage credit. income growth that's very stagnant and a job market that still needs to grow. it's very difficult to assign a specific number to any individual part of this. clearly student next has an impact it's just debatable what the size of that is right now. >> we hear this number, but this is a thing where averages and cumulative numbers don't actually help you. we need to figure out what the graduating student typically had on hand, and this is one of those things where these generalities are difficult to impose on the situation. >> that's absolutely right. and is the question that student debt is too high or income too low? i would fall in the camp that income growth is lacking, wage growth has been stagnant and that is really what is keeping first time home buyers from coming into the market. >> do mortgages need to change? because one of the things we heard about in duarte's piece is not having your debt average more than 43%. is that a way or are we looking at this the wrong way? >> mortgage credit is definitely tight. the banks are all very worried about another mortgage crisis. so credit conditions definitely have to thaw. we need a little bit more loosening to attract more buyers. but i would say it's really more about the job market and income growth that would solve a lot of the problem. >> what role in your mind do students -- or people recently out of school, in the last ten years, is that sort of a segment of the home buying population that we need to be thinking about? we have spoken to home builders who say they need a different product. and the product that's available right now is priced out of the buyer. >> yeah, i think there's some truth to that. certainly on the mortgage side of things a little bit more flexibility in the product. understanding where these buyers are coming from. and we're seeing a lot of changes in taste, and will need new product in terms of the houses these individuals want to by. more multi-family. more condos. people are attracted more to the urban areas now. and that's why it is difficult to assign a specific number to any of these moving parts. >> thank you so much for joining us, chris. >> thank you. the city of san francisco is making a bold push to support urban farming, but housing advocates are pushing back. they say a new tax is too again rousz. >> reporter: in the middle of san francisco sits a bee farm. run by volunteers who plant flowers and fruit trees, and neighborhood. >> this was basically an old vacant lot. and it had never been developed it. >> reporter: now this lot's owner and other interested landowners have an extra incentive for setting up community gardens. a new city tax break. someone paying $10,000 in taxes before would now pay about $100. their property assessed at farm land instead of prime real estate. urban farms must sell or donate produce to the community or act as a teaching site. >> this legislation would help encourage or incent those property owners to think about turning a corner of the city that is blighted or vacant, turning it into an urban garden, a little urban oasis. >> translator: san francisco is not the only city to have passed a law encouraging urban farms, places across the country have come up with incentives like this one. however, with san francisco's tight real estate market, some wonder whether the city can afford to use any space for anything other than housing. >> the median home prize is hovering around $1 million. the median rents or between $3,500 and $4,000. this is a crisis. let's use every bit of land as smartly as we can. >> reporter: but there are few empty lots and advocates have no illusions about how many plots can sprout up. >> we're not naive to think we can feed ourselves in a city like san francisco. but how much question we do? >> reporter: this urban farm serves those living below the poverty line. >> they will provide over a thousand pounds of food that gets given away to people who have a immediate for fresh pro do you see >> reporter: advocates hope this will inspire more to join the movement. up next, inn dea's prime minister is taking the united states by storm. i'll tell you how we managed to change his image, and why the u.s. now considers him a necessary global partner. ♪ president obama is hosting prime minister narendra modi at the white house tonight following a soldout event at madison square garden last night. his rock star appearance represents a remarkable turn around for man that once was denied a visa into the united states. that rejection came out after riots broke out in the state where he was chief minister. he was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence. modi is now heard of the second-most-populous country in the world, and president obama wants to improve relations between the two countries. convincing america, inc. to invest in india. he met the ceos of several large companies. modi is promising a friendlier business environment and wants american companies to help india boost its slowing economic growth. behind me you can see a one -- well, you can see modi at the moment, but in theory you are going to -- there we go -- a year on year comparison of the long-term foreign money that has come into india's economy this year versus last year called foreign district investment, it already shows -- i see -- 2014 is this collar, 2013 is purple. it already shows a positive trend since modi took office. i don't know what that is talking about. let's get rid of this. let's talk with the american who considers modi's meeting with the corporations more important than his meeting with president obama. great to see you. >> good to see you too. >> what happened here? this guy -- virtually nobody gets that kind of attention. soldout crowd at madison square garden. he is pivoting around. indian heards who were not nearly as controversial never got that. >> that's precisely the message. he was denied a visa in 2005. the night before meeting obama there is 20,000 people cheering him on. if that's not an example of laeb frogging, i don't know what is. so he shows up, and there was sort of this set up, with bali wood dancers, balloons, and classical singers. so the stage was set for him. >> very interesting. why -- look america cares because this is the second-most-populous country in the world. it is growing at a rate that it will become larger than china. obviously americans want access to it. but the problem has been on the indian side. it's harder for american india. >> absolutely right. for all of the stories of the growth in the last 15 years, you talk to american who goes over there to invest, and say what was your impression? and they said we didn't know it was still going to be so poor. that airport was a disaster. so we needs to turn that around. >> he did that in his home state. so there's some feeling he can do this in the whole country. a little reminiscent to when obama became president. it's harder to turn things around than it appears to be. >> that's right. and we're talking about really turning around a socialist economy, opening it up, getting rid of some of the strangle hold, and fixing those roads and infrastructure. >> what is the biggest hold up in what is the hardest about india to do business in? because really, people will jump over a lot of hurdles to do audience. >> i think if you would talk to the ceos, they would say red tape, corruption, and it takes so long to do anything. >> what is the fastest way for india to make this happen. they have gone to these joint venture ideas, where an indian company will pair up with an american company. but now we're looking at district investment. what are the early things he should be thinking about? >> for sure there is opening up more sectors, but then there's also taking the sectors that are already liberalized and act like they are truly liberallized. so the mining sector has years of delay to get permits. as long as it has resources folks will still be lining up, easier. >> india has a border with china. and they have had some tension recently. in this pivot away from china, is that a role where india needs the u.s. and u.s. needs india. >> i would say india needs the u.s. if the two align that might make life easier. right now is that on the table with obama? modi has said no, you don't need to intervene in these border issues. so he has been caution about invoking u.s. muscle in his problems. >> but hanging around in the u.s. and being a rock star when he is there -- >> he's take that. >> yeah. >> if you are not regularly on quart -- quarts you should be. all right. bill gates is the richest man in america again. a lot of newcomers to the list, 27 of them to be exact. many earned their fortunes in silicon valley. some of the new kids on the block, including some guy i don't know -- well, i know, i just can't say his name. all right. coming up next, big bertha on ice. the highway project is on pause. >> the sun isn't up yet, but david godeski is. godeski has been homeless in washington d.c. for nearly 7 years. last night, like most, he slept outside. with affordable housing getting increasingly scarce here, there's been a spike in the number of homeless. churches, food pantries, the city, are all scrambling to meet the demand. at the public library's main branch, homeless individuals rush in when the doors open, some are even dropped off by a shuttle bus from the homeless shelters. once inside, they log onto computers to job hunt or check email. they meet friends or just read, protected from the elements. >> for many years we would sort of open our doors and say "okay, we've done our job", because we're providing them a warm place to go if they've got no place else to be. >> now, social worker jean badalamenti will help provide information on homeless services and will "sensitize" staff. while government, residents and local businesses argue over the role of the libraries, david godeski is just glad they're here. >> having a place like this where things are controlled, it's a godsend. >> so godeski will be back every day he can. a construction project is off schedule, probably doesn't surprise anyone, but the reason behind this delay is mainly because of a broken drill. an $80 million drill named big bertha that has received plenty of attention from this show and others. >> reporter: this is a huge project, the essence of a mega project. chris dixon is the man in charge here, running the biggest tunnel-boring machine in the world. the machine, nicknamed bertha is big all right, 7,000 tons. big enough to have its own control room. but it is stopped dead and hasn't made any forward project in ten months. tunnel. >> bertha's massive drilling head broke down when it chewed into an 8-inch steel pipe. do these other go exactly the go? >> no, there's always hiccups that occur. >> reporter: to fix it the drilling head will be taken out, repaired, strengthened, and reinstalled. while there is still plenty more work to be done, bertha will not be able to work again until next march. this is one of the biggest construction boondoggles country. >> it's really a loss that we can't afford. >> reporter: the tunnel will replace see ats 60-year-old earthquake damaged waterfront highway. it carries more than a hundred thousand cars aday. voters picked the tunnel option. total projected cost, about $3 billion. including nearly a billion in federal money. project managers say they are not over budget yet. >> the contractor is committed to completing what they started, and frankly so are we. >> reporter: do you still have full faith in what you call the bertha? >> yes. >> reporter: meanwhile work goes on with 90% of that two-mile tunnelling job still ahead. okay. boondoggle or not, seattle's big dig is the biggest transportation project out there today. and no one can deny more needs to be done to repair the infrastructure. the american society of civil engineers gave this country's road and transit systems a d. the group said 42% of american's major urban highways continue to suffer from congestion, costing $101 billion in wasted time and fuel ere year. seattle was forced to do something because of the dangers the highway posed f after sustaining a earthquake. it decided to take an expensive root. it's clear now the $3 billion estimated price tag will go up, but that's no reason not to complete the project, and just because such mega projects come with mega costs doesn't mean we should put off making necessary investments to repair america's infrastructure. yeah, big projects typically come with cost overruns. that speaks ill of planning and approval, doesn't speak ill of the need to fix america's decaying infrastructure. america's only going to keep its competitive edge by making the necessary investments to build and maintain a first-rate infrastructure that is going to helping us all grow. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thank you for joining us. ♪ >> tensions rise as i.s.i.l. fighters move closer to a key kurdish town in syria. hello, i'm darren jordon, this is al jazeera live from doha. also - hong kong's leader says china will not back down as they set a wednesday deadline. afghanistan to sign a long-awaited security deal allowing some u.s. troops to stay on the ground. i'm outside new delhi where a gandhi statue is being made. we speak to the artist, sti

Transcripts For ALJAZAM Real Money With Ali Velshi 20140930

i'm ali velshi. this is "real money." this is "real money," you are the most important part of the show, so tell me what is on your mind by tweeting me or hit me up on facebook. it is being called an umbrella revolution in hong kong. tens of thousands of protesters occupying the streets and they are not leaving. they demand china back off moves to nominate candidates for the elections in 2015. the tactics to get them to disperse are not working. the sun is up in hong kong, the police have pulled back at least for a while. meanwhile the number of protesters camped out as swelled to as high as 80,000 for the weekend. it's a very rare seen of discord in one of the world's biggest financial hubs. protestest similar 25 years ago that were violent by suppressed in the end. kong. >> reporter: exactly how many people are out here. what i can tell you is these protest verse taken up about two miles of this several-lane highway, which is usually busy day and night. i'm also hearing across the harbor in a couple of financial districts, they have also managed to take over those areas. police are standing by, but they have had very little interference. they are mostly watching very closely in pockets, not too visible. people are concerned that there could be a repeat of the tear gas that broke up protests several days ago. they have come with gas masks, with cling film, and they have been handing out towels and other such items that would protect people from tear gas or pepper spray, but it has been largely quiet here. every now and then you'll see the momentum lifting with singing and chanting, but it's mostly people gathering and expressing their concerns. this is very important to beijing who are thinking about how they are going to handle these protests. there has been largely a lot of support for the protesters, mainly from the youth camp, but also from the older generations who are a lot more cautious but also have been expressing their desire for full democracy i hong kong. >> local residents have civil liberties that are not enjoyed by most chinese like freedom of the press. the densely populated port was returned to chinese control in 1997 after a century and a half of british rule. hong kong was able to preserve some of the institutions that the british left behind. they include independent courts, and a low-tax ethos that helped turn hong kong into an international powerhouse. china also promised they would let them vote for their own leaders, but that changed last month when they gave officials veto power over those who may run. adrian brown has the story. >> reporter: china's leadership has been restrained in its events in hong kong, but it's clear they think unnamed countries are behind the unrest. >> translator: we oppose any country that interferes with china's internal affairs. we also firmly oppose any country that supports the movement in any way. >> reporter: the student-led protests bring back uncomfortable memories of what happened in beijing more than 25 years when the occupation ended in bloodshed. but what will china do if unrest worsens in hong kong, where it has 6,000 soldiers. >> they don't need to go to the last step. it is very, very pragmatic to let the whole process run its due cause. and people will come to the realization that peace and stability are more precious than chaos and instability. >> reporter: but is this another hint of government thinking? the article says china's armed forces could restore order in hong kong. it appeared on the website of the global times newspaper but has since been deleted. on the streets most people told us they were unaware of what was happening in hong kong. the few who did know say the protests have gone too far. >> translator: they have a legal right to protest, but occupying the city center is too aggressive. >> reporter: strict media controls have been tightened. state tv is mentioning though unrest but has not been airing photos. china hopes that the protest it calls illegal will simply taper out, expressing confidence that the hong kong authorities will contain the unrest and insisting it will never give in to the protesters demands. a display of solidarity of the students in hong kong. its president spoke to al jazeera before the hong kong protests, insisting beijing must be prudent in how it handles decent. >> translator: it's not only important to the people of hong kong, the people of taiwan are also watching. >> reporter: but no one is watching more closely than china's government. >> this is all happening at a pivotal time in history, china is forecast to overtake the american economy this year, although it is slowing down. but it is still much lower than the double-digit growth china has been seeing for much of the last three decades. hong kong, you can see people are starting to mill around, many are sitting down and lying down as daybreak has set in. this has been the conduit for foreign capitol fuelling that growth. so china's leaders have mostly agreed to let them be free, but that appears to be changing. the question is how far will china go to break up these protests. not reacting firmly enough could embolder disdense in the rest of china. militia chan spent over five years as the network's china correspondent. she joins us now from san francisco. melissa you understand this very, very well. the narrative is that this protest is about hong kong pressing for more control over who its local elected leaders are. but that's about half the story, isn't it? >> absolutely. that's definitely what people in hong kong are saying right now, but this is a story that has been long time going. frankly over the past decade or so, the middle class have be shrinking. the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. so this is the economic situation in hong kong. prospects are really bad for people there. and it has being translated. there is a political call right now. you might wonder why people aren't making those economic demands. well it is because they have been for the last year. it goes without saying for the people on the ground that this is partly to do with the economy, they have just shifted the conversation right now. it's something that i do feel overlooking. >> let's talk about this. like we talk about the income divide, the difference between the rich and poor, that is magnified in a city like hong kong, when you are landing, it is gleaming, it's beautiful, it looks like one of the most prosperous places on earth, but you find some of the most densely populated areas in the world. the property values that are some of the highest in the world that a working person in hong kong would sometimes find it hard to afford. >> absolutely. a lot of educated people in hong kong don't have the kind of employment tune that's they expect. that they expected back in the 1990s, for example. you see the discontent with college-age students. they are driving this protest now, because they are looking at their prospects and there isn't a future for them. for a people in their 30s and 40s, people do eventually want to move out, and start their own families, and you are looking at a housing crisis where people can't afford to do that. it has gotten so expensive, and there is a little bit of a mainland china element. because a lot of people from china internally have been fuelling the housing boom, buying up property, and essentially squeezing out the locals and their ability to really buy a house in hong kong. >> i was saying that china has had relative freedom of the press. in the last month or so, there have been actions taken against newspaper that seem to have some connection to the prodemocracy movement, some advertisers have pulled some advertising. it's almost like china is encroaching its press restrictions into hong kong. i think that's something to watch for. >> that is absolutely something to watch for. and i think the really important thing to understand is that people in honk kong, there is a very robust civil society. they value things like press freedom. it is part of the economy, but part of the issue is of course the politics. they are used to a very free willing media. it is more free willing than singapore, and arguably in japan where a lot of the media organizations have close relationships with the government. so people do not like that kind of infrankment, and over a decade ago people were already protesting when they considered that the rule of law was being violated by beijing and china. this is not the first time a lot of people in hong kong have turned out on the streets. there was a protest against a certain article in the hong kong constitution where people protested. it was a clause that said that people in hong kong could not say anything negative against the chinese government, and really, frankly, you are seeing that happen right now on the streets. >> interesting. melissa thank you for your analysis. up next, it has been six years since the government bailed out insurance giant aig. now the ceo says it wasn't a bailout. it was extortion, and he is suing the government. plus the ripple effects of crushing student debt crisis. even the housing market is feeling the pain. those stories and more as "real keep it here. ♪ >> 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 ♪n al jazeera america the initials aig are enough to send shiverst down the spines of many of us who lived through the horror of the 2008 financial crisis. i'm one of them. american international group is the insurance giant bailed out by the u.s. government at a cost of $182 billion. well, today a lawyer for aig's former chief said the terms of the bailout were extortion. the attorney is just one of the key characters in this unusual trial look going whether the government broke the law when it took control of aig as part of the bailout. the lawsuit came from star international lead by this man. star was aig's largest shareholder. next week on deck to testify, three very familiar faces, ben bernanke, tim geithner, and henry pahlsson. gina was at the trial today. she joins me now from washington. now gina this is a new trial, but not a new concept. hank greenberg said that aig was held to a different standard than even the banks in terms of their culpability, their responsibility for triggering the crisis, and that they were treated unfairly. what is the meat of this argument? >> yeah, you are right. he is arguing that aig got much harsher terms, about 14% on their loan, which they described as extortion in the court hearings today. that was very different from banks like citigroup or morgan stanley who they said contributed to the crisis, but got a much lower interest rate on their loans. and they questioned why that was the case, also the government took a 79.9% stake in aig as part of the bailout terms. they argue that the government did not do that to the other banks that again, contributed to the crisis, so they are questioning why they are the only ones being punished and the other banks much got much more favorable terms. >> let's look at this. most people would probably think this would be a boring trial to cover. this is probably one of the most juicy things i have heard in a long time. the government lawyer said the goal was not to save aig, but to save the world from aig. aig says it was not responsible for manipulating mortgages. that's true. but they sold these credit default swaps and that's what the government held it responsible for doing. >> no, you are exactly right. i mean, aig is trying to act like a bit of a victim here, the shareholders are trying to act like a bit of a victim, but they argue that aig also had responsibility for knowing what was happening on its books, and they did not know for a long time. and the hole they estimated they had kept getting biggerer, and they eventually need $182 billion. so aig is definitely not without fault here as the government argued today. >> and the board of aig is not party to this lawsuit. why? >> no, you are exactly right. and that's something that the government pointed out today, that aig and the board had an opportunity to join this lawsuit with mr. greenberg, and they declined, and in the worlds of the government attorney, he said that their message instead was thank you america. we actually appreciate what you did for the company in rescuing us, since the alternative was bankruptcy and possible economic catastrophe. so the government made a point of making that distinction that aig and the board were appreciative where mr. greenberg was not >> the government's lawyer made pint of this is the epitome of too big to failure. hank greenberg understood that aig was so critical to the global economy that he felt he should have been able to get better terms. >> yeah, exactly. that basically he and the other shareholders felt entitled, essentially to get a better rescue, a better compensation, and the government is pointing out that aig and its shareholders were never entitled to a bailout. the government could have let them fail and it would have been a bigger moral hazard to allow a firm in distress to dictate the bailout terms, because what could that say in the future of other financial institutions taking risks, because they know the government will rescue them on their terms. >> this is going to get a lot more interesting to the world if the three have to testify. deposed. >> yes, that was supposed to be sealed testimony, although some of it has already leaked a bit, as you can imagine of the interest in this. and next week it will be the first time they are publicly questioned about what went on at the fed, at the treasury, during the bailout and how did they decide who to rescue and who to let fail. >> that in itself is going to be interest testimony. are we going to have ben bernanke testifying? >> there was a scheduling issue. but the judge specifically said that they have known for months when the trial was supposed to take place, so the witnesses really needed to make every effort to show up, and they said they had worked it out. so we will expect to see all of them next week. >> all right. gina thank you so much for that. investors are reportedly pulling billions of dollars from investment firm pemco after bill gross left the firm. last week the firm said its leadership team and gross has quote fundamental differences about how to take pimco forward. the wall street journal reports that investors have bulled about $10 billion from pimco in the wake of gross's departure. last week i told you about the bad year gross had been having, the $222 billion total return fund, check your ira 401k, you might have some in portfolio. they are now investigating whether they artificially inflated its returns. coming up our series on america's middle class continues, with an update on the williams family. you won't believe what happened stay with us. ♪ >> 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. ♪ it's time now to check in with one of the victims we have been followed -- one of the families we have been following as part of our series rebuilding the american dream. tonight a troubling development for the williams family. stephanie williams landed a higher-paying job mentoring math teachers. but that meant the family of six had to move into the city. so they left their suburban home which is underwater, meaning they owe more than it is worth. they were renting a duplex, then they received the news that the owner of their new app - apartment has gone into foreclosure. >> we may be back to square one with nowhere to go. >> on moving day i was very happy. i was ready to just start a new life. >> i just fell in love with the home. it's almost like a dream home. it's everything we wanted. it's space, and a decent price compared to what these homes are around here. when i first heard the home was in foreclosure, you know, i was in total disbelief and shock at that -- at that moment, because here i am thinking that i found my perfect home and the next thing i know it's like a gut punch basically. so what ended up happening is the home sold august 28th. and we're still waiting to here if they are going to tell us we have to move. >> if we have to leaf, it will be a struggle to pack up with the kids. >> i don't even want to move them again. that's the devastating part to me. i feel just disheartened by that. especially when they just get used to being where they are, and loving it as well. i try to keep a positive mind pessimistic. >> if they can't find anybody to sell the place to, they are going to say, get out, and we're going to let it sit empty. so i'm hoping either they don't sell it, and they just go ahead and keep collecting from us, or, you know, they do sell it, and the new landlord is trying to have it as a rental property versus a home for themselves. >> perfect scenario, is the bank will say, we'll work with you guys and give you a mortgage. >> stephanie is obviously still feeling burned from her experiences as a homeowner. the williams are still debating whether to go into foreclosure in the home that they own which is underwater, or try for a short sale where the lender agrees to take less than what is owed. buying a mid-range home is still out of reach for many families. the obvious question is why? red fin published a report titled in 2014 plenty more homes for sale that you probably can't afford. troy martin is the author of the report, and i asked him why mid-range homes are not affordable to the middle class. >> we have seen less inventory on the market, and sellers have reported that things have gotten more competitive. but when we dug into that data to see what has really been going on, what we found was that most of that inventory has come out of the middle price range in the market. so we have a lot of sellers who have been facing high competition not just for other buyers, but from company investors who have been buying up multiple properties and converting them to rentals, and also all-cash purchasers. more than 30% of the transactions last year were all cash. and it has contributed to this really competitive market, and for people who are looking in the middle range, it has gotten tougher and tougher. >> we have done stories on those companies that are buying up homes and some people say creating a renter nation. and some people say we're glad they had them. but where is the rest of the market? are these investors or not cash? >> it's folks with cash who figure there's money to be made. there's not a lot of new construction so people who have the liquidity to do it are coming into the market, looking for opportunities, finding homes that could use some rehab, flipping it and putting it back on the market at a higher price. >> i would imagine, though, this is -- we think about the housing market. it is called a market for a reason. why hasn't the market fixed this problem because folks are greedy so we're not really considering the needs of this -- this group that needs to be able to buy houses that they can afford? >> well, a lot of that activity has happened already. prices have come up. and we have start to see cash buyers start to come back a little bit this year, but now prices are higher and there is still not a lot of inventory. and there hasn't been a lot of new construction either. we have seen some increase in that this year, but we're still coming off of historical lows -- >> and a lot of that new construction has been at a higher end. >> that's absolutely true. >> so what happens? noeshl norm oolly i can see something happening and i can understand what the correction is going to be, but i don't understand what this correction is going to be. >> it is a struggle and it is going to continue to be a bit of a struggle, but we're optimistic that the market is going to balance out a little bit more. we're hopefully going to continue to see new construction. and we have seen about a quarter of all homes listed for sale have had price drops, which means that sellers are getting the message that 2014 isn't going to be like it was last year, they can't list their home for a really high price and sell way over list. buyers are not responding to that, and they can't afford homes in the price range they are being listed at. >> for those people that can't afford to buy a home commensurate with where they think they are in life, what does that mean? they become renters? >> they become renters or they have to stay patient or maybe save up for larger down payment so they can have more leverage against these different types of competition. coming up next, i'm going to tell you how the student debt crisis is burning home sales. plus mending fences with india. ♪ >> 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, documentary series. chasing bail only on al jazeera america ♪ it's getting harder to assess the health of the housing market. the national association of realtors says contracts to purchase existing homes fell more than expected in august. the group's performance fell 1% in july. and that followed a gain in june. the index plunged last year, but has been rising since this last march. analysts say the decline is partly because investors are buying fewer homes. the chief economist is optimistic that an improved job market will mean more first time home buyers come in and replace investors backing away from real estate. but here is a reason to worry that first time home buyers might not be able to pick up the slack. the average american who has student debt owes roughly $33,000, and that may cost the u.s. economy more than $80 billion. >> reporter: 414,000 homes will be unsold this year, because would-be buyers who are so saddled with debt, they cannot afford to buy. in that amounts to $83 billion in lost home sales. beth acres is an economist with the brookings institution. >> there is going to be a relationship between student loan debt and the ability of young people to buy houses. >> reporter: banks have their hands tied. in exchange for strong legal protections, banks cannot approval applications if the borrowers anticipated sdet more than 43% of its income. a student debt-free household applying for an fha loan with 3.5% down, qualifies. but throw in a monthly student debt of $250 or more, and the bank will deny the application, because the total monthly debt would be greater than 43% of its income. critics of the analysis say the complicated. >> any estimates that are only capturing the effect of having to make those payments are really missing the other piece of the equation. they have the extra bills, but have higher earnings that go hand in hand with that. >> every $250 of monthly debt lowers the mortgage limit by $44,000. that creates a catch-22 as more people take on student debt, they might also be reducing their likelihood of buying a home. that's an interesting conundrum, isn't it? today nearly 6 million households pay $250 per month in student debt. that's up from 2.2 million in 2005. joining us is moody's analytic economist. he has done extensive research on this situation. and he says the number of 400,000 unsold homes sited in the study duarte told us about is too high. to chris, is there a number you can attach to unsold homes because of student debt? >> thank you for having me on the show. i would say it's very difficult to isolate. there are so many moving parts between tight mortgage credit. income growth that's very stagnant and a job market that still needs to grow. it's very difficult to assign a specific number to any individual part of this. clearly student next has an impact it's just debatable what the size of that is right now. >> we hear this number, but this is a thing where averages and cumulative numbers don't actually help you. we need to figure out what the graduating student typically had on hand, and this is one of those things where these generalities are difficult to impose on the situation. >> that's absolutely right. and is the question that student debt is too high or income too low? i would fall in the camp that income growth is lacking, wage growth has been stagnant and that is really what is keeping first time home buyers from coming into the market. >> do mortgages need to change? because one of the things we heard about in duarte's piece is not having your debt average more than 43%. is that a way or are we looking at this the wrong way? >> mortgage credit is definitely tight. the banks are all very worried about another mortgage crisis. so credit conditions definitely have to thaw. we need a little bit more loosening to attract more buyers. but i would say it's really more about the job market and income growth that would solve a lot of the problem. >> what role in your mind do students -- or people recently out of school, in the last ten years, is that sort of a segment of the home buying population that we need to be thinking about? we have spoken to home builders who say they need a different product. and the product that's available right now is priced out of the buyer. >> yeah, i think there's some truth to that. certainly on the mortgage side of things a little bit more flexibility in the product. understanding where these buyers are coming from. and we're seeing a lot of changes in taste, and will need new product in terms of the houses these individuals want to by. more multi-family. more condos. people are attracted more to the urban areas now. and that's why it is difficult to assign a specific number to any of these moving parts. >> thank you so much for joining us, chris. >> thank you. the city of san francisco is making a bold push to support urban farming, but housing advocates are pushing back. they say a new tax is too again rousz. >> reporter: in the middle of san francisco sits a bee farm. run by volunteers who plant flowers and fruit trees, and neighborhood. >> this was basically an old vacant lot. and it had never been developed it. >> reporter: now this lot's owner and other interested landowners have an extra incentive for setting up community gardens. a new city tax break. someone paying $10,000 in taxes before would now pay about $100. their property assessed at farm land instead of prime real estate. urban farms must sell or donate produce to the community or act as a teaching site. >> this legislation would help encourage or incent those property owners to think about turning a corner of the city that is blighted or vacant, turning it into an urban garden, a little urban oasis. >> translator: san francisco is not the only city to have passed a law encouraging urban farms, places across the country have come up with incentives like this one. however, with san francisco's tight real estate market, some wonder whether the city can afford to use any space for anything other than housing. >> the median home prize is hovering around $1 million. the median rents or between $3,500 and $4,000. this is a crisis. let's use every bit of land as smartly as we can. >> reporter: but there are few empty lots and advocates have no illusions about how many plots can sprout up. >> we're not naive to think we can feed ourselves in a city like san francisco. but how much question we do? >> reporter: this urban farm serves those living below the poverty line. >> they will provide over a thousand pounds of food that gets given away to people who have a immediate for fresh pro do you see >> reporter: advocates hope this will inspire more to join the movement. up next, inn dea's prime minister is taking the united states by storm. i'll tell you how we managed to change his image, and why the u.s. now considers him a necessary global partner. ♪ president obama is hosting prime minister narendra modi at the white house tonight following a soldout event at madison square garden last night. his rock star appearance represents a remarkable turn around for man that once was denied a visa into the united states. that rejection came out after riots broke out in the state where he was chief minister. he was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence. modi is now heard of the second-most-populous country in the world, and president obama wants to improve relations between the two countries. convincing america, inc. to invest in india. he met the ceos of several large companies. modi is promising a friendlier business environment and wants american companies to help india boost its slowing economic growth. behind me you can see a one -- well, you can see modi at the moment, but in theory you are going to -- there we go -- a year on year comparison of the long-term foreign money that has come into india's economy this year versus last year called foreign district investment, it already shows -- i see -- 2014 is this collar, 2013 is purple. it already shows a positive trend since modi took office. i don't know what that is talking about. let's get rid of this. let's talk with the american who considers modi's meeting with the corporations more important than his meeting with president obama. great to see you. >> good to see you too. >> what happened here? this guy -- virtually nobody gets that kind of attention. soldout crowd at madison square garden. he is pivoting around. indian heards who were not nearly as controversial never got that. >> that's precisely the message. he was denied a visa in 2005. the night before meeting obama there is 20,000 people cheering him on. if that's not an example of laeb frogging, i don't know what is. so he shows up, and there was sort of this set up, with bali wood dancers, balloons, and classical singers. so the stage was set for him. >> very interesting. why -- look america cares because this is the second-most-populous country in the world. it is growing at a rate that it will become larger than china. obviously americans want access to it. but the problem has been on the indian side. it's harder for american india. >> absolutely right. for all of the stories of the growth in the last 15 years, you talk to american who goes over there to invest, and say what was your impression? and they said we didn't know it was still going to be so poor. that airport was a disaster. so we needs to turn that around. >> he did that in his home state. so there's some feeling he can do this in the whole country. a little reminiscent to when obama became president. it's harder to turn things around than it appears to be. >> that's right. and we're talking about really turning around a socialist economy, opening it up, getting rid of some of the strangle hold, and fixing those roads and infrastructure. >> what is the biggest hold up in what is the hardest about india to do business in? because really, people will jump over a lot of hurdles to do audience. >> i think if you would talk to the ceos, they would say red tape, corruption, and it takes so long to do anything. >> what is the fastest way for india to make this happen. they have gone to these joint venture ideas, where an indian company will pair up with an american company. but now we're looking at district investment. what are the early things he should be thinking about? >> for sure there is opening up more sectors, but then there's also taking the sectors that are already liberalized and act like they are truly liberallized. so the mining sector has years of delay to get permits. as long as it has resources folks will still be lining up, easier. >> india has a border with china. and they have had some tension recently. in this pivot away from china, is that a role where india needs the u.s. and u.s. needs india. >> i would say india needs the u.s. if the two align that might make life easier. right now is that on the table with obama? modi has said no, you don't need to intervene in these border issues. so he has been caution about invoking u.s. muscle in his problems. >> but hanging around in the u.s. and being a rock star when he is there -- >> he's take that. >> yeah. >> if you are not regularly on quart -- quarts you should be. all right. bill gates is the richest man in america again. a lot of newcomers to the list, 27 of them to be exact. many earned their fortunes in silicon valley. some of the new kids on the block, including some guy i don't know -- well, i know, i just can't say his name. all right. coming up next, big bertha on ice. the highway project is on pause. >> the sun isn't up yet, but david godeski is. godeski has been homeless in washington d.c. for nearly 7 years. last night, like most, he slept outside. with affordable housing getting increasingly scarce here, there's been a spike in the number of homeless. churches, food pantries, the city, are all scrambling to meet the demand. at the public library's main branch, homeless individuals rush in when the doors open, some are even dropped off by a shuttle bus from the homeless shelters. once inside, they log onto computers to job hunt or check email. they meet friends or just read, protected from the elements. >> for many years we would sort of open our doors and say "okay, we've done our job", because we're providing them a warm place to go if they've got no place else to be. >> now, social worker jean badalamenti will help provide information on homeless services and will "sensitize" staff. while government, residents and local businesses argue over the role of the libraries, david godeski is just glad they're here. >> having a place like this where things are controlled, it's a godsend. >> so godeski will be back every day he can. a construction project is off schedule, probably doesn't surprise anyone, but the reason behind this delay is mainly because of a broken drill. an $80 million drill named big bertha that has received plenty of attention from this show and others. >> reporter: this is a huge project, the essence of a mega project. chris dixon is the man in charge here, running the biggest tunnel-boring machine in the world. the machine, nicknamed bertha is big all right, 7,000 tons. big enough to have its own control room. but it is stopped dead and hasn't made any forward project in ten months. tunnel. >> bertha's massive drilling head broke down when it chewed into an 8-inch steel pipe. do these other go exactly the go? >> no, there's always hiccups that occur. >> reporter: to fix it the drilling head will be taken out, repaired, strengthened, and reinstalled. while there is still plenty more work to be done, bertha will not be able to work again until next march. this is one of the biggest construction boondoggles country. >> it's really a loss that we can't afford. >> reporter: the tunnel will replace see ats 60-year-old earthquake damaged waterfront highway. it carries more than a hundred thousand cars aday. voters picked the tunnel option. total projected cost, about $3 billion. including nearly a billion in federal money. project managers say they are not over budget yet. >> the contractor is committed to completing what they started, and frankly so are we. >> reporter: do you still have full faith in what you call the bertha? >> yes. >> reporter: meanwhile work goes on with 90% of that two-mile tunnelling job still ahead. okay. boondoggle or not, seattle's big dig is the biggest transportation project out there today. and no one can deny more needs to be done to repair the infrastructure. the american society of civil engineers gave this country's road and transit systems a d. the group said 42% of american's major urban highways continue to suffer from congestion, costing $101 billion in wasted time and fuel ere year. seattle was forced to do something because of the dangers the highway posed f after sustaining a earthquake. it decided to take an expensive root. it's clear now the $3 billion estimated price tag will go up, but that's no reason not to complete the project, and just because such mega projects come with mega costs doesn't mean we should put off making necessary investments to repair america's infrastructure. yeah, big projects typically come with cost overruns. that speaks ill of planning and approval, doesn't speak ill of the need to fix america's decaying infrastructure. america's only going to keep its competitive edge by making the necessary investments to build and maintain a first-rate infrastructure that is going to helping us all grow. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi. thank you for joining us. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour, i'm darren in the center in doha and these are the top stories. taking the battle to isil, iraqi army makes strategic gains against the armed group. but isil is going to the syrian city raising concerns by turkey. growing numbers protests spread in hong kong on the eve of china's national day. and we have efforts to save nigeria drill monkeys and says half the

Transcripts For KYW Eyewitness News At 6 20140612

collapse. >> they need to be cleaned or whatever. >> when they went up to the september lacing system around the hole in the roof across the roof so we had a major roof problem and we had a collapse so we evacuated everybody out of the building and we did exterior fire fighting. >> reporter: fire fighters were able to drawn the fire out from the exterior in about 30 minutes, this is a family owned restaurant. it has been opened since 1961, norwood fire chief told bus his memories of this local tradition and said he remembers here tuesday night spaghetti dinners as a kid. he is hoping this family does rebuild, a stapel of norwood very popular spot here in delaware county. that is are latest, jen bernstein for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". thanks, jen. also new a suspect is in custody after stabbing another person in the emergency room at crozer-chester medical center. police say suspect just walk in at 11:00 last night and stab the victim. it is still not clear what prompted this attack and police will give us more information when their investigation is finally completed. an armed robbery at a 7-eleven is still under investigation. it happened 3:30 at the store on stenton and ogontz avenue in west oak lane. it is unknown how much money was taken, robber does remain out there, somewhere. we have some breaking news, major traffic troubles heading in to new york city today. one person is dead after a crash on the george washington bridge. two tractor trailers collided eastbound in the upper manhattan early this morning. right now bridges upper level eastbound lanes are just closed, this is as the investigation continues. huge situation, right now in new york city, we will just ale, and, i-95, and, and regular traffic patterns late last night but rain moves in and forced them to stop. work is expected to resume tonight between girard and allegheny avenues. the project is expect to take four years and will add a fourth lane to the heavily traveled stretch of the interstate. 6:03. that rain causing so many problems, kate. >> so many problems, i heard you say work resumes both tonight it may be delayed yet again because we have more rain on the way late this afternoon tonight and then again tomorrow. we cannot break out of this pattern. lets look at what is happening outside. we will take you outside to jack frost big boulder there as you can see through the fog, you can see mountains covered in green but it is a foggy damp morning all across the area. visability low. take your time out there we are seeing included cover, just so much moisture in the air causing fog this morning. the showers off to the west but look south of d.c. do youe that storm creeping in. that is what we're concerned about. we will see storms form and lift south to north. not a whole lot going on but this afternoon with the heating of the day in place we will see these storms form and flash flood watch has been issued going in to effect at noon. the here's what we speculate this afternoon. we have clouds and some fog but you can see at 1:00 we will see these storms blossom in a line extending from the lehigh valley down through city and delaware. exact placement is i am possible to pinpoint but it looks like it will be from the city on west and these storms will be locally heavy. they are scattered but anyone of those cells can dump over an inch of rain in an hour leading to the risk for ponding on roadways and watching those smaller streams, scattered heavy thunderstorms with rain rates exceeding an inch per hour. we will have have updates, we will check with been to see how roads are fairing. >> 6:04. it is a rough morning and rough day to come think of it looking at the forecast. live look, it is worst fog day this week we have had to deal w blue route 476 with the fog, the wet roads, maybe a rain shower, throughout your morning rush hour, make sure your head lights are on and factor in extra wiggle room between you and that bumper in front. we're dealing with the fire location, some good news they have opened up chester pike to within lane at south avenue. we do have some cars getting through but macdade boulevard would be your best bet through norwood delaware county this morning. already under an hour delay at philly international for flights. this is a sign of what it will be like at the airport throughout the day. pack your patients and get down there early and be ready. i-95 new construction pattern, didn't happen because of the weather. we still have three lanes normal set up between girard and allegheny but that new pattern on the way sometime this week. the mass transit, bridges looking good, back over to you. developing story right now we are watching an al qaeda inspired group controls two key cities in northern iraq. it is threatening to move into baghdad. >> iraqi government forcees were digging in to battling islamic militants on the outskirts of the oil city of kirkuk. but just 90 miles away mosul had already fallen in to militant hands with barely a fight. that group wants to establish a fundamentalist islamic state. travel arrangements are in place for army sergeant bowe bergdahl to go home but there is no date when he will leave a german military hospital. that decision is up to his medical and repatriotism team. sergeantberg dal spent five years in captivity with the taliban after leaving his army post in afghanistan. the senate has voted to help thousands of veterans waiting for medical care. it passed a bill authorizing roughly $35 billion over three years to pay for outside care for veterans. this measure would hire hundreds of doctors, nurses and at least 26 new health care facilities in 17 states and puerto rico. that bill now moves to the house. natasha? here's a look at some of the things happening today. trial expect to begin for richard accused of perjury in the investigation of the 2012 kensington warehouse fire. that killed a for fighter and fire lieutenant. governor jack markell signs a law prohibiting minors from buying e cigarettes in delaware. the businesses could also be punish for making those sales. philadelphia's mayor michael nutter visits bartram high school, school safety is on the agenda, police patrol bartram's halls after attacks on staff members and fights among students. accident investigators are looking into what role a truck driver's commute played in the crash that chris thecally injured tracie minister again. truck driver kevin roper pleaded not guilty yesterday in new brunswick. he is facing death by auto and assault by auto charges. roper was driving a wal-mart truck early saturday when he swerved to avoid slow traffic on the new jersey turnpike, and plowed into morgan's limo. take a look, police in roxborough hope thaw can help stop a violent robber now on the run after an attack inside a deli. that guy beat up the clerk at m and m deli on marple street tuesday afternoon. the attack left the clerk unconscious with the broken bone around his eye. he got away with $1,500 in cash and merchandise. a chaotic scene when police swarmed a new jersey side of the lincoln tunnel. police say a man from our area threatened to kill people heading in to new york city. that story is coming up next. >> abuse and neglect, the the poor puppy was found wandering streets in south jersey now there is a way to help him. you can too we will let you know how. new developments in the family feud over casey casem's care a judge is now issues a drastic new ruling, in that case. that is all coming up. kate is saying, it is bound to happen. >> we can only hope. >> we will variety m.d. deprived. know that chasing performance and fewer choices in retirement. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today. reporter janel burrell from our sister station in new york will have the very latest. >> reporter: investigators say this is the man, who is threatening 911 phone calls shut down the streets of wehawking setting off this massive emergency response. police and swat teams sweeping the the streets, rivals drawn and k-9 on patrol all because of what they thought was a threat of the snipper. >> difficult see an army vehicle going by abe helicopter. >> we thought there was a stick up. we didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: it turned out to be a hoax. thirty-nine year-old donald wallace will face a why for phone calls allegedly made that triggered the response tuesday evening during the middle of the busy evening commute. shutting down streets near lincoln tunnel, enforcing passengers off of this light rail train. police say wallace called 911 around 5:00 p.m. tuesday saying their happies up get all your police ready and captivate. i have a d.c. snipper that is driving into your city right now. investigators say wallace who was arrested back in april for making terroristic threats also claimed he was arm with the gun and various chemicals. police were able to ping the call to the area near the rain to the lincoln tunnel. building was searched but nothing was found but authorities were able to trace phone to manhattan where they arrested wallace late wednesday night. that was janel burrell reporting. meanwhile wallace is charge with making terroristic threats and creating false public alarm. 6:00 136789 let get traffic and weather together kate, good morning. >> good morning ev ryone. it is thursday. it is another day in this week of glummy, foggy wet weather. take a look outside, this is ben franklin bridge. you have to take me at my word because you cannot see it. fog over the city, fog every where across the area making travel slow out there. take your time this morning, leave plenty have room between yourself and person in front because things are not easy to see out there, today. whole reason is system lifting from the south, you can see a warm front across the entire northeast. we are in the warm sector of the system very unstable air mass and showers and storms are firing up to the south. you cane this one here over to virginia. it is moving due north. that is what i'm concerned b through the afternoon weak see storms develop and moving from south to north meaning over the same spot. couple different cells, move over several times meaning the the threat for flooding will be in effect. flash flood watch has been issued in effect at noon, continuing right the through tonight. here's what we're expecting. not much going on. right afternoon time hour around one or 2:00 we will see them blossom at 2:00 p.m. and they drift from south to north, about 5:00, starting to wind down by seven or 8:00. then overnight still some showers, tomorrow we will get in the pattern especially through the afternoon. watch for these storms to be locally heavy late today, 78 is our daytime high with showers and thunderstorms, again tomorrow same pattern but good news we will clear it out for fathers day weekend. hi, bob. >> 6:45. live look at foggy stretch of i-95 heading into and up and over that skudder falls bridge. anyone may be heading up to new york this morning is there a fatal tractor trailer accident that has upper deck of the george washington bridge closed this morning and already they are reporting two hour delays, heading into new york on that george washington bridge. just a travel note out and about today. 422, 202, we are socked in with fog out of the suburbs and slower than normal in toward king of prussia. we have that 495 construction to deal with, again, factor in extra time heading in or through wilmington. alternate would be commodore barry or walt whitman bridge and take 295 south and come in the delaware over that delaware memorial bridge. that will be the the ticket for tomorrow for any within trying to get to the delaware beaches and for that return trip home. today we have afternoon baseball 1:05, so we will see unusual traffic patterns around that lunchtime hour but more importantly when that game is over, bam, instant rush hour that always occurring at the end of the afternoon games, quickly, blocking our major roadways. even if you are not going to the game you could be impacted by the the the grid lock. best way to go is to take a train ride, just before 12:00 sport express trains leave fernrock station. natasha back over to you. here are headlines on cb. 36789 toll house tavern in chester pike in norwood is delaware county is a total loss after an early morning fire, grease fire, was put out by sprinklers but roared up again and spread to the have roof. there were no injuries reported. a suspect is under arrest after a stabbing in the emergency room at crozer-chester medical center. up land police will release more information when their investigation is complete. search is on for gunman who robbed 7-eleven at sent on an owe gant avenue. robbers got away with an unknown amount have of cash. stay with us, we authorities continue to search for a motive after a teen gunman opens fire at a oregon high school. investigators say five-year old jared paget killed a fellow freshman and wounded a gym teacher inside the jim on wednesday before taking his own life. authorities say that he used an ar15 rifle owned by his family, paget carried nine loaded magazines a handgun and a knife. also jury selection in the colorado theater shooting case will be opened to the public, and the news media. judge denied request from both the prosecution and the the defense teams to close the the process, and the judge said the the openness ape media scrutiny will enhance fairness of the process. james holmes pleaded in the guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in the july 2012 attack. jury selection is scheduled to start in october. court ruling in california gives casey casem's doubt are the third to withhold food ape fluids from her ailing father. los angeles superior court reversed a ruling from monday that stated casem should continue to receive food, water and medication. the court ruled that to do so would prolong casem's suffering which was begins his wishes. his wife is outraged by this decision. >> the judge troy martin, carey casem, sam ingram decided to kill my husband. >> jean casem and her stepdaughter carry have been fighting in court over many issues involving his care, a judge had previously ruled that jean casem had in the acted in her husband's best interest in terms of his car. 6:21. more than 200 friend and relatives are helping former president george hw bush celebrate his ninth yet birthday. >> they are gathering for a private dinner at his sea side retreat in maine, america's forty-first president uses a wheelchair because of a form of parkinson's disease but he still travels amies enjoying a resurgence in popularity. >> happy birthday good this morning beyond the look out for another bear on the loose, we will tell you where it has been spotted coming up. plus this. i want to live and to me murder is murder but whether it is with i gun or with chemicals good chester residents up in arm over a plan bring trains full of trash from new york city into their town, we have got more of the trash talk that is happening coming up. just past 6:23, kate, more rain. >> everyone is so sick of hearing me say it and i'm sick of talking bit. it has been a week of wet weather and today is no exception. you can see our triple sweep, shows not a whole lot happening, we are dealing with fog and low clouds right now but late this afternoon showers and storms will develop. you can see green shading. many counties in our viewing area including city of philadelphia under a flash flood watch that will go in effect at noon and continue through tonight. eyewitness weather three day forecast 78 today with afternoon thunderstorms. they are scattered but they will be locally heavy. we will see it again tomorrow but we will clear it out for the weekend, bob. sounds good. 6:24. live look at the the schuylkill expressway where you can see the fog here, counted up maybe ten car lengths of visibility. this is schuylkill at city line. we are sock in all around the board here this morning. the rest i-95 a 20 minute delay out of the northeast into downtown. midday work coming to the blue route, both directions, between route 30 and route one here, and then also, mass transit, no reported delays, minor delays already on path the co, erika, back to you. another week, another bear roaming in the suburbs, there are two sight goes so far in winslow township camden county. we have a picture have the bear given to us from wins le township police, he was last spotted cross nothing waterford township. homeowners should ab wear and bring trash inside if possible to keep from attracting those bears. in sports phillies wrap up their series with the padres in a day game today, phillies won two in a row, keep that going, cole hamels struck out a season high 11, over eight shut out innings last night but cole did not get a decision in the game. it wasn't until zero-zero hot bottom of the ninth the phillies won it with a three run home run. phillies win this 13 to nothing. game four of the nba finals in my aim, miami heat facing off with the san antonio spurs. spurs lead helping this series at this .2 games to one. also to game four of the stanley cup finals rangers goaltender, henrik, made 40 saves including one tricky one with the help of his defense. he and rangers beat out los angeles kings two-one forcing game five tomorrow night in los angeles. kings lead best of seven series three games to one. coming up the in the next half an her of "eyewitness news" we are live with breaking news, jen. >> reporter: a popular delaware county restaurant did burn down early this morning i'm live on chester pike outside of the toll house tavern, i'll have more on what ignited this fire. plus who could hurt this poor little dog here that is what officials want to know after he was found roaming the streets of new jersey abused and neglect and new there is a way that you can help him. bob and kate return with traffic and weather together on the three's on another glummy day, fog outside, looking at your screen, it will warm up at one point and fog will clear and rain will go away, kate will tell you when, we will be right back. (vo)cars for crash survival,ning subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not honda. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive. a delaware county bar and grill in business for over a half century goes up in flames. fire fighters say they now know how it started. "eyewitness news" reporter jen bernstein joins us from norwood with that information, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erika, fire chief tells us that this fire started in the kitchen as a grease fire that was put out once by a sprinkler system and flared up a second time and this building went up quickly. i will step out of the way so we can see is what left, of the toll house tavern. the it has been here for more than 50 years. it opened in 1961, but you we do know that fire fighters got the alarm around 2:20 to come and fight this fire. police said when they arrived on the scene officers said that again, that fire had flared up once in the kitchen and that sprinkler system had put out the fire ones and ignited the second time and that is when they went up through ventilation system and ran up almost the entire ceiling. norwood fire had help from mutual aid 35 to 40 fire fighters were here on the scene. we will go to viewer photos sent to us on cbs philly's twitter handle. you can see smoke. you can see fire fighters trying to battle the flames from outside of the building. that is because the roof was engulfed, and there was a roof collapse but before that chief evacuated fire fighters and pulled everyone out to the exterior of the building. now this restaurant is family owned, it has been opened since 1961 and norwood fire chief, has his own memories. here's what he had to say. >> i have been here since 1980 and been there ever since. we used to eat there, back when i was a kid, spaghetti dinner on tuesday nights. >> reporter: he does hope that this family rebuilds this place. we do know one fire fighter, was taken to tower hospital. he had twisted his knee when he tripped over a hose but was released and back with his family this morning. so again, a sad morning here for the norwood boro, the toll house tavern burning down, we do know that it is family owned and it appears to have started as a grease fire. that is very latest from norwood jen bernstein for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". philadelphia d.a.'s office has filed charges a first grader brought heroin to school, students mother marie hunter and male companion has been charged with endangering welfare of the child. white also has been charge with marijuana possession, prosecutors say charges deal only with alleged conditions inside girl's home and not the heroin had she brought to school. residents in chester are sounding off about trains full of trash from new york city. trash already makes its way from the big apple to the covanta facility on high land avenue to be incinerated. the proposal toys bring 400,000 tons of garbage by train instead of truck. company insist amount of trash won't change but rather the the method of transportation. >> there is no increase in the amount of waste we would receive on a daily basis and there isathath quickly. play it safe heading through the neighborhood here today. lets look at storm scan three, showing really a pattern we are in a warm front lifting to the north ushering in this flow of moisture rich air from the the south, that is keeping clouds in place, keeping moisture in the air and later today when we get heating of the day these storms form in this unstable environment. they relish these conditions when we have uplift, instability, hot air, moisture, storms will breed in an environment like that one. flash flood watch has been issued from noon through late tonight and all of the areas shaded in green there. the city and areas just off to the west will be in the greatest likelihood of getting heavier storms later today. temperatures warming, 64 at the airport. sixty-five in wilmington. on our way up to 78. clouds and fog this morning. showers and heavy then are storm later this afternoon. hi, bob. >> 6:35. it is a rough slower than normal morning rush hour and rest of the day, lets look live at i-95 in the construction zone on the right, southbound i-95 heading through cottman avenue seeing delays from woodhaven in toward the city. but construction project last tonight was rained out so traffic pattern truffle did not occur last night northbound between girard and allegheny. status quo but that pattern will go into effect over next couple days. rest of the major roadways we have thick fog east on the schuylkill, already 20 minutes into downtown. traveling out of philadelphia today, two things to look out for, within hour four minute delays at philly international and the air, and if you are traveling via the car into new york city this morning the george washington bridge they have had a fatal accident on the up are deck, three her delays into new york city at the moment and in norwood delaware county chester pike that fire location with only within lane squeezing through at south avenue. mass transit at the the moment looking good with no delays there, natasha, back over to you. animal rescue group is trying to help a dog who may have been a victim of cruelty. buckly was found wand nearing cumberland county, ten month-old lab mix was thin, weak and rescuers believe someone duct taped him. he has extensive medical problems including lyme disease and heart worm but he is now on the mend. >> you question humanity, you question how people can be so heartless. >> buckly is looking for a permanent home. if you are interested in helping him out there is more information on our web site, please go there at cbs philly .com. another crackdown on electronic cigarettes, happening today, governor jack markell signs a law banning minors from buying e cigarettes in delaware. teens who tried to buy them could be fine or get community service. businesses could be punished if they are caught selling e cigarettes to children. house republicans are picking a new majority leader after virginia republican eric cantor announced he is stepping down at the the end of next month. >> while i may have had suffered a personal setback last night, i could not be more optimistic about the future of this country. >> cantor lost the primary to dave brat a college plaintiffs or. texas congressman pete sessions wants to be majority leader, however cantor is backing house majority whip sketch mccarthey of california. republicans will hold a vote next week. 6:37. as we head into fathers day weekend cbs news business am list jill schlesinger is here to tell us bye financial wisdom. >> she's joining us from london, jill, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. >> sleeping in a little bit there across the pond. let talk burr dad. he was a trader on wall street. what kind of advice did he give you about investing. >> reporter: you know, my father was a great believer in patients and discipline. he used to say, nobody rings a bell at top or bottom so every investor needs to develop a game plan and that is a plan where you are forcing yourself to take money off the table and rebalance on a periodic basic. amen, dad. he cautioned in the to fall in love with your positions and to wait 24 hours before making any major purchase or sale that deviates from your plan good that is certainly good advice. >> how about saving. >> reporter: so funny everyone thinks your dad was a trade are, he didn't do that nuts and bolts stuff. he loved that stuff. he used to say big part of wealth building toys spend less and live within your means. imagine that. small business owner he believed that when the good years come along it is important to sock away as much as possible because you never know when a bad patch might arrive. he is a big fan of having an adequate cash cushion he aid especially after he retired he got comfort from that extra cash floating around. >> i think we all would good definitely. >> we see following in your father's footsteps but whether about his career advice, anything in that area. >> reporter: yeah, this is great. he also stressed we all make mistakes but you have to learn from them and keep going. the don't think back on that mistake. he also believed a career that allowed to you do other thing in your life was probably more valuable then one that with pay the most. one of his favorite sayings i have to leave you this he said it all the time, he said don't forget, honey, having fun kent too more fathers day financial advice go on jill on money.com. >> can't put a price on that. >> great advice. still ahead this morning you might have had some trouble with your cell service or gps tomorrow, find out why coming up. also straight ahead it hasn't been a week since jennifer lopez split from casper smart and word is she's got a new boyfriend. >> hey, hey good rio's welcoming all teams to brazil for world cup, competition starts today but there is still controversy brewing, we will have details coming up next. and, we are one thinks the official song of the world cup, there in brazil. looking forward to that. >> kicking off today. >> there it is, pit bull and j lo, i think j lo is performing. >> she was going back and for the but it is official she will perform for opening ceremonies. >> just looking forward to. that we are looking forward to another great day despite foggy conditions out there and the rain, always a good day, right. good morning everyone. we are back in a moment. msbut they meet them withts determination and drive. chanelle: teachers like ms. harris made me feel like i'm part of a team. not just on the basketball court. but in the classroom. ms. harris: chanelle is not just a star athlete. she is a star student. chanelle: i headed to clemson university where i can combine my love of sports and learning- and maybe even win a championship. ms. harris: i wouldn't bet against her. or any of my students reaching for their dreams. time for traffic and weather together, look at that traffic. >> let me step out of the way, before i get hit by a september bus. this is passyunk avenue bridge and just a foggy morning, no the matter where you are, notice if you are at the point where this is at you cannot see up to where that school busies, very well, fog is in and it will slow you down, as i put on twitter, pack your patients and he said in extra jelly doughnut may never be a bad idea on a nice foggy morning like today. storm scan three shows us flash flood effect starting at noon, once we get rid of the fog, we will track threat for heavy then are storms. atlantic city, wildwood, .3 and half mile respectively. philadelphia a mile visibility there. .8 in wilmington and trenton. all across area low visibility, fog is objected in and it is not going anywhere for next couple hours. future weather shows we are quiet until noon. it depend where we are. a rough estimate, from the city on west, we could see them popping up, or further er east where they like to blossom but they will line up and dump heavy rainfall on the the area, late this afternoon. then tomorrow, tomorrow 8:00 a.m. quiet, noon quiet and then at 3:00 we will get a cold front with heavy thunderstorms throughout your friday evening. saturday at 10:00 a.m. we will clear it out and sun will be shining. >> good morning, live look, 422, an example of the fog we are dealing with. today's fog is wheres then we have seen all week licensing here and already delays 422 from the royersford interchange through collegeville in towards king of prussia lets look at ben franklin, barely make out the cars, leaving, south jersey, here they are right there, leaving south jersey, you can barely make out the upside and uprights on the bennie coming in towards philadelphia. so fog delays every where, and, heads up, we have a phillies game 1:05 this afternoon. that will shake it up as far as traffic volume. we will have a lunchtime crowd heading in. when that game is over as we see when we have afternoon games, bam, instant rush hour will block the schuylkill and i-95 right around that time that kate just told us we could be seeing thunder boomer roll through. sports express trains begin just before 12:00 noon taking you into south philadelphia, natasha, over to you. here is a look at the headlines on cbs-3. iraqi television says government war planes are pounding rebel positions in saddam hussein's home town of tikrit in the wake of the rebel victories this week. militants are taking hostage in the city of mosul. toll house tavern in norwood delaware county was destroyed earlier today. grease fire bread to the roof just before midnight we're told there were no injuries. and donald wallace of west philadelphia, facing charges now that he called 911 and threatened to shoot drivers at new york's lincoln continue will he will. authorities tracked wallace to manhattan where he was later arrested. soccer's biggest tournament kicks off in brazil despite transportation strikes, concerns about preparations and some discontent from brazil fans. marley hall shows us tournament starts with the home team brazil facing croatia this after noon. rio's christ the the redeemer statue is lit with the team colors of all of the world cup teams as famous soccer tournament gets underway. but despite years of preparation, brazil is scrambling to overcome challenges. airport workers stage a 24 her strike ahead of opening day complicating travel at two of brazil's major airports, plus some 1500 subway workers in the area threatened to go on strike on monday but labor organizers called off the work stoppage that would have caused grid lock on the cities already congested roadways. just one week before the tournament, construction was still underway on roads and soccer stadiums. just one day before the games crews were still building the the fan fest zone where people in rio can watch on a huge screen. the u.s. will play first game on monday, even that is surrounded in controversy, but u.s. head coach has said publicly that the american team won't win the cup. >> it is just not realistic. >> if the u.s. can't winnie will root for brazil because we're here. >> reporter: world cup runs for a month wrapping up for a month on july 13th. marley hall for cbs-3 "eyewitness news". >> ♪ >> all right. we have he got two birds, new man for jennifer lopez. >> yeah, jenny on the block is dating dancing with the stars pro maxim. they met through friend and said to be taking things slow because of work commitments. j lo recently split up with backup dancer casper smart. paula dean is planning a come back, according to her we site, paula dean network is coming in september. it will be a paid subscription service providing access to new programming from the cooking star, via several devices, including computers and smart phones. dean lost her contract with the food network last year after she admitted to using a racial slur in the past. and word is engagement for a couple in charleston, south carolina they got special congratulation from his comedian, actor bill murray. check out the photo. murray ran into their engagement photo shoot and posed for pictures with the happy couple. at day night live alumni and academy award nominee has been crashing parties, remember week or two or owe he crash a bachelor party i and gave good advice to the groom and groomsmen. fun guy. come crash our show. come on over we'd love to see you. 6:49. time to see is what coming up on cb. this morning. >> and charlie rose joins us from new york with the preview, good morning, charlie. >> good morning, natasha and erika. airplanes, boats and command center are sitting idle as united states withdraws from afghanistan. chip read looks in the wasted taxpayer dollar that went to the war effort. plus nicole brown simpson and ron goldman were found dead 20 years ago today and set off what became the trial of the century and it change the face of television, legal analyst jack ford both covered aj simpson trial and they join news studio 57. this elaine keyano is in brazil where world cup kicks off today, that and more news is back in the morning. we will see new ten minutes. charlie, thank you. tomorrow morning if you have any problems communicating with your cell phone or gps blame it on the sun. >> that is right, solar flares on the sun in the past few days are sending solar events our way. sun had three major flares on its surface in the past two days or so. those flares have affect communications on earth. solar flares are bursts of radiation on the sun surface and disrupting things like gps and communication signals here on earth. >> how about had. >> blame it on the sun. >> you didn't get my text not that i didn't send it. sorry. >> blame it on the sun. >> but first here's is what coming up tonight on cbs-3 everyone. here's your numbers for today, 3.4 is the the predominant pollen is grass. tomorrow is low and then climbs up through the weekend is nicer weather, returns, more sunshine, less rain, rain tends to dull pollen. tomorrow is good for, allergies and not good for i fan of the rain. flash flood watch, late tonight for the entire area in green there and what to expect, from that flash flood watch, excuse my voice, scattered afternoon thunderstorms, rain rates, could exceed an inch per hour, and that means we are watching for ponding on area roadways, and storms will be scattered and any storm can produce heavy downpours, abe the day, 84 on sunday and 86 on monday and even warmer by next tuesday. so just got today and tomorrow to get the through, bob. 6:55. live look at 202 socked in with some fog here in the construction zone, near route 29, make sure your head lights are on this morning, gang, you will need them throughout the morning with the thick fog, south on i-95, just under a half an hour in the city, schuylkill starting to see delays from conshohocken through belmont avenue. one hour 15 minute delays towards the airport and heading up to new york, this morning, and fatal accident on the fatal washington, and three hour delays, already, heading in to new york city come in from south jersey, on the 42 freeway, slow go around black horse pike in towards that route 130, walt whitman bridge interchange, due to the new traffic pattern that went into place over the weekend. back over to you. sometimes somebody has an idea and you think i wish i thought of that first. >> post it. >> yes. >> but get ready to see one right here, hot tub boat, more like a hot tub on the boat but great idea. never can have too much water. is there a barbecue on there too. ten people can cruise around water in san diego for a cool, $25 an hour. when the ocean just won't due. >> exactly. >> you need a hot tub too. >> you should do that and take that on the schuylkill. >> yes. >> south beach. >> how do we expense that. >> good luck with that one. >> we will talk business, show prep. >> i like it. >> sure. >> thanks, bob. coming up in a couple minutes we will bring you more local news weather and traffic together on our sister station cw philly. we will have a live in studio performance previewing monday night's project one voice, for theater companies around the the country perform the same piece at the same time, pretty neat that is so nice. >> you can now find cw philly on these channels. >> reminder to join us bright and relevant i every weekday morning on cbs-3 we start off at 4:30 a.m. coming up next, this morning a school in philly, helping low income students prep for college and their future careers. >> to continue following your local news weather and traffic turn now to our sister station cw philly. we will meet you over there see you then. it is thursday, june 12th, 2014. welcome to "cbs this morning." iraq descends through chaos. militants seize city after city. holly williams is in iraq as the insurgents march toward baghdad. a republican frenzy on chile. lawmakers jockey to be the new majority leader. o.j. simpson, 20 years later, how the trial of the century changed everything. but we begin this morning with today's "eye opener," your world in 90 seconds. militants are now promising to march on to baghdad and promise to enrage the city. >> iraq on the brink

Storm knocks out hundreds of homes in Northwest Arkansas' already short supply, local leaders say

Northwest Arkansas' housing shortage just got a lot worse, local leaders told Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Thursday.

Dodson attorneys seek unconditional dismissal

Dodson case dropped | Baxter Bulletin

Boone County, Ark., district attorney asks judge to dismiss charges against former high school principal in death of wife

Dodson case dropped - Harrison Daily

Longhorns Daily News: Texas softball earns Big 12 regular season title

Plus: Texas women’s tennis moves on to the Sweet 16