[music] >> hi everyone. this is al jazeera america. talks fights back against u.s. led air strikes targeting a town against the syria turkey border.

ebola patients, we will collect additional u.s. based contact information. should cdc need to contact them. and finally, we will take their temperature with a non-contact they arthermometer which can bey indicator of potential infection. >> the focus will be on travelers coming from guinea, liberia and sierra leone, the customs agents will give each

traveler a packet about ebola. observe them for symptoms of ebola. if the traveler has a fever, the agent will refer them to the cdc for evaluation. president obama said the data of the dallas patient was proof there was no time to waste in implementing the new system. the president said as we saw in dallas we don't have a lot of margin for error. if we don't follow protocols and procedures in place, then we are putting our communities at risk. dr. thomas frieden of the centers for disease control says the protocols will apply to approximately 150 travelers a day. >> it makes it extremely difficult to get passengers in and out. >> the other airports will implement the guidelines next

week. john. >> thank you randall. senior associate at the university of pittsburgh medical center, doctor, welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> does this sort of screening work? >> this screening is one of a series of tools that you can use. we've seen it used as part of the exit screening strategy in west africa. this is first time we've seen it used as an entry screen. the risk is ebola has a incubation period of 21 days. what ends up happening is you fet a false sense of security -- get a false sense of security. thinking this will stop entry. the only way we get a zero entry of possibility is if we cut the head of the hide ra off.

there is a lot of political pressure and athe general public has a lot of panic over this disease. this may be for the calls of this increased screening. i worry this may divert rm not have what happened to mr. duncan happen again. because we want to make sure that hospitals are asking travel history, that they are promptly isolating travel histories and thos who are here are getting identified. >> a fever is a general symptom. it can be due to anything. we often describe fever reducing medications to people with fever like tylenol, ibuprofen. that can divert the is temperature screen. i don't think a travel restriction is the right answer here. as dr. frieden stated, this does

make response much harder. we need to actually enhance what's going on at the site of the outbreak in order to prevent imported cases from happening. so when you do a travel restriction not only does it do that but it also damages the economies of these cases, it isolates them, and puts them on the edge of collapse because they're becoming isolated and almost to be a dead state. >> if someone gets on u.s. soil and has a fever are airports prepared to take care of them? >> the five airports that are being targeted, are all places where the cdc has quarantine stations, if someone triggers that alert because they have a fever or symptoms that are consistent with ebola they are then taken to cdc quarantine station and further testing is warranted. >> doctor if you will stand by for a second i want to get back to you.

now, we get back to thomas duncan. heidi zhou-castro is in dallas she has more. heidi. >> hey john. there is a memorial service that is about to kick off for mr. duncan. it is happening at the church where his former fiancee wore ships. although no way increases the risk to the public i think his loss is a psychological toll here in this fight against ebola. thomas eric duncan passed away, at presbyterian hospital, in dallas on wednesday, though doctors said duncan had a 50-50 chance of pu pulling through, ns of his passing shook the community. >> first of all, i would like to

express my condolences to thomas eric duncan's family on his loss, especially to our dear member louise tro and to those boys still in quarantine. >> the pastor where duncan's fiancee still attends church says the family is seeking privacy. >> it was a painful and difficult time for her. she reacted at almost anyone would. >> reporter: the public health response now shifts to the proper handling of duncan's body which can still transmit ebola. the corner says there will be -- the coroner says there will be no autopsy. the transporting staff will wear protective gear. >> the fluids and blood are contagious and we have seen situations occurring where people are gettin getting infecy

coming in contact with the body. we know this is a significant risk. >> the family says he will be cremated. another patient reporting ebola like symptoms was admitted to the dallas county hospital. the deputy felt fatigued and nauseated wednesday and went to an urgent care clinic. an ambulance then took him to the hospital. >> he exhibited enough to trigger the preliminary screening. i think the important thing to note is once you get more in depth and you talk to the patient and they get more information i think then they're able to rule out some of the issues. >> the sheriff's deputy is being monitored. doctors say he is low risk for ebola but are taking all precautions. the sheriff's deputy remains in the hospital. he is not among the 48 people that the cdc had identified as

possible ebola contact with duncan. this deputy though says he was in contact with duncan's family and he had entered the apartment where duncan had stayed. john. >> heidi thanks for the update. health care workers and burial teams are on the front lines of the ebola cries i. in west africa they work with thousands of ebola victims sometimes with little more than gloves and bleach. in sierra leone's cal. burial teams -- capital burial teams are striking for better working conditions. in neighboring liberia health care workers are threatening to strike if their demands are not met by the end of the week. they want safety gear and more money. there's new information tonight about the ebola infection. officials say they think she may have touched her face with a contaminated glove. teresa rom romero cared for a

spanish missionary who died of ebola last weeg. even with the right-d week. even with the correct equipment health care workers can maybe mistakes. jake ward explains. >> taking on and putting off the suit, they talk about ritualizing the process. because you have to make sure everything is perfect. the ritual begins with drinking water. if you get dehydrated, bad things would happen, not the least of which would be fainting on the job. you're supposed to down water. i'm here in a climate controlled western office building and i'm still going to sweat my brains out when i'm doing this. imagine west africa, 90° temperature, and having to wear this for hours on end. imagine i've just come from treating an ebola infected

patient and gotten blood on me. the seal around my gloves is a really crucial things. and so you're instructed to prepare these sort of pull tabs that make it easier for you to get it off but the trick is you have to make sure that they are on the outside of your wrists and not on the inside where walking can wear them away and break that seal. so i'm going to get out of this suit. i'm going to show you the critical mistake that can get so many aid workers into trouble. they're exhausted they have seen a lot of blood they're panicked and they want to get this off. they pull it off. oh. and the fresh air hits their face. and their first instinct is to wipe their brow. because they're so sweaty. this glove is contaminated. and that's where you're getting contaminated material into mucous membranes, drips into the

eyes, makes the mistake, that's the moment. for every person you want in these suits, out treating people, you're going to want the second person to get that first person out of it. that buddy system is essential doctors say in creating the kind of ritualized process that's going to keep me from being infected. >> that's jake ward. dr. amish adalgia is back with us. doctor is that suit enough to protect health care workers? >> when used properly you don't need a full suit like that. you can use gowns gloves eye protection and mafngz. masks. you have to be careful putting on and taking off. it's as appropriate to put them on correctly and taking them off properly. >> workers who don't have personal protective equipment what can they do?

>> when you don't have personal protective equipment when you are taking care of ebola, this is a very contagious disease if you don't have the proper equipment when you are taking care of those patients. that's what we've seen in prior ebola outbreaks. when people don't have personal protective equipment ebola can run rampant. >> explain what you mean. >> i mean that ebola is scary but it is not in the air. you really only get it through exposure to blood and body fluids in intimate contact with those. it's not something you get casually. ebola's transmissibilty is not high. you have to be careful when you deal with it. >> here in new york officials are reportedly sending actors into emergency rooms to test the responsiveness of hospitals. is that a good idea? >> it is a good idea. hospitals have to be ready. we don't want to repeat what

happened to mr. duncan when he was sent home with an erroneous diagnosis. and now has died. you want to isolate them and get the proper equipment. >> some people are scared. should they be? >> there's no reason for general panic. this is still i said a not very contagious disease. you are not contaij use unless you have symptoms. astute clinicians are needed. we need to have travel history from those patients who may have traveled in the last 21 days. that is the linchpin in our system. the travel history. >> doctor thank you for your information we appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. president obama meets top military leaders. does i.s.i.l. have the upper hand? plus kim jong-un's disappearing from public view and what it

means.

>> i lived that character >> a hollywood icon forest whitaker >> my interest in acting was always to continue to explore how it connected to other people >> making a difference >> what is occurring in other places, is affecting so many different ways... >> inspiring others >> we have to change those things, in order to make our whole live better >> every saturday, join us for exclusive... revealing... and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time... talk to al jazeera, only on al jazeera america >> fighters with i.s.i.l. are in a back and forth battle for the syrian city of kobani.

taking kobani would mean that i.s.i.l. could control a big strej ostretch of the syrian tuh border. 21 people were killed in riots in neighboring turkey, kurds say nothing is being done to protect their families across the border. mike viqueria is here on the battle for kobani. mike. >> thanks john. officials here in washington warn that the situation in syrian -- syria could get worse before it gets better. president obama traveled across the potomac to the pentagon. >> it remains a difficult mission as i indicated from the start, this is not something that's going to be solved overnight. >> reporter: this as i.s.i.l. forces lay siege to the northern

syrian town of kobani. still a pentagon spokesman all but conceded that the town and others like it may well be lost. >> the air strikes alone are not going to do this. not going to fix this. not going to save the town of kobani. >> saving it white house says may not yet be possible. >> our strategy is rienltd on something not yet-d reliant on something not yet in place. >> that is still in the planning stage. opposition forces have not been vetted to begin training. they haven't been recruited. kobani lies inside syria. on the turkish border. this fight has been televised, raising its profile and spurring worldwide calls to do something to save it. u.s. officials are pressing turkey to do more but turkey has been slow to respond and renewed calls for a no-fly zone near its

border. secretary of state john kerry left the door open to that idea. the bashar al-assad regime has an affairs. >> this is not a new issue. this desire by turkey for a buffer zone or scaled buffer zone as they refer to it. it is now not on the table as a military option that we're considering. >> and john, the man president obama has tapped to be an emissary to the region to bring the disparate of this coalition together, for some very sensitive talks with top turkish officials. >> mike viqueria at the warehouse. mike thank you so much. now to north korea and its leader. he has not been seen in weeks. cik jong-un's absence is fueling

speculation. jonathan betz is here. jonathan. >> rumors are flying. no one seems to know what happened to north korea's secretive leader. not having been seen for more than a month, kim jong-un has missed key event after key event. not surprisingly his co-leaders have been seen. only saying he suffers from, quote, discomfort. after last being seen walking with a limp. >> i'm pretty sure it's not good idea to show him in bad physical condition. >> reporter: but many others

are not so sure. that visit to the south by three south korean leaders. the appearance of one of them caused the biggest stir. raised hopes the north might be willing to talk to the south. >> translator: i hope its will to improve the south and north korean relations. >> reporter: there are reports kim's younger sister may have taken over. a flurry of headlines the north's willingness to speak to the south, that north korea does indeed have little changes and even less is shared. now the big -- next big event is on friday. many will be watching if kim appears at the anniversary of the founding of the ruling workers party. he was there last year, the no-show will only fuel the speculation, john.

>> jonathan betz, thank you very much. gordon chang is the author of showdown, north korea takes on the world. good to have you. >> thank you. >> there are a lot of reasons to doubt that. not only has he been absent since september 3. there have been a lot of incidents, in or out since the 27th of last month. also there have been brutal purges. not only was his uncle killed, but purging of patrons network. the supreme leader has gt to lose influence. >> there's a lot of talk about his health. he was limping i think there was some report he had gout. does that play into it as well to fueling the rumors? >> he probably does have gout, the way he limples, it does look

that way. but that shouldn't explain what has been going on, for instance, his disappearance. his disappearance is really surprising because you would expenditure state media to play up his work when he is hospitalized or whatever. you would expect to see still photos on state media but we haven't seen that at all. >> do you think his leadership is under threat? >> i think he has reduced to being a figure head or on that way. there is not permanent necessarily but nonetheless this is clearly a downward trend for the last six or seven months. >> north korea visits south korea for talks. how does that play into that? >> many say you wouldn't have this delegation if things were uneasy in pyongyang, but the real situation right now is that kim jong-un was reduced in scope several months ago, so that the senior leaders now do feel comfortable enough to go outside

ever north korea down to the south. so i think that's the big story that the new leaders have consolidated their position. >> so the leader of the delegation is he a possible candidate for taking over his job? >> last month he was made vice chairman also he's now chief of the political bureau of the army also a very powerful position. >> and the people of north korea just follow the person that's in charge? >> yes, they don't have any say in this at all. and that's really interesting of course because you look at hong kong with all the people involved and you know even communivitcommunist societies ct not north korea at all. >> wouldn't kim jong-un be expected to be seen or not?

>> certainly. he's the first secretary of the party, head of it. but he didn't show up on tuesday for a commemoration of his father's 17th anniversary of heading the workers party and that's really been important. >> do you think he's been killed? >> kill he has been side lined. >> how do you sideline someone? >> you just prevent them from going out in public. >> you lock the door? >> you put them under lock and key. >> there's been violence, we've heard about sort of dangerous coups in the past, is that what we're talking about here? >> you know i.t. looks that way because the balance of awe -- it looks that way because the balance we can't explain these events in the absence of a leadership change so that's why i think that he has lost substantial influence over the last three or four months. >> should the world be concerned about this, especially sin it's nuclear power? >> yes, this is richard iii with

nukes. clearly when you have this type of situation, elements in the regime have got to take the hardest line possible. >> did american intelligence misjudge this regime? >> absolutely. since december 2011 kim jong-un had quickly consolidated his power. but you wouldn't have these purges if that was the case. the american cia has this completely 100% wrong. >> wouldn't be the first time. gordon, thank you. coming up next, training health care workers to help themselves and fed up in kentucky, who's spending big money to influence the mid term vote and what will that money buy?

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler, and coming up, the mysterious untraceable money that has a big impact on mid term elections. plus deportation. one migrant finds sanctuary in a church. and the supreme court could decide what could be an unpress tented case on worker overtime. >> there is a handful of

situations that could determine the balance of power in the mid term elections. we are visiting some of those battle ground states. elizabeth went tlonnielibby cas. >> more than $43 million has been spent and more than half of that are from groups outside the state. the race is a prime target for outside money because the republican on this race is the most powerful in washington and it's a chance to take him down. >> these are serious times. >> reporter: everywhere you go, in kentucky, political ads blast the air waves. on tv alone, kentuckians have sat through almost 500 hours of political commercials.

500 hours of mud-sling. self-promoting and skeet-shooting for just one race. the tight battle between republican senate leader mitch mcconnell and allison lundergran grimes. >> how much did that cost? >> this week it's 1.1 million. >> reporter: running all those ads requires massive sums of money. half of it comes from groups outside kentucky with no connection to the campaigns. in fact it's impossible to trace millions of those dollars. louisville political operative scott jennings decided to pull back the curtain a bit. laser focused on keeping senator mcconnell in office. >> the volume of advertising we've been able to do i think has really made a difference in altering the political and public affairs discourse over the last several months. we have all kinds of doan ors dm

all over the place. >> reporter: one has donors like a texas oil company and big firms from connecticut and new york. they are betting the pro-business mcconnell has more influence if he rises to moorkt leader. leader-d to majority leader. people in kentucky are literally in the dark about who is trying to influence their votes and why. >> it goes to show you just how important the race really is. we are fighting a race here in kentucky had a this has -- that has national implications. if mitch mcconnell wins he is most likely going to be are majority leader. >> and if grimes wins -- >> what if republicans risk social in the stock market? that's exactly what mitch mcconnell voted to do.

>> you listen to the commercials and it sort of confuses you. >> angela's vote could determine which party controls the senate, affecting policies for years to come. so outside groups have spent more than $24 million in kentucky. dark money alone has topped $10 million. and most of the dark money pouring in, 2% has been used against allison griesms. griesms. dgrimes. >> grimes embraced the platform and the election. >> this is about tying allison grimes to president obama. >> absolutely because she is tied to president obama. >> said that barrage put the grimes campaign on defense. >> a campaign team allowed their candidate to get defined by the other side, before she defined herself. >> reporter: but it's hard to out-shout millions of dollars in

ads. fighting back, outside groups supporting grimes pledging their own ditch mitch campaign. >> 30 is years of mitch mcconnell i don't think we can take anymore. >> so much money and noise that kentuckians aren't hearing much debate. >> people say they get much of their information from television. they're getting misinformation when it comes to politics. >> but outsiders are happy to put their money into kentucky if it gives them an edge. crunching the numbers about where the two campaigns major donors live. for mitch mcconnell top zip codes are all washington, d.c. same goes for grimes. her top two cities, washington and beverly hills, california. >> libby you have more coming up tomorrow. >> a comb town that's trying to

improve its economy on its own. not waiting for politicians to help. >> libby casey in washington, thank you very much la crumbholtz is executive director of a nonpartisan research group that tracks spending. sheila welcome. >> thank you. >> where does this money come from, for kentucky? >> that's a very good question. we can see where the money comes from going to the candidates' exaints an going to some of the -- campaigns and going to some of the outside, exp superpc accounts we have absolutely no idea who is bank rolling their campaign in this race. >> money will keep flowing right up until election day? >> oh, absolutely. so it will reach a fever pitch in the next days and weeks. already we have seen tens of millions, nearly $25 million in

this race, tens of millions, hundreds of mlz overall -- millions overall croot the country almost exclusive focused on the most competitive races. >> a lot of this money accommodation comes from washington, d.c. for so much money from out of state how do you think it affects the electoral process in kentucky and in other states? >> well, that's the $64,000 question. where is this money coming from? for those dark money groups. and whether it's going to a secretive, nonprofits, out of state, who are these interests and what is motivating them to bankroll the effort in this state, what are their interests in kentucky? perhaps they have little to do with kentucky and more to do with mcconnell's congressional committee assignments, his positions on the issues or

lundergrin-dpriems issues she staked out. the idea is who are these people and when do they want with their state race? >> much of this money goms comes because of a state before the supreme court that was decided before the supreme court on citizens united. how would this race be different if the supreme court had ruled differently? interwell, we would. >> well, we would still see outside spending. the parties are spending on independent expenditures for and against the states, and super-pacs, there would be spending by nonprofits, based on previous court decisions. however they would not be spending dark money, secretive funds for and against the candidates, expressly for and

against the candidates, without the citizens united ruling. and the dark money means that we do not know what is motivating these donors to spend the money. and so we are kept in the dark. and we are seeing money spent by groups which have anadyne, sounding, positive sounding names. that makes people lean in and listen more to those groups. >> that's what i was going to ask you, a lot of sometimes we hear, this spot was paid for such and such a group. that doesn't necessarily tell us anything about who is spending the money does it? >> it doesn't. unfortunately if it is organizations with which people are familiar, they can make up their minds about whether it's a credible organization, whether they agree with the message and the messenger, but if it's an organization with which they're not familiar they're more likely give them perhaps credibility

they would not be due if they are not familiar with who was bankrolling their effort and who they stand for. >> so the suggestion is someone outside the state may decide who is going to be elected inside the state. do you agree with that? >> absolutely, that is what is happening. >> even though those in kentucky are the ones who vote? >> the thing is, if they're using information from plit ads in other -- political ads, if they are taking those digesting those messages, they may be gaining inaccurate, misleading and deceptive information, to make up their minds about this election. >> all right, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> and now to another hot button political issue. immigration. activists are now trying to resurrect the sanctuary movement. in the 1980s, sanctuary helped protect more than 1400

undocumented immigrants from deport aration. jennifer london has a story from tucson, arizona. ♪ ♪ >> are. >> reporter: francisco perez cordova is seeking salvation. but unlike the small group of parishioners, he can't leave the church at the end of the service. >> how long are you prepared to stay in this church? >> i have no idea how long it's going to be. i have no other options. >> reporter: no other options because francisco is facing deportation back to mexico. while his lawyer tries to halt the proceedings, francisco takes sanctuary in the church. >> why shouldn't you be deported? >> it's very long story. but first -- >> reporter: give me a reason

why you think you should be able to stay in the united states. >> the reason is my kids my family. i have five kids, they have u.s. citizens. i have no record criminal. >> reporter: since late september he has been living here. hiding in plain sight where immigration authorities are unlikely to take action. the 2011 policy document known as the morton memo issued by then ice director john morton stated that deportation activities would not be carried out at sensitive locations. francisco can stay at his church for as long as it takes. >> why is the church basically giving him a hiding place? >> first of all, because families should stay together. our policies in the united states should never be to divide families. >> still sanctuary isn't without

sacrifice. attempts to keep the family together have temporarily torn them apart. francisco's wife and his five children live in this trailer. it is only about ten miles away from the church where he's taken sanctuary. it's close but he can't come visit. if francisco were caught he would immediately be deported without chance to say good-bye. confined to the church. francisco's family must come to him. >> my children need their father in the home. >> south side presbyterian church in tucson, pioneered the sanctuary movement back in the 1980s. offering a safe haven for migrants is a good ethnic do, especially now. >> people like francisco have been waiting for the president to do something. he promised he would do something, he promised he would. he said i'm sorry i cabinet act

now. >> earlier this year, daniel ruiz also living in tucson was issued a one year stay, giving home to francisco and others that their prayers will be answered too. >> i hope tomorrow when they come and they say hey, everything is okay, everything is over, but i don't know how long it's going to be. >> jennifer london, al jazeera, tucson, arizona. >> the immigration crisis and its impact on the mid term election is a subject of our program, 8:30 and 11:30 eastern time. more now on ebola crisis. president obama called it a national security priority. but he says the battle begins in west africa. doctors and nurses trained here will soon be on the front lines. robert ray visited a clinic in

alabama. >> reporter: this may look like a clinic in west africa. doctors and health care workers in full suits but it is not. the hardest training is occurring right here. >> spray the outside and one option would be to tiic like holding both ends and then wrapping it around. >> we do realize cdc realizes there's a critical need for health care workers to go to west africa and to take care of patients in ebola treatment units. >> reporter: and that's why at this department of homeland security campus they are training health care workers to provide safe care for patients and themselves in the hot zones. one of them is dr. rosita marshall who lives in liberia's capital city.

>> it is very bad. monrovia is a very congested city and we have about 1.5 million people. if someone gets infected it is very easy to spread it. >> people literally dying on the streets as we see in some of the pictures or is that exaggerated? >> i think yes, there are some. we have exaggerated a little bit here. for instance a patient may not get to the hospital or a clinic until, if a transport brings him to the hospital he's dead before he gets inside. >> dr. marshal wants to get more training for herself before returning home next month and safety is a universal concern among health care workers. >> i think everyone like myself has low level anxiety. >> dr. marshall says she hopes this is a wake up call and after

the condition is contained, an epidemic of this level never happens again. >> that's robert ray reporting. time to head to washington, d.c. joie chen standing by. joie. >> good evening, john. tonight we'll look at what's at stake in iowa's political dreams. two running hard for an open seat, one that's been lost for four decades. may give new meaning to the old political statement, as iowa goes, so goes the nation. as iowa goes, so does the senate. >> it is a historic dwightstate, people have interest in this state because they can't predict what's going to happen. >> will purple fade to red or

blue? michael okwu has the story, america votes 2014. that's coming at the top of the hour. we hope to see you then. >> thank you joie. at&t says it will pay a $105 million fine for overcharging its twef telephone customers. cramming, they charge for third party companies for information they didn't ask for. screened for stolen goods before leaving work. but amazon's workers don't get paid for extra time it takes. today the supreme court heard arguments over whether that's legal. lisa stark has more. >> employees run from one end to the other, grabbing items to fill online orders. when the shift is done they are off the clock.

but before they leave, amazon puts them through airport type screening to make sure they didn't steal anything. an employee sued, claiming it took a good 25 minutes to get through the security logjam at the end of a long shift. time they were not paid for. his attorney told the justices this is not a trivial amount of time and workers should be compensated. >> whatever the employer tells you to do, if it's not illegal they should be paying you for it. that's our pais basic position. >> on the other side, john clement, former u.s. attorney general. clement argued security screening is just part of exiting the workplace. the modern equivalent of waiting to punch in and out of a time clock which the court has previously determined is not payable time. the key question before the court is, is this security screening integral to the job

that the workers were hired to do? if so, then they should be paid for it. if not then amazon could continue the screening without adding the time to the workers' paychecks. judge elena kagan said, what's really important to amazon is that it knows where every toothbrush in the warehouse is, that's integral to what amazon said. but judgan judg judge antonin sa disagreed. am don prompted changes there, hired additional screeners to speed up the process. >> we're down to five minutes and five minutes is pretty much de minimus. >> reporter: the question is if they would get through faster you wouldn't have a case, is that what you're saying? >> absolutely. we're trying to get them home at

the end of the day not hang around for 30 minutes while a supervisor checks their bags. >> louisiana, al jazeera, washington. >> the power of music. how one new york city chorus is changing the lives of hundreds of children. childre

>> this is the strongest typhoon we have seen since last year's hynan hit the philippines. if track is now taking it over here towards the is this right

now is the remnant of simon coming through arizona. we do expect to see more flooding overnight as well as into parts of new mexico. drive safely in these areas, especially at night. that's a look at the weather, the news is next.

had it' >> the young people's chorus of new york city is a renown children's choir. it performance around the world for children and their families it's much more than the music. randall pinkston has that story. [♪ singing ]

>> reporter: 18-year-old stefan douglas allen is a member of the young people's chorus of new york city. he is not sure how but his mother was called in to audition. he was in third grade. >> i actually did a good job and i've been here ever since. ♪ the lion sleeps tonight >> stefan soon learned that yp c offered more than music. >> at one time i was back sliding and ypc motivated me to do better in school. >> reporter: francisco nunez created this in 1968. >> i wanted to create this program from all over new york city. >> from just nine children 26 years ago, the program now works

with 1400 throughout the city. the chorus stefan is in performance all over the world. >> i've visited japan, china, hong kong, gratz, salisbury. >> the music is just the means for making a great person. starts to hold on, i count! >> stefan grew up in a high crime neighborhood. >> how do you say the choir made a difference in his life? >> first of all, discipline. and apart from that it keeps him from the street. >> stefan's mom said it's her rules. >> if you do anything to break the law, i'm coming. ♪ >> it's easy to quit and that's what people want to you do. they want you to give up.

>> reporter: but stefan didn't quit, thanks to his mom's determination and ypc. >> they paid for him to go. they send the chaperone with him, they took care of everything. >> reporter: stefan was accepted to every college he applied to, ithaca college offered the most financial support. >> if you work hard and put hard work into it, it can happen and it has happened. >> whether i was singing or not, i always dreamed about doing something good and being remembered for it. ♪ close your eyes ♪ make a wish >> at the fastefan douglas alle. safely passing the age of eighteen.

>> tonight's freeze frame coming from indonesia. young men in bali, during a sacred hindu battle ritual meant to rid the body of negative forces. that's our news for this hour. i'm john siegenthaler. "america tonight's" coming up next. i will see you back here 11:00 eastern 8:00 pacific time.

>> on "america tonight," death in texas. the first patient diagnosed on u.s. soil becomes the first to die of ebola here as well. "america tonight's" adam may with the victim's community in dallas and their questions about what could and should have been done to save him. also tonight: safe sports. a stunning series of high school player deaths raises new alarm for parents and coaches. >> my kids play, one is