>> weekday mornings on al jazeera america >> start your day with in depth coverage from across the country and around the world. >> the future looks uncertain... >> real news keeping you up to date. >> an informed look on the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >>. >> fresh allegations the u.s. didn't properly recognise the threat from the terror group in nigeria that kidnapped hundred of girls. witness the chaos in ukraine. an american reporter that was kidnapped and beaten joins you. congress ways into the crisis in venezuela. >> and the whistleblower whose charges of academic fraud led to a scandal at a powerful american

university joins us. i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this". here is more of what is ahead. >> pro-russian separatists are ignoring a request from vladimir putin to put off the vote... . >> we are prepared to exact a higher cost if russia takes further steps. >> we have not seen evidence of russian forces being withdrawn. >> the entire world should do everything possible to help nigeria. >> president obama, including the deployment of u.s. security personnel. >> i'd like to tell my sisters never lose hope. we are with you. >> house speaker john boehner pushed his chamber to create another committee... . >> it's not going to be a sideshow or a circus. >> it's politics. >> when is the administration going to tell the american people the truth. they have not told the truth. >> this has been a game of catch me if you can.

>> the fix is in with the justice department's investigation. we begin with nigeria, and new questionses about whether the united states underestimated boko haram, by refusing to designate it as a terrorist organization in 2011. the concern comes as a small u.s. military team is set to arrive in nigeria on friday to assist in the effort to rescue nearly 300 girls kidnapped by boko haram last month. u.s. intelligence officials now say the girls have likely been broken into small groups and may have been taken to neighbouring counties. in a speech at the world economic forum, nigeria's president goodluck jonathan said taking the school girls would be boko haram's underdog. with news of -- undoing. with news of a massacre of that killed hundreds. the government is efforts to stop the brutality is under scrutiny. joining me now is christopher

dickey, former editor of "the daily beast." an article is that hillary clinton's department refused to label boko haram as an terrorist. it created an uproar. i wanted to get to this information, but let's start with the information from the u.s. intelligence that the girls would have been broken up into groups. we knew some would have been taken to neighbouring counties. what are the chances of getting them back. >> i think the chances of getting them back through military or police action or search is slim. there may be a chance to get some back through ransom. that's what it comes down to. >> should we negotiate, or the nigerian government negotiate. >> everyone will say no negotiation, but boko haram, and groups that boko haram is affiliated with like al qaeda, they have been taking hostages over africa for a long time and have been successful with it. i don't think the girls were taken to be hostages, but the

sad truth is now that the international profile of the issue is so high, they have become valuable commodities. the value increased. it's sad to think about it in those terms. >> sad, but that's the truth. >> turning to the "the daily beast" report by josh rogan, it looks back at the department in 2011 saying hillary clinton back then refused to put boko haram on the state department's list of terrorists. let's look at what hillary clinton had to say about in this week about what is happening in nigeria. >> the government of nigeria has been, in my view, somewhat der lect in its responsibility towards protecting boys and girls, men and women in nigeria. >> now we know she refused to put boko haram on the list despite letter after letter arguing from all sorts of sources, from congression the

justice department, fbi and the c.i.a. that this group should be put on the list. was it a mistake? >> i think in the world of real diplomacy, rather than congressional or justice diplomacy, you have to look at the government you are dealing with. this government in nigeria did not want to address this terrorist threat as what it was. it didn't want the united states putting this group inside nigeria on its terrorist list, and then essentially playing up the whole issue, to the nigeria government is the party that the state department is dealing with. there's lots of issues, of trade, politics. nigeria's biggest, richest country in africa. if they don't want this to happen, the state department will be reluctant to do it. we say that in the story. >> then under-secretary of state

johnnie carson in charge of that area of africa argued that this could have emboldened boko haram, by giving them a higher profile. >> it's a little bit of the catch 22 thing that we were talking about with the girls. if they have been kidnapped and there was an effective way to address that situation on the ground in north-east nigeria, there wouldn't be a question of them being held hostage and ransomed and large amounts of money and huge amounts of publicity. the fact is now they are an international commodity. boko haram was a relatively small, limited group, yes, kacted idea logic -- connected idea logically with al qaeda and other groups, but not projecting itself on the international stage in any way. the minute you put it on the terrorist list you say they are some of the big players in the world. >> they went against the u.n. office in abuja and killed a dozen people with a car bomb.

they were going after some international targets and certainly talking about going after international targets. sure. the problem with the groups is we talk about them as if they have to have flow charts that go to al qaeda central or pakistan. this is a group that started out with local grievances and issues. it's trying, of course, to project itself on the international scene. the common thing among terrorist groups is tes toster own, there's a lot of the young men, they want to fight for their cause and project themselves on the world scene. it's hard to do that in north-east nigeria. it's easier if you bomb abuja, and if they kidnap girls, enough of them, they can project themselves on the world stage. >> it's brutal. after hillary clinton was in power, and after she left it was more clear. boko haram...

>> but what do you accomplish - i'm not going to make the argument for hillary clinton. >> that is the argument. >> what do you accomplish by putting them on the list. >> some argue by not putting them on the list - i'm trying to think of the language used - we weren't able to use the resources at our... >> they have to be done in coordination with the government of nigeria. if the government of nigeria says "we don't want them on the list", you have a problem there. that's a blockage there you have to address. >> you know if the united states says to nigeria, we want the guys on the terror list... >> that's not true. there's a lot of issues in africa where the united states would like to say lots of things and the african governments don't listen. it's anotherling. look at the l.g.b.t. issue. there's all sorts of things. >> true. in a case like this, where it involves terrorism, and last year boko haram was on the conference call with al qaeda

leaders leading to the closing of embassies, including in africa. >> it's not like a sanctions list. we are not talking about sanctions on boko haram. who do you declare sanctions on? they don't have bank accounts in america or swiss - there's nothing like that. could we work more effectively with the local forces in nigeria if we put boko haram on the list. the counter-argument is we are already working with them. if we put it on the list and the government in nigeria doesn't want that t will complicate things. >> they put a few leaders on the risk. >> that's right. nigeria didn't want to declare a large terrorist organization operating on its territory, with world class territory. as we have seen, nigeria wished the problem would go away, and it isn't it. >> now we have this tragedy.

christopher dickey, as always great to have you on the show. >> thank you. tensions conditioned to rise in ukraine on thursday as pro-russian separatists in the country's east defied viewedin and rejected his call for a sunday referendum. officials from the donetsk people's republic said the group voted unanimously in favour of going ahead. ukraine's security service said it would do everything it could to stop the referendum in the donetsk and luhansk regions. vladimir putin oversaw a test launch of military rockets before the victory day celebrations that marked the fall of nazi germany in 1995. for more, i'm joined from ber palestinian by "time" correspondent simon shuster, and he covered the crisis in ukraine extensively, where he was detained by separatists on one

kags and kidnapped and attacked by group. he's co-author of "premier - president - czar: what putin wants." we'll get to the cover story in a moment. you were stopped by armed separatists, hit on the head with a gun and kicked. they held you overnight at an occupied government building. did they tell you why? >> no, they didn't tell me why. i'm not sure they, himself knew why. certainly the guys that hit me didn't have a clear reason. he hit me or checking documents to figure out who i was. when he checked my documents while blood was running down my face and realised i was a journalist, i think he became a lit nervous that he had done that. nevertheless his commander came and took me back to their headquarters. >> they take you back to the headquarters, and that puts you on the inside, giving you a new perspective on who the separatists are.

>> yes, it was an enlightening experience. i have been interview many of them on many occasions - both the civilian supporters, and the actual citizens that came from russia to fight for the cause. i never saw the interactions with each other in the formal environment, where it's sort of like one big strange family inside that building. it gave me perspective on the huge variety of people involved in this confrict, and how difficult it will be for the ukranian government to try to separate out the civilians who got caught up in it from the smil tents who are aggress -- mill tents who are there to fight. >> you needed help from russian journalists to get out. >> yes, i was lucky they did not take my cell phone. i put in a call to russian colleagues. they are treated with a bit more

respect and difference in the separatist territories because they are russian citizens. they vouched for me and were allowed pick me nup the morning. >> you talked about the variety that you saw at the headquarters. in this piece that you write, you write about the diversity in ukraine, how it can make it an ungovernable mess. do you see some return to fractured naturalistic groups that bring back the bad memories of what happened in hugo sloughia as they and the soviet union broke up. >> i don't think it will come to that point, but the chaos, and the warring clans mutual d distrust meets a lot of objectives. in the last couple of days we have seen russia step back, as

you were saying, people have stepped back from the imminent invasion from russia. they don't need to. they have destabilized ukraine to such an extent that russia will have various ways to exert influence and prevent it becoming strong and united enough to join n.a.t.o. or the european union. >> talking about the destabilization and putin. he seemed to signal a referendum be postponed. if that's what he wanted, wouldn't the separatists have gone along. that's the interesting thing that i discovered throughout my reporting there. their links to russia, they do have links to russia.

but they are several removed. i don't think russia has full control by any means over all of the groups. their various groups in control of various parts of ukraine. after vladimir putin abandoned their cause, a lot went that extra step and went rogue. they are continuing with their cause, because they have no way to retreat. they'll either be arrested and tried for various crimes, including separatism, which is a serious thing, or they'll be killed in action as the ukranian forces take over control, take back control of these areas. so it seems that whatever links were between moscow and the separatists initially, a lot of them have been severed. >> in the cover story, you talk about referring to vladimir putin as premier, president,

czar. a lot of people in the west look at what he's doing as a dream of reconstructing some sort of soviet union, you say his dream goes back longer, that he has czarist dreams. >> yes, we talked a lot about what does vladimir putin want. it's important to get outside the framework of typical values and desires of a western politician. he's not concerned about what others think. there are no fair elections in russia. approval ratings for him are sky high, 80%. 40 years into his rule in russia, what does he want? the answer is the kind of legacy that puts him in the canon with the rulers of russia that have

expanded its territory, that have stood up to the west as an independent superpower, and really made russia not only respected, but feared abroad. that legacy i think is what he's angling for. when he annexed crimea, he crossed a ruby con into that territory, from president to czar. >> you write that this is having tremendous consequences around the world with a lot of things put on hold. it's a fascinating perspective on ukraine - russia and vladimir putin. simon shuster, good to have you with us. coming up, scandal week rolls on. we analyse benghazi, the irs and the sequester. congress steps into the venezuela crisis. and our social media producer harmeli aregawi is tracking top stories on the web. >> we have heard of student teaching - what about teach

officers that's what philadelphia educators are being accused of. i'll tell you more coming up. join the conversation: ♪

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only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. . >> for washington republicans, this is scandal week. they are blasting the white house for allegedly covering up the 2012 benghazi attack, using the irs to intim tat tea party groups -- intimidate tea party groups and cooking the books on non-existent job losses during the sequester. democrats call it conspiracy week, accusing the g.o.p. of creating a theme of white house political corruption that could sweep democrats into power in the fall. the house voted down mostly party lines to establish a

select committee to vet the terror attack that -- investigate the terror attack that killed four americans. house speaker john boehner insisted the investigation is not political. >> our focus is on getting the truth for the american people and the four families. i'm joined by bill schneider, al jazeera contributor, and policy think tank and professor at george mason university. from los angeles, al jazeera political contributor michael shure. good to see you both. bill, the legislation establishing this select committee will allow it to spend money and go on forn. the republicans says the white house has not fully cooperated and a committee is needed - are they right? >> yes, and no. the white house has been slow, reluctant to turn over documents. emails keep appearing. >> is there a conspiracy, is

there a need for the committee - there has been a lot of investigations. what are they trying to investigate? they say they are trying to investigate a cover up. where there is an allegation of a cover up, there has to be a crime. what is the crime here? nobody has said. >> i guess the argument is it's closure and lying about what happened. michael, white house says benghazi is about the midterms, it's politically motivated, getting the base fired up and fundraising and point to the fact that a lot of republicans are out there. this benghazi watchdog appeal from the national republican congressional committee, others using it as a fundraising issue. speaker bone rer insists that -- john boehner insists that it's not political, it's about getting the truth and resisted naming the the select committee and only changed his mind when the email was released last week, that he said forced his hand because the white house

hasn't been forthcomingism. >> i think the white house and the speaker are not forthcoming. it's not about the midturns, it's the 2016 elections. john boehner has it wrong - it is, in fact, about politics. there's nothing that is being covered up, because it's been exhausted. there's no crime here. it's about the fact that hillary clinton is the likely, at that pointed, and i say likely in the minds of many, a likely nominee for the democratic party. it was in her watch that benghazi happened to the republicans, and they see as a way to do that. >> the republicans and opposition party - congress likes a scandal, long hot days of hearings on capitol hill. you remember in 1987. we mentioned this earlier, that the contrahearings were held. it was a long summer and george h.w. bush won the elections.

i don't think it's about the midterms. >> what should the democrats do. they are supposed to vote on friday morning - whether they agree to serve on the select committee, and it's been split 7-5 with the republicans in the majority. is there an advantage to boycotting the committee. >> i don't think so. it will be used for propaganda purposes, and allegations of a cover up may ring true to americans. they may say why aren't the democrats cooperating, why aren't they defending themselves. when you make a charge and it's unanswered, people suspect the worse. >> is there a press dent? >> i can't thing of one. >> michael, another topic to a scandal. the house voted to hold former irs official lois lerner in contempt for refusing to testify about the agency targetting tea party groups. it's been going on for a year. it wasn't until thus that all of

lois lerner's emails were turned over to the ways and means committee. do delays lying that feed the conspiracy theme. >> in a way they do. i don't think that these are apples and apples, benghazi, and the irs, i think the email slow trickle on benghazi, and again i would add to what bill was saying about what - you know, the perceptions of that hearing. the democrats stand to gain, if it's 7-5, because it will seem like an unfair playing field. there's some of that going on. going back to the irs - the idea that these emails took a longer time to get out there is more predictable. as soon as the justice department, the congress will file charges with the justice department. it seemed as if they had to release them. they chose not to earlier, and now they are - it's demanded. it would have been a lot less acceptable this time.

>> this has been handled purely. news that the audit raid of tea party groups may have been higher than for other groups. >> that's right, there appears to have been someone involved with the irs going after the tea party, they saw words like tea party or patriots. the only question is was there a political conspiracy behind it, and where did it originate? did it originate in the white house. no one has stcted that charge. >> -- substantiated that charge. >> let's move on to something else. tom coburn said on thursday that the government sequester led to one person being laid off despite all the talk that thousands of jobs were lost, and white house tours cut. there was a lot of sky is falling talk. michael, is this a black eye for the white house. i think it's a black eye for washington, more than the white

house. everyone was using square tactics, it's just as much for the white house as for the congress. it was a parolee, someone on the federal parole board. there was temporary furloughs that went on. that did happen, and it's that the idea of performance and soup lines in the streets never game to fruition. if you thought about it then, it paints a doomsday picture. it's bad for washington on the whole. i don't think it just is directed to the white house or the congress. >> final one, bill, the epa which came under fire a lot, has come under fire again, the house oversight committee claiming the agencies internal homeland security office blocked the inspector general's office for oversight, coming on top of other issues there. is the theme conspiracy or incompetence. >> there's something between incompetence and conspiracy. what is for than incompetence and less than conspiracy -

wrongdoing. employees of the epa appear to have been really stupid and did a lot of very bad things. looking at pornography, on their computers, claiming pay for work that never got done, something alleged to be in a retirement home and drawing a salary. those things are wrong and it may be wrongdoing. it's not just incompetence. there's no proof of a conspiracy. >> a lot doing on. there's one good piece of news for the white house, apparently insurers say that people who signed up for obamacare are paying their premiums, 80 to 90%. bill schneider, michael shure, great to have you on the show. >> thanks. >> sure. >> turning to venezuela, where a military operation conducted early morning raids on four encampments in caracas, arresting 343 protesters, taking place hours before gaoled

opposition leader leopoldo lopez was set to appear in court to determine whether he would be tried or released. instead, when he arrived at the courthouse he was told the hearing was off and he was sent back to his cell at a military base. on thursday the u.s. senate's foreign relations committee held a hearing. roberta jacobson said imposing sanctions would harm negotiations between nicolas maduro, and the opposition. senator menendez was none too happy. >> how many people have to be tortured, arrested, fired upon before we say guess what, the process is not working chl joining us now is the executive director of the american decision of human rights watch, miguel vivanco. good of you to join us. he testified today.

given that the white house is not top sanctions even though negotiations went no way, the crackdown on thursday on the protests, and the continued gaoling of political prisoners. senator menendez asks a good question - how many more abuses have to happen before action is taken. >> we have done a report, researched in venezuela. we have found evidence of gross mass if violations of human rights, a systematic pattern of abuses, including torture and abuses. there's no question that the record of the current government of venezuela is poor. i do believe that the government of venezuela is not going to change its attitude. it's record on human rights. unless some international pressure is exercised from the government. now, the question is whether that pressure should come

unilaterally from washington in terms of sanctions, targeted sanctions against individuals - denying visas and freezing assets. or whether the pressure should come from the region, from democracies in the region - brazil, mexico, u.s. and canada, to press the government of venezuela, to improve its record, to release political prisoners and individuals who are in detention, with violations of new process, and the army, the gangs of armed individuals who cooperate with the security forces. i believe that the level option is exercise collective, regional pressure on the government of venezuela. >> there has been little of it that has worked. some led to the negotiations now. we are striking today in the hearing that there's bipartisan agreement. you don't often see democrats

menendez and durban on the side of mccain, and you have dye as, ball art teaming up with wasserman and schultz and gars sia. should the united states take some lead. it seems the south american nations had little to do. >> i do believe that they - two tracks, two different tracks in the senate and in the house it pretty much bipartisan support for targeted sanctions. the administration is against those ones. on the other hand, the obama administration should do more and could do more. mobilizing support in the reg n region, especially from brazil to exercise pressure in venezuela. that is lacking. my sense is that the timingcm not right, ready yet, for any

type of sanctions, even targeted sanctions against individuals in venezuela. >> so what do you see happening - operation leader leopoldo lopez was supposed to have the hearing, to be sent back to a military gaol, what will happen with him and others. >> unless there is pressure on venezuela, nothing will change. leopoldo lopez, a leading figure of the opposition is in arbitrary detention. there's no evidence whatsoever that links him to the - to crimes committed in venezuela. but he's still in isolation in a military prison. there are many more in the same condition, and the government continue repressing protesters on the treats with brutality. for that to change you have to exercise regional pressure.

unless you are able to - i mean, the obama administration is able to persuade let's say brazil, chile, peru, columbia, mexico, to approach the government of venezuela, and to ask them to stop this abuses and release the prisoners, i'm afraid if this pressure is not exercised from the government, little will change. >> meanwhile a last final quick question. this is coming at a time when protests have nod died down, but slowed down and the situation worse. the government is giving food ration cards. they are rationing water and electricity, and these shortages and the inflation continue. where do you see things going in the next coming weeks? . >> i'm concerned for venezuela,

it's going through a human rights, political, social and economic crisis. it's important to engage with the country and important to force the government to sit at the statement table with the opposition and have a dialogue, not just monologues, but dialogues that produce results. and restore the independence of the judiciary, starting from the supreme court, which is, so far, is an partisan entity. >> yes, that's what you highlight in your human rights report and other abuses. it's a powerful document. miguel vivanco, a pleasure to have you on the show. >> time to see what is trending on the web with harmeli aregawi. >> we talked about standardized testing and the pressure put on students and teachers. five philadelphia educators may have succumbed to the pressures.

charges were made against a principal and elementary teachers who helped third, fourth and fifth grade students cheat on tests, providing answers and changed answers before turning in the state exam. allegations of cheating first surfaced in 2011 leading to the investigation of dozens of school. the five charged worked at cayuga elementary. jerry jordan heads up the federation of teachers and says the union will not provide legal assistance. you. >> there's no place for cheating when it comes to educating children. we will not condone nor support it. >> all five suspects have been suspended with may. now to your reaction, patrick says:. >> gordon says:

>> j.t. says: >> let us know what you take away from this story. tweet us. there'll be more investigations involving other schools in philadelphia, and around the state. >> i hope it's not the tip of the iceberg. thank you. >> straight ahead - protecting those that protected our troops overseas, we tell you what steps congress is taking. also, why are so many fleeing the flock of catholicism, and the whistleblower who called attention to cheating on campus to benefit college athletes at a major university.

thousands of afghans are still waiting for visas they earned by working as interpreters alongside american forces. while they wait they live in fear of retribution of the taliban for helping their enemy. state department ramped up the approval of these visas. many believe the government is not doing enough. that is why senator jean shaheen with bipartisan support extended

the programme. >> i believe we have a responsibility to fulfil the obligation to the thousands of civilians who risked their lives to help our country during the time of war. without on extension, the failure to help those that help us is a dark spot abroad and hinder our ability to obtain cooperation in the history. >> joins us from washington d.c. is matt zeller, a united states war veteran, a truman national project fellow and co-author of no one left behind. he introduced the afghan fellows extension act. he joined us last october to discuss his fight to bring his afghan interpreter mohammad janis shinwari and his family to the u.s. he joined us with mohammad janis shinwari once he was granted a visa. matt, great to see us this, is a long fight. mohammad janis shinwari saved your life.

why has this been a struggle? >> thank you for having me back, i love coming on the show. it's been a struggle for a couple of reasons. despite congress's level intention, the state department dropped the ball on implementing the programme. two, there was previous to the pictures that will happen, there was not a lot of coordination going on between the state department and the entities within the government that are responsible for adjudicating the security review of the individuals operation. every person that comes on the programs has to clear three hurdles, approve that they gave a year of faithful service to the military at war and prove because of that service they are under duress and pass a national security background investigation. the people doing the background investigation and the people at the state department were not talking to each other. we hope a lot of fixes implemented in a law passed last year, and a number this year, will have a profound effect on the programme, in a positive

way. that's the hope. >> one of your federal veterans referred to the process and he couldn't deal with the forms he was trying to deal with for his interpreter. according to the "new york times", there's about 5,000 afghans under threat, competing for fewer than 2300 visas, and hundreds are applying as we move along. is the bill - if the bill becomes law, will it be fixed? >> yes. i don't know if the "the times" numbers are accurate. i would argue more are under duress, but the law is important. first off, it extends the programme. if it doesn't parks if the law doesn't pass, and we fail to get it through congress, the programme does not exist as of december 30th, we have to get it through, in order to keep the programme going. it increases the number of

visas, it's a start. we'll probably have to do more, but at least it's something, and it's better than nothing. the third thing it does, and this is important - it makes a number of legal clarifications. currently afghans, like janice, couldn't bring the extended family, for whatever reason. the afghan war was different to the iraqi law. iraqis can bring mums, dads, brothers and sisters so long as they prove their lives are in danger. janice, like every other iraqi in afghanistan gan lived in an intergenerational compound in kaboom, meaning he lived with mum, brothers and sisters. because he no longer lived there doesn't mean their lives are snot not in danger. when the law passes he will be able to bring his parents here. the other thing it does, and this is weird, but the state department seems to think any interpreter working for is a.p.

doesn't count as having worked for u.s. forces, which is ridiculous. the u.s. headed is a.p. during its start. this will mean anyone that worked for is a.p. worked for u.s. forces and they get to come here. >> we had janice on the show last time you were on, how is he doing? >> he is doing well. he works for our local member of congress, congress jim moran as one of his immigration offices. who better qualified to try to help fix the problem and programme than someone that went through it and experienced it. >> you gave a picture of secretary of defense robert gates accompanied by his interpreter. he received a visa, when he came to the united states he was homeless in san francisco. what's happened to him and is anything done to help interpreters and their families once they get to america. >> that's a great question. that's the next fight.

i founded no one left behind - it's on the web at noone-left.org. we used the money raised, it helps others. he said "you raised all this money, can you use it to resettle erts." the gentleman we showed you a pact of. he found out about mohammad janis shinwari and i by watching a story. he made it to america, was in dire straits, he borrowed a phone, called back to kabul and said can someone put me in touch with mohammad janis shinwari, if you get me in touch with him, you can get me to matt and help me out. since our founding we have helped out about 10 families throughout the united states. we helped them get apartments, furnish the apartments and in a couple of days get jobs. there's more that needs to be done to help the individuals. i know of hundreds of people in

the d.c. areas that are translators, don't have jobs, have little if any support from the organizations that are supposed to help them. as we pointed out, this is the tip of the iceberg. if the law passes, i'm confident that we'll be able to keep our promise to the afghans, and the iraqi. and we'll bring you back to our county if if doesn't go too well in yours. if that's the case we'll be inundated with allies, and we owe it to them to help them. >> it's an incredible mission you have taken on. you have done incredible work. matt zeller, good to have you with us. great efforts. >> thank you. what price would you pay to blow the whistle at widespread wrongdoing. we hear from someone who felt she had to quit and whose next

step is to testify in congress. but first, why is the catholic church losing so many. that's next in our data dive.

. >> today's data dive focuses on

faith - a new pew study finding latinos are abandoning the church in big numbers, and fast. only 55% of american latinos consider themselves catholic, a 12 percentage point drop since 2010 and a 22% different between people that say they were raised catholic and those that are. catholicism remains the largest denomination with 66 million americans - baptiste are the second largest. there are so many former catholics that they, as a group, would come in third. so why are they leaving? 55%. latino who left said they gradually drifted from the faith. many stopped believing in the church's teachings. close to one in three said they found another congregation. the number of latinos who bim evan gellicals is rising. 18% of american latinos have no religious affiliation, that has

doubled since 2010. younger his panics are less likely to be catholic, and the church is taking note. the losses are said to be a big reason for the election of pope francis. >> if nor leave, they won't do it because of francis. he has an 84% approval ratings. >> coming up, forced to quit. we are calling attention to blatant hypocrisy and cheating on campus. a whistleblower tells you his story next. r

>> the whistleblower in a major college sports scandal paid a major price. university of north carolina academic advisor mary willingham went public with explosive finings on the school's -- findings on the school's athletic programme finding many read between a 4th and 8th grade

level. 10% were illiterate. and many getting as and classes provides minimum work and attendance. it was a scandal to keep up their sport. she claims after going public u.n.c. made her life miserable. she left the school and is heading to congress. mary willingham joins us. good to have you with us. let's deal with what you found. athletes were enrolling in paper class, where they didn't have to show up for any of the classes and only had to turn in a paper at the end and they were getting as for short papers that wouldn't get a passing grade in a middle school. >> that's correct, we had a paper class system in existence for many years, almost two decades and it was primarily set up for the purposes of athletic eligibility. starting in the basketball programme, and was used by football players as time went on. it was part of that system in

2003 and 2010, i was part of that system, so i'm familiar with the way we used the classes to keep players eligible. >> the university said three independent people conducted a review of your studies and found flaws, others supported what you found. >> yes, while i was there i did screening, along with an educational psychologist on many players coming to us as special admitts or talent, to see what kind of learning disabilities or attention deficit and the levels of reading, writing and the mass skills. we found that the sample space over a period of time. you know, we had, and i think we have across the country in d1 athletics, we are admitting many unprepared athlete. if we do that, we have to cheat. you can't do college level work

up here when you are academically prepared for work at this level. it's too big of a gap. >> tony cardenas is pushing for an investigation of the n.c.a.a. because of this. do you think that it is a systematic problem, that it is happening in a lot of colleges, to the extent that you saw it at u.n.c. >> i think so. i have over 3,000 - closer to 4,000 emails from people across the country since i spoke out publicly. people are so afraid of the n.c.a.a. cartel. they are afraid of the fans who sent death threats and hate mail and are bashing me on inside carolina, and a member of the athletic department is going on the radio talking about me, and it's horrible. we have young athletes that we watch on game day throughout the week, during two different seasons - basketball and football, and they are not getting what we promised them, a real education.

that has been happening for many years, it's time to spot. we need to do the right thing. >> the former governor of north carolina found problems with dozens of courses, unauthorised grade changes, most in university in particular departments. the department manager and he were implied to be a rogue and not a university policy. >> that's right. they threw a few individuals under the bus, myself, a tutor, and julyious and debbie crona and the african american studies programme has been tainted. it was the culture of the university for two decades, and everyone new. advisors in the college of latters and sciences -- arts and science and the deans new. we won't admit the truth. it's a pandora's box. >> what happened to you when you

went public, and why did you leave the university? >> i left the university, it was a hostile work environment. i was demoted and moved to a basement office - that's what they do to whistleblowers, and i brought my stapler. i was asked to do advising in the afternoon so i wouldn't be allowed to go to meetings. it was a typical - they wanted me to leave. i promised many students that i had worked with this past year and semester that i would stay until they graduate. that is saturday. i'll go back to north carolina, and be at graduation. it was time to go because i want to see the n.c.a.a. dismanned ald and we need to start from the ground up and fix this system. >> i know you are testifying before congress, i hope you keep us abreast of what is going on and we look forward to having you back on the show to talk more about it. >> the show may be over, but the conversation continues on the

website aljazeera.com/consider-this or facebook or google+ and twitter. see you next time. good evening everyone. this is al jazeera america, i'm john seigenthaler in new york. on the ground - a u.s. team joins the search for the kidnapped school girls in nigeria as one girl who escapes speaks out for the first time. convicted - the woman found guilty of hitting a police officers at an occupy wall street protest. does she deserve 7 years in prison, and is she sorry. we talk to her attorney. drone economics - the big money, big push for an eye in the sky. we'll take you