... and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america ♪ this is "al jazeera america" live from new york city. i am richelle carey. the come in attic push is on. secretary of state john kerry rounding up allies against the islamic state group. more witnesses to the killing of michael brown. their reactions captured on this cell phone video. american sports stars in the spotlight not for the play but for violence off of the field.

>> the islamic state group is being fought on the ground in iraq and syria. the mrdiplomatic effort focused today. john kerry met the egyptian president and arab league head. he said earlier this week that the arab leagues would combat the islamic state group. kerry added egypt had a major role to play. following the story from erbil and iraq. >> reporter: the coalition has gained a critical ally. >> egypt has a critical role to play in publirenouncing the ideology that isil disi am natures. this was a very importantn feature of our discussions in jetta and in cairo. it is something that the egyptian religious establishments both spoupport a

understand egypt's foreign sten mer offered his support: i support the international efforts to fight terrorism and work on supporting these efforts and support the necessary measures to put an end to this phenomena, whether in iraq, libya, or any part of the arab world or in africa. >> it's not clear egypt will play a military role, but it offers critical help in the ideological battle against the islamic state. without broad support among islamic nations in the middle east and africa, the alliance could look hauntingly like the so-called coalition of the willing that invaded and occupied iraq in 2003. >> in baghdad, the prime primary said he has ordered the army to stop shelling populated areas held by the islamic state. >> i ordered two days ago to stop targeting civilian and populated areas. my orders were clear. we don't want more innocent

victims to be killed in an area in areas controlled by the islamic state group. >> clashes between iraqi security forces and fighters has taken its toll on civilians. more than 1.8 million people have been displaced in iraq since januaried in the rapid advance by islamic state fighters began. john hendren, erbil, iraq. >> president obama rebe enforced the important role of allies in a strategy against i.s. >> what's needed is a targeted, relentless counter terrorism campaign against isil that combines american air power, contributions from allies and partners and more support to forces that are fighting these terrorists on the ground. >> that's exactly what we are doing. >> meanwhile, heighten religious tensions in iraq, shia groups deny they are carrying out attacks against villagesers who are harboring islamic state fighters. more from northern iraq.

>> reporter: a shia militia checkpoint in an sunni area, we have been told men from this group, the battle brigade, are looting and torching residents here after residents allowed islamic state 2350i9ers to hide out. nine days earlier, they had we would us into the town. they fought with the peshmerga to break the siege. today, the atmosphere is different. we are told to pull over and an ormored pult blocks us. rocket propelled grenades and ak-47s are aimed straight at us. >> we have been trying to negotiate our way through this shia militia checkpoint for the last half an hour. there are peshmerga fighters but it's very clear it's the shia militia who make the decisions here they are reluck tavent to let us go through. we are trying to get to film a village they have flattened and torched, a village that used to have sunni arabs living in it.

>> event, they let us through. the peshmerga say the sunni mosque we passed wasshelled by the militia. we arrive in the village of yangija. it's deserted. houses have been torched. one is smoldering. the peshmerga has a position close by but they are now pulling out, leaving the militia in total control. the commander says his men respect the arab sunni house they have set up camp in. >> we are giving our lives to unite iraq, to protect all people's property. others are not doing this. in particular, the brother organization. this is not acceptable. >> the peshmerga has gone house to house dismantling improvised explosive devices left by i.s. fighters. this one had command wires buried under the road. they found explosives left under a toilet seat. our peshmerga escort takes us to the nearby town where they tell us the shia fighters beheaded an

arab sunni resident. >> translator: when we witnessed that, it made us angry. we cannot accept this. we told them if it happens again, we will fight you. it's not acceptable. we ordered them to stop. they promised to do so. >> the shia militia don't take ordersfo from them. one peshmerga filmed this man on the day amili fell. he is giving orders in iranian farcy. he witnessed many fighters alongside the iraqi shia. any response to this, said there are absolutely no such rescues attacks to sunni. we have liberated the towns that were taken by i.s. in a completely national level regardless of ethnic or sectarian background. the forces which you call militia are recognized by the iraqi army on an official level and the battle call and the mercy army peace brigade and others are all under the iraqi army command. as president barack obama announces expansion of

airstrikes across northern iraq, he risks allowing the shia militia to take control of more and more sunni arab territory. it will do nothing to win the hearts and minds of "the sun"ni arab community in this fractured battleground. sue turtan. the parents of james foley say they were threatened with prosecution by the u.s. government while raising ransom funds. he was kidnapped in 2012. he was beheaded by the islamic state group in august. they say they were given very little information about the efforts the u.s. were taking to free them? >> i think the hard part, though, is because we naively thought, you know, our government could take care of it and bring him home, it delayed our efforts, you know. we were very slow to get more active and realize, well, gee. we've got to do something. >> and now, we have breaking news that a british aid worker

who was kidnapped in syria by the islamic state group in march of last year has reportedly been beheaded. 44-year-old david haynes was delivering aid for the organization, acted, when he was taken in the idlib province. yesterday, his family attempted to make contact with the islamic state group for his release but the foreign and commonwealth office says i.s. had not responded. we will have a deeper look at the islamic state group, that is tonight. all of the players involved in helping the united states fight against them. >> is at 8:00 p.m. eastern, 5:00 p.m. pacific. the ugandan government has stopped an attempted terrorist attack by the al-qaeda-linked al shabaab group. the officials say they discovered an al shabaab cell planning an attack and arrested them. t they are warning american citizenship top stay indoors overnight as local law enforcement carry out anti-tear

efforts [al shabaab vowed revenge. ukraine, rebelsed attacked the donetsk airport overnight, the military saying it fought them off. ukraine's prime minister said the country remains in a state of war but officially, at least for now, the cease-fire still holds. robin forsythian walker reports. >> this is what the cease-fire sounds like on the outskirts of donetsk. pro-russian rebels wouldn't show their faces but showed us ordinance they claim ukrainian forces are use to go fire on them and the city. >> this is about as close as we can safely get to the airport which is just a kilometer or so away behind me beyond this checkpoint where small arms, t artillery tank rounds have been raining down on the stronghold, the ukrainian forces maintained here for months now. this is a very important prize

strategically that the dpr rebels want to finally, take control of. >> in kiev, ukraine's prime minister admitted the cease-fire was flimsy indeed. >> let me put it bluntly. we are in the state of war and the key agressor is russia. >> russia continues to deny military involvement and sent a second humanitarian convoy yesterday, destination luhansk. residents there need food and support. >> today, we have received humanitarian aid from the russian federation. until now, we have unloaded cars with rice, sugar, canned fish and meet, to be delivered to people with passports from the luhansk reoriginal. >> they distributed the aid. >> may win them trust. likewise, in donetsk, the rebels must now reassure returning residents that they can keep the peace. they may resemble just another

militia, but these are trafficness complete with the new insignia of the donetsk's peoples republic. the rebel authorities want to show the public order has returned. there are some like the government in this car that are still beyond the law. for others, though the war may not yet be over, it's time to get on with their lives. robin forstier walker, dondon. >> the united nations is launching a food aid operation in that same city as the russian convoy. luhansk officials started distributing food rations today. the u.n. says it's there. it's there at the request of the ukrainian government. it's hoping to feed 120 ,000 people over the next six months. more than 300,000 ukrainians have been displaced by the fighting. it has been five weeks since michael brown was fatally shot by a police officer in ferguson, m missou missouri. the violent protests there have subsided but community leaders say they are angry. a rally was held outside of the

st. louis county of justice. they called for the arrest of the officer who killed the 18-year-old. a new video could bolster the case against the officer. it was apparently recorded just after the august 9th shooting and shows two construction workers who shaw what happened. >> yeah. the video matches what other witnesses have said about brown's death, that he wasn't resisting arrest when the officer opened fire. it's not known if the men in the video have testified before the grand jury investigating that deadly shooting. one pennsylvania state trooper is dead, another wounded after a shooting investigators are describing as an ambush. it happened late last night in blooming grove. the suspect or suspects remain at large. the shooting happened just before 11:00 p.m. friday night in blooming grove in pikes county. pennsylvania state police commissioner frank noonan called the shooting a cowardly act.

>> we have a very dangerous, armed criminal that has already killed one pennsylvania state trooper and wounded another that is not in custody. as you can imagine, this is a very traumatic event for the pennsylvania state police and all of law enforcement in pennsylvania. >> one trooper was leaving the barracks. another was arriving when the shots were fired. >> we are talking to many people. there is no specific person that is a suspect. >> police say the injured trooper was in stable but critical condition after undergoing surgery. hundreds of police officers as well as a s.w.a.t. team continued to canvas the area for clues on foot and by helicopter. police have released scant details as the search and investigation continue and a heavily wooded area near the borders with new york and new jersey. >> it seems to be an attack on law enforcement and perhaps our form of government. i don't know. but i can't quiet anyone's fears because we don't have the person

in custody. >> police did not believe the general public is at risk but they are asking everyone to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. we will continue to follow that search here at "al jazeera america." a group of reserve officers from an intelligence utility say it will not operate in the occupied palestinian territories. the 43 soldiers are from a unit tasked with code breaking and ease dropping. they say some of their work palestinians from leading normal lives. >> that's a quote. according to the soldiers. israeli tactics include blake male and harassment. in some cases, they said palestinians were hurt. they said no distinction was made between palestinians who were involved in violence and civilians who were not. at that columnist the at 972 magazine says the statement just confirms a lot of people have always suspected. they have, you know, certainly exposed some things that have long been rumored. maybe it's important to mention that they have cleared what they

have written in the letter with attorneys and with the center but it has long been rumored that israel, you know, places -- tracks personal conversations and treating physician tracking communication devices in order to find vulnerable individuals to recruit them. >> that's one of the things they say, trying to find out if people are homosexuals. it and use that against them as means to recruit them as collaborators for using the fact of capitalizing on the fact that people have medical needs and they need to seek treatment in israel, using that as incentive to try to recruit them as collaborators. these kind of things have long been understood or generally understood to be part of the intelligence system and how it works but what they do is confirm, you know, and demystify some of these things and worse.

so, you know, it's definitely going to -- it's definitely bringing to light information that has only been rumored up until now. >> columnist dahlia scheinlin. >> a new school year is about to begin in gaza but in gaza, back to school jitters take on a new mean can. this report, many children are in need of it help. >> they sing pat tree on theic songs about palestine. this isn't just a game. teachers hearsay many of the children are traumatized what they saw, heard and felt during israel's military campaign on gaza. this private school is trying to take these young minds off of the war before the new school year begins. >> children all over gaza, including our students suffered during the war. in a child's mind, schools became shelters. we are trying to change that way of thinking before they come back to school. they are trying to give them a

chance to play and forget what happened. >> translator: we are happy today because children faced terrible days during the war. we want to make those children happy. >> united nation schools in gaza became shelters for tens of thousands of people fleeing the violence during the war. al jazeera visited this school in jabalia minutes after it was hit by israeli shells. 20 people, including three children were killed in the attack. so what is the situation here now? at this school at least preparations are being made for the children to return in about a week or so. more than a thousand people who were seeking shelter here have been moved to another school down the road. >> five kilometers away, we find the u.n. school they have been moved to. 800 people were already here before another 1,200 arrived in recent days. the israel military destroyed these people's homes and there is nowhere for them to go. so there is no immediate plan for students to return here

soon. >> we don't exactly know where all of the children are. you know, they are not where they would normally be. we have to do a very soft rollout of the school year. we can't just have the children and the teachers show up on the first day of school and pretend that this is normal. right? we need a very soft rollout. so a lot of psychosocial support and activities for the first week to do a soft landing before we get into the more structured, regular learning environment. >> reporter: the right for these children to have an education free of fear and uncertainty, the right to improve their lives and the lives of generations to come has been lost again. charles stratford, al jazeera, gaza. united nations says 26 of its schools are still being used as shelters for tens of thousands of palestinians whose homes were destroyed during the war. nooerlt 30 years after the first farm aid concert, are american farmers better off? we will talk about the challenges facing the new generation of farmers.

the 29th farm aid concert is rocking out in raleigh north carolina, to raise money for struggling farmers in america. a lot has changed in three decades, the assistance they need to stay in business has grown. >> farm aid was launched by willie nelson, john mellencamp and neil young. it has raised more than $45 million and now primarily donates to programs that help keep family farms in business. farm aid's communication director talks about the economic tough times farmers were faced with in 1985 when farm aid kicked off. >> the thing about farm aid is you put your money in the ground and you hope you are going to make money with farming. farmers defaulted on their loans. they lost their homes because their business was tied up in their homes. they are not losing a business,

they lose their homes. for many of these farmers, they lost the legacy of their family. >> federal law was soon passed in 1987 to help the farmers keep their farms. then, the 1990s brought new challenges. the rise of large corporate farms. to put it in perspective, in 1935, there were 6.8 million farms in america. today, that number has shrunk to over 2 million farms. 90% of those farms have an avenue profit of just over $2,500 a year. 74% of all income generated nationally comes from only the top 5% of farms. >> neil young said we are against an army of goliaths. corporate control, corporate power big guy versus little guy is huge in our system. >> that's what we are working on. we are informing people that the

power is concentrated in the large farms, that about 90% of family farms actually earn most of their living off of the farm and, you know, that's not right. we are talking about food. it's too important for us to real gate to the few. >> some of the hurdles privately owned farms face today: stiff competition from large corporate farms, one-sided contracts with wholesalers and inclimate weather. for example, the severe drought california is country facing. but there is good news for farme farmers. in the last 14 years, a movement to provide communities with locally grown food has taken off across the country. they are now a record 8,000 farmer's markets nationally and food hubz are springing up. >> that's where produce from several farmers are pooled together and sold to places like grocery stores and universities. small gains many hope will keep

family farms in business for years to come. >> courtney keely reporting there. we appreciate it. joining me for a look facing some of the farmers today is andrew novakovek, at cornell university. we appreciate your time, professor. courtney had a lot of details there. let's kind of pick up on it. as we heard, the number of farms has dropped off since the 1930s. why such a drop? >> there is a large combination of factors but if you think at the beginning of those numbers, you conjure images of families with relatively small amounts of property working very hard, having a good year, having a bad year and occasionally having a horrible year. >> that's how the government got involved. those farms are small because they were organized around how much work a man or his family could do in a day. over time, we have embraced new technologies. we have taken advantage of the ability to hire labor to come in and augment family labor and with that, farms are grown in size and, of course, it's a

typical american capitalist incentive to expand and grow and increase profitability and today, we see a great bifurcation between large farms that in many ways are the reputation of america as the world's bread basket and lots of smaller farms that fill in nich niches. >> why would someone want to be in farnling, a smaller person? because there seems to be so many challenges. >> there was a congressman from texas a number of years ago who was chair of the house ag committee. his comment was: if you don't feel the earth rumble underneath your feet when you walk in your fields, you are probably not destined to be a farmer. and many farmers will tell you for them it's a way of life. it's something they embrace because they enjoy it so much even though it's not the easiest way to make a living. they are in control of their destiny to a certain extent. they like the context the

environment and so on. and as was mentioned earlier, most of these smaller-scale farms are augmenting their income by working off of farm. in fact, the smallest scale actually had a negative farm income and only get up above zero because they work off of the farm. and that clearly is a lifestyle choice. >> that's saying if i have to work outside, that's fine. i still want to live here on the land. >> there are so many things that are stacked against them. earlier, as you were watching, and i am glad you were, jennifer fahy, the communications director at farm aid talked about the grain inspection, packer and stockyard act. a lot of people may not know what that is and how that bill created a hardship for the people it's supposed to be helping but it created a hardship. i will play a little bit of that. i want you to respond on the other side to what ms. fahy said. so let's listen to that? >> we are talking a lot about poultry farmers stuck in this contract poultry system where they are encouraged to go out

and get the financing to build these chicken houses at the cost of about 250,000 per house and they are usually required to have four houses so they are a million dollars in debt when they sign up for their contract and then they have no rights in that contract. the company tells them what they will be paid. they don't have transparency in their contract. they could be cancelled at the will of the company. so, then, the farmer is a million dollars in debt with no income to their name. >> that doesn't sound particularly helpful, professor. >> no. it's a fairly complicated story, but the poultry sector is probably most extreme in having a situation that's evolved where actually, the buyer of the ultimate product, chickens or eg eggs owns the production system and actually, the people we call farmers are more or less providing labor, management skills to produce that product under contract. so, it's a pretty unique

situation and the regulation refers to a large body of regulations that's involved with people in several sectors of agriculture but the meat industry in particular and the chicken part of that is kind of a special and unique story and it has its challenges. there is no doubt about it. >> where do you see the future of farming? has it evolved so much so quickly? more corporations? >> well, i hesitate to use the word reque"corporations" becaus almost all of these are family businesses and they are just large family businesses. >> okay. >> but one of my friends who likes to say, you either have to get big or you have to do something special. and his point is. you either have to have low costs, which tends to come with size, or you have to create some kind of value that the big guy can't do. you have to serve a niche market, a specialized product, be local, give that consumer who

is able and willing to pay a little bit more for something that thing that they want, and we are seeing that happening in agriculture left and right. community-supported agriculture, local foods, farm-stead is cheese pricing where innovative farmers are meeting those niche market opportunities. >> thank you, andrew novokovic prefacer at cornell university. >> thank you. . taking the fight against the islamic state group on to social media. social meat media sites and confronting the facts. more than half americans are troubled by depression and other mental illness, but are they getting the care they need and deserve? some answers coming up on "al jazeera america."

alan henning, two americans have been beheaded by the islamic state group. we will continue to follow that breaking news. secretary of state john kerry met egypt's president and the head of the arab league. kerry said egypt had a critical role to play in fighting i.s. they have pledged to combat the group. it's a sign of the times, social media is playing a role in the battle against the islamic state. the group is urging the internet -- using the internet for recruiting. the u.s. is now leading the charge to draw would-be members away from the fight.

more from digital reporter azmat khan. ♪ slickly produced videos, online magazines, apps and viral hashtags, the self declared islamic state group has demonstrated a mastery of using 21st century tools to spread its ideology online. a feat that hasn't gone unnoticed by the u.s. government. >> we will redouble our efforts to cut off its funding, improve our intelligence, strengthen our defenses, counter its warped ideology. >> in fact, the online war against i.s. and other extremist groups has been underway for much longer than the military campaign. leading the battle is is the state department tasked with cou countering violent extremism. the feeling of the state department and across the executive branch was it was wrong to dignify terrorist propaganda with a response but it didn't make sense for the

u.s. government sit on its hands and let recruiters attempt to recruit to their cause without trying to interfere in that flosses some way. so william mccants helped build the center? >> the center to blunt that recruitment using traditional media and the second to blunt it online. it's the online capability that has really grown over the past few years. so have its efforts in english in an attempt to steer would-be western recruits away. >> a lot. jih jihadis particularly until europe trying to recruit others to their cause in english. the state department felt like it needed to respond in english as well. >> today, the center's focus is on i.s. with a campaign called "think again turn away" on twitter, facebook and youtube. >> think again turn away is the

hash tag that the state department is using on twitter to carry out its mission to point out the inconsistencies. >> responding directly to individuals graphic messages in videos to warn would-be recruits that many of those who join never come back. >> they group children for death, that it rapeses innocents and bombs mosque did full of muslims. it reminds would-be fighters of the parents who would plead for their return. and of the disillusioned recruits who have left the fight. >> is the message tainted because it's coming from the american government? mccants who is a scholar at the brookings institution said it cuts both ways? >> the fact that the state department is transparent about who it issand invites a lot of anger from people who dislike the united states but it invites a lot of attention by virtue of being the u.s. government.

more eyeballs than would otherwise be the case. >> like a missile, it would be hard to know if it's hitting its target? >> i think it's difficult for the state department to keep up. it has a very limited number of staff with a very limited budget. the islamic state has thousands of volunteers that are working for it. many of them quiet young. many of them very conversant with the various social media platforms. >> can it crack the radicalized mind, those convinced so that they are willing to give up their lives to fight. azma khan, al jazeera. the search for a missing u.s. navy pilot continues in the western pacific ocean after two fighters jets crashed in midair thursday about 2300 miles west of hawaii. the cause of the f-18 hornet's crash is under investigation.

the other pilot was rescued and is listed in fair condition. roughly 600,000 homeless people in the united states. their plight is often seen as an urban issue. not all of them live in cities. as part of al jazeera's mile home series, rob reynolds visited a homeless camp in the heart of silicon valley. >> am. >> the people who live here call this the jungle. it's a rough patch of land filled with trees, shrubs, trash, and the make-shift dwellings of about 250 to 300 homeless people. a maze of pathways winds through the tents and chaents made of scavenged lumber and plastic. there is no running water, no electricity, no sanitary toilets. people hearsay police and emergency workers seldom venture inside. >> toi lashingz lived here over a year. >> we live in tents. it smells a little bit. and we have the same things

going down here, people steal from each other. you know what i mean? >> at the bottom of the gul e kote creek is strewn with garbage and human waste. sometimes, people bathe in it because of, of course, there are no showers here troyfields has tried to make his place as comfortable as possible. >> all of this is done dumpster dive with no income. just finding stuff and putting it to use. >> he's been here for four years and doesn't know when, if ever, he will leave. >> it's hard to believe that a place like this exists in the middle of silicon valley, home to some of the country's wealthiest people and some of the world's most profitable companies. >> nigerian-born nurse, mercy egujor helps people here with their health problems. >> we have people who have uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled or untreated

medical conditions ranging from depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, all varied, but a lot of them are untreated, which is why a lot of them end up here. >> some cities have launched successful programs providing chronically homeless people with subsidized apartments and supportive care. but that's difficult in silicon valley, which has some of the highest home prices and rents in the country. the city of san jose said it doesn't have enough resources to provide more affordable permanent housing. rob reynolds, al jazeera, san jose, california. this week, mental health america, the nation's oldest advocacy organization held its annual conference, the 3 day event broughtol policy makes makers as well as those individuals affected by mental health officials. it's estimated more than half of americans struggle with some form of metal he will i willnets. the in the 1960s, there was a

progr program. many end up homeless with inadequate follow-up care. in 1980, jimmie carter helped fund services. ronald reagan cut mental health spending by 25%. further you are cuts continued through the 80s. in 1992, a survey of american jails reported more than 7% of inmates were seriously mentally ill. by 2004, that rose to about 16%. many people were being held without charge, waiting for a bed in the psychiatric hospital. in 2009, in the aftermath of the great recession, states were forced to cut more than $4,000,000,000 in public mental health spending. the cuts were the largest since the institutionalization of 2010. there were only 43,000 psychiatric beds in the united states or about 14 beds per 100,000 people. >> that's the same ratio in 1850. joining us from washington is

debby plotnic, the senior director for state policy at mental health america. we appreciate your time, ms. plotnik. so, the conference that wrapped up in atlanta. what would you say the headline was from the conference, the overarching theme, if you will? >> well, thank you, richelle. the overarching theme of the conference, what mental health america stands for. we are launching our before stage 4 campaign. mental illnesses are the only illnesses that we wait until people are at a critical stage before we offer them treatment, and then, much of that treatment only comes in jails, as you point out. and that's unconscionable. we know that if we identify people early through screening and we do preventative measures and we support people in the community, then recovery will happen and folks will do fine. >> so as a country, are we

making any progress in getting to the screeners earlier? >> we are. inside mental health america, on our website, mental health america.net launched a new screening and had over 100,000 people take screenings for depression, for bi-partisan disorder and ptsd. and what we know is that early identification and yetting people treatment and community support will lead lead to recovery. but it's very important that people not be afraid to step forward and that we not wait until people are at crisis stage. there are no other illnesses where we would do that. if someone were having a heart condition, we would have monitored their blood pressure. we would have seen earlier that they needed some help. we would have gotten it to them.

we know with mental health conditions that they are often conditions of childhood so that people start to have some kinds of difficulties. they have some depression, perhaps they hear some voices, they start isolating. their families know this. their teachers know this. we know that if we get them screened and properly diagnosed because often, it takes almost 10 years to properly, between diagnosis and treatment, but there is no reason for that. if we get there early, we get to people while they still are on their parents' insurance, while they are in school, while they have their families around them and we can keep them in school and we can keep them on a trajectory to have a career path and to manage what may or may not become a chronic condition. treatment works. people get well. >> ms. ploitnik, you said something that i think is he knew tremely important. when you talked about insurance, the cost of actually getting

treatment and being able to sustain treatment to have a healthy life. how much did that hold people back from having a healthy life, not being able to afford it or not having the insurance that you need? >> well, it used to be a bigger problem than it is right now. with the affordable care act, more people have insurance. more people are covered. there are also community-based treatments and supports that are paid for but, but what we often do -- and this is the wrong thing to do -- is we wait until we spend much more than we have to. we wait until people need hospitalization. and unfortunately, we don't even offer hospitalization to people until they are in extreme distress. but it costs much less to treat people at the beginning, and there is less suffering and people have less disruption of their lives and they do quite well. >> my final question, can you

tell us what progress has been made scientifically in treating mental illnesses? >> uh-huh. we have learned every the last few years that mental illness is really are a spectrum of many conditions. but the biggest thing that we know is that protection and early detection really are the key so that the earlier we get in and we offer people therapies, medications is sometimes a tool. we offer them support that will keep them on their life trajectory and our research, scientific research, is showing that when you come in earlier and you offer support including family supports and psycho education and rehabilitation, all of the things that other kids have -- advocates have spoken about, the research, the scientific research is playing out. and these are the things that are very cost effective as well

as effective in helping people live successful lives. >> the family support is so key because if one person is ment mentally ill in the family, it's a drain on the entire family. the family support is key. debby ploitnik, thank you for the information and for the work that you are doing. senior director for state policy at mental health america. debby, thank you. ? >> you are welcome. thank you, richelle. >> another major social issue in the headlines, athletes and domestic violence and the responsibility that sports fans have going forward. >> we chicago ch-iraq, because we have more killings... >> life changing moments... >> shut the camera.... >> from oscar winning director, alex gibney, a hard hitting look at the real issues facing american teens. the incredible journey continues...

on the edge of eighteen only on all jazeera america

breaking news this hour, british aid worker david haynes

has apparently been beheaded by the islamic state group. he was captured last year in syria. a video released on the internet said it was a warning to the allies of america specifically british prime minister david cameron. the group is threatening to kill a second british hostage alan henning. two americans have been beheaded by the islamic state group. we will follow developments here throughout the evening. for the n.f.l., the week started with the release of video of ray rice's salt and ended with child abuse charges against another of the league's top running backs. the issue of domestic violence and sports has become a front page story. jessica taft has more. >> ray rice has become the face of domestic violence in the n.f.l. but he is not the only one accused of abuse. his was just caught on video. the assault to his then fiance sparked a national debate and put the spotlight on the n.f.l.'s lack of disciplinary

action it doles out in comparison to other offenses. he initially received a two-game suspension for the assault and never stood trial. according to new jersey judiciary data, the pre-trial intervention program, the raven's star back was offered in the case involving his wife was granted to less than 1% of all domestic violence assault cases in 2010 to 2013 that were resolved. it took the league a second video for the ravens to release rice and the league to indefinitely suspend him. while ray rice sits at home, two other n.f.l. players facing domestic abuse charges are both on the field. 49ers defensive lineman ray mcdonald was arrested august 31st on suspicioension o devil domestic violence. his court hearing has been postponed while police continue their investigation. jim har because says he is on the field still because of due

process as he hasn't been charged. >> it's a tougher argument where greg hardy was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend and thread anything to kill her. despite hearing the chilling 911 audiotape released from that night, hardy remains on the field as he awaits trial while the panthers' front office says they will let the legal system. >> the vikings, mvp aid trian petersen indicted and arrested for reckless or negligent injury to a child. the picture pictures emerged show what petersen but unintentionally gave his 4-year-old son at his home in texas as punishment for fighting with another child over a game. >> a gjz having indicted this case looked at the injuries that were inflicted upon this child and determined that that discipline was not reasonable. and did not reflect at a time community standards of what was reasonable discipline. >> the team has deemed his inactive against sunday's contest against the patriots.

he turned himself in early saturday morning and was released on $15,000 bail. jessica taft, al jazeera. earlier, i spoke with michael shoties, the lead writer for the bleacher website. i asked him about athletes and off the field violence, why it is just now getting this level of attention. >> look at how outrage is formed. i think you have to thread it and i hesitate using that word because i am not sure that the league of the video -- leak of the video was a positive thing overall but it did have at least one positive effect. >> is that outrage. no one cared to a great extent. i mean certainly people cared. i am sure you and i were right there on the front lines angry at the n.f.l. for not doing more when the they only suspended him two games, but it took that video to have that gut-wrenching reaction because we can hear things as a society and it may be it's the desensetization. maybe it's just, you know, some very old cultural things in our background.

we can hear it happen and get mad. but when we see it happen, that's where that gut reaction really took place. that's what forced this outrage and forced that move by the n.f.l. to suspend him indefinitely and the ravens to release him. it's sad that it takes that because we needed the pictures of petersen's young boy becau because a lot of people are defending him after those pictures. we wish we had videos and not just a tape of greg hardy and his issue because honestly, from team to team, week to week, this should be a bigger issue. you should care more as a fan. you should care more as a sponsor, as a commissioner, a team owner. it just seems like people don't and that's sad. >> again, that was michael shoties, the n.f.l. lead rider for the online publication bleacher report. the national football league players association has agreed to implement testing for human growth hormones for the 2014 season. the players also proved a proposal to raise the level for marijuana test. the current level is said to be too low and could be reached as

being in the same room with pot smokers. one. >> one player has been suspended for 25 games for testing positive for am if i had means and he can only return if the team makes it deep into the playoffs. he admitted to it and apologized. >> 20 years ago, the british navy bombarded ford mchenry. the story behind the song next on ""al jazeera america"."

this is just gorgeous, beautiful night sky from new brunswick canada, as a result of the silver in particulare earlier this week. it could be seen from new england to the pacific northwest. new brunswick who had a beautiful view of the aurora in

the morning hours now its clouds, the storm systems passing by you but then once this rain passes by very shortly, we will get clearing skies and we are going to be looking at frost in this spot across the northeast and the great lakes. in fact, it will be the first frost as we get into sunday night into monday morning. fall is getting so close. so buffalo and al by an also feeling a chill. in the meantime, we've got big news for noaa weather radio, five stations broadcasting in spanish. good news for southern texas where we have a lot of people who just primarily speak spanish, so when we have these large storms off of the gulf of mexico, it is good to know that they can hear where the warnings are. we have warnings right now in brownsville up in to a large almost santonio, very had he heavy rainfall causing flash flooding, flood as vise occurs in place for you and all of this rain is being picked up by a cold front that's just draped along the southern portion of

texas and into mexico. the other portion of the moisture that's coming in and causing all of this rain is coming from hurricane odile, a category 1. it will stay offshore and weaken as we get into the next day, two days but it's going to create dangerous surf and a lot of rainfall all the way up to the baja pennsylvania. this is a similar problem that we had just in the last few weeks where the rainfall intensity was so heavy, it stretched up into arizona, utah and nevada. we will see that happen again. in the meantime, it is some very hot weather in southern california. richelle? >> rebecca, thank you. you bet you didn't know this. originally it was a british drinking song. two years ago, the tune became the star spangled banner. a report from baltimore. >> reporter: the two 70 tree old fort that once guarded the harbor of baltimore attracts more than 600,000 tourists a year because of the song that's become america's national

anthem. >> oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ >> it was the successful defense of fort mchenry in 1814 from the invading british and the flag that still flew after the battle that inspired francis scott key to write the words to the "star-spangled banner" words recited every day at fort mchenry. >> as it shines in the stream. tis the star-spangled banner. oh, long may it wave. finish it for me. ♪ and the home of the brave. >> if not for the anthem, americans would just as soon forget the war of 1812 t gained the u.s. neither territory or political advanceage but the british had burned down much of washington, d.c. including the white house. >> the star spangled banner has

its critics. it's much too wordy, they say, too many high notes for a singer to reach. but worst of all, the melody isn't even american it was a tune first come posed for a london gentleman's choral society. >> when i talk to british, they have no idea what i am talking about. we inspired the american national anthem? yes, we did. we inspired your national anthem. >> what you are holding is a replica. >> one to which americans take full ownership. >> to me, it represents the united states in the manner it needs to be represented. >> every time it's played, i get tears. i do. >> really? >> yes, i do. >> no matter how it's played. ♪. >> tom ackerman, al jazeera, baltimore. >> beautiful. richelle carey, fau"fault liness

next. check out our website when you get a moment, aljazeera.com. plenty of news and updates from around the world. thomas drayton will be here at the top of the hour. so keep it here. >> the first stop for many child migrants to the united states is this border patrol facility in mcallen, texas. >> "good afternoon, welcome to the rio grande valley processing center..." >> it opened this summer in response to an influx of unaccompanied minors from mexico and central america. >> do you think this is an immigration issue or a refugee issue? do you think some of them will be granted political asylum? >> we're not talking about criminals. these are innocent children, fleeing desperate