>> if you want free press in the new democracy, let the journalists live. >> on "america tonight": an internal battle? the president tries to calm worries about the u.s. role in iraq, contradicting his own top military advisor. >> the american forces that have been deployed to iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. >> but the president is campaigning for his plan to put more fire power into the fight against i.s.i.l. selling the strategy to a

skittish congress and a skeptical nation. also ahead, watching the detectives. "america tonight's" christof putzel with an in depth look at a new kind of law enforcement and a community that's taking on allegations of police brutality with their own brand of justice. on the beat with cop watch. >> we're just getting started, we are the new and improved plaque panthers. we are the new and improved young lords. we are the new freedom fighters and there's no stopping. >> and the long road to justice. tens of thousands of rape victims in cities across the nation and why their attackers remain at large. >> he came up from behind, covered my face. there is the only way i could identify him. the only chance was the dna they were able to get from my body. >> correspond lori jane gliha, who first brought up the issue of rape kits left untouched for

decades. the only question. will washington step in? >> good evening, thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. gearing up on his plans to stop the militant group i.s.i.l, the president of the united states says america must lead the fight but he's quick to say that does not mean a combat mission. mr. obama speaking at mcdill air force base out of tampa, as the house authorized the training and arming of syrian rebels to join the fight against i.s.i.l. amid signs the united states has already widened its campaign, destroying an i.s.i.l. position near baghdad. even amid polling drops, the

president is willing to his campaign to win support is full on. >> like the generations before us we're willing to defend this country we love. we're willing to help others on this planet that we share. the united states of america will remain the greatest force for freedom that the world has ever known. >> after meeting his top generals at u.s. central command in florida president obama made a patriotic appeal to the nation to rally around his plan to degrade and destroy i.s.i.l. >> its leaders have repeatedly threatened america and our allies and right now these terrorists pose a threat to the people of iraq, people of syria, the broader middle east including our personnel our embassies our consulates our facilities there. and if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat to the united states. >> and in the fight the president was unambiguous, no u.s. troops on the ground. >> i want to be clear. the american forces that have been deployed to iraq do not and will not have a combat mission. they will support iraqi forces on the ground. as they fight for their own country against these terrorists.

>> with the u.s. military limited to air strikes and support roles the president is now seeking congressional support to arm and train moderate syrian opposition forces. the job of selling that to a skeptical congress fell to secretary of state john kerry appearing before the senate foreign relations committee. >> the issue that confronts us today is one on which we all ought to be able to agree. i.s.i.l. must be defeated. period. >> with antiwar protesters behind him and hostile republicans in front. kerry tried to drive home the president's no u.s. ground troops message. >> we know a sustainable strategy is not u.s. ground forces. it is enabling local forces to do what they have to do for themselves and for their country. >> but if not americans, then who? ranking republican senator bob corker. >> tell me what's been accomplished.

who, what arab-seeing nation is going to have a ground force in syria? what arab sunni country is going to be flying in and missile raid and bombinraids and doing s with an arab insignia on the side of the plane? tell me that. >> senator you'll hear that in the next days. >> i'm asking you are you convinced that that will happen? >> let me -- i've already said that will happen. >> we will have arab sunni countries participating in the ground effort in syria? >> no, i didn't say the ground effort. >> on the notion that the syrian option, specifically the free syrian army has the capability to take on i.s.i.l. corker's anger bubbled over. >> this doesn't even seem serious. we know the free syrian army cannot take on i.s.i.l, you know that. >> with all due respect to you, senator, let me just tell you

something point blank. the moderate opposition in syria has in fact been fighting i.s.i.l. for the last two years. >> for members of congress who will soon face reelection the prospect of taking a risky vote on arming the syrian rebels has little appeal. and for republicans who hope to take back the senate and add to their majorities in the house, there is little incentive to act. a new cbs poll shows republicans gaining strength ahead of the mid terms with a 52 to 31% advantage now dealing with terrorism. on mr. obama's handling of terrorism in the meantime is just 31%. on the challenges ahead for the president, al jazeera contributor, bill schneider joins us. we have just noted here bill, 31% approval rating for president's foreign policy had ling. 34% for his-d handling --

handling, 34% for his handling of terror. that makes a challenge for the president to sell this to the congress and the american people awfully difficult. >> losing ground, particularly on foreign policy they don't think he's resolute enough. i don't think they want to go back to george w. bush but they would like to see a little more of bush's resolve and decisiveness. to go to war when the voters don't have a lot of confidence in him. >> and on that particular point general dempsey goes back to the hill tomorrow, but on his last visit there has suggested he's at odds with the president on whether to put american forces in place. >> whether the country could put u.s. forces into place. the president says he will not, dempsey says he might recommend that to the president. that's what people are worried about.they don't want another vietnam, another iraq war, another afghanistan, they don't want to support anything that would put american troops on the ground and start seeing american

forces coming home in body bags. >> and to that end, the house resolution that was passed, it includes no money and no end game. >> that's right. and it got a lot of opposition from democrats and republicans. no. if it includes money which they'll have to vote for, they would vote for that. because they can't cut off funding for the military. but this is a bill to authorize the military action there and there are a lot of reservations there. and there are a lot of reservations about it. a lot of people remember what happened at the gulf war back in 1991 when they voted to authorize that. it was a brilliant military victory and a lot of them voted against it. so in 2002, a lot of them like hillary clinton and john kerry and john edwards voted against that and hillary clinton paid a price for that in the 2008 democratic primaries. >> and here we are just weeks

from mid term elections as well. our political analyst and al jazeera contributor bill schneider, thanks for joining us. >> sure. aside from an on engagement -- open engagement in iraq, the crisis in ukraine, this week can ukrainian parliament approved a deal to strengthen ties with europe and loosen controls over eastern ukraine. russian back separatists are, this move, attempt to ease months of conflict, then the russian defense minister voted to send more troops to crimea. president petro poroshenko, heads to the white house tomorrow. seeking more aid in the fight. sheila macvicar has an update. >> when ukraine's president poroshenko sits down with barack obama in the white house, he will seek continuing commitment

that the u.s. will help the europeans and others maintain pressure against russia. but the president of ukraine will also come with a shopping list. the united states has pledged about $70 million worth of aid to ukraine, in nonlethal military assistance. that's things like night vision goggles, some body armor, radios, nonlethal aid. the problem is: most of that aid hasn't arrived yet, it's stuck in the pipeline. and it's not clear when the time for that aid to arrive. the president will ask the united states for more battlefield medical assistance because the state of ukraine's are own battlefield medical readiness is in shocking disarray. john quinn was hired by the ukrainian world congress to take a look at the state of ukraine's combat medicine.

>> we know from the experience in afghanistan and iraq that the golden hour, the first hour after someone is hit, is the most important time. for any kind of -- >> absolutely. >> -- really successful intervention. how many of the patients, how many of the ukrainian soldiers in the field who were hurt, how many of them get help within that golden hour? significant help? >> if -- i would really put it below 5%. >> we unpacked one of ukraine's standard issue battlefield medicine kits. this is the kit that should be given to every ukrainian soldier as he goes into battle. this is what's in it. >> what are the contents in here, what have you got? >> looks like tweezers and a comb and this looks more like something of a beauty kits of sorts. >> right. >> there are -- this is a barrier device in the event -- for breathing. >> mouth to mouth? >> yeah. and this is band-aids or plasters. >> these are literally band-aids.

>> literally band-aids. >> the kind of thing you would have in your medicine cabinet for when you scraped your knee. s that in contrast to american military standard, that comes with things like modern tourniquets for limb wounds, that that come with pressure bandages, that comes with coagulants. something out of the 1950s and designed by the soviets. >> this is a field condom. >> useful, says help. okay. >> this says yell for help. >> reporter: dr. quinn says 15% of ukrainians who are now dying on the battlefield could be saved, if ukrainians committed to providing this level of combat medical care and training that goes along with it. the problem is, the bureaucracy is extraordinary, in one case

we're told just to get the material in to make up one of these nato standard kits took ten different pieces of paper from ten different ministries, something that ukraine they say simply cannot afford at the time of war. >> that's "america tonight's" correspondent sheila macvicar reporting to us from kiev. when we return, community and the cops. new allegations of police brutality by the nypd. >> police brutality! >> why local leaders see a worrying pattern of trouble with the police. and another accusation of excessive force in new york city leads the community to take matters into their own hand. "america tonight" correspondent christof putzel on activists turning their lens on police. >> since garner's death how have you seen policing on the streets changed? >> to be honest it has changed a lot.

to a point where police now are more afraid of the camera and like i said, they don't want to be the next daniel pantaleo, getting caught on camera actually doing something like that. >> an in-depth look at staten island's cop watch and whether it is making a difference. >> life changing moments >> i had never been bullied, everyone hates me... >> 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

>> every saturday, al jazeera america brings you controversial... >> both parties are owned by the corporations. >> ..entertaining >> it's fun to play with ideas. >> ...thought provoking >> get your damn education. >> ...surprising >> oh, absolutely! >> ...exclusive one-on-one interviews with the most interesting people of our time. >> you're listening because you want to see what's going to happen. >> i want to know what works what do you know works? >> conversations you won't find anywhere else. >> talk to al jazeera. >> only on al jazeera america. >> oh my! >> the embattled new york city apolice department finds itself in the middle of another use of in the middle of another use of force allegation. this fight was caught on video.

yo! why is the police kicking him? witnesses said officers were trying to clear out vendors after a street festival but when they failed to move quickly enough eyewitness he say that officers got physical and several people were wrestled to the ground. one officer has been suspended without pay. sunset park investigation comes on the heels of the controversy choke hold death of eric garner. it's now been two months since garner died in a clash with nypd officers on staten island. "america tonight" correspondent christof putzel, with two men trying to fix what they call a broken system. >> the rain fell on staten island saturday afternoon. the but it didn't spare the party. the family and friends of eric garner gather at a place he once lay to honor what would have been his 44th birthday. they shared stories, danced,

sang, for a life that was cut short. garner died in july after being placed in a choke hold by police officer daniel pantaleo. enraged residents hold garner up as one more name in a long list of victims of police brutality. two months later as they await result from the city's investigation of the incident, residents here say they're left with little trust in the nypd. one man has taken matters into his own hands. >> we're going to keep him around patrolling. >> jose la salle is the founder of cop watch. >> cop watch is brothers and sisters who basically volunteer to go into the community to document police, their counters with civilians. >> as the sunsets he and his small team roam the streets of the most frequent stop and frisk spots. they become known here as a kind

of inverted neighborhood watch with eyes, ears and cameras pointed at the cops. >> we feel through cop watch in our own way community and activists like ourselves could make a police officer accountable for their action because what we'll do, we'll put them on social media and we'll blast it. >> for la salle, the mission is personal. >> i say close to 15 years of my life i've spent in prison in and out of jail. and it took a long time for me to find myself. >> la salle was arrested multiple times on drug charges. after his last stint in jail he met his wife nancy. the woman he says saved him from his streets. but it was his stepson alvin who would put him back on the streets, this time as an activist. alvin was stopped by police in 2011. he recorded audio of the interaction one of the first public documentations of stop

and frisk in action. it quickly went viral. >> why are you touching me for? stopping me for no reason. why are you -- you are going to break my arm. >> it was traumatizing. when we heard that and the mother heard that, as soon as we heard the video, i didn't know what to do. i wasn't an activist i didn't know what to do. so the first thing we did, we went to the police station. >> he said he got no relief from internal affairs, filing a complaint that went nowhere. and just a week later his wife died of a heart attack. it's been a roller coaster. but now being part of the community, i just feel like i've got to be a superhero or something. i've been fascinated by superheroes and now i feel like a superhero. i feel if there's a crime being committed by a police officer somewhere, i need to be there, i need to put my uniform on, which is the cop watch uniform and i'm out there.

>> la salle and others in the community believe nypd officers have stepped back in the staten island district, since garner's death. arrests have plummeted. gang arrests have dropped. the data also show a similar decrease in major crimes for precinct with robberies assaults and burglaries down between 30 and 40%. but mayor bill deblasio denied that nypd were given any orders to back off. "america tonight" reached out to the pd several times and they declined to comment. >> since garner's death, how have you seen policing on the streets changed? >> it has changed a lot, to where police are more afraid of the camera. and like i said they do not want to be the next daniel pantaleo getting caught on camera actually doing something like that. >> while la salle is taking the battle to the streets, richard

emery is fighting within the system. often battling with the police. >> i continue to do it in this law firm. we're a private law firm here and we often do civil rights cases of all variety, often police cases, we're suing rykers island right now. >> in july the mayor tapped him to lead the community citizens review board. or ccrb. a citizen group which investigates police misconduct complaints. >> effective policing is by definition constitutional and respectful policing. >> the ccrb is essentially the bridge between the communities and the police department. and it arises out of the fact that people don't trust the police to discipline themselves. they want some independent entity to make determinations about police misconduct. >> emery acknowledges he was brought in as a major yore haul

of the organization, which has never gained traction. >> how effective has ccrb been in the past? >> it has never been effective to put it bluntly. in the early days it was an internal police function, that didn't work. obviously it was suspected. then in the mid 90s, for 20 years it has operated as a sort of back water operation in my view, kangaroo court, they have been forced to participate, the public has no other place to go. >> public opinion of the ccrb was on full display in their last meeting. >> it was raucous. it was really amazing when you think about it and i think it was a real great lesson in what we ought to be exposed to. to heck with the people. we have to be exposed to these meeting. we sit there on this podium talking about ccrb processes and talking about improvement and talking about all this kind of mumbo gumbo government talk.

>> everyone in this room knows we're here. staten island specifically about what happened to eric garner. >> then we have a public session and these people get up and spill their guts out about the sadness of their situation when they've been confronted by police officers. >> i was ran down by police in front of my house. i got my ankle and my leg broken then i got falsely arrested. >> the biggest critique, the ccrb have no way to discipline police officers. they can only write recommendations. from there it is up to the commissioner, bill bratton. >> it's always been between 25 and 40% of our recommendations have been thrown out. >> if the ccrb doesn't have the authority to police the police, what is the point at the end of the day? >> it last the requirement to require police officers to justify themselves. to bring them in.

to face the complaints and explain the circumstances that led to the allegations of misconduct to be accepted or not received. that is enormous power. process is power. it's not only outcome that's power. >> emery's candid about the challenge he faces. he's already made public an array of intended reforms. from the promises of ccrb offices in each neighborhood to faster turn-around times in investigations. >> all i can do is figure out what i think is needed and see if i can get this bureaucracy to respond. i'm in the early stages of this so i don't know for sure. do i think i can be successful who knows. do i think i can improve it, yes. >> for la salle it will take more convincing. >> we need to let john know and let the people out there know what is going on here? >> when we look at the face of the board members, when we were speaking and when other people in the community were speaking it was priceless. they had no choice but to take

these punches and stand there and just take these hits. but these hits that it was taking was the reality of what's happening in these community of color, with police officers when they go in there to patrol them. >> reporter: not willing to wait to see if the system can reform itself, la salle will continue to dole out his own form of justice. >> once they understand and fear what that has to be going through, and that patrol guy to be honest is giving us this power. >> you think cop watch is just getting started? >> we are the new and improved black panthers, we are the new and improved young lords, we are the new and improved freedom fighters and there's no stopping us. >> christof putzel. al jazeera new york. >> ahead on the program. the great divide. scotland readies itself for a vote that could decide whether or not they're under the union jack, why in

the hours before the vote, the outcome is too close to call. and later on, changing the menu, wallets, what he gained from giving up. >> i called it an addiction to money but i think it's actually bigger than that. because what leaving wall street meant to me was leaving behind an entire system of beliefs. >> how he went cold turkey on his wealth addiction, later in in the hour. >> the tax payer directly pays the human trafficker >> fault lines al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're blocking the doors... ground breaking... they killed evan dead... truth seeking... >> they don't wanna see what's really going on >> break though investigative documentary series america's war workers only on al jazeera america @j

>> now a snapshot of storiesj making headlines on "america >> now a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." less than 48 hours after the minnesota vikings announced their star running back adrian peterson would play this sunday: the team changed course, while he faces charges for beating his four-year-old son. there comes after fans sponsors and women's greup groups criticd peterson for not taking action. he remains on the run at this hour. the hunt has stretched into five days leaving a small town in rural pennsylvania on edge. his father described him as an expert shooter who in his words, doesn't miss. state police say that frame has said he wants

to commit murder and kill police. before the st. louis grand jury late tuesday, all of the proceedings are closed to the public. the prosecutor says now they will release all audio recordings if it fails to indict the officer. >> in scotland, the campaign is finally over. in the next 24 hours scots will decide whether the united kingdom stays united or whether after 300 years scotland will go it alone. last raleighs for the yes or no camps kept people up late in the night. in four of the main cities. turnout is expected to be well over 90%. of course only residents of scotland can vote in the referendum but that hasn't stopped other brits from weighing in. they've got a lot at stake here. it is a country on the edge of breakup with all that goes with that. this for example is a scene on

the village of gretna, on the border between england and scotland, stones, thousands of them, the pile has grown from one stone bearing an impassioned message in july has grown to a wall nine feet high. a solid appeal for unity. we're joined by malcolm chalmers. national security expert. who once wrote the article, "defense of an independent scotland." an important voice for scotland. first we'd like to ask you about your own loyalties in this. after all you were born in scotland. do you consider yourself a scotsman? >> i do very much so. i was born grew up in scotland, went to university in england, met an english girl and have lived here most of my life. i'm very much scottish but i'm british as well. and i think the union we have created has

benefited both scotland and england. >> you would not want to see this division not see scotland break off. >> no i wouldn't, there are many, many people in england, if you visit and talk here, there are a number of people who say they have got a scottish cousin or grandfather. people in scotland the number of people there my mother's family came from england and settled in glasgow. so these are two nations, they are nations, it is not one nation, it is a multinational state but these two nations have incredibly close bonds as a result of three centuries together. >> so it would be something of a separation, something of a divorce if these two nations split. >> it would do. what passport would i have? i guess i might end up with two passports, a scottish passport and a u.k. passport. scotland is not an oppressed country. scotland has been an integral part of the union. if you come to london and see the number of scots

men and women working in the foreign office the armed forces and the ministry of defense in key business positions, scots are overrepresented in the country that we've created together, and it would be a great shame i think if people in london started asking are you loyal to u.k. or to scotland. for people and me it would be an awkward situation. >> and on your expertise, you mentioned the defense department. on your expertise, you are asking the question where would defense be located on scotland and the u.k? >> if scotland became its own separate nation, it would have to have its own separately armed forces. and the question, i hope if there is a yes vote it would be a cooperative process. >> malcolm chalmers is special advisor to the u.k. parliament on defense issues, and scotsman at heart. we appreciate your being with us.

>> thank you. >> after the break. when justice isn't done. >> tens of thousands of rape victims and untested evidence could be justice denied. >> rape is a crime that is treated very differently than any other crime. it's really the only crime where police kind of make a judgment call, as to whether or not they believe the victim. >> now "america tonight" correspondent lori jane gliha tells us, there's more to it. can washington put an end to a nationwide backlog of rape investigations, with just one vote?

>> consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> why did so many of these people choose to risk their lives? >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> people are dying because of this policy... >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but what is the administration doing behind the scenes? >> real perspective,

consider this on al jazeera america the hour. >> it's been called one of the most shameful numbers in american law enforcement. >> it's been called one of the most shameful numbers in american law enforcement. the department of justice reports some 400,000 rape kits sit untested nationwide. "america tonight" has been following developments on this very closely and now we report there's more to the story. this week the vermont senator patrick leahy says he will try to force passage of a bill that will allocate more than $150 million a year to help clear the backlog. it is expected though that he will fail. rape victims will be denied due justice. "america tonight" correspondent lori jane gliha first brought us story of a survivor's kit that went untested for more than a decade after which her attacker raped other women. >> honestly, the law enforcement

response was worse than the rape. >> reporter: it would be nearly a decade before megan evos was raped before she was taken seriously. >> they kept saying, you know you're going to go to jail if you make this up right, you're not doing this just for attention right? >> in 2003, a rapist attacked ebos in her suburban memphis home. she was just 16 years old. >> reporter: you were just 16. you are being told, are you sure you were really raped? >> it was confusing. >> was there a moment when someone actually believed you? >> no no no. >> despite what she said was the skepticism of the handlers of her case and a threat by her attacker to kill her if she told the police, evos decided to

undergo an exam to prepare a rape kit. these kits are an important tool in prosecuting sex crimes. the body of the rape victim is a crime scene. fluids hairs and skip left behind can be tested for dna leading to the attacker's identification. >> he came up from behind me and attacked me and covered my face. there was no way i could identify him. the only chance i had was the dna that they were able to collect from my body. >> evos assumed the evidence would be handled quickly but it sat on a shelf for nine years. officials still can't explain why. >> if my family hadn't believed me, i wouldn't want to think about what i would have done. >> this is evos first national television interview. she doesn't want to be remembered as simply a jane doe. >> so you go through this

horrible sexual assault. and they treat you as if you were lying. >> they accused me of lying. >> and then don't call you back. >> no. i was on edge, i didn't know what the man looked like he was wearing a ski mask when he attacked me. i didn't try to protect myself, he could be anywhere, he could be anyone. >> in 2012, evos attacker was finally found. her rape kit was finally tested. this man anthony alliano was identified, he was sentenced to 178 years in prison. had evos's kit been tested right away there was a chance that he could be arrested before he raped other women, that's where a law enforcement database called codus comes into play. looking at the rape kit, police look for a match in codus. even if one isn't found having that dna on file is important. >> we will cut one swab.

>> if an attacker's dna turns up at a crime scene in the future that person will still be caught. less than a year after alliano raped evos police responded to a call at this motel, on the outskirts of memphis. in a room they caught alliano red handed. with a 16-year-old girl. the girl appeared to be drugged. alliano admitted to having sex with her. police did a rape kit on the girl. all of which could have been tested for alliano's dna. as in evos's case the dna wasn't tested. >> what do you think about the fact that he slipped through the cracks, he could have been caught. >> it disgusted me, given the way law enforcement responded to my report, i'm not surprised as -- as all. >> it was only by accident that alliano was connected to evos

rape. >> in 2012 her mother happened to see a report on tv about alliano, thinking it might be her attacker evos called police. finally they decided to test her kit. >> at what point in time did you find that your rape kit had never been tested? >> when i called, and then that person told me that they would send in the rape kit to be tested. >> what were the words they said when they found out that your rape kit had not been tested? >> they said, we will send it in now. it wasn't just evos kit that wasn't tested. the city announced it failed to test more than 12,000 rape kits some dating back to the 1980s. natasha alexenko is also a rape survivor. 1993, new york city, raped by a stranger at gunpoint. she believes a good reason why are kits go untested is because of the mindset of many in law enforcement. >> this is the preidentification laboratory. >> rape's a crime that's treated very differently than any other crime. it is really the only crime where police kind of make a

judgment call as to whether or not they believe the victim. >> untested kits aren't just a problem in memphis. police in detroit found 11,000 untested kits. in cleveland, 4,000. in phoenix, 3,000. nationwide the justice department estimates there are 400,000 untested kits. >> when you brought that kit out that's a human being. >> alexenko has an organization that's working to clear the backlog. some are being sent here. this lab in suburban washington, d.c. is the biggest private processor of rape kits in the united states. >> the data doesn't lie. new york city has a policy where they test every single rape kit and according to the fbi, new york city has a 70% arrest rate because they test every kit. whereas the rest of the nation has a 24% arrest rate. >> the enormous backlog of untested kits in memphis first came to light when a local tv station started asking

questions. at first the city said there were only 2,000 untested kits before upping the total to more than 12,000. >> we've had enough false starts. >> a.c. horton junior has been the mayor of memphis since 2009. he has taken the lead in speaking on behalf of the city and the police. >> what was your reaction when you discovered there were 201 2012,000 plus cases that hadn't been tested? >> i don't know how to describe it. it was just frustration. >> how sure are you now that the number of untested kits is going to stay where it is that you're not going to find thousands more in coming months? >> you can never say we are absolutely positively certain. but based on the time that we have been in this inquiry i'm reasonably certain that's as far as it's going to go. >> horton says he can't speak about the specifics of evos case because of lawsuits against the city. but the city has launched an investigation into why all those

kits sat untested for so long. horton also says the city has a methodical plan for testing the kits. >> these kits will be tested. >> according to the mayor's office, more than 4500 kits have been sent to the lab for testing so far resulting in 174 investigations and 26 indictments. >> if you could give a message to all of the victims out there that have been discovered and have yet to be discovered how will you put them at ease as far as making sure they do feel they have been treated fairly which some of them have expressed they do not? >> there is no way in the world i will stand there and tell them, oh, no, you shouldn't feel that way. all i can say is, it is built up over a number of years, it's going to take a while to get it done and get it done right. the of and that's what we're committed to. if any victim wants a weekly report they're going to get it.

all they got to do is ask. >> megan evos intends to hold the mayor to his word. she has become something of a shadow, pressing him on the issue whenever she can. >> she has petitioned the state of tennessee on the timely processing of rape kits. >> you start to wonder, is rape really illegal? apparently it was not a big deal for nine years that alliano was on the loose. like the law says is illegal, i have to wonder is it really illegal? >> lori jane gliha, al jazeera, memphis. >> after the break hear the road to recovery. how a refugee from wall street is trying to overcome a different kind of addiction. >> all i can see was my own need for a million dollars. my need for my next bonus. i was using money to fill this hole inside me. and the problem was that no matter how much money i made, it it sort of never fixed the sort of

inner problem that i was feeling. and i do believe that that's probably true of the culture as a whole. >> we hear from a former wolf of wall street with a unique perspective on the world of the 1%. vé

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their needs are not being met by american tv news today. >> entire media culture is driven by something that's very very fast... >> there has been a lack of fact based, in depth, serious journalism, and we fill that void... >> there is a huge opportunity for al jazeera america to change the way people look at news. >> we just don't parachute in on a story...quickly talk to a couple of experts and leave... >> one producer may spend 3 or 4 months, digging into a single story... >> at al jazeera, there are resources to alow us as journalists to go in depth and produce the kind of films... the people that you don't see anywhere else on television. >> we intend to reach out to the people who aren't being heard. >>we wanna see the people who are actually effected by the news of the day... >> it's digging deeper it's asking that second, that third question, finding that person no one spoken to yet... >> you can't tell the stories of the people if you don't get their voices out there, and al jazeera america is doing just that.

>> finally from us this hour the >> finally from us this hour the census bureau reports income inequality in america is alive and well and has even gotten worse in the last 15 years. by one analysis the economi >> recovery of the last few years has really been a recovery for the rich. the top 1% got 95% of the income gained while for most americans incomes remain stagnant. sam polk is a refugee from that 1%. former trader and hedge fund manager says he's a recovering addict, addicted to not drugs but to wealth. foak spok-- polk spoke to "amera

tonight" about the wall street culture and his journey back from wealth addiction. >> there have only been a few moments the my life where i saw something and it was like, "that's what i want to do," and first time i walked on to a trading floor was one of those moments. i was a senior at columbia, and the idea of sort of graduating college and sort of falling off the face of the earth was really scary, you had goldman sachs and bank of america and cfb and bear stearns saying, we've got this great internship, and that was for a lot of my friends that's what they wanted to do. i got that internship at csfb and i was 22 years old. i remember the first time i walked onto the csfb trading floor and it was a whole different world than i'd ever seen. it was like these guys were playing a game for their lives, it looked like a big video game.

i started bank of america in 2003. i worked with a guy that had two ferraris. it was like there was just money around. there was this one time on the trading floor. when one of the senior traders he had this great black hair. somebody had asked him how much would it cost for you to shave your head and he said $6,000. and they said okay you're done. and so this woman with hair clippers came on to the trading floor like 10:00 in the morning and while this guy was trading literally shaved his head. i remember thinking like, how crazy that was like he was doing that, like it was totally bizarre. but i remember thinking he just earned as much as my car cost. i was 27 years old when i left bank of america to work for a hedge fund. that was the moment that i sort of started living a lifestyle that cost a lot. i asked my girlfriend at the time if she wanted to move in with me and we moved into this

carneous loft on bond street. i paid for the rent for the entire year it was like $75,000. it was crazy. i started to notice something about wall street. and wall street specifically. the only thing that was changing was how much money i was making. so i still, even though that first year was 45,000 and then it was 75,000 then it was a million then more than a million i was still jealous of other people. i definitely felt like i didn't have enough money. all i could see was my own need for a million dollars. my need for my next bonus. i was using money to fill this hole inside me and the problem was that no matter how much money i made it sort of never fixed the sort of inner problem that i was feeling. and i do believe that that is probably true of the culture as a whole. trading the market in 2008

during the crash was like being on roller skates on a ship in the middle of a storm. all of a sudden i saw these guys at the top who were both saying that they couldn't have anticipated this stuff and weren't actually taking responsibility for it. and i was like oh so maybe these guys at the top aren't masters of the universe. maybe they are just guys that happen to be at the top and what they're trying to do is hold onto their seats. it was definitely like a turning point. i left wall street when i was 30 years old. i brought in like six and a half years over $5 million. it was so hard to leave that world and then to still be in manhattan and still be around to go to dinner and see the group of wall street guys and they were all making a million dollars that year and that i wasn't. and it was really scary so it was really important to get out of that world. i call it an addiction to money but it is actually bigger than that.

because leaving wall street meant to me leaving behind an entire system of beliefs. i was dating my girlfriend who is now my wife. so we came to los angeles in 2010. food has been something i struggled with my whole life. i grew up an obese kid. my wife and i watched this documentary called a place at the table. it described very well this confluence between hunger and obesity. there were kids who lived five miles from where i did that not only had to worry about their next meal was coming from. and so we started this program called groceryships. ten families who received a scholarship for groceries. that means they went through a six months program where for two hours a week they meet and go through this class. maybe at some point there will be like super-healthy restaurants with really low

prices and low income areas and we'd certainly like to be a part of that so for the meantime there is not. so what we're doing is creating a program that could alleviate that disparity a little bit. when groceryships was just an idea i called up michael my former boss on wall street and i said michael you know we are thinking about starting this program, it's going to be scholarships for groceries for low income families. i think a single groceryship is going to cost about $3,000. are you willing to donate one? he just looked at me and said i'll take 10. that's how groceryships started. there is a tremendous amount of problems on wall street. but they are also like complex human beings who have families and friends. and some of my greatest friends are still on wall street. and i think time and time again our culture has the way of demonizing people and that's the

-- and feel likely that's the problem solved. the real question in our society is how is it that we are so angry over these people but we still aspire to be them. we want our kids to go to harvard, and get into goldman sachs. so they can have enough, so they can found their foundation. but it's a problem that happens in sloven and the red carpets, the belief system of our culture that says, you're valuable if you are successful and prestigious and famous. or if you are living an ordinary life, you aren't worth anything. my wife and i are expecting our first child, a daughter, in april. so more than anything that i want to do is give her the sense that she's valuable no matter what. so she doesn't have the sort of tortured part of her that is trying to make millions or trying to be famous or feel like at some point in the future, life would be enough. i hope that she would feel from

the beginning that her life is enough and she is enough from the beginning. >> words to consider. that is it for us here on "america tonight." tomorrow on our program, scotland's continuing push for independence. the far reaching consequences. remember if you would like to comment on any stories you've seen on tonight's program you can log on to our website, aljazeera.com/americatonight. and you can join the conversation with us any time on twitter or on our facebook page. good night. we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow.

i think that al jazeera helps connect people in a way they haven't been connected before. it's a new approach to journalism. this is an opportunity for americans to learn something. we need to know what's going on around the world. we need to know what's going on in our back yard and i think al jazeera does just that. >> will there or won't there be ground troops in our fight against i.s.i.l? president obama and his former defense secretary add to the confusion. also, another nfl player facing new domestic violence allegations. hello i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this," we'll have those stories and much more straight ahead.