right now... >> rewiring the brain an america tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america >> this is aljazeera america. i'm randall pinkston in new york with a look at today's top stories. >> >> it was about love for an old man. >> remembering british aid worker david haines beheaded by the islamic state group, the brutal killing. >> pointed messages through britain's prime minister increased the resolve to fight i.s. >> hillary clinton returns to iowa for the first time since 2008, getting folks asking the big question. >> just days until scotland's

vote on independence is too close to call. that historic referendum is tonight's week ahead. >> the brother of a british aid worker beheaded by this. >> own fortunately, it was not in our hands. it was not in the hands of the government. it was in the hands of terrorists. >> the brother of a british aid worker beheaded by the islamic state group is speaking out tonight. david haines was the latest western hostage killed by the i.s. british prime minister called an emergency meeting and vowed to make the group pay. the white house called it barbaric, the u.s. taking to the air waivers laying out the president's strategy to combat the islamic state group. the obama administration says it

has backing from arab leaders in that fight. tomorrow, secretary of state john kerry seeks more diplomatic support from european allies. courtney healy joins us with more. >> while the u.s. works to build that coalition, britain mourns the loss of a man who's family said his life was about love triumphing over hate. >> david haines was a british hero. >> the killing was called pure evil, saying his killers were not muslims, they were monsters. he eaffirmed the commitment to fighting the islamic state group. >> first, we will work with the iraqi government to ensure it represents all of its people and is able to tackle this threat effectively. we will support the kurdish regional government holding the front line against isil. the united states is taking direct military action. we support that. british tornado dose and

aircraft are helping with intelligence gathering and logistics. >> the beheading of david haines was said to be in retaliation for britains support of u.s. military action against the sis fighters in iraq. british aid worker alan henning's life is threatened. >> our brother, son, father, nephew, husband and friend was brutally murdered. >> he read a statement, saying his brother's life was not about hatred, but about love and said the family does not make the islamic religion. >> to my limited knowledge, islam is about peace. it's about love. it's about welcoming strangers. >> the french aid group haines was working for when kidnapped

last year in syria wants his beheading condemned as a crime against humanity. >> for now, the filing of this complaint is symbolic. we want that day so one day these people are sentenced. >> american officials traveling with the secretary of state say several arab countries offered to carry out airstrikes against the islamic state group. kerry is winding down his week long trip aimed at shoring up an international coalition. >> have any of those arab states been identified. >> the details are murky. while kerry's made this trip, he's got countries like turkey, saudi arabia, egypt for instance, not publicly divulging details. they could face domestic disfavor if looked at as being too strongly back be the u.s. also, you have contributions. for instance, u.s. officials speaking on background said that saudi arabia had agreed to host moderate rebels and train them.

syrian officials said absolutely not. they denied it. >> we do know at least one u.s. ally is onboard and identified and joining that fight against the is state, australia. australia's prime minister tony abbot says he is sending 600 military personnel, but no combat troops. >> this is an international coalition, not simply something that is an american-australian operation. so far, there are a number of countries, western and middle eastern, that have indicated that they are prepared to contribute to military operations inside iraq. >> australia's also supplying 8f18 super more than nets. they will be based in the united arab emirates. >> white house officials are still working on selling the president's battle plan to the american people, today taking that to the sunday talk shows. we report.

>> the secretary of state is in paris, ahead of a meeting designed to show international solidarity with president obama's strategy to defeat i.s. in an interview recorded in cairo saturday, john kerry insisted that the u.s. had assembled a meaningful coalition. >> i've been extremely encouraged to hear from all of the people that i've been meeting with about their readiness and wigness to participate. i can tell you right here and now that we have countries in this region, countries outside of this region, in addition to the united states, all of whom are prepared to engage in military assistance, in actual strikes if that is what it requires. >> an anonymous state department officials have gone further, saying it was the u.s. advocating caution as arab nations volunteered to conduct airstrikes on i.s. no further details were offered. whether that will ease concerns in the u.s. will be seen.

70% lack confidence in president obama achieving his stated goals of degrading and destroying i.s. 62% supported the president's decision to take action in iraq and syria. that number needs to be put in context. when americans are asked about the most pressing issue facing the u.s. and around given possible answers, they respond the economy and unemployment. 60% said foreign policy, 3% iraq. when asked what success would look like, this is what the white house chief of staffer said. >> success looks like an isil that no longer threatens our friends in the region or the united states, can't accumulate follower wide receivers threaten muslims in syria or iraq or otherwise. >> success is not expected for many years.

aljazeera, washington. >> one of the most strategic gains made in iraq has been the capture of mosul city. kurdish forces are on the outskirts, attempt to go reclaim it. the kurdish army has sent this report. >> from a strategic mountain above villages once held by the islamic state group within occurred issue peshmerga troops stand poised for a push toward mosul. is state fighters no longer fire back. any movement is punished by mortar strikes like this one in the village. in a three hour battle. perk megatroops captured the mountain and backed by u.s. airstrikes, bam barred the village blow. >> this these are the villages. this is the sis, armed i.s. inside of the village there.

they bombarded there but no longer ever the capability. now peshmerga on the front line and feeling great. >> a city of 2,000,002 hours drive, mosul is the capital of the islamic state. >> this is the forward most point for the mesh megain iraq facing mosul. that is the a christian town held by the islamic state group and beyond it, mosul itself. >> commanders are just waiting on an order to push toward the most fortified bastion of the islamic state group in iraq. we need weapons, support, we need outside help. we need every kind of help, because we are poor people. tell them. >> the islamic state is a

cancer. they will take every country if you don't push them out. they will take everything. it's better to destroy them as soon as possible. >> the peshmerga say they are nearly ready for what could be the decisive battle in the war against the islamic state or to use the arabic acronym, dash. >> it's just a matter of time before we throw dash out of iraq. >> with mosul nearly in their sites and islamic state fighters a few hours from their supply lines in syria, time is one commodity the peshmerga have in short supply. >> iraq's ministry of defense has received russian mi28 helicopters to be used in the offensive against the islamic state group. the two countries announced a deal in june, which had russia supplying iraq with attack helicopters and jets. it can carry out guided missile strikes. it is unclear how many aircraft

russia has delivered. >> many believe i.s. fighters are expanding their operations and not just in the middle east. muslim areas in asia are vulnerable. we report from manila. >> several armed groups from the southern philippines pledged allegiance to the islamic state. a a commander blamed for some of the deadliest attacks in the philippines recently vowed allegiance in a video clip uploaded on the internet. the movement has also called for an alliance, vow to go continue its pursuit of an islamic state. there are reports hundreds of have been recruited for training. vowing to stop what it calls the

spread of the i.s. state virus, the liberation front said its moderate ideology is seen at vital in stopping the influence of the is state in the southern philippines. >> we condemn barbarism. we condemn cruelty. >> many here believe as long as there is no cross training he between the is state and members of these groups, not much is expected to change in terms of influence and how they operate in the region. >> if there are people who are feeling marginalized and feel that their grievances aren't being addressed in the normal politics in a peaceful way, they could be radicalized. that's why the liberation front has said that this peaceful

protest of there is will work. >> filipino muslims have a history of taking part in conflict in the middle east. >> still, there's no known evidence of any direct lead to action between the islamic state and armed groups, though authorities admit they need to be vigilant. one never knows what seeds may be planted especially when grievances in the southern philippines remain unaddressed. >> fighting between ukraine and pro-russian separatists continues today, despite a ceasefire. residents say several people were injured after homes were damaged by shelling. the ceasefire agreement between ukraine, russia and pro-russian fighters is technically in its ninth day. a correspondent reports or tilery fire can be heard near the donetsk airport. >> this is the second day we've

been hearing heavy artillery fire, landing within the vicinity of donetsk airport. yesterday, on saturday, the ukrainians claimed that armed forces that have been holed up in that airport had successfully repelled an attack on it by pressure rebels. so far, this morning, we were told that there has been at least one casualty as a result of exchanges of gunfire and artillery fire between the sides. we haven't been able to confirm that, but have been hearing that some of those shells landed in residential areas between railway station and the airport behind me. >> six months after crimea reunified with russia, the peninsula is voting in its first russian election today. there are reports residents are complaining of campaign bias toward the ruling party led by vladimir putin.

in the city, some were forced to register membership with putin's united russia party before they could vote. several observers from the independent voting monitor say they were not allowed to enter polling stations. scotland will hold a referendum whether or not to break away drop the united kings dom. it's been part of the u.k. for more than 300 years. scottish independence movements date back to the 14th century. anyone 16 years of age or older can vote. that does not include scottish expatriots living abroad or residents of england, wales or northern ireland. we'll focus on the vote and its implications for scotland and england coming up in the week ahead. that's 8:30 p.m. eastern, 5:30 pacific. >> in north korea, a u as i say send is sentenced to six years hard labor. matthew miller was charged with entering the country illegally

and trying to commit espionage. he destroyed his visa upon his arrival. a court denied miller an appeal. the trial of another american is expected to begin soon. he was allegedly arrested for leaving a bible in his hotel room. >> in the mediterranean today, it was a fight for life. libyan authorities say a boat carrying up to 250 migrants sunk off the coast. many passengers died, only 26 have been rescued. we will bring you more details as soon as we get them. >> the italian coast guard has rescued all 90 knife migrants onboard another boat that was sinking off the italian coast. the ship set sale for the libyan city of benghazi saturday night and was heading for the island of. the passengers onboard were mostly from syria and included

21 children. >> coming up after the break, a notable marriage ceremony by the pope. why many say this is another big step marking reform within the catholic church. >> plus, honoring american heros. president obama scheduled to present the nation's highest military award. plus, rebecca. >> whether you're running hot or cold is going to depend which side of the rocky mountains you're on. we have the first frost of the season for some cities. i'll show you where, coming up next. next.

>> pope france made a mover that has many around the world taking note. the pontiff married 20 couples today, several had children or were living together before saying i do. both are circumstances that have been discouraged by the catholic church, but many say today's group wedding ceremony was just the latest development in the pope's reform agenda. victoria reports. >> at the time when people are abandoning clickism by the millions, pope francis has often

preached that the catholic church must become a partner and not an obstacle to social change. sunday, there was another symbol of his determination to make the church for inclusive arched compassionate. catholic couples forbidden to marry were invited to w wed in rome. prospective brides and grooms had already been living together. one woman had a grown up daughter. >> a little piece of advice. it's normal for married couples to argue. it's normal. it always happens, but my advice is never let the day end without having made peace. never. >> since his election 18 months ago, the pope has criticized the chomp for what he calls its obsession for imposing morality. his views don't have support with conservative catholics.

>> we have a pope who is very -- the pope can bring together more the pastoral care for people with the doctrine of the church. >> the church has been closed for too long, too rigged. now maybe this new pope arrived at the right moment. >> the catholic church still has deep challenges, but pope francis seems as determined as ever to put the emphasis not on church dog ma but attending to the social needs of his people. >> firefighters are battling wildfires. in orange county, people from 200 homes were forced to evacuate. firefighters in the north were able to stop the spread of the flames today. in southern california, more than 1,000 firefighters have that fire 20% contained.

>> rebecca has the weather. >> it is running hot right in the places where all that drought has been sitting for the summertime. this is not an ideal situation at all. we start talking about wildfires and that is about record heat. in southern california, temperatures into the upper 90s to low 100s. farther inland, the hot at the present times come into the triple digits. we had record highs here in southern california yesterday and today their tallying up some more, along with near record high temperatures. the heat advisory, and excessive heat warning continues through tomorrow. this stretch of hot weather, 15 degrees at least above normal continues through tuesday, moving up the west coast, all the way west of the cascades, 15 degrees above normal from seattle to portland. east of the cascades, 10-15 degrees above the average for this time of year, as soon

as we get east of the rockies, that's where the temperatures drop. this is where they drop 10-15 degrees below the average for this time of year. we keep keithing these shots of called air from canada. it makes sense when you think of ok, days are getting shorter, the nights longer, and the sun has made its trip down towards the equator. it hasn't made it quite yet, the beginning of fall coming coming--december 22. it's allowing the nights as they clear out for the skies to get those temperatures down into the low to mid 30's. that's what's going to happen as we get overnight tonight into tomorrow morning, our first frost for the northeast, parts of maine, canada and pennsylvania, too. temperatures are going to be quite chilly when you wake up monday. the day will be gorgeous, but that cold air continues to filter in. witness we move into the next

couple of days, the week ahead, we're going to continue to get cold fronts dropping farther south out of canada. as the seasons are shifting and the summertime heading down to the southern hemisphere, our northern hemisphere is just getting colder and we're going to continue getting those cooler blasts of air. expect your high temperatures to be very warm west of the rocky mountains and quite cool in the east side of the rocky mountains, especially farther north towards canada. we'll still be hot in texas and have showers there. all eyes right now on the category three hurricane tracking up tomorrow night and tomorrow morning into the baja peninsula. rain and wind expected to track into the southwest this week. >> any chance of that rain getting up to the fires? >> it doesn't look it will stay that far west. most will cause problems in arizona toward new mexico. >> thanks a lot, rebec rebecca.

>> hillary clinton in iowa for the first time since her defeat in the caucus. libby casey was also there. >> the former first lady, senator and secretary of state electrified the crowds at the steak fry. >> hello, iowa! i'm back! [ cheers and applause ] >> now it may be big news to the crowds that gathered that hillary clinton is here in iowa, but she was all business in honoring retiring senator tom harkins, who this event was for and also doing some stumping for democratic candidates, including a tight competitive senate race. >> in just 50 days, the people of iowa have a choice to make, a choice and a chance, a choice between the guardians of gridlock and the champions of

shared opportunity and shared prosperity, a chance to elect leaders who will carry on tom harkin's legacy. >> this is hillary clinton's first visit to iowa since 2008 when she came in a crushing third place in the iowa caucuses that put her presidential run on the skids. she called that experience excruciating. the fact that she is back after all these years tells them she is interested in what they are doing and saying. she is not declaring a run for president until next year, but that's not stopping her supporters from mobilizing, creating a super pac called residents for hillary. here thief raised $4 million naturally and trying to show eye was notes that hillary can do better this time and trying to show the former secretary of state that there is a big base in iowa willing to support her. >> >> still ahead on aljazeera

america, in the week ahead, scottish voters will decide whether to end their 307-year-old union with england. we look at what seceding means for the u.k. and for the world.

welcome to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. the white house has condemned the beheading of a british aid worker, the third hostage to be killed by the i.s. david cameron vowed to track down the killers. >> there is more fighting in eastern ukraine between pro-russian separatists and ukrainian forces for a second straight day, shelling near the airport, despite the nine-day-old ceasefire agreement. >> hillary clinton was in iowa today for the first time since her defeat in the 2008 iowa caucus.

she and bill clinton appeared, driving new speculation that she will run for president. the former secretary of state has said she will not announce her intentions until early next year. >> it's sunday night, and time for our regular look at the week ahead. scotland has been part of the united kingdom for more than 300 years, but this thursday, could decide to break away and become an independent nation. tonight, we will examine a referendum that could break up one of the america's closest allies, the united kingdom. it's a story that touches on economics and national identity, emotion and social conscious. four days ahead of the vote, is far too close to call. >> the palace of westminster has stood for hundreds of years as a beacon of democracy or at least that's what they say in westminster. the scottish say the u.k. has

lost credibility. it wants to strike out by itself against failing public services and cronyism. scotland came together to say if you want more powers, you can have them, but just don't vote to leave the united kingdom. >> we will have the opportunity to end the politics of grievance, to apply the talents and creativity of the people of scotland to face the problems they face and rather than look at the problem and blame someone else. >> some have heard all that before and don't think the party is offering this halfway house to independence even agree on what the scots have offered and they have all the momentum in the opinion polls. >> they wouldn't give us the powers to protect properly our great public health service. they wouldn't give us the powers to reenergize both the economy and the failures of scottish society, all the things we can

take into our own hands next week. >> the appeal isn't only economic. this late in the day, it's also to say to them we love scotland, but as the scottish flag was raised above the foreign minister's house in westminster, it fell off. the metaphor couldn't be more ironic. if you want to know how serious this is for the union, the prime minister david cameron was due to give a speech on wednesday here in london before prime minister's question time. he has canceled prime minister's questions and instead having to travel to scotland which he didn't want to do to campaign there for the defense of the union. it's very high stakes, but it's all hands to the pump. aljazeera, westminster in london. >> prime minister cameron was in scotland wednesday to make his case for unity, but that trip was short, and involved mainly private events, perhaps reflecting the fact that cameron's party, the

conservative the enjoy little support in scotland. would scotland continue to use the british pound? would england let it? the status of military assets in scotland, including nuclear submarines base there had would have to be negotiated. also on the negotiating table, scotland's membership innate toe and the european union both of which say they would have to reapply. set against this is centuries of emotion and a sense many scots have that theirs is the genuinely separate place. it's history stretching from william wallace and robert the bruce to a modern world in which it already feeds it's own teams in soccers world cup. let's bring in david scheper from chicago from northwestern

university and charles contain, professional of international affairs and government at georgetown university. professor, 40 years ago, when the u.k. was 260 years old, in your thesis at harvard, you wrote about derolution. what prompted your interest in that subject years ago when very few thought about it. >> at that time, in the mid 1970's, north sea oil had arisen as a prospect for economic recovery for the scottish people, and of course for the british peel, as well. it did stimulate a lot of political dialogue at the time, too. i think it gave some incentive to the scottish national party, which had been around a few decades but hat not taken off to make the economic case for independence, because that always had been the political platform in the scottish national party.

as a student at that time, i thought that this was a very dynamic and interesting development in a country that we presume would never have broken up, and in fact, i did study it rather intensively, and looked at the issue of devolution. >> what is the benefit to the people of scotland for breaking away from the united kingdom today? >> there are lots of pros and consist in the debate and i don't want to diminish them. it's a cultural advantage to resurrect their national identity and they have tremendous pride in their history and national identity, but it's also arguably an

economic argument. the scottish national party and much of the scottish parliament makes the argument that in the long run, scotland will be better off economically by breaking ties with westminster, but i must say there's also another political event. in 2003, when tony blares labor government joined with george w. bushes government in the united states to invade iraq. this was a very, very unpopular move in scotland itself. it did tend a innocent vice voters to look at what would scotland be like if it was not tied to some of the most controversial foreign policy decisions of the british government itself. there's finally the nuclear issue. there's a very anti nuclear weapon position in scotland that frankly is fine with removing itself from what we know as obviously the united kingdom as a nuclear power.

those are just some of the factors that incentivize the scottish voters today. >> what would it mean for what's left of the u.k.? >> it would mean the effective end of one of the world's oweddest and the most stable parliamentary democracies. the country would be diminished and that would impact all sorts of different things big and small. would the u.k. flag have ton changed by taking out the scottish portion of the union jack and just leaving the english welsh and northern irish portions, all the way to the role that scotland plays in the british military, in the defense industry and in particular with the stationing of british nuclear weapons, wimp the scottish government has said would not remain in an independent scotland. i think the impact on the day

after a ref are not did you mean on the rest of the u.k. is going to be mainly an emotional one, but so much will depend on what then happens if there is a yes vote over the next year as edinborough and london begin to negotiate specifically what details of secession would mean. >> anyone 16 years or older can vote, that does not include scottish expatriots living abroad, residents of england, wales or northern ireland. let's go to another issue here, which we haven't well discussed, and that is that scotland already has a great deal of autonomy. professor, discuss the fact that they already have some autonomy and about to get more in 2016, so really, when you talk about independence, isn't scotland already virtually independent in many respects? >> well, you know, it's one of the grandest experiments in the principle of self determination

that we have witnessed in the last couple of centuries. we've seen a lot of self determination, particularly in dionneizeation after world war ii. here we have a sub state, scotland, that has steadily increased its political power internally through what we call did he havdevolution. that has accelerated since 1998 to a degree now where scotland is a remarkable example of a new form of growing self government, so you could make the argument why go to independence if you've been so remarkably successful at deinvolving power. it hasn't gone far enough oh to

issues that go to the core of and also of defense, that go to the core of what the scots believe to be their identity and their right to make these decisions on their jean let me interrupt you and get the professor, pretend if you will, that you are arguing against devolution just for a second here. he talks about this grand experiment, but what's the down side of that? >> well, i think in theory, it's hard to argue against devolution, after all, it's about getting power as close to the governed as possible, moving government add close as possible to the governed. this has been a remarkable example of the way in which a relatively centralized state can devolve important decision making powers out to regional units, if you like, scotland, but also wales and northern

ireland, which have benefited from a certain degree of devolution. not as much as the scots. we've long thought that did he have illusion or a form of federal government, if you like, even though britain's not really a federation, people have thought that devolution of some form is a way of preventing secession, give more power to regional units to keep them inside a union. if scotland leaves the cult, that will be an important demonstration effect i think for other potential secessionists who will say devolved powers aren't enough. this in a way will be a demonstration against a form of government we thought was going to be very workable. >> let's talk about foreign policy, what an independent scotland might look like on the global scale and what a smaller

britain's role might be. >> in h he edinborough, everythg from fishing rights to spain for student visas for indians. i wondered whether an independent scotland would join the fight against islamic state group. >> do you think a scottish air force would participate militarily in that sort of coalition campaign? >> we will only, the attitude of this government and scottish parliament, would only participate in military actions which had been sanctioned by the united nations under national law. >> more huge differences, scotland's anti nuclear doesn't want to host the u.k.'s weapons. it really wants to stay in the european union, which

westminster is increasingly turning against. yet the scottish national party also wants to be innate toe, which their partners in the green party don't like at all, though prepared to put up with it for the time being. >> that's something positive about the nature of scottish democracy with a range of political views on the yes side, on the no side, whether it comes to nate toy, to other aspects of policy. >> it goes without saying this new prestige scotland would enjoy hangs like a fog over the political elite in london. >> opponents say an independent scotland would simply disappear off the international map that without the status and power of england behind it. the united kingdom's real fear is what it would look like without scotland. one former foreign minister said losing scotland from the union would be so humiliating

approximate the u.k. might lose its position at the united nations security council. >> which is another way of saying the death of the union would surely be felt around the world. >> professor, one of the points mentioned has to do with membership in the european union. obviously, many in scotland favor membership of the european union, but apparently some leaders of the european union aren't so is that your they would welcome scotland with open arms. you had written about that in a paper you had written to the e.u. back in the summer, arguing that the e.u. should not take such a harsh view of scottish potential membership, should it become independent. >> i think at the end of the day, once we get into the negotiating period of a yes-no vote on the referendum, if that happens thursday, the european union will see it's to its benefit to have scotland remain.

scotland is in the european now as part of the united kingdom. it's a very unique situation that the european union has never confronted before, where a sub state of an existing member state wants to stay in the union but as an independent nation. that's new stuff. i think it requires some imaginative thinking which can be done with respect to how you negotiate this with brussels so that you have a smooth transition, as smooth as possible so that the scottish people, who are e.u. citizens right now can continue to be e.u. citizens beyond the state hood day in 2016. that's extremely important, and i think there are ways within the treaty on the european union to actually negotiate that favorably. i'll just say this, too, there's a political thing going on here, too. european leaders look at other

separatist movements in other countries and get nervous about this. the difference between this and those situations is that here the british government has sanctioned this referendum. it is a referendum that legally has been approved as a referendum, where as that has not taken place in any other countries. this is a unique situation. >> to that point, professor, with the benefit of hindsight, do you think that the british parliament would have supported this referendum had they known that this vote is appearing so close. at the point that the referendum was approved, had they thought everyone would say we don't want to break away, we want to stay part of the u.k. >> the expectation was that the vote would not be this close. in fact, the polls that just came out this week have been a kind of bombshell across the u.k., in particular in london, but i think the date cameron

government probably did make a strategic mistake with the wording of the referendum and being against the idea of having a third option beyond staying in the union or full independence, the so-called divo max option or increasing the amount of powers that the scottish parliament has. it's probably likely that many voters would have gone to that option had it been on the ballot. the logic in london was if you have an up or down vote, you would force the hand of the scottish government and the of scots themselves and perhaps put the issue to rest for a generation. i think whatever happens thursday, the vote is likely to be close and even in the event of a no vote, that is scotland staying within the u.k., i think the issue of scottish independence is not going to go away and certainly the scottish national party is not going to go away. >> in point of fact, there will be some additional abilities of scotland moving forward to be

more independent for example, changing the tax system, which is supposed to take effect -- >> that's right, in fact, what will happen in fact is that divo max has now become the order of the day, at least by 2016, if there is a no vote. that option in fact has been put forward by the british government, even if it wasn't voted on by the scots themselves. >> this is especially for our american viewers, why should america care what happens? >> the critical issue here is that for the united states, britain is of course, its closest ally in the world, and especially at a time when the united states is seeking britains support in the fight against the islamic state and a whole variety of issues on the international agenda, the crisis in ukraine and elsewhere, having britain preoccupied with a basic

constitutional domestic question takes attention away from these vital foreign policy concerns, so it is a vital concern to the united states. i think also the impact of this on foreign and defense policy in the u.k. is something that the united states has to be very much concerned with. >> professor, why should the united states of america care about the referendum in scotland? >> well, as professor king said, there is strategic reasons why the stat stoss quo would be favorable to adjustment foreign policy. we have to recognize that the united states is a nation of tremendous values, values of democracy, and this is an expression of democratic will by the scottish people hoover very strong ties to the united states, very strong ties. so i think on a more personal level, on a values level, i think the united states can still stand in great respect of

whatever the outcome is. if it's a yes vote, i would think the united states should embrace that as an expression of democracy and also of forging look, we have one ally in the united kingdom. i think if the end result is we'd have two allies. the remainder of the united kingdom and scotland in the result if there is a yes vote. >> a brave new world of possible new international borders. thank you for your thoughts. thank you both for joining us on aljazeera america. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> let's look at other events coming up in the week ahead. on monday, president obama will award two medals of honor, one posthumously for valor during the vietnam war. the medals will be awarded at the white house. >> tuesday, the 69th united

nations general assembly will be held in new york. the debate's opening was delayed by a day to accommodate the climate summit. >> on thursday, ukrainian president poroshenko will meet with president obama at the white house. ukraine's president has been invited to address a joint session of congress to make the case directly to members of the congress for military aid from the u.s. to ukraine. >> coming up now on aljazeera america, they served their country and now they are set to be honored by the president. more on the heroes receiving the medal of honor, next. taking over this woman's life... >> i don't wanna touch anything... >> now a controversial surgery can literally reprogram her mind >> we can modify emotional circuitry >> is this a miracle cure? or an ethical nightmare? >> there's a lot of mystery right now... >> rewiring the brain

an america tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america

>> on tech know, fire, devastating and out of control >> what's at stake here? >> there's approximately 360 homes... >> but now experts say they can predict how a blaze might spread >> this has been in a fire, now we gotta get the data out of it >> playing with fire... >> you guys are working just to save lives... >> i hope so... >> tech know every saturday go where science meets humanity >> sharks like affection >> spot on... >> don't try this at home... >> tech know, only on al jazeera america >> to really at the white house,

president obama will give the nation's highest military award, the medal of honor to three men who served in the u.s. armed forces. only one is still living. >> we met command sergeant major benny atkins near the pentagon. it's been half a century since that battle in vietnam he's being honored for. he said he feels humbled. >> this award is for the other 16 americans that were with me in this battle. >> atkins was at first reluctant, drafted in 1956 at age 22, after dropping out of college. >> i didn't know that if you dropped out of the college, you went to the top of the draft list. >> he found the army suited him and reenlisted and volunteered for special forces. by that time, he was married with children. he headed off for vietnam.

during the second of three tours, a large vietcong division attacked his isolated jungle camp. >> this attack was to know stand for 38 hours. >> it was a fierce fight. he was blown out of the mortar pit twice and dodged incoming fire to rescue the wounded and recover the dead. >> i helped with a great soldier, staff sergeant out of 503. he was hit hard. both legs were blown off. >> hall was one of five americans who died. so did half of the 400 south vietnamese in the camp. those who survived escaped into the jungle. >> i was fortunate enough to have a little short range radio, and the antenna was shot off this radio, so i used my body by standing in water and was able to communicate with an aircraft.

>> the helicopter coming to pick them up was shot down and as night fell, the vietcong closed in. >> all at once, we could hear some noise, and kind of see some oh eyes moving around us there in the jungle, and that night, a tiger stopped us. >> the enemy could see the tiger, too. it kept them at bay long enough for a rescue. they treated me for 18 body wounds. most of them was mortar and hand grenade shrapnels. >> he received a chestful of awards. >> we don't do this for medals, we do it for love of our country or of our way of life. >> i'm as proud as i can be of him. i couldn't be any prouder. >> did you think during this whole period that you were not going to get back home? >> never. never. >> atkins credits his special

forces training for giving him the mental strength he needed. >> real proud of my service, yep. i'm just 80, and i want to see if i can reenlist. >> you're ready to join up again? >> that's right. >> for now, he'll have to settle for a tribute from a grateful nation. aljazeera, arlington, virginia. >> we end with the unique protest in the netherlands. hundreds of people gathered in the central dam square for a tomato fight. it started to protest russian sanctions against imports from amsterdam, but became a party complete with music. proceeds go to tomato growers hurt by the sanctions. >> i'll be back with another

hour of news at 11:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00 p.m. pacific. stay tuned, the edge of 18 starts right now. ow. >> a new episode of the ground breaking series, edge of eighteen >> just because your pregnant don't mean your life's ended. >> intense pressure... >> i don't know if this whole dance thing will work out. >> tough realities... >> 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

>> if i don't get into the programs that i want, it would really make me second-guess my pursuing a career in dance. it would definitely mean i'm not ready for a professional career. my future is in my hands right now. >> i live on the west side of chicago. it's a good chance you get shot here, but you never know when it can happen. in this neighborhood not a lot of people went to college. i'm supposedly supposed to be the child who makes it. >> i feel like you're going on a downward trend.