us your ideas on twitter or facebook @ray suarez news. from washington, i'm ray suarez. >> on "america tonight," inside an isolated world. he escaped and in an "america tonight" exclusive, tells correspondent adam may it is a world ever fill. >> the community is a cult. they don't have the freedom. all the people that have the freedom there are the ones that are supposedly the people that he likes, or -- >> you say it's a cult? >> yes. >> and it's run by his own grandfather. "america tonight's" adam may with an exclusive investigation into the lives of this community of rogue

amish. the violent acts that brought their clan into public view, put their leader behind bars and led his wife to come to his defense. >> people say he has power over us to keep us here. >> does he? >> no. anybody that lives here as of now can leave on their own free will. >> also tonight: trapped between what experts say and what politics demands. a plastic prison raises questions about the rights of public health workers when they've been in the ebola hot zone. and choosing between life and death. a young woman's ride to choose her right to die. and a man's right to choose, his fight to live and his message to her. >> saying i'm not dead yet. i'm interested in seeing how far i can push this. how far -- how much i can live. i say brittany, we're all in this together.

>> and good evening, thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. 'til in the rolling hills of -- in the rolling hills of pennsylvania and ohio, there is a culture that fascinates all of us, the amish, phone for their gentle style and peaceful ways, their isolation was blown open by attacks of one group of amish against another, one so different than other that the other amish renounced them and sent their leader to prison. now could lead the amish from the shadows tall way to the u.s. supreme court. adam may brings us an exclusive

investigation into this exclusive community of rogue amish. >> reporter: until just a few months ago, 23-year-old dan shrock had never driven a car, never driven more than afew miles from home and never spoke to anyone outside his family. a group controlled by his grandfather, sam mullet. >> sam mullet's group, nobody has the freedom except people he likes, or -- >> you say it's a cult? >> yes. >> shrock was a group of amish living on 800 acres of ohio, isolated in the coal country. last year, he was involved in a serious buggy accident that landed him in a hospital in

pittsburgh, which led him to a world outside his family that he never imagined. >> reporter: how did you find the strength to leave? >> because i was in hospital for three or four months. had time to think over it. in the meantime they were using my brothers and cousins. >> they were abusing them? >> they didn't actually have hands on them or whatever, but they were cutting them off, didn't allow them to be with them. they said they had had to stay home. >> shrock defected from his amish family and he told "america tonight" his grandfather, sam mullet, is dangerous even though he is locked up in a federal prison. >> he rules the community from the jail. >> what will happen if sam mullet gets out of jail? will it put people in danger? >> yes, i think it will too because he has powers over people's minds, get them to do things he wants them to do and believe in him. they all say that they don't and

that it isn't true. but i've been there, my cousins have been there and we know it and is true. >> it is the largest trial -- >> samuel mullet sr -- >> for cutting the beards and hair of other amish. >> sam mullet and others were thrust into the federal headlines, after breaking into their homes, cutting off their beards which the amish hold sacred. mullet was retaliating against his critics, other members of the amish, including bishops who said he was too strict, twisting their religious beliefs. mullet and others were charged with a hate crime. >> cutting off beards was a very clever tactics because the ber bergholts amish knew the easiest

way to shame an amish man was cutting off the beard. religion was a motivating factor. >> a key witness in a federal trial, that sent mullet and 15 other accomplices to prison in 2013. mullet received the harshest sentence, 15 years behind bars. >> in my judgment the attacks were driven by they were kind of reprisals. executing revenge and retaliation. >> unheard of in amish culture wasn't it? >> absolutely unheard of in 320 years of amish history, it's unprecedented. >> the beard-cutting stunned the entire amish population. ben real agreed to a rare on camera interview. >> the beard is an important symbol of humility.

it is certainly a symbol of identity. if i would have to appear without my beard all of a sudden due ot to a violent act it would be very difficult. >> amish are reclusive, a peace loving community. but in these circles sam mullet is despised, feared an embarrassment. >> the main reason in burke burkeholts, there was no -- sam was not the way things worked in our community. >> he was the founder of the settlement, he was the oldest man in the settlement, he was minister and then bishop, he is grandfather, almost everyone department one household now is related directly to sam in some way or another. you have an autocratic leader, equates

himself with elijah in the old testament. >> he thinks he's a prophet? >> he's a prophet, god speaks directly to him. all of this is utterly non-amish. >> do you think he belongs -- >> he definitely belongs in jail, no doubt about that. simply because he is a threat to other people. i just find it incredible that about the only way to catch him was with hate crime laws. you know i mean, it surely seems to me that you would be able to charge him with some other crime with the predatory things that he has done. but i guess that's -- you know if the victims don't want to testify i guess the prosecutor's hands are very much limited. >> you kind of described him as renegade. >> i would describe him as renegade and his followers and communities as renegade amish. they were at one time amish but they dramatically veered off of

the amish path. >> reporter: that path starts here. when we first arrived in bergholtz it looked like any other typical amish community. women taking care of children, men and teenaged boys working the land. they were weary, silent. until an older woman, emerged, that mulle mull -- martha mullet. sam mullet's wife. she did not want her full face shown on camera. but she says she wanted to speak, the allegations of a cult are no more than gossip. and her family is unfairly targeted by law enforcement and

fellow amish because they're difficult and conservative. >> it's a nightmare and unexplainable. but that's the part that nobody wants to talk about, what happened to us. >> how would you describe sam? >> he is a very gentle and loving man, yes, he can get stern like anybody else, but people say he has power, power over us to keep us here. >> does he? >> no. anybody that lives here as of now can leave on their own free will. >> they have said that your husband believes he's a prophet that he talks directly to god.is that true? >> my husband, i'm not sure how to word it, that anybody would even understand. i have heard, and seen, things myself that i know that he is a man of god. >> mullet admits her group engages in practices that are unusual for mainstream amish. including the use of animal pens

to punish improper behavior. or what you might call extreme soul-searching. >> reporter: do people put themselves in these animal pens? >> yes, i was one of them. i wasn't always the best woman, i wasn't always the best wife. i found it would help me. >> how much time did you spend there? >> 18 days. i had time to pray, talk to dog, wrote letters. it wasn't that bad.it wasn't that bad. and i went on my own will. as far as i know everybody else that was put in an animal pen went of their own will. >> any children? >> no, these were all adults. >> martha mullet has 110 grandchildren. dan shrock can is only one of a handful to flee. he says his grandmother is lying, that he and his siblings and cousins were forced to spend

long nights in animal pens as teenagers to repent. >> they do things to you like chicken coop, paddling, to help you, that it helps you get better. >> were you put into an animal pen? >> yes. >> for how long? >> about seven days. >> did you have a choice? >> not really. i was in against my will. and they made you write down your sins, to sam mullet then you were forgiven and you could start over a new life. why would everyone have to write down their sins to him and he would solve it and fix it. he's just one man, he's not god. >> does sam mullet act like a god? >> yes, still does. >> when we return, claims that the amish bishop ministered with his flock with sex and the possibility that he might get out of prison. >> and later in the program late developments in the ebola outbreak.

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directly to the grandson of the patriarch of the clan and an exclusive interview with the bishop's wife. in his investigation our correspondent adam may found allegation he of fm abuse and sexual misconduct and fears if mullet is freed. adam may continues his exclusive investigation. >> here is where sam mullet ruled the roost, mullet's twisted take on the amish religion played out in his bedroom. >> the government made allegations that bishop mullet was living with other women in the community. those were some of the -- >> poly annaish relationships? >> well there were some -- one woman testified at the trial of how bishop mullet wanted to give her marital counseling related

to sexual issues. but other women haven't been free or coming forward to testify. so we don't know very much about the actual nature of the misconduct. we do know, when the fbi arrived in bergholtz the day before thanksgiving, november 2011 that they came early in the mor morng it was still dark, bishop mullet was still in his bedroom and a young woman who was married to one of his nephews came out of the bedroom with him early that morning. >> dan shrock spoke to "america tonight" that night. >> is sam mullet sexually abusing women in bergholtz,. >> yes, he sexually abuses women, and had a child with with one of them. >> mar martha mum it, sam

mullet's wife said such actions were not abuse. she told us off camera the encounters were part of her husband's spiritual outreach. >> martha mullet told me this wasn't sexual abuse, it was sam mullet's way of providing marital counseling, have you heard about that? >> that is how he used to say, in a way, you could have looked at it if he hadn't been sleeping with one of them, having a child with one of them, so i don't really call that counseling. >> why did your uncles allow this to happen to their wives? >> because they wanted to stay there. there again all i know to say he had too much power over people's minds. they didn't exactly agree with everyone. especially the guy that got his wife that had a child with him. he got really mad and upset but still they don't want to leave because they don't agree with

the other amish either. >> sam mullet though was sleeping with his son's wives. >> yes, i know. >> reporter: you look back at that now, what do you think about the whole thing? >> i it this it' think it's bullcrap. >> the blurring of lines with sexuality and spirituality, sam mullet was sentenced to 15 years in prison but that could soon change. thanks to an appeal. >> when is the last time you talked to your husband? >> i talked to him last week. >> how is he doing? >> he's holding up fairly well. he had to cry when he heard the case was overturned. he was overwhelmed. >> what does he hope? >> he hopes to come home. of course. he's been gone almost three years. >> reporter: in his appeal mullet argues the attack

couldn't be a religious hate crime because it was against members of the same religion. mullet's lawyer says it was in fact an internal feud stemming from long standing family disputes. in august an appeals court overturned the conviction ruling that the hate crimes charge may have been misapplied and a judge did not properly instruct the jury. the case against mullet and his followers has now been sent back to a lower court where a prosecutor may decide to retry it. the case should land in the u.s. supreme court. an expensive case the mullets are likely to take on because of an unexpected source of cash. >> we looked two years for a property that we could buy. and we had to go in debt to buy it. and just before the men got convicted, just before all the

bad stuff happened, we didn't know what we were going to do for money. i mean, we always had a problem with enough money. but then, a miracle happened. that miracle came straight from god. because of a gas and oil lease. >> fracking? >> yes. >> you guys made money on fracking? >> yes, we leased our land for gas and oil and we got enough money that we saved the farm. if god wouldn't have sent that money we would have lost everything. >> and what if it goes to the supreme court? >> i will hope for another miracle. bergholtz is going to have some more miracles. i don't know for sure how or when but i think we're going to have some more miracles because of the money that god gave us to save this farm. >> saving the farm thanks to fracking which means keeping the mullet clan

mostly in tact, despite a runway like -- run away like dan shrock. dan himself was caught up in the attack. >> were you there, were you in the room? >> i thought it was right at the moment i thought it was the way to go because that's what thinking. >> did you participate? >> um -- yes. i didn't do any cutting. but i held his arm. >> do you regret that now? >> yes. i think it was the wrong thing to do. not only because he was my grandparent, but -- but like if else wasn't too good and he died

a couple months later, i think . >> the attack still haunts him and feels his hope to eventually rescue his seven siblings still living under sam mullet's rule. >> do those children need to leave? are they in any danger? >> they would definitely be bernt if they could leave. -- better if they could leave. if not leave, have contact with other amish settlements. they are going to be brain washed if something don't -- at the moment it's not good. >> shrock is now getting his ged, learning about things that he didn't know existed. he recently went on his first date, ate at his first restaurant. he is hoping some day to see the atlantic ocean. shrock now calls the nickname, what he used to call outsiders.

>> are you still amish? >> i'm english definitely not amish. >> what has been the best part >> freedom. >> do you think your life is on a better path? >> yes, definitely. i have something to look forward to and something to plan ahead of, and i still worry a lot about my family. but we can only do what we can. >> shrock believes the adults in bergholtz has to start thinking of themselves. it's the young children he says that he worries about the most. >> "america tonight's" adam may with us. adam this is such a compelling and in some ways disturbing story for this young man and for others as well. i'm wondering first, it is also difficult to understand what a hate crime is in this context. is it a religious hate crime or is it a family feud? >> right, and that's really the big question. this case is putting the 2009 federal hate crimes law under

the microscope. the issue for judges is: is this a rate crime when you're talking about a crime that is committed against members of the same religion. there are also other observers that are raising the question about federalism in this case. why is the federal government even involved with this to begin with? the implications could be huge if it does go all the way to the top. >> talk about what this was like for you personally. these were people that don't like to have their picture taken, much less talk to outsiders. how were you able to get so much information from them? >> it was rather tough. joie when you go to a place like this and you see all these children and you know the accusations being made at the same time, we're talking about 100 or so children that are currently living in this environment allegedly under the rule of sam mullet. they are not allowed to speak to outsiders. we attempted to make small talk. they were friendly i'll say that

but they didn't engage in conversations because that's what they were told by their grandfather who believes he's god. what is going to happen to these environment. it is not just the english, they can't talk to other amish. >> for dan, this is such a difficult time, driving a car seems so remarkable, even. >> yes, absolutely but dan is doing fantastic. he has found a lot of strength after he was involved in that accident and his eyes were just opened up to what he saw out there in the outside world. he's working a job right now, he's doing construction, he's trying to get a ged and living with a couple of others and trying to get his cousins something could be done so they eventually. >> "america tonight's" adam may,

thank you for this fascinating story. ahead in our next segment who should be kept in quarantine? a nurse's fight to get out, raises questions about the rights of health care workers who treat ebola patients. and in the days before what would otherwise be a lackluster mid term election, the fever over ebola >> america votes 2014 midterms it's all come down to this... >> you are going to determine whether i'm going to be the next senator from iowa >> the candidates last chance to convince voters they're the one... they will stop at nothing to get your vote >> david young, how are you? >> run for congress >> it's important to be out here talking to voters >> director aj schnack's unprecedented series concludes >> it's certainly something that doesn't exist in politics on television >> america votes 2014 midterms only on al jazeera america

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>> we're here in the vortex >> only on al jazeera america >> now a snapshot of stories making headlines on "america tonight." a watershed moment as allied combat operations in afghanistan are over, u.s. military forces pulled out, military bases to afghan control, about 250 anc marines and soldiers were killed. sentencing of oscar pistorius, given a five year term after convicted of the equivalent of manslaughter. under his current sentence pistons would b pistorius would be eligible for

parole in ten months . after the doomed ferry boat sank in south south korea . captain and crew were sentenced. craig spencer infected with ebola, supposed to be in serious but stable condition now. still there remain serious questions about how other health care workers operating in the hot zone should be treated when they return home. "america tonight's" sheila macvicar with more. >> reporter: the question on who should be quarantined and how their movements should be

followed. kaci hickox threatened to sue calling her treatment inhumane. and as pressure increased on new jersey governor chris christie, she was released. >> i know she didn't want to be there. no one wants to be, i understand that but i have a bigger responsibility to people in the public. >> the white house warned against alienating the people, doctors and nurses who are needed to fight the virus in west africa. >> we have to be sure that whatever policies are put in place do not prove as a disincentive to doctors and nurses in this country volunteering to travel to west africa to treat ebola patients. >> health care officials have repeatedly said that defeating the disease in west africa is key

to its spreading. spelling out four risk categories and recommending active monitoring for those returning from the are region who could be classified as some risk including most health care workers returning from west africa. these individuals must take their temperatures twice daily, immediately tell officials if they have a fever or other symptoms and actively monitor for 21 days after the last possible exposure. there is one group that will be placed in mandatory three -week quarantine. u.s. service members deployed to west africa, building facilities for treatment there. they will wait on a u.s. base for the all-clear. and the public seems to agree that caution is a better course. according to a recent poll 67% of americans support restricting entry to the u.s. by who have been to countries affected by ebola. one in four americans fear travel because of the virus.

and state representatives are listening. florida, illinois, new jersey and new york, now have mandatory quarantine orders for health care workers returning from west africa despite federal objections. but now they specify that anyone now showing symptoms can self-quarantine at home. >> the health care worker can come to their house twice a day, they can have their family whoever is normally there. it's not that they're stopping their life, they have full life. but if they become symptomatic you will have limited the number of people they will have been in contact with. >> reporter: returning health care workers will also have to report their activities and stay off of public transport. sheila macvicar, al jazeera. >> dr. gavin skinner, who helped nigeria's health care workers in their fight, let's talk about

this situation. you've heard about the concerns when this nurse was kept in. she's now been allowed to go. you know a lot of people will look at that and say look, it's inconvenient, it's uncomfortable maybe unpleasant maybe a little humiliating and embarrassing but really in the larger public health question wouldn't it just be better to keep these folks isolated? what's the problem with that? >> i think people need to understand that we've been years. many, many outbreaks and amongst the health professionals we practice what's called control movement and set up p to p networks. you and i talk with each other every day. how are you feeling? how am i feeling? we take our temperature throughout the day. we talk and communicate, within our professional network we're always communicating and looking out for each other. there's that buddy system even when we're not in west africa. >> we have seen the people infected in dallas were both health care professionals.

this doctor who has just returned and now in treatment in new york he certainly understood what the risks were. how can we look at this as being a thing awe can just rely on the cdc which after all the guidelines which have been of concern to you before you were down there as well, how can we be sure that it wouldn't just be safer to keep these folks isolated? >> again it's a really good question but we've got to look at where are those lessons learned from dallas? we haven't heard about them. i've got teams in west africa right now that i'm talking to on a daily basis. >> right now? >> right now. >> and people want to go. >> oh yes, yes, we do. we train for and train intensively for. it's not pussing on the personal suits. it is the management as well. >> it's not look, you won't want to go if you are going to be

quarantined when you come back? >> they're like, can we come back for thanksgiving. you told us we're coming for three weeks, i'm managing the team, team leader they want to come back, they're not clear what they're coming back to. and again when you work with ebola patient it's really stressful physically, mentally, spiritually, it's really intense. the last thing you want to worry about is when my time is up, can i see my family? >> you have to understand when you look at civilians lay people like me we would look at that and say gee, dr. mcgreg gor or skinner, aren't you afraid these folks won't want to volunteer anymore? >> again it's the p top network. when i come back i don't go to the red skins game here in d.c.,

i stay away from the metro, i do go to work and stay away from my children. if i had body aches and fever i would get on the phone and i would call for help. i would call the emergency medical services and say look i've recently come back from west africa, i've had contact with ebola patients, i don't feel well, i don't want to move. they would come and pick me up. everyone who arrives at our airports, in that between days if you get sick stay where you are, call us and we'll come pick you up. every health care worker knows that, it's been in the cdc guidelines for months and months, hasn't been well communicated. >> dr. gavin mcarthur skinner, he's worked with the cdc as well and with infectious disease outbreaks, works at penn state university. appreciate your being here. we're reminded that all politics is in fact local and that politicians will always zero in

and latch on to the hot issue of the day as america votes, 2014. >> let's start with you governor scott and an issue that's on the mind of every governor in the country, and millions of americans, ebola. >> ebola has become a political issue, a hot topic in his debate debate, challenger charlie crist. >> the cdc, we heard them they said they were behind and on this issue they're not giving us enough information. >> nationwide, republicans have picked up the administration failure line. and as a national security issue it seems to have had some impact. likely the gop gave americans better grades. ebola is one of those events. while health care guidelines have comb at the federal level at the cdc, states control their

own quarantine rules, putting groafntion straight in the -- governors squarely in the spotlight and chris christ's decision to quarantine a health care nurse returning from west africa. >> my position is to protect the people of the state of new jersey and that's exactly what i do. >> michael schor joins us. >> joie, they try oscare the electorate into not voting for the other person. the democrats accused the republicans of using, i don't know if you remember that but we have seen the daisy ad, the michael dukakis ad in 1988. while the republicans have been

coming at them and saying listen, this is your president and your party, you've mismanaged this, democrats have said, hey you know what, this brings to light the fact that you've cut budgets, you've cut the cdc, you've cut research, everything this has to deal with but the point of the matter is, everybody kind of knows that a senator running for election or reelection can't do very much about ebola. >> okay, it's hard to say that either side is actually against or for ebola, right? >> of course. it's a nation we're all behind it. it's a question of where the blame goes. do you blame the president for mismanaging do you blame the republicans for cutting all this or as republicans have tried to do, do you use it to bring in immigration? >> have you seen it work in any of the races yet? >> yes, i think i've seen it work a little bit in iowa. bruce braley was able to go to washington and be a senator for a while. he was able

to defuse joanie tactic. if you think ebola helped, it may have helped there. this was the sort of mini-october surprise of the election, as you said joie, everybody is on the same page, nobody likes it, nobody wants to blame anybody about ebola. >> tomorrow when we continue our political coverage as well, i think it's going to be a bigger question about governors, al jazeera political contributor michael schor, thanks very much. one race is grabbing national attention, republican rick scott against democrat charlie crist. >> we won't let charlie c rist

swindle us again. >> nearly $100 million spent on tv ads by the arrivals an rivals and still too close to call. >> "america hoye. >> what are the real issues and what are the fake issues here? >> the real issues haven't come to the surface. the truth is if you watch the campaign ads you don't know what the real stuff is. i don't know what they're arguing about. >> sarah's full report will be part of our special preview the mid term elections tomorrow night. we are going to examine the issues driving the people to the polls, the issues, where the plirns are headed. our special two hour coverage begins tomorrow. in our next segment her very public decision and determination to see other terminally ill patients have their final wish.

the right to choose how they die. >> i don't wake up every day and look at it. it's in a safe spot and i know that it's there when i need it. >> now a response from a man we introduced you here on "america tonight": faced with the same devastating diagnosis, what he chose and what he wants her to know about the fight to live.

>> brittany maynard doesn't have much time left. she recently made a profoundly difficult and very public

decision to end her own life. maynard has glio blastoma, she would rather die with dignity than live with disease. she recently moved to oregon so she could die with dignity. she went public with her choice in an online video. >> after getting married is when i first experienced the headaches and they were quite severe. i didn't understand them, i had never had anything like that, in my life. right after getting married, my husband and i were actively trying for a baby which was heartbreaking. after i was diagnosed we went to the wine country for kind of a new year's eve celebration and by the following day day i was

diagnosed with terminal cancer and told i was terminally ill. i don't look every day and look at it. it's in a safe spot and i know it's there when i need it. i plan to be surrounded by my immediate family which is my husband and my mother and my stepfather and my best friend who is also a physician. and probably not much more people. and i will die upstairs in my bedroom that i share with my husband. with my mother and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully with some music that i like in the background. i can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that i don't have to die the way that it's been described to me that my brain tourism tumor would take me on its own. before i pass i would hope to make it to the grand canyon because i've never been and that's all i can do is set

little goals like that. all those things make every day worthwhile. >> she was able to fulfill that bucket list wish. she made it to the grand canyon with her family just a few days ago. in a statement after that trep she said it was breathtakingly biefl but she added that she continues to suffer. after the trip maynard had her are worst seizure so far. we first met this ohio native last year, he has the same issue she has, he went through surgery but the tumor came back. he decided to enjoy the time he has left. when he heard about brittany, joe nyer decided to reach

out. >> my name is joe nyer, i had to face a terminal diagnosis so i could relate to what brittany maynard was faig facing. i felt connected to her process, to her condition to establish what she was going through. i was deeply moved by reading her article, i wante wanted to h out to her in any way i could. i don't have any interest in disrespecting her choice but i want to open up the possibility of how to live with a terminal condition. >> pretty much ready. >> there's a way to live with quality with a terminal diagnosis so i wanted to share that not just with brittany but with anybody who has a terminal condition. i'm now almost two years out from that diagnosis and defying all expectations. i'm not bedridden, not incoherent, i'm actually seeing improvements in all areas of my functioning.

this is not a miracle cure, i'm still a human being dealing with glio blastoma. all the charts, all the numbers, they say this is a condition almost no one makes it with glio, and that's really hard not to get locked into in thinking about it. i had to put the charts completely away myself and stop looking at them. just started researching more and more and learning more and more about the conditions, asking more questions, opening up to different possibilities and found out there were a lot of different approaches. i'm already way past their time lines now. i was able to stay in my own space, stay attentive to what i needed today, i think most important thing is being attentive to what is needed today. if we really open ourselves to possibility, possibility opens to us. that's my experience. on a daily level, frankly.

so i want her to open herself to possibilities that are beyond just the right to die with dignity. great story, very important story but there are possibilities to live and to live well with a terminal condition. my routines are about being attentive to this day and what i need to do to stay alive is a lot of it. because that seems to change from day to day, you know. >> trying to work that swelling up the leg so it doesn't settle in the feet like it likes to do. >> some days i have more swelling in my ankle, sometimes i don't, it's a series of adjustments. my diet is somewhat structured, the medications i take, all of these things are kind of part of each day. >> i have a pro-buy biotic. i have a body balancer. >> something the way the system funnels you in a certain way is towards fear, towards this is how it's going to be.

you have this limited window of time, go on vacation, do all these things, that was fine but that's not my interest. hey come and eat. >> my interest was, i'm not dead yet. i'm interested in seeing how far i can push this. how much i can live. i'd say brittany, you know, we're all on this together. glio is still glio. it's not gone from me, it's part of my everyday. i could die tomorrow. that's part of the fact of glioblastoma, one of the most dangerous cancers there is. it's great to be living tomorrow. there's great part of this conversation given by brittany but i'd like to do it, living with dignity, when given a terminal diagnosis. >> his long term plan, he plans to write a book. ahead in our final segment, planting the seeds for the

future. a surprise from senegal at an academy turning hoop dreams into reality. >> the most important money stories of the day might affect your savings, your job or your retirement. whether its bail-outs or bond rates this stuff get complicated. but don't worry. i'm here to take the fear out of finance. every night on my show i break down confusing financial speak and make it real.

>> finally from us this hours, the nba tips off its new season tomorrow and suiting up is certainly a dream not only for kids here in the united states but for children around the world it turns out. al jazeera's nick hack shows us how one academy in senegal is trying to turn hoop dreams into reality. >> reporter: focused and balanced, training at the nba

academy in senegal since he was 13. >> sanger is like a great kid. we're going to dream big. that's what he tell him, have big dreams and the biggest dream there is is nba. and that's why i make them do it, you can play, you just put the work you know and believe in yourself and you might get there. >> 6'8" or just over two meters tall and still growing. sanger stands out. the academy taught him to rely less on his height and more on his skills. >> translator: i wasn't much of a team player before, i defended, scored hoops but i want playing as a team player. this is what senegal taught me to do. >> now vice president of the nba, the center looks for talent male and female across the africa continent, most of the players here will not make it to

the nba, many though will play college basketball. talent alone is not enough though. it's skills that are acquired outside of the court that guarantee admission to universities in the united states. sangeret, his mother can't afford to send him to university but places high hopes on her son. >> translator: basketball means everything to us. if he makes it, it's not just a better life for him, it's a better life for all of us. >> reporter: the academy offers courses to bring their english level to american university standards. the coaches decide which college they can apply to. feed academy is a charity, it doesn't make money off the players. the aim is to get more african athletes to play professionally and to make sure those admitted to the academy would receive full scholarships.

sangeret, is eager to share his skills with around the world. >> four former students have gone on to play in the nba. that's it for us on "america tonight." remember if you would like to read more, lock on to aljazeera.com/americatonight. join the conversation on twitter or on our facebook page, join us, we'll have more of "america tonight," tomorrow. >> an american votes 2014 special report kansas >> in our state, government is broken >> a republican governor has made drastic changes >> the highlight of this is... eventually doing away with income taxes... >> the democratic challenger says, these policies aren't working >> we are trailing the states in our region >> can governor brownback

win again? >> i think you spend your money better than the government spends it.. >> america votes 2014 battle for kansas only on al jazeera america ebola in america, new guidelines for monitoring health-care workers returning from west africa, and quarantines are not part of the plan. plus take a breather from the volatility of the past week, but there are signs the volatility isn't over yet. i'm jen rogers in for ali velshi, and this is "real money." ♪