>> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. only on al jazeera america. >> this is aljazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. let's get you caught up with the top stories at this hour. government forces under artillery attack in eastern ukraine as a ceasefire agreement crumbles. >> president obama's promise of immigration reform is now on hold. the politics behind that decision. >> occurred issue forces making in roads against islamic state fighters nearer bill in iraq. >> detroit's bankruptcy trial and what it could mean for other troubled cities.

>> happening now, the ceasefire in ukraine is over. this is a blaze near the fort of marry pole in east ukraine. witnesses heard heavy artillery fire late saturday evening. it may be the first significant violation of the ceasefire coming less than 48 hours since it went into effect. the port city of mariupol has been the scene of intense fighting from both sides. >> on the eastern edges of mariupol, there is a check point a few hundred meters away, one we've been becoming familiar with over the last days. that check point has come under extremely heavy artillery fire. we went down a little closer to

it a few minutes ago and saw a truck that was ablaze. we saw a pet troll station nearby there also ablaze. locals tell us that the area around that checkpoint at least has been extremely heavily hit and you can still see the flames burning much closer from that check point around the grass land and the brush behind me. this is obviously a very serious breach of the ceasefire. the donetsk people's republic, the self proclaimed break away area in east he were ukraine, the prime minister of that area, so called, now says that the ceasefire has been breached and the fighting continues. his twitter feed also talking about the rebels having taken mariupol. we've seen ukrainian forces around here, three thanks. there's no question that they have all disappeared, but the question is whether this was the precursor to a real intent to

retake the strategic port city of mariupol. >> we should point out russia is key to working towards achieving another ceasefire. the kremlin still denies any military involvement, the white house said sanctions are critical in helping each side reach the latest ceasefire. we have more from moscow. >> if president putin believed that the latest round of sanctions would be averted by this ceasefire that he helped to bring about between the ukraine military and the rebel lee. s in the east, he'll be very disappointed. putin's credibility with the west was just about exhausted. first of all, we had russia admitting that there were russian troops involved in the annexation of crimea and there aren't many e.u. states that don't believe russia isn't heavily involved in the fighting

in east you are not ukraine. a lot of people will believe what the ukrainian prime minister said, that the size fire is a smoke screen to avert these sanctions. the sanctions will be introduced in brussels on monday. i understand that the e.u. may be planning to bar russian oil companies from raising capital on european markets. now, this would really hit the big boys, but it would be limited to just companies with more than a 50% stake own e.ship. russia's response, well, we simply don't know. we'll to have wait and see but they are promising repercussions. >> back at home, president obama plans to delay any decisions on immigration reform until after the congressional elections in november. it's in direct contribution to an earlier pledge by the president. kimberly has been following this story follow washington and has

more on the president's decision. >> for months, immigration activists have marched in protest are what they say is a lack of political will by the white house to make a decision on what to do about the more than 11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the united states. it's a problem that's been getting worse as thousands of children from central america have been showing up in recent months at the u.s. southern border. most arrived without parents and said they were fleeing drug related violence in their home countries. the white house asked congress for $3.7 billion a deal with the problem but got a fraction of that. president obama vowed to force reform on his own and directed his top officials to begin framing an immigration overhaul. >> i expect the recommendations before the end of the summer and i intend to adopt those recommendations without further delay. >> it was a pledge reiterated last week on friday as the president spoke at the close of the nato summit in europe.

he again said a decision was coming. >> i'll be making an announcement soon. >> but 24 hours later, a white house official said president obama had changed his mind and won't act until after the u.s. congressional elections in november. members of the president's own party are at risk, and could lose control of the senate. >> you've got democratic candidates, particularly for the senate who are very worried about keeping their seats. they've been getting through to the white house and saying don't do anything, just hold on, just wait a few months. if you act on immigration reform, we could be doomed. >> officially, the white house says the delay is to ensure that republicans don't further politicize immigration reform, but activists say both democrats and republicans are at fault and fail to recognize that this isn't about politics, but people. >> more than 60% of latino voters know somebody who isn't documented, family or friend. we are experiences in the flesh

the effect of the inaction, of making this a political football, which frankly has been done so by both parties at different times. >> regardless, that inaction will continue. white house officials now say immigration reform isn't likely to happen before the end of the year. kimberly, aljazeera, washington. >> mitch mcconnell responded to the announcement on twitter, writing: >> earlier we spoke with ben from the nonprofit organization to promote social and economic justice about which lidge laters are at fault and what his organization is doing to change it. >> the bottom line is nobody can deny the fact that in the last two years, right after the elections of 2012, the issue of

immigration became for the first time in many, many years, a top issue for both political parties. they both promised to do something. we saw a lot of progress in the senate. unfortunately, the republican party in the house failed us terribly. they had a big opportunity, but decided not to take advantage of that. the president has an opportunity to do something. what is still in my heart that is going to be the right thing is the president said he's not going to do it now, easy going to delay it, we're going to continue working hard and apply pressure that he continues his promise, and they know the people who stood on the weight of immigration reform. >> when you say you're going to continue organizing, tell me more about the next steps as you see them. >> well, what we've been doing and we're going continue doing is making sure those people

eligible to vote become rental terd. those who are registered to vote, make sure that they make it to the ballot box. those of us who are not able to vote yet, encourage relatives, friends and other members of our community to go out and vote. that's what we're going to continue doing. you are going to hear more about this. we are working in a lot of states. we are not doing it alone. we have other community organizations doing the same thing. we're definitely going to serve a message, the latino community is here in this country. we are participating and we're going to demand that those people we elect do right by our communities. >> that was ben with the education fund. turning now to iraq, kurdish fighters calling on nato and the united states for weapons and equipment to fight islamic state group. >> yes, we need more support from the u.s., and we are waiting for more weapons. we need more help from the u.s. without them, we can't do anything. we need them. >> peshmerga forces have made in

roads against islamic state but extra resources are taking too long to get to the front lines. we report from erbil. >> the iraqi forces made some in roads into mosul. across to the east, the peshmerga have taken the mountains from the islamic state fates. fighters have benefited from an air strike. they he made progress into the next town held by islamic state fighters closer to the perimeter of the city of mosul. this is fighters, constant calls for the nations of neat toe that they need weapons. these weapons are stockpiling in warehouses in baghdad, held up by red tape instead of pushed further up towards northern iraq and to their front lines. they're hoping with this new coalition of nato countries formed after the summit in wales

that there will be much more attention as to where the various supplies are going, and this will mean that that stockpile gets to be moved up towards them, and they can benefit on the front lines. >> despite the violence, we're still seeing in iraq the president of iran takes credit today for what did he say calling relative security in the region. iranian soldiers joined iraqi soldiers in the battle against the islamic state. >> if it wasn't for the assistance of the iranian nation, and the iranian government, today we would not be witnessing relative security in iraq. alleys, towns, villages in the region are being saved from the hands of savage terrorists and murderers day by day. >> those comments were made in northern iran to thousands. >> new information about the islamic state battle in syria.

reports are that civilians were killed at a crowded bakery. eight airstrikes smashed the buildings, and set cars on fire. people were crushed by the debris. >> the islamic state has beheaded another individual in syria. one of the captors was the shooter at the museum in brussels earlier this year. we have more. >> he's kept it secret for a long time. after revelations in the french press, easy spoken out. french journalist held captive in syria for 10 months said one of his jay lowers was french man mamus. he shot people at the museum in may. >> at the arrest for the acts he's accused of in brussels, i

was shown a number of audio visual documents that allowed me to formally identify him. the legal authorities decided to keep this secret. >> one reason for this, was that when he and three our journalists were freed in april, they left hostages behind and wanted to protect them. mamus was affiliated with a forerunner of the islamic state group, supervising dozens of prisoners. he said he was particularly feared. >> he mistreated me. i don't know if he mistreated other western hostages, but i did hear him torturing prisoners in the basement of a hospital. >> he was arrested in france days after the brussels shooting and extradited to belgium. the lawyer who represented him during extradition proceedings said he is surprised by the latest allegations, saying the

question of mamus traveling to syria was never raised. >> there was never question of the role as a jailor. it surprises me. if this turns out to be the case and with people said lives at stake, why didn't someone ask him the question? >> he faces tile over the brussels killings. a belgian judge is due to rule on his continued detention next friday. >> sierra leone is trying a different approach to battling the virus today, ordering everyone to stay home for three days to help stop the threat of the deadly illness. it gives time for people to stock up on food and other prosecutor visions. 2,000 people have died, including more than 400 deaths in sierra leone. >> human enterovirus is sending hundreds of children to

hospitals in the united states. six states are affected. some states are reporting 70 new cases a day. cans, illinois, ohio and indiana are among them. colorado and missed ms. have been hit the hardest. the sickest is causing severe breathing difficulties, sending 10% to 15% of the patients to intensive care units. doctors urge parents to keep their children at home from school if symptoms appear and immediately take them to the hospital. the illness has the same signs as a common cold, coughing and a runny nose. there is no anti viral medication or no vaccine currently available. >> there are no details about the crash of a plane yesterday. authorities may have spotted debris. real estate tycoon and his wife were headed to florida

yesterday. he radioed air traffic control twice en route. >> >> we need to get lower. >> working on that. >> he never indicated an emergency with the plane. after he stopped communicate, controllers, f15 fighter pilots intercepted the plane. the plane continued south over cuba on auto pilot before run out of fuel and crashing off the coast of jamaica. >> coming up, economists are sounding the alarm. if certain states and cities don't take action, many could end up like detroit, broke and unable to pay their worker's pensions. we're going to look deeper right after the break. >> an asteroid is hours away from coming very close to the earth, so close, it's estimated zoom past just a couple of thousand miles away from our information satellites. we'll have details straight ahead.

>> pakistan faces some of the worst flooding in decades. the race to save people, ahead. >> do you think that you can try and accept me for me? >> life changing moments... >> my future is in my hands right now... >> from oscar winning director alex gibney, a ground breaking look at the real issues facing american teens on, the edge of eighteen only on aljazeera america

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>> welcome back. it is saturday night and time to take a deeper look at cities and states across the u.s. struggling to avoid financial collapse. testimony was heard in the trial about the detroit bankruptcy this week. we have more from detroit from bisi onile-ere. >> in detroit's landmark bankruptcy trial, the chief financial officer john hill took the stand. when questioned by the federal judge, hill, who supports the city's debt cutting plan testified that he believes it can work, but stated it's not going to be easy to implement. if you go into this thinking it will be, i believe you will fail. hill is among 80 witnesses the judge will hear from in deciding whether the city's bankruptcy

exit strategy is feasible and fair. >> make the banks pay! >> despite a vote in favor of the plan, some retirees are still holding out. detroit emergency manager kevin orr wants to cut 12 blunt of debt to $5 billion. those cuts come at the expense of thousands of retirees, who stand to lose 5% or more of their monthly pension. >> the retirees should never have been included in this. the michigan constitution guarantees our possessions. >> there's a number of things i could ever recommended, and a lot of other people could have to improve city services, increase the cash flow. the city had a cash flow problem. >> the plan which includes a spin off of the detroit institute of art in exchange for state and private funds would pay some creditors less than 10 cents on the dollar. a major bond insurer

consideringing against the plan stands to lose hundred was millions of dollars. >> it may be that they're taking the approach that we have nothing to lose, so we're going to fight to the end and we're not going to agree to anything short of what we want. >> detroit could fall short of its proposal. as part of its restructuring, the city wants to reinvest more than $1 billion over the next 10 years to tear down blighted homes and improve city services. detroit's c.f.o. testified that unless an ambitious plan is set in place to cut costs and raise revenues, that money may not be there. this trial will determine what lies ahead for detroit. if the judge rejects the city's plan, it's back to square one for all involved. bisi onile-ere, aljazeera, detroit. >> let's bring in kate long, a

professor from lane state university. thanks for being with us. mislong, this plan is groundbreaking. it will determine the future of detroit. >> it will. it gives asset to say creditors and a reduced basis, and lays out a plan for detroit to rebill the police and fire, the i.f. function of the city, and also just otherwise it in a way it can really provide services to the city. >> we haven't seen anything quite like this. >> no, nothing on this scale and this well organized. >> misbartell, winning the judge's approval won't be easy. what will the judge be looking at during this process? >> the judge is governed by the requirements of a compensation for adjustments set out in the bankruptcy code in chapter nine under which the city filed. the judge is just going down a check list. all right, is the plan best for

creditors, is the plan fair and equitable to the creditors. the judge is just trying to comply with the law. >> the main argument, several bond issuers are saying we don't want 10 cents on the dollar. >> it's not unusual to get 10 cents on the dollar in a bankruptcy. of course no one wants that, but that's the plan the city proposed, so the judge has to take it as it comes or reject it. >> the judge asked the bond insurers what do you want, they said 75 cents an hour. he said how? they said sell the city's artwork. the evaluation is in dispute, but this is going to play a major factor in the trial. >> the creditors cannot force the city to liquidate assets. >> they can't. >> that's the law in chapter

nine. there's funds in the money they've set aside for revitalization, other assets. it's a negotiation process. it is happening in a court, but they continue to negotiate what kind of settlement they can have. the creditors will get something. i don't believe they'll get 10 cents on the dollar, but they will get much less than 70 5 cents. >> somewhere between 10 cents and 75 cents. the law can't require them to seem the assets. can they sell it, though? >> i think it's in dispute. some of it can be sold, some can't. the creditors cannot force that sale. they have to negotiate and do the best they can. >> i want to look at other place across the united states that are also fight to go save their economies. once again, here's courtney. >> detroit highlights the fact that many states do not have strong laws protecting workers pension funds.

money that should go into those funds is spent elsewhere with no repercussions. california, connecticut, illinois, pennsylvania are among the worst defenders. experts warn it's a house of cards that will collapse across the country in seven to 10 years. >> it's not like there's some magic fix for this. the problem's there. we have a four trillion-dollar hole. there's an extra $3 trillion that someone is going to be responsible for there and any solution is really just about apportioning the pain between different stake holders, so taxpayers will certainly feel this in the form of higher taxes and lower services. >> if states and cities renege on promised retirement benefits, workers and retirees could take a financial hit. to make up the difference, elected officials would have to raise taxes or cut services. one could argue that avoiding exactly that choice is what got

many states and local governments into this situation in the first place. >> i think the number one most important thing is making these plans for transparent. if you were a financial officer in a private company and you tried to use this, you would go to jail the next day. it's totally fraudulent. >> critics say these public pension plans ever basically been a way for mayors and governor to say borrow and leave debt for the next administration, but a problem generations in the making is not likely to be solved overnight. aljazeera. >> i'm curious, in the corporate world, pension benefits are protected from bankruptcy. why isn't that the case here? >> well, because the bankruptcy code has a special section that deals with corporate benefits, but it's not applicable in chapter nine. chapter nine is constitutional only because it limits the

extend to which the federal government can get involved in state matters. >> the big question here is some feel detroit's plan clearly favors retirees to getting six times more than creditors. >> the math can go back and forth, there's a lot of ways to play it. there are reductions for retirees. most importantly, people are losing their health care, which was promised to them. this is retirees for the most part. those that have very low incomes could end up on medicaid. >> they are losion 95% of their health care. >> correct. they are taking a loss. it may not be in the retirement side, but on the health care side, it can be substantial for some of these people. central falls, rhode island went through chapter nine bankruptcy and did cut pensions there. it varies by state law which pensions can be cut. in this case, we may see a ruling in the stock to know, california bankruptcy which also addresses cutting pensions.

it's not the case that none of them can be adjusted in a bankruptcy setting. >> i wonder if there's a fear cities will use bankruptcy court to break away at these untouchable pensions. >> it depends on the particular state. under the requirements of the bankruptcy code, a municipality is not eligible to file for bankruptcy unless the state law explicitly allows its municipalities to file. there actually are very few states that have made that decision to allow they are municipalities to take advantage of chapter nine of the bankruptcy code. >> once they file, what do they have to prove. >> they first have to prove that they are eligible for bankruptcy. detroit did that a year ago in a landmark decision by judge rhodes. it is not and see easy as a corporate bankruptcy where you file and you're in. >> unions are playing a major

factor in these financial woes. >> public unions are very powerful, they contribute to politicians campaigns. they influence decisions that are made, they influence legislators when they make laws related to pension and wages and benefits. there has to be a counter weight to that. unions have an important role, but it also, public goods and services are important, so there has to be a balance here. >> someone has to pay the price. i ask the question will we see the cities use these bankruptcy courts to go after these pensions. >> 27 states allow cities to go into chapter nine. many have to be approved by the legislature or the governor, but there are cases where it may be the case. let's see what happens in stock to know this week, in detroit, but it may be a solution for some cities that are heavily burdened by pension costs. >> looking at the cities, stock to know, how does a municipality get to this point, is it poor

leadership? >> some of the accounting rules allowed this stuff to happen off balance sheets. it wasn't clear in many cases what these future liabilities would be for cities and communities and public entities, but now it is. chief changed the accounting rules and it's clear, on the front page of the financials. it looks scary in a lot of cases where it hadn't been clear before what the numbers were. >> are pensions archaic? a number of governors are fighting with the unions, trying to get the pensions overturned. >> are possessions archaic? my goodness. we have a whole social security system which is a federal pension. many of the detroit pensioners are not beneficiaries of social security. no, i don't think they are archaic. they're an important safety net for the elderly in this country.

>> we've seen corn reactions switch to 401k's. >> you see that for the new hires in the public sector. there's only a couple ways to address the issue. you negotiate with the unions and you try and adjust the benefits, you legislated and many state legislators have tried to change the law which is challenged in the courts o. go to bankruptcy and try to adjust them. that's the three options that states and cities have to address the problem. >> the judge can either approve or deny the bankruptcy. let's say he denies it. what then? >> in chapter nine, only the debtor may propose a chapter nine plan of adjustment. therefore, it would be up to the city of detroit to go back to the drawing board. >> what does a recovery look like? >> broadly, if a recovery for detroit would mean they have

services in place that give good fire, police, parks, schools, that would be a great recovery for detroit and hopefully all this effort through the bankruptcy process will get to that place. >> respective leaders will be following this case closely. what can we learn or what ever we learned from detroit's historic bankruptcy? >> we've learned that even a city as great as detroit, as big as detroit, with so many creditors as detroit can go through bankruptcy, can go through bankruptcy relatively quickly, and we hope can emerge a much stronger financial and attractive municipality for people to live in. >> i think we all agree we'd like to see a quick recovery. kate long and laura bartell, ladies, great to have you with us on a deeper look. >> thank you.

>> coming up on aljazeera america, a house-sized asteroid headed toward earth could mean trouble for satellites circling above. stay with us.

there's more to finical news than the ups and downs of the dow. for instance, can fracking change what you pay for water each month? have you thought about how climate change can effect your grocery bill? could rare minerals in china effect your cell phone bill? or, how a hospital in texas could drive up your health care premium.

i'll make the connections from the news to your money real. >> 30 korea announced a trial date for matthew miller, expected to go to trial next sunday. the charges are unclear. he was arrested in april when he reportedly tore up his visa upon entering the country. he is one of three americans detained in north korea. >> a word leader put off a trip to pakistan. china's president has become the third leader to postpone a visit to islamabad. protestors have clogged the city demanding the resignation. >> it only reinforces what people have been saying, that pakistan is not stable, that is

potentially is dangerous, because this is a country with nuclear weapons, that has a very, very severe problem with terrorists groups, so that it's something that we're all very concerned about. destabilization of pakistan would be very consequential to the entire region. rescue workers are trying to get people out of flooded areas before there is more rain in the next few days. >> this is our village. a lot of damage occurred due to heavy rains and floodwaters. there is a lot of floodwaters there. the rescue workers brought us. we are headed toward a safe location. >> most of the victims were killed when their roofs collapsed on their homes.

>> firefighters in central california have issued evacuation orders for homes near yosemite parks. wildfires scorched 300-acres. about 25% of the blaze has been contained. people in 400 additional homes are advised to evacuate. no damage has been reported or any major injuries. >> earth will have a very close encounter with an asteroid tomorrow. rebecca stevenson is here to tell us just how close we're going to get. >> some folks get to see it and some don't. it of course depends on the weather. first what i want to show you is what we had february 15, 2013 over russia. listen to this. you can see it, it caused a lot of damage, listen to some of the damage this massive asteroid caused when it hit the earth's

atmosphere. car alarms went off, windows shattered, 15,000 injuries reported with this, as the asteroid blasted into earth's atmosphere, it was undetected by nasa. nasa is watching 11 million asteroids usually between mars and jupiter. now, we've been watching this particular asteroid, because it didn't become detected until last week. in fact, the size of it, it's only the size of a 60-foot house, so really in the scheme of things, it's not that big, but what's interesting is how close it will come to earth. the moon on average is about 239,000 miles away from the earth, but the asteroid is going to pass closer, 23 million miles -- 23 -- got to

get those numbers straight. it is the sheer size, massive, yet looks so little. when people look up in the sky from new zealand, you'll see a glimpse of a flash of light. for us here, it comes in at 2:18 in the afternoon. we won't be able to see it. it's coming in near the orbit of weather satellites that orbit the earth. >> we'll have to rely on the pictures. >> this week, aljazeera america introduces a documentary series edge of 18, a look at the struggles of high school seniors to answer that unavoidable question "what's next"? >> we introduce you to three teens. >> some of the kids in this series are asking themselves

some very powerful questions, where do i fit in? how do i make a difference? how can i better my life? is there going to be a place for me when i'm out of high school? this is a time of uncertainty. there doesn't seem to be a clear path for anybody to follow. >> my application pros is a little different from normal high schoolers. not only do i have to apply for the colleges and get in academically, but i also have to apply for the dance school separately and go audition to these places. >> is there any mail for me today? >> yeah, you've got one from arizona with woo-hoo! >> i want to thank you guys so much for accepting me for me.

>> this school's my dream school. >> california? >> yeah. i always wanted to go to california. >> a kid who's come out as gay, his father is a very macho character that can't accept it. >> any problem you have this week, when somebody cried, hey, this guy's gay. >> it's 2014. nobody cares if you're gay anymore. >> and yet, he has a forthrightness about confronting his parents that i don't think i had the courage to do. >> it felt really great, confronting my father, that just because i'm gay doesn't mean that i'm weak. >> after high school, i have two options, whether or not i should go into ministry full time or go into college this fall.

>> he's a preacher at the age of 17 and trying to reckon with his faith at a time even his parents don't share it. that teaches us a lot about the power of religion. >> i don't want to be someone to tell you that you can't do ministry, but i don't want to see you to waste all the hard work you've done by not going to school. >> the biggest challenge for these kids is how to find a way forward with a sense of compassion. >> my parents have a plan for me to follow, but i'm going to do what god wants me to do before what they want to do. >> i'm worried that i won't fit in and i really won't know what i'm doing. >> we have it you to join us each sunday for the next six

weeks and witness the real life victories and struggles of these three teens. >> the case that made headlines decades ago. suspects that were falsely accused. >> this season, you won't hear as many broadcasters calling the washington redskins by name. we have the nfl controversy ahead.

>> welcome back. honda is recalling more than 100,000 motorcycles that may ever bad brakes. some brakes can drag and catch fire. the affected model years are 2001-2010, along with 2012. this is the second time these bibes are recalled for similar safety concerns. >> it was a crime that grips new york city and the nation for years, the rape of a jogger in central park. the case sent several teens to jail for beating and raping a woman. those teens, now men have been colored the crime. a judge approved a $41 million

settlement 25 years later. we have a report. >> for years, they've been known as the central park five, convict as teenagers for the brutal attack and rape of a park jogger. raymond was 14 years old when he was sent to jail for seven years. >> do you go there now? >> no, i don't. >> after serving his sentence, the men were exonerated, but it's taken this long to reach a financial settlement with the city. >> when you fight against the system for so long, 25 years, getting up every morning, ready to do battle, interviews, talk to the kids, get your story across, tell them what happened and now to finally say it's over, it's kind of difficult. >> the case made headlines across the country, and the young men were vilified, convicted in the court of opinion before the trial started. they say they were coerced into

confessing and the public was hungry for justice, even though there was no physical evidence linking them to the crime scene. a serial rapist later confessed to the crime. a 2012 documentary brought the case back to the forefront of public attention, but the damage wasn't completely undone. >> this will never completely go away. there will always be people who will raise doubts. i think that's back at the racism that was at the heart of the case in 1989. >> new york and the park were a different place at the time of the central park jogger case. crime was high and police under intense pressure to do something about it. that left many young men of color feeling under siege. >> it was animalistic, in other words, the central park five and anyone who looks like them, amounting to millions of people were a wolfpack, were wilding, as in wild animals, fer really l

creatures who had to be corralled or put down. >> those who put them in jail have been cleared of wrongdoing. aljazeera, new york. >> professional football players and fans are gearing up for tomorrow, the first sunday of the nfl season. for one team, a controversy surrounding its name is fueling a public debate. michelle carey has the story. >> when the professional football team drop the nation's capitol hits the field tomorrow afternoon, they'll be called the redskins as they have since the 1930's. team owner, dan snyder regularly brushes off criticism that the name is a racial slur. famously telling "u.s.a. today": so far, snyder has not bowed to pressure. there have been protests from

native american groups, dozens of lawmakers wrote a letter to the league asking it for a change. even president obama weighed in. >> if i were the owner of the team, i'd think about changing it. >> in june, the u.s. patent office canceled the redskins trademarks. that will have little effect on the team while it is on appeal. what's the play for proponents of change? this week, the new york daily news announced it was sacking the name redskins, declaring it would no longer calm the professional football team but its unacceptable nickname. the paper is ditching the team's logo, as well. trading out a feathered native american with this image. a similar announcement was made and several high profile broadcasters including bob costas and others declared they would no longer use the name. whether there is power in

omission has yet to be seemed. 71% of americans favor keeping the name. just 9% believe the word redskins is very offensive, even he if snyder changed his mind tomorrow, it could take time to officially change the team's name. washington could possibly ever to wait until its current licensing contracts expire. it's unclear whether the nfl would have to approve. all revenue from merchandise is shared and the team is the third most valuable in the league. >> coming up on aljazeera america, the venice film festival comes to a close. the bizarre film that took top honors.

>> several new york women are taking a stand against cat calling, using their cameras to document their aggressors.

women are now hollering back. >> for the photographer, new york city hasn't always felt like home. >> when i first moved to new york from ohio, i found myself feeling incredibly unsafe walking to school or work. i felt like i was part of a performance that i didn't ask to be in. >> from cat calls and wolf whistles to more serious encounters, street harassment is something she's battled nearly every day. >> i've been grabbed, i've been surrounded by men at night when i'm walking home. in terms of what they're saying, where they're going to put their genitals on me. what kind of babies we would have together. >> she decided enough was enough and began turning her lens on the men who cat call her. she wears a small camera to capture what she experiences. >> i'm going to take your picture. >> no! >> caroline posts photos of the

men who harass her on line. so far, she's taken hundreds. >> i'm like exerting my power. i am showing them that there can be consequence, even if it's just a photograph. >> caroline is hardly alone. activists say cat calling is a global problem. an organization dedicated to ending street harassment around the world works in 26 countries. >> working in new york city, she says verbal he harassment is just part of a spectrum of dangerous behavior. >> it starts with street harassment. that behavior allows for all other forms of gender based violence to continue and to happen. if you're saying that it's ok for someone to comment on your body as you're walking down the street, what's to say that it's not ok for them to follow you and ask you for your phone number or can we talk for a second or not ok for them to follow you home or even to grab your arm if you don't respond the way they want to you.

>> in response, she has an app where people can report in realtime and see a map of areas where it happens the most. more than 7,000 stories have been shared. holding harassers accountable is only part of the solution. they train by standers to intervene and report harassment. >> everyone has allowed it to continue, so it's everyone's responsibility to end. >> ending harassment that will make streets all over the world a little more comfortable to walk. aljazeera america, new york. >> severe weather in detroit has left 300,000 households in the dark. people could be without power for several days. the storm hit late friday evening, with 75-mile an hour winds, bringing down more than 2,000 power lines. crews from neighbors states are on the way to michigan to help out. >> storms in central illinois left a trail of downed trees and power lines.

more than 33,000 homes in the chicago area remain without power one day later. an actress was killed by a falling tree, struck while bike riding in the woods. where do we stand with the storms now? >> those storms barreled through and are in the northeast now, where we've got severe thunderstorm warnings and watches in place. what's fascinating about the united states weather right now is parts of the west, pacific northwest, beautiful, sunny, dry and temperatures up to 15 degrees above normal. then with he look farther to the south. we have a hurricane pushing up a lot of moisture into the southwest, bringing in a big concern into the four corners of flash flooding and then, the storm system is going up the northeast and that's really going to change things up. quick look at the southwest where the showers and thunderstorms are coming up into southern california, new mexico,

arizona, utah, amounts of rainfall that are two to three-inches in various points of time, so flash flood warnings in place and floodwaters, big concerns as that water is going to be rushing down high hills. quickly, we'll have this concern mainly through sunday to the southern portion of the area and all that moisture from the hurricane near mexico is going to press up into nevada and utah monday. to the northeast, almost two inches of rain in cleveland, ohio the last 24 hours, as the system's been moving through, new york has not recorded rain. boston came up to almost half an inch and storms are sweeping through and boy, is it going to be cooler and drier into tomorrow. >> big change on the way. thank you. >> a swede issue film won the top prize, a surreal piece with the plot difficult to describe.

twenty films were in the running for the golden lion award. it felt much difference from previous years. we have more. >> in the end, something rather unusual happened in the venice film festival, a film with a long title and complicate plot. people said they can't make sense of the film. it's beautifully shot, but makes little sense. the critics seemed to like it. the jury seemed to like it and gave it the golden lion. another movie that did well was from a russian director about the silver lion, the story of a community in northern russia that has not really moved on from the soviet union days. it was part drama, part documentary and many of the cast action played themselves. >> a third film was the look of silence from the director

oppenheimer. this movie received a lot of attention. it tells the story of the indonesian mass murders of the 1960's. it's a very powerful film, actually the second part of another film he shot a couple of years ago, that was nominated for an oscar. people have been very receptive to it. tim roth said he couldn't verbalize it. war and conflict was a very strong theme this year, five movies made up that part of the contest. in the end, it was a rather surreal, strange swedish film. >> that's going to do it for this hour. thanks so much for joining us. i'll be back at 11:00 p.m. eastern. stay tuned, consider this is up

next. for the latest news headlines, we have it you to go to aljazeera.com. thanks for watching. watching.