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tv   America Tonight  Al Jazeera  March 28, 2014 4:00am-5:01am EDT

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>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy, with a look at the top stories this hour. in washington state rescuers continue to search for 90 people missing since saturday's mudslide. 17 have been confirmed dead. more bodies have been found. authorities expect the death toll to rise significantly. >> search teams looking for malaysia airlines flight mh370 have abandoned their old location moving several hundred miles north, based on credible information coming from an international team. the misunderstand is 650km west, 1, 490 miles north of perth,
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australia. >> president obama heads to saudi arabia. on thursday he was at the vatican to meet pope francis. they discussed economic inequality, a concern for both. president obama met with the president and the prime minister. >> vladimir putin was sent a strong message. the house and senate voted to implement sanctions and a billion dollars to ukraine in loan guarantees. they hope to have a final measure on the president's death. >> in turkey, first twitter, now youtube. turkish authorities are trying to block the weeing site says it's in -- website saying it's in response to a video claiming to be audio in relation to an alleged attack on syria. those are the headlines. >> on america tonight, the desperate search for a missing 8-year-old. an increasingly grim
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investigation just a few miles from the nation's capital. and new questions about what was done to protect little relisha. >> we cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her. >> and faith broken. the imperial exes of a bishop priest. a boycott and the angry questions from the faithful. >> if you have the nerve to reply it would be most welcome. also tonight the slide and search. the death toll rises in washington state and we learn more about the fury of the flow coming down the mountain. >> and good evening, thank you for joining us i'm joie chen. an intense search for a missing little girl here in
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washington remains our focus. more than a month after the last firm clue about 8-year-old relisha rudd's disappearance, search dogs have fanned out north of the u.s. capital. amid disturbing signs and now many fear the worst. even the police chief admits grave concern about the motives of the man last seen with the little girl. >> we cannot ignore the possibility that he may have killed her. >> washington, d.c. police chief says investigators aren't ruling out any possibilities when it comes to the case of missing 8-year-old relisha rudd and the man accused of taking her. investigators discovered tatum, a janitor at the homeless shelter where relisha
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lived spend spent a period of time there. march 2 touchdown. the last sighting of relisha, march 1st. >> he purchased a carton of black 42-gallon self tie contractor trash bags, within the district of columbia. not long after that purchase mr. tatum was in the area of the aquatic gardens for a period of time relisha has not been seen by anyone since march 1st, yet he continued to go to work and was seen in multiple locations throughout the district of columbia from march 2-march 20. relisha was not with mr. tatum. what do you think he made with shall did with the trash bags? >> we are not making asunses. it is prudent that we search this area very well. >> police describe tatum as armed and dangerous. accused of shooting and killing his own wife at a local hotel on march 20. there are no sightings of
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tatum after that date and a search in the park may be more of a recovery effort. but detectives aren't giving up hope. >> given the circumstances we have right now, by are fearful that we need to make sure that unturned. >> search warrants obtained by america tonight show police have been looking for clues in many places, including tatum's work locker and his house. detectives recovered children's clothing and shoes and a photograph of relisha rudd from his washington, d.c. home. a detective assigned to a child pornography task force took an ipad, work supplies and papers from tatum's locker at the shelter. they show a better time line of vents. although she was last seen march 1st it wasn't until march 19 when a social worker reported to police that relisha had been missing from school for more than 30 days. the records show she was being treated by a doctor tatum. but when the social worker went to the shelter to meet with
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dr. tatum a supervisor told her he wasn't a doctor, he was a janitor. tatum abruptly left work prior to his shift ending and has never returned. >> she is very, very dear to me and very dear to other volunteers. and she is just a sweet girl. >> the people who know relisha are holding on to hope making buttons to reminded people of her cheerful face. they still can't understand why an employee at the shelter was ever allowed to spend alone time with the little girl. into it is clearly written in our guidelines that front and isn't the in our training everybody in the organization knows that it is absolutely not what we are allowed to do. we can't even be alone with a kid, not even staff who have been with us for years or volunteer whose have been with us for years. that has never happened. that will never happen. >> on america tonight. this is just such a disturbing case. as this first came to light
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there was a concern that this search would go far outside the beltway. yeah, joie. you heard the chief say they didn't want to leave any stone unturned. today billboards went live all the way down the east coast all the way down to georgia with relishesa's picture and tatum's picture. but the chief did say in his press conference she didn't have any reason to believe in the last 60 days that tatum might have gone anywhere other than richmond, virginia. even so though, they and the fbi have alerted every jurisdiction where she might have a connection. at this point now, again, doesn't have any reason to believe he might have left the washington, d.c. area other days. >> this it girl was living in a homeless shelter. social workers involved with her family. school officials involved as well. is there any investigation to what people did to try to protect her? >> well, you can imagine there is going to be all sorts of investigating on what happened
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and who knew what and when and how on earth this gentleman was able to have any interaction outside of the shelter with this little girl, especially alone time but a lot of people aren't talking about this right now. i can tell you, i called the media spokesperson for the dhs department and nobody has returned my call though i made half a dozen contacts. but the other thing they will be looking at is motive. the chief said she wouldn't talk about the evidence today. but we do know they also collected cell phones and checkbook and mail and things like that. you can imagine they will be sorting through all of that. today a lengthy day looking through the huge park. their top priority finding relisha. >> thank you very much. >> to give us a little background and understanding of the investigation we are joined by tom. you have helped us understand how law enforcement goes around putting a case like this together. but in this case also so much is going to be who could have followed up, who could have
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known this child was missing for such a long time. >> um-hmm. and yet didn't move to try to find out what was going on? >> um-hmm. the d.c. public school system on any given day has a lot of children missing from class. and the teachers don't have the ability to follow-up every day on every single one. now, this system is not as down pat as say montgomery county where -- >> a suburban community. if your child doesn't show up for school, you will get an automatic phone call at the end of that day. and they will contact the parents. but in d.c. that doesn't happen. and you have children who can fall through the cracks for days if not weeks like in this case and finally when someone realizes no one has seen this little girl for a while, then you realize there is a problem. unfold. >> in this case also there is the matter of the family had said to the school she is in the care of a doctor who turned out to be this particular suspect then. >> um-hmm. in this case.
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surely there should be some tracking of this. wouldn't there be in a month's worth of absences? >> well, people who abduct children tend to be very crafty and diabolical. and in this case, tatum seems to have done just that. he used his access to the child in the shelter and her family to get trust, to take the girl places with the permission of the parents and the grandparent. and then he impersonated her doctor. that's a very, very diabolical crafty to go about trying to execute abducting a child, which we believe that is what he has done. and there was no way initially i think for people to realize just what sort of a charade he was pulling off until it was too late. >> and also in a shelter situation. there are specific rules for employees. they are not to fraternize with people staying in the shelter. clearly this was allowed. other families said they had contact with him too, their children had contact with him too.
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>> you know how we become familiar with people we are around every day. when you live in a shelter you become familiar with the staff, the staff gets to know you, they know your children and just being around people breaks down your normal, you know alerts that you may have because you become familiar and comfortable with people. and apparently this family became very comfortable with this janitor. and then he executed this diabolical situation that now has all of us looking and praying for this little girl. >> or perhaps not intentionally. we can't assume what his motivations might have been. >> we don't know. but we can suspect that if she was with him when he allegedly murdered his wife in the red roof inn, if she was there then, then she was a witness to a homicide, and old enough to testify against him in court. and that would in and of itself be enough motivation for someone to kill a child. because that child is a witness to a homicide. >> terrifying.
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>> thank you for being with us. >> tom morris. >> when we return, force of nature. a closer look at the unbridled power that bore down on oso, washington and the risks of landslides across the nation. also the faithful raise their voices in anger. >> what they are is arrogant, self-absorbed, greedy and selfish men who never should have been ordained. >> america's own bishop of -- a half million dollar addition to his retirement home. why it has led new jersey >> i mean, i don't know who's illegal, who's not illegal... al jazeera america presents a breakthrough television event. borderland a first hand look at the crisis on the border... >> i'm already afraid just being here
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>> six strangers, with different points of view take a closer look at the ongoing conflict. gary, a farmer, who hires many migrent workers... >> people say immigrants are stealing our jobs, it's not true... >> and allison, a born again christian, republican... >> let's just send them back to mexico and let their goverment handle it. >> they re-live the fatal quest of a young boy named omar... >> do you think that omar was way too young to make that trip accross the dessert? >> you just can't keep being strong... >> where will this path lead them? >> just because they make it to the u.s., doesn't mean good things are gonna happen to them. >> experience illegal immigration... up close, and personal. >> the only way to find out, is to see it yourselves. on... borderland only on al jazeera america
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>> this was another grim day in the cascades foothills north of seattle nearly a week after the devastating mudslide ripped through oso washington. teams continue to pull bodies
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from the muddy debris. up to 15 feet of mud and debris covering an area of about a square mile. there are now 25 confirmed deaths. the number will surely rise. authorities have cleared many names from lists of the missing and it has fallen from 176 to 90. still it is a very difficult time the search is taking a huge emotional toll. america tonight's michael oku is in washington. how is the community holding up? >> well, joie it is a largely blue collar community here. it is a very quiet place. and it is very tightly knit i think by all measures. the people here will proudly tell you they are country folks and during times like this they lean on each other. not a few times we have seen people running into each other at the grocery store or on the
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sidewalks or last night we saw people running into each other at the community center. and they will hold each other in tears for what seems like minutes. i can also tell you that this is a deeply faithful community. we had the honor and privilege of attending an inter denominational vigil service last night. and it became very, very clear that in addition to seeking solace in each other, many people are praying. and some of those people continue joie to pray for miracles even at this hour. >> not only in the tight knit community as you mentioned but people are coming from hours away to try to help. >> yeah, that's true. we have seen that all morning long. i mean, for the past 48 hours even this place has been flooded with folks. so much so that the organizers at the site have to start turning people away. largely we are talking about loggers, talking about
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policemen, talking about firemen. but for the most part, the volunteers we are seeing very, very long time community residents like bob de young, a man i met this morning who has been living in this community for about 25 years. >> i have never seen anything like it. i was a police officer for many years. i seen a lot of stuff and a lot of death you know, that type of thing. but i i've never seen anything like this. carnage. it is devastating. >> what is it physically like on this hill? i imagine there is a lot of mud and obstacles in your way, and it is not easy work. mud is 40, 5 0 feet deep. >> 40, 50 feet deep? >> at least. >> how do you stand on it, negotiate that?
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>> you find the spot where you can step on without sinking. you can walk on the limbs branes and pieces of logs. that is why it is such a difficult site to escavate. that is why we have escavaters and log loaders. it is very emotional. extremely emotional. you have a heart, you cannot feel because you have a family member standing with you while you are doing the digging. every scene i have been on the last few days i had family members on the site with us. they are all pushed together because you have a mixture of houses. either looking through a little kids belongings ten feet away you are looking through old ladies shoes and the next minute you are going through a navy commander's pictures of warships and planes. we found one yesterday that
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was a good thing with local family. daughter was missing. we found her yesterday. >> she wasn't alive, obviously? >> no, she was trapped in her car under four feet of mud. >> it has got to be awfully difficult. a lot of the people you either know or know people who know them. >> yeah, a lot of people went to church with and stuff like that. so yeah, it is not the funest job in the world, but we got to give the families some closure at this point. >> not the most fun job in the world but right now, the most significant one, joie. >> i'm struck by as you know i was in. snohomish county a few weeks ago myself. what struck me was the incredible beauty of the area. the hillsides and just incredible views and vistas all over. but also a sense that the population is rough and ready. >> yeah, sits a rough and ready population.
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a lot of people ask the fact that people knew that landslides could happen here. and the bottom line is that people who are drawn to this place are as you correctly put it rough and ready folks. but they are drawn here by the logging industry. they are people who have made a decision that they want to live in a remote part of the world. and they are also people who have like minds on this. they are folks who have decided that they don't want to live in the hustle of mainstream society, you know, typical urban, even suburban life. there is a man last night who told us that we are isolationists. and he told us that very proudly. these are people who feel very self-sufficient in their lifestyle, in their neighbors and right now they couldn't rely on anyone more than those neighbors who they have made their home with. >> america tonight's michael okwu in washington state thank you very much. rescue teams have been
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struck by the here is force of the mudslide. one official said he couldn't believe that cars were shredded by the slide. professional photographer dave ranken has documented a number of flash floods and debris floes. he joins us via skype. you do live in a remote area where you managed to catch a number of daytona quite shocking flash floods and other big debris floes. there is a similarity to what we are seeing in washington, right? >> there is a similarity between flash floods and landslides. i mean, there are some factors, similar factors. but fundamentally they are different events, natural events. forceful. >> sorry? >> when we get a lot of heavy monsoonal rain in the summer months we get these flash floods that happen in the dry
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arroyos or washes out here. and they can gather a lot of debris over the course of many hours as they work their way down the drainage at 40 or 50 miles long. when they arrive at a given location they can look like a large debris flow. we had instances in the southwest where people are killed by one of these floods. but what happened in washington recently is a little different because it is a massive slope failure. it is not a thunderstorm that is generating the landslides. it is a lot of rain saturating the ground and you know the slope itself is unstable and then i heard it was probably close to a cubic mile of material detached from the side of the mountain and slid down and ran out a very long distance. so, i mean, it can look similar but they are different forces. >> i got to tell you i have seen some of your videos on youtube as well. looking at these images i'm
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struck by how forceful and how rapid, how rapidly they move. >> it is really an amazing sight. you can be hiking out here in the desert southwest and you can be in a dry wash. a thunderstorm can be out of sight miles and miles away. it can dump two billion gallons of water in two hours and then you know, a few hours later youle with be completely unaware and you will just hear this rumbling noise in the distance. and around the bend will come a debris flow carrying trees and rocks and anything that gets caught in the floods ends up plugging the front of the flood. and it is quite a spectacle. >> right. quite remarkable and does reminded us of the force of the mudslides we are seeing up in washington state. we appreciate your being with us. a flash flood chaser himself photographer david rankin, thank you very much. >>
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thank you. >> when we return, america tonight in depth. luxury accomodations. a half million dollar addition. complete with a pool and plenty of fireplaces. why the retirement home of a new jersey bishop has led to a fierce backlash from the pews. >> >> al jazeera america presents a global finacial powerhouse >> the roman catholic church, they have an enormous amount of power >> accusations of corruption... >> there is a portion of the budget that takes care of all the clerical abuse issues. >> now we follow the money and take you inside the vatican's financial empire. >> when it comes to money, this is one of the sloppiest organizations on earth... >> al jazeera america presents... holy money only on al jazeera america
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now a snapshot of stories making headlines on america tonight. a soaring and disturbing increase in the number of children living with autism in this country. cdc reports 1 in 68 kids in america live with the disorder. that is is a 30% increase from two years ago. a huge theft ring busted at los angeles international airport. and as you suspected, dozens of airport workers were arrested, accused of stealing luggage and other valuables in terminals and on the tarmac. lax is the 6 sixth busiest airport in the world. new satellite images report what could be more debris for malaysia airlines 3 self-0. a thai satellite detected 300 objects in the southern indian ocean. bad weather grounded the search on thursday. an audience with the pope president obama meeting with pope francis for the first
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time at the vatican. it brought much change in the church as francis underscores modesty, piety and compassion for the poor. this week the pope forced out a german church leader known as the bishop of bling for his lavish lifestyle. and in this country, the vatican has begun to hear the loud complaints of a parish in new jersey where the parishioners are boycotting the chur of. he church. >> this is what it looks like when the faithful revolt. >> i just think it is absolutely outrageous, outlandish, lavish, extravagant, con spickious. you got to be kidding me. [ bell ] >> one parishioner asking others not to donate to the church. another writing to the archbishop himself. >> i think catholic church
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does not quite get it. the catholic church is our chur ofch. they are slow learners. >> archbishop meyers was appointed a caretaker of our church. >> maybe what they are is arrogant, self-absorbed greedy selfish men who perhaps never should have been ordained. we intend to distribute to as many parishioners and parishes that we can reach. if you have the nerve or the guts a reply would be welcome. thank you for consideration, jim. >> it is sunday morning in newark. time for family and god. but in recent weeks, a crisis of faith has been testing this community. the men and women in these pews have begun to question their leader and the institution that binds them. >> at age 73 archbishop john meyers is just two years away from retiring. he is getting ready. these satellite images show
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his retirement home, what is known as meyers mansion. a four and a half,000 square foot property with 3,000 square feet under construction. this is the house at the center of the controversy. an estate built on 8 1/2 acres of land. paid for by the archdiocese, all for one man. >> the half million addition being financed by the church includes an elevator, three fireplaces, indoor wave pool and a hot tub. jim is one of hundreds of catholics calling on the church to clean house. he is withholding all donations to the archdiocese and urging others around him to do the same. >> building this 3500 square foot addition to an already 4,000 square foot home, swimming pools, elevators, fireplaces, five bedrooms, doesn't make a lot of sense. >> in a statement, a spokesman for the archbishop said the home was purchased using funds from the sale of another residence that was donated to the archdiocese more than 20 years ago.
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he went on to say no parishioner funds were used to finance the project. it is being paid for through other properties. >> even if archbishop meyers were to have paid for this by himself i think the simple fact the message that it sends forth is not a good one. it is a garish example of conspicuous consumption. if we are really concerned about the homeless, if we are concerned about the hungry, then that kind of vestment in a retirement home for one person is probably not well spent money. shoo spending money is nothing new in the clergy. last year in germany, the bishop of lindberg spent $40 million in church funds to renovate his personal home. among the upgrades, a $20,000 bathtub and half a million worth of closet space. local media dubbed him the bishop of bling and it wasn't long before the vatican removed him. the numbers may pale in comparison, but catholics in
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newark say archbishop meyers should be held accountable in the same way. >> i would like to see the archbishop being dismissed. i think he is disgraceful to the catholic church. not only for this pat matter and other things he has done. in reality this is our church we are the laity he is the clerky. but we all have stake in this. >> for decades maria says it was her world. she grew up in catholic schools was the president of a catholic youth organization and became a catholic school social worker. but years of scandal and disappointment have left her feeling disillusioned. and this latest controversy has brought things to a boil. >> feel that they are being hypocrites and it is very difficult for me to sit in a pew and listen to someone whom i think is a hypocrite. i don't need them as an intermediary to speak or go to god. i'm a little ashamed of the fact that i don't go to church but the point is i would like to, i just can't find that
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good feeling that i used to have in going to church on sundays or any other time. >> for those in positions of authority and place the needs of the vulnerable, the homeless, unemployed, underemployed we pray to the lord. >> the pastor of the church in jackson, more than an hour outsite of newark. he says meyers actions carry long term costs. >> so, here we have these lovely eight acres. do we believe he is going to live there by himself? he is not going to be riding a mower. he will not be without the skimmer pulling the bugs off the pool. he will not be in the kitchen cooking. someone will be cooking for him. you are looking at another 500,000 a year in carrying costs. and the archdiocese has said that he intends to be entertaining a lot of priests and bishops from around the world. he is not going to be serving
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them chicken legs, right? so there is a pretty high cost to maintaining this one individual year after year. i'm sure and i'm certain that the single mother in the inner city of newark would appreciate having a slice of that 500,000 dollars a year just to maintain, pay her rent and to buy her kid a pair of shoes at 60 or 70 a pair. i am sure she would appreciate having a slice of that. >> the message that resonates in the era of francis, poverty as a scandal and in a world with so much opulence. poverty as a desperate cry for help. they are the tenets this new pontiff has built his reputation on. but will the message trickle down? >> pope francis come on the scene and all of a sudden there there is something you can believe and grasp. there is someone you can truly admire. there is someone you think is walking in the footsteps of christ. i don't know if archbishop meyers is.
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i don't know if he has forgotten the message. >> i would like to say to archbishop meyers as a brother priest reflect on the gospel. jesus had no place to lay down his head. he had no home. i would ask the archbishop to contemplate that. pray about that. it is hard to make a decision to sell that house and to give that money to the work of catholic charities. because when you live opulently there is a cost to someone else. when you live in opulence someone else lives in poverty. the church always ought to be about helping the poor not to be poor anymore. >> al jazeera, newark. >> pope francis does speak of a poor church for poor people but the vatican has a different image. it has been rocked by financial scandals and shady dealings in the vatican bank. this weekend the documentary holy money examines examines the problems. al jazeera presents an investigation into
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embezzlement at the collection plate. >> embezzlement of donations is one of the biggest issues facing the church around the world. in the usa where sunday collections yield a hefty 13 billion per year it has reached record levels. there is a masters program in church management. he is taking me back to class. >> how do you explain embezzlement? >> embezzlement equals need plus opportunity. >> 21% of the diocese told us they never audit their parishes. >> well, there are some parishes where the same person counts the collection money on sunday, deposits, writes all the checks and reconciles the checking account.
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they do every step of the way. a few years ago a colleague of mine and i did a study. we found that 85% of the diocese had experienced embezzlement many more than 1. >> systematic. >> it is. >> for instance, one stole 1 million to pay for male escorts and a luxurious lifestyle. an office worker in new york was charged with stealing over $1 million which she spent on expensive dogs, a among other things. father from virginia was sentenced to 63 months in jail after it was discovered that he had stolen $600,000. he had a wife and three children. >> no one would think that a priest would embezzle the church. no one would think a lay worker would embezzle the
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church. so don't put the kind of internal controls that are commonplace in the business world. >> more an failure to understand the principles of management this sounds to me like a failure to understand human nature. >> al jazeera america presents holy money. sunday 9 eastern on al jazeera america. coming up next, how the numbers add up. the final days to sign up for obama care. and the white house's big last minute sell. will it be enough? and a programming note for our viewers. an america tonight special report on a hard habit to break and a tragic legacy to leave behind. i'm an addict. their father was an addict. chances are they are both going to have that gene. >> a new generation vulnerable to heroin's vicious draw. adam may with our special report addicted in vermont. that is coming up friday on
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america tonight. >> >> we have to move out of here right now >> i think we have a problem... >> we have to get out of here... >> they're telling that they they don't wanna show what's really going on... >> mr. drumfield, i'd like to speak to you for a minute... >> this is where columbia's war continues... >> ...still occupied... >> police have arrived... you see the blast scars from a bomb that went off...
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>> long distance congratulations from the president to counselor signing up obama care enrollees. he contacted them while on his trip. they have reached 6 million sign-ups, the revised goal. still expect a last minute push for more sign-ups before the deadline on monday march 31. and all the numbers connected to obama care is something of a moving target. throughout the sign-up period. hard numbers have been hard to come by. deadlines for different parts of the mandate moved repeatedly and with so much data coming in from 36 states that join the federal program. the government delayed projecting whether it would even reach the goal of 6 million signees.
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which was down from the original 7 million goal. critics point to the waiverring numbers as indicating a lack of support, mock mocking the administration's latest deadline move this week. those who at least start the sign-up process by monday get another two weeks to finish. >> last night brought us yet another delay of obama care. another deadline made meaningless. you know, he hasn't put enough loopholes into the law already. the administration is resorting to an honor system to enforce it. what the hell is this, a joke? >> far from the national debate of how well obama care will work, a site developed in a detroit basement offered the best glimpse into whether americans are buying into obama care. >> are you a health policy person, or a politician, how did you get into this business? >> no, i'm not a healthcare professional.
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i am not a political professional. i'm not a professional stilt'stician. i'm a web site developer from michigan and i was just a bit of a numbers geek and last fall i was just curious about the enrollments on the new exchanges. >> the whole thing started out as a hobby. i just threw out a google spreadsheet online and -- >> i will say it is not a fancy web site. >> no, no. fairly straightforward. and just had friends in other states who found a bit of information for their state or other states they would send it to me and i ran some google searches and whenever i found enrollment data for this state or that state i would plug it into a spreadsheet. >> his numbers have been surprisingly on target. so good that forbes, "the washington post" and other national media have used his figures as a resource.
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now with just four days left for americans to start the sign-up process, it is predicted that at least 6.5 million will enroll through the healthcare exchange by monday. that would top the administration's modified goal. although only 80% have paid to participate. since the snafus over the healthcare.gov web site, states have focused on targeting potential sign-ups. california modifying its campaign to lure in more hispanics, for example. but the focus on this last weekend will be in seeing how high the final number will go. >> who wants to know all this? >> as far as i can tell it is pretty much everyone. there is -- i have gotten contacted by some political types. i have gotten contacted by a lot of healthcare professionals and people in the field. some obviously a lot of media people.
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but a lot have been from regular american whose are either they need healthcare or health insurance and they got health insurance themselves and you know, they want to know as well, everybody wants to know how are the numbers going. how are the numbers going? the funny thing is in the long run that is not really the important part is the long-term effect, not so much the short term. now we get the view from the white house in the final hours to monday's deadline. we are joined by the senior white house healthcare adviser. appreciate you being with us. if you haven't reached the 6 million goal mark, does this qualify as a win? >> it is a win for the american people. it has been a long journey to get here in passing the law and all the attacks on the law. but now 6 million people have signed up in the federal and state market plays. we have until march 31st for people to sign-up.
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>> not everyone has paid. some of the numbers suggested that people have only 80% of the people have actually paid. you can sign up. but if you haven't paid, does that mean that you are enrolled? >> to be clear. some of the people haven't gotten their bill yet. you can't pay until you get your bill. the key thing is are people signing up, we are seeing an incredible surge here in the last week. just yesterday over one and a half million people went to the web site. just in the first three days of this week, more than a million people have called the call center. so this this is just terrific. it is what we expected all along. once people learned about the law when they learn that health insurance is affordable and they learned about the benefits, that is exactly what we are seeing. >> clearly this has been a very controversial period for the white house and the country as we look through all of this. i'm wondering. now that you are at this mark. if you reach the 6 million goal, which is still less than the original goal, if you reach the 6 million goal, if you assume that you do get
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enough of the payments actually made, people actively lose using the service, does this mean that obama care will work? can you guarantee that the service as you intended it is really going to work? >> i can do better than that. the affordable care act is working. i want to say one thing on the numbers. remember, we have 6 million. announced more than 6 million. but we have today -- that doesn't count people enrolling today, tomorrow, saturday, sunday and monday. we have a lot of days here for that number to increase and we are encouraging every american by march 31st who doesn't have insurance who wants affordable insurance to come here. but to go directly to your question. we have the lowest raid rate i increase in healthcare costs in 50 years. millions of people are gaining insurance, senior citizens 10 billion in their pocket by lowering prescription drug costs. women are no longer being charged higher premiums and quality is going up through innovation. the law is working. and people are signing up. >> still and yet kaiser family
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foundation survey finds that 46% of the public maintains a negative impression of obama care. what do you do about that? >> are you surprised by that? given the barrage of negative ads and misleading attacks, of course that will shape perception. but in the end facts win out. the facts coming out, this enrollment period will close. this was never going to be a one year project. this is a multiyear project. next year there will be another enrollment people and more people will sign up. but the facts are coming out. people are seeing the law works. >> white house adviser, thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. and in our final segment, a new play on the ncaa. college players as organized labor? and then there's the latest effort to come clean over the real value of college ball. >>
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>> finally from us this hour what could bring big changes to the big business of college football. the national labor relation board ruled athlete at northwestern university have a right to unionize if they choose. america tonight's adam mayor reports this could have ripple effects across the ncaa and fuels the debate whether college athletes should get paid. a potential game changer for college athletes, a labor relations board rules players have a right to unionize. that means negotiate healthcare, safety regulations
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and possibly salaries. >> it is a significant step in the revolutionary in a true sense of the word because this is the first time that this has come about. >> the controversial business side of college football is most evident in college station texas. revenues for a&m football around 100 million each year. growth in the school's money making football program thanks in large part to this man. the quarterback johnny manziel. also known as johnny football. >> johnny manziel. >> as a freshman, he won college football's most trophy. >> when someone wins a heisman it equals cash for a university. it can equal tens of millions of dollars in everything from publicity to alumni giving.
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>> dave is a sports columnist. according to one estimate manziel's heisman has been worth $37 million in free publicity for texas aid&m and doesn't count the sale of other items. jerseys. they do a program where boosters pay up to $20,000 just to sit at a table with johnny manziel for a dinner. >> but manziel has brought more than money to the program. he has brought controversy. manziel was accused of receiving a five figure fee for signing autographs in the offseason. following an investigation, college football's governing body ncaa suspended the quarterback for half a game for an inadvertent violation. suggesting manziel should have known the autographs would be sold. >> manziel has ignited a national debate over whether the ncaa should change the rules and allow college football players to be paid.
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that question landed manziel magazine. >> a thousand miles away from kyle field here in phoenix arizona a former quarterback is trying to change the playing field for college athletes. his name is sam keller. he is taking on the ncaa. sam keller is now the offensive coordinator at suguaro high school. a long day from his playing days. first at arizona state and then at nebraska. >> they pound it in your head you are a student first then athlete. you have school, practice. you have weights. everything is scheduled out for you. it almost feels like you are just a robot and they just hammer it into you. you become like a soldier. you eat, sleep and breathe football. and your teammates, coaches, meetings, especially for a quarterback. >> keller says it wasn't until his playing days were over
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that he thought about what he called the money making machine going on all around him. >> it is very much driven on money. as a college football player, you don't see that. you what drives the money but your john is to not buy into all that. your job is the responsibility of your teammates, coaches and your school, your institution. >> sam carle now works at a restaurant and bar in scottsdale, arizona. and he now thinks college athletes should be able to capitalize if they can on their celebrity. >> you know, i think there is people on the flip side of the argument who say these college athletes are getting scholarships, room and board. >> right. >> that's enough. >> no, that is not enough. it is not enough a all. because if you look at who is benefiting more everybody sells benefiting more. you have got the ncaa is benefiting, schools are benefiting more. people don't come to be
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schemed because of the institution they want johnny manziel, they want texas a&m jersey number 2, j and what drove sam keller to sue ncaa was this video game. ncaa football. a new version of the game is released every year by video game giant ea sports. >> this is his attorney. >> here is the virtual sam keller. >> on the left, sam cellar in his playing days at arizona state. on the right, the avatar for arizona state's quarterback that same year. >> and here are all the attributes that match-up perfectly. >> a few years later keller played for nebraska. again, his picture and his avatar are nearly identical. >> i want to your player. >> let's go right here. >> they have me from california. right-handed. everything is the same. they had everybody pretty much
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nailed down to a t. if you just had a generic quarterback with a generic number with no semblance of that roster it would be less appealing. keller's lawsuit says ncaa made money off him and thousands of other college athletes by illegally allowing ea sports to use their likeness in the game. leonard showed us an e-mail that uncovered between executives in the ncaa's licensing arm, it shows they use real names in the development process. then remove them before the game is released. do you believe that the ncaa is exploiting these student athletes? >> do i. i think they are exploiting them. you can't make money off the backs of student athletes and not share it with them and pretend that they are amateurs who when you are treating them like professionals. it is a professional endeavor done by professionals. everyone is making money off of it. everyone but the student athletes. >> ncaa declined to speak to
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us for this story but in july they announced they would not renew its contract with ea sports when it expires next year. saying we are confident in our legal position regarding the use of trademarks and video games. but given the current business climate and the cost of litigation we determine participating in this game is not in the best interest of the ncaa. >> whatever hans i just hope it's fair. i'm not looking to make any anything out of it. i never asked what i could make out of it. it is about the bigger picture. it is not about me. it is everyone else. it is about everybody. it is about college football as a whole. >> keller says he has moved on with his life. no matter what direction the lawsuit takes. as for manziel. we asked him last fall if he thinks college athletes should be paid. >> that is a decision that is way over my head. my mind-set is to be focused for the next week and make
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sure our team is focused. it is way above me. >> now months later, manziel's payday could be just around the corner. a dozen professional teams showing interest at pro day looking to draft the college sophomore into the nfl. adam may, al jazeera. >> and that is it for us here on america tonight. please remember if you would like to comment on any stories you have seen here log on to our web site al jazeera.com slash america tonight. enjoy the conversation with us on twitter or our face book page. we are there all the time good night. we ill have more of america tonight coming up tomorrow. >> . >>
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antigovernment protest start to build in egypt, meanwhile the trial of the deposed president. ♪ live from the global news headquarters in doha you are watching al jazeera and also camping up on the program sri lanka releases detained fisherman a day after india fails to talk about the human rights record. illegal referendum, u.n. condemns the vote that lead to

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