this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> this is al jazeera america - i'll john seigenthaler. stand off in sydney. what we are learning about the victims and the suspect. >> this pen is my gun. sandy hook. two years later. did the families open a new legal chapter in the gun debate. sony hacks. the new warning of more to come. and new fall out over the leaked emails. and controversy - the comedian's wife speaks out as an

historically black women's college cuts ties. we begin with a live picture from sydney australia. it's now just after 3, threws afternoon there. after a night of violence, and a day of sorrow, mourners are paying their respects at the site of a 16 hour standoff ending with two hostages killed. it started when a man known to local police burst into a coffee shop, heavily armed. jonathan betz is here with the betill betills. -- details. >> this man worked alone but was influenced by i.s.i.l. he was known to authorities, and had been arrested a number of times, leaving some to question why he was on the streets. >> reporter: flags lowered across sydney and prayers for the victims. hundreds mourned at a churn service, blocked from the scene of a standoff. hours earlier, flashes of gun fire, and panicked hostages

marked the end of a siege. two hostages were killed, as well as the gunmen. >> they made the call because they believed that the time if they didn't enter there would have been many more lives lost. >> 17 were taken hostage forced against the windows. all by this man. >> this pen is my gun. >> man haron monis, a self-pro claimed cleric, known to australian police and out on bail on other charges. >> these words are my bull elt. >> he made headlines with the words, accused of writing abusive letters to fallen soldiers who died in afghanistan. calling them murderers and child killers. he pleaded guilty and was put on probation. his campaign continued. he was born in iran, coming to australia as a refugee in 1996. over the years he declared

himself a sheikh and protest against the australian government. >> he is a type of guy who is a thug that wants to do it in the name of jihad. he is not affiliated with a mosque. he hung a black banner in the window, he had no known links to i.s.i.l. >> he sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the i.s.i.l. death toll. tragically, there are people ready to engage in politically motivated violence. >> after pleading guilty to the hate mail, he was charged as an accessory in his ex-wife's murder, months later charged with sexual assault, accused of abusing dozens of women in his time working as a self-proclaimed healer. both times he was on bail. his former attorney said his mounting problems may have pushed him over the edge.

he took his arguments all the way to australia high court, his appeal was thrown out on friday. three address before the siege began. >> there are reports his ex-wife's family is furious he was out on bail. the prime minister admitted man haron monis was well known had a history of extremism and mental instability. it is unclear why he was not in gaol. >> all right, thank you. the suspect had no known ties to i.s.i.l., but there's fear in australia's muslim community, fear of retallies -- retaliation, and spawned a movement. wayne hay with more from sydney. >> certainly that was a concern that, there could be revenge attacks, reprisal against people in the islamic community, if this was seen as an islamic plot to take the people hostage. so we heard the story emerge, an

encouraging story of a woman on a sydney train, and saw another woman, a muslim woman, taking her hijab off her head, her head scarf off, out of concern that she could face abuse following the siege that took place in sydney. the other woman approached her, told her to put it back on and said "i will stay with you, and look after you", and the that moment the muslim woman broke down in tears. the woman that encouraged her started the hashtag "i'll ride with you" social media campaign, which is gaining a lot of ground, a lot of momentum. encouragement at the way that the community in general will handle the fallout from the siege that took place. >> that is wayne hay reporting. hussain is an adjunct professor who focuses on islam and is an associate editor for the

religion blog, religion dispatchers, and is with us in the studio. as we watch the mourners deliver flowers to the scope. talk about this campaign that tomb off in australia. >> yes, the news in response to the horrible attack in sthi "i'll ride with you", it started by a woman who saw a muslim woman taking off the head scarf. she said "put it on, i'll go with you." >> this is unusual in australia, why? >> i go to australia. i no the lindt cafe, and i go there. there's a heated rhetoric against muslims, increasing action. >> do you think it's a result of the i.s.i.l. campaign? >> i think australia is not as tolerant as they want people to believe, as they project. sydney is cosmopolitan city, a lot of hidden racism there.

>> could a campaign like that happen in the united states? how would you compare australia and u.s. when it comes to islamaphobia? >> both deal with it in different ways, there's a huge amount in both countries. in the united states, muslims have - if we look at some of the anti-muslim sentiment. there's a long history of anti-other people sentiment. antiblack, jewish, that muslims can make allies with. in australia it's predominantly against muslims. >> you know the complaint. that muslims don't speak out enough against violence attacks. what do you say? >> you need to pay more attention. muslims are condemning. i don't believe in corrective guilt. i'm not responsible. i'm explaining it to you. people will watch the show. it doesn't fit the story told over and over again. >> why will they remember it?

>> people say muslims are finals. anything that disrupts that story doesn't get remembered. >> how difficult is it to bring the counternarrative to the government? >> it's difficult. two reasons. one is we don't know how to talk about religion in this country, broad broadly. the other is there's not enough opportunities where muslim are brought on. >> can you describe what your concerns are about anti-muslim movement in countries like australia or the u.s.? >> i mean, when incidents like this happen, we don't know what the motives of this guy were. we don't know that he was connected to i.s.i.l. or any other thing. except he was charged with doing bad things, he was muslim, and that was it. >> that sums it up. he was a thug.

he just happened to be muslim. when you look at australia. we see a lot more obvious physical attacks against muslims. >> what is that? why is that? why do you think that is? >> i think it's just - is there something in the culture that - is it - are there event that happened. what? you say they are not as tolerant. where does that come from, if that's true? >> i lot of it comes from anti-immigrant refugee sentiment that has been building up for years and years and years. in many ways i think... >> do you feel it when you go there? >> absolutely. >> tell me. >> i go and walk down the streets of sydney. i know people are looking at me. i feel it in ways that i haven't before. you know, i'm superconscious of the fact that there is a violence bubbling under the surface. and it's not very comfortable. >> and how - how do you begin to

approach the solution to that? >> you know... >> not that it's your responsibly. plenty of responsibility to go around on this. >> i believe you go down, build the community. i give you two great examples. i was working with a church, gordon uniting church outside of sydney, big on being interfaith bridges. they had me do 101. they put up a sign, muslims welcome. and there's another group called welcome to australia, that has been trying to make multiculturalism, important for australians as a value, not just words. >> maybe the "i'll ride with you" movement on social media will spread. >> i hope so. one of the things about a crisis is it brings out the best in people, not the worst. this is a tipping point. i hope it stays and lasts. >> good to see you. thank you. appreciate it. >> a former marine is the target

of a manhunt in peninsula, accused of killing six people. bradley william ston's rampage began at the home of his ex wife. a neighbour who saw stone after the shooting said he fled the house with his young daughters. >> they didn't have coats op or anything. they just had their pyjamas on. he said "we've got to go", he was "she's hurt pretty bad, we have to leave", his daughters were safe. the other victims were in two other locations in suburban filly, a teenager was wounded. in oakland california, 250 blocked the streets around police headquarters, protesters holding a banner saying "ened the war on black people", others chained themselves together. 25 were arrested $. the protests were in response to the grand jury decision in new york and ferguson, missouri. both involved unarmed black men killed by police.

they are far from isolated incidents. >> reporter: officials promised the community that justice would be done. we began hearing stories about other police shoot understandings in the area. shootings where the case never went before a grand jury, and where the officers involved were exonerated. shootings that barely made the news. >> who wrote that there. >> probably one of the friend. >> in april 2013, st louis police tried to pull over 25-year-old kerry ball junior for a traffic violation. cary, carrying an illegal weapon fled by car and then by foot. two officers chased him. >> at that point he had a gun in his hand and the police say that he pointed it at him. >> the police say. allegedly that's what they say. >> the witness have a different story.

>> they say the gun was on the ground. he dropped it and turned and put his hands in the air. >> it's not like how the place explain it, points the gun, bang, bang. it wasn't, it was a stop, threw the gun, handup and then shot. >> cary never fired a shot. the lawyers told us none of the 10 witnesses questioned say cary pointed a gun at the officers. cary was struck 21 times. the families lawyers say ballistic evidence suggest that the police kept shooting as the police stood over him. >> see that: there it is there. >> reporter: this one here. >> that one down there. >> reporter: this is from where the officer's weapons pointed. >> right down. >> reporter: that went through cary's body. the st louis police department cleared the offices of wrong

doing. and fbi review agreed with their findings. we requested comment from the police regarding cary's case, but received no response. in the wake of michael brown. carlos and his family hope for an independent investigation. the police say you can pose a threat if you are on the ground, you can still kill a police officer. >> he's down, you got four shots in him now, is he still a threat. shoot him five nor times, that's eight. is she still a threat. shoot him more, is he still a threat? now you are deliberating. now you have time to think about what you're doing. after 4-5 shots called up in the moment, but the onslaught of the shots means you are thinking now, you have time to think, time to stand down. >> "faultlin"fault'line' sebastr

has been covering it. >> during the course of make the the film, the three months that we visited. the more visits we made the more we hear about other shootings and deaths in police custody. it was surprising the number of people that we met who knew someone or whose relative was killed at the hands of police. one young man had three close relatives, and while we were there, 10 days after the michael brown shooting. one was shot dead. and while filming the documentary, there was another incident, an 18-year-old male, african-american shot and killed by the police. >> i know you spent time during the protests and after. can you give a sense of what struck you, that you saw and heard? >> i think it's the perception of law enforce.

and a question of accountability. the community in the early days we were there was angry about the death of michael brown. they waited for the legal process to run its course. the grand jury decision inflamed tensions, and the question of accountability is a glaring one in that part of missouri, and in 50 officer-involved shootings in st louis alone, not one ended in an officer being indicted. a lot of people are asking questions about the role of the prosecutor, and whether the grand jury decision is the best way to investigate whether there's wrongdoing by law enforce. . >> you can see more of sebastian's report, coming up midnight eastern. right after the broadcast california has been hit by one of the biggest storms in years. more rain is on the way. meteorologist kevin corriveau is here. how does it compare to last week.

>> that storm is about bridging as heavy rain as last week. we are seeing steadier rain obvious a longer period of time. this one we are looking at. los angeles - san francisco, you saw a bit of rain. now the rain showers are moving to parts of santa basha. look at the video, with the flooding there. this has been a problem with the windows as well, and we are seeing a lot of power outages. to the north it was the storm surge, and that extended to oregon, as well as washington and the mountains. we saw heavy snow. that is one thing we need for the spring and summer. we expect to see more rain tomorrow. that is good news. >> is this making a dent in the drought at allism it is. we are so far behind on the draught that over the next couple of days, look at what we can expect to see. we are looking at a major deficit in terms of the south.

3-6 inch of rain is needed. just in the next two months. 18-21 up to the north is needed. we will not get that much rain. the drought will continue through the rest of the winter into the spring, it will make have department but not end the draught at all. >> thank you. still ahead - a disturbing trend for america's military veterans. the v.a.'s new programme to prevent prescription drug overdoses. >> equal pay, a proposal to open the books to close the pay gap between me and women.

israel wants more hep from the united states to block a push for palestinian statehood. they are expected to submit a new year's resolution, setting a timetable from israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories. israel's prime minister ask secretary of state john kerry to veto the plans. >> u.s. officials say they have organised meetings with binyamin netanyahu, arab and european governments over the next couple of days to compromise language when it comes to palestinians at the u.n. what that means in reality is define language that washington can accept. the palestinians are hoping for a vote by the end of the week or year. the israelis are opposed. we heard from prime minister

binyamin netanyahu, after his meeting with kerry, calling the palestinian state a security threat to israel. >> i appreciate the effort to prevent deterioration. the evidence to force conditions on israel will deteriorate conditions on israel. we'll oppose it. >> there's no love loss. but officials agree on what they call uni lateral actions at the u.n., they'd rather see start of peace talks, but they can't afford this talk. the palestinians are circulating a draft resolution calling for the end of the occupation. there are other resolutions including the french, calling for a peace treaty within the same two years. what the u.s. is trying to avoid is a veto. that would be a disaster in the words of one official.

u.s. does not want to be seen vetoing the resolution, will doesn't want to be scope vetoing the resolution by the governments whose support they need to fight i.s.i.l. bottom line is there's more momentum discussing palestine as a state at the u.n. than ever before. >> nick schifrin reporting there's a new and dire assessment of the war in syria, coming from the u.n. under secretary chief for human affairs saying nearly 200,000 have been killed in the 3-year conflict, and more than 12 million in desperate need of humanitarian aid. >> every time we use a new figure in relation to the crisis, we say it's unprecedented. we ran out of words to fully explain the brutality, violence and callous disregard for human life which is a hallmark of the crisis much the international

community is numb to its impact with the vast numbers, regional reach and sense of political impasse. >> the united nations says 70 medical facilities have been attacked over the last nine months. president obama says - america's military is at a turning point. the president visited a military base to pay tribute to troops that served in afghanistan and iraq. talk about the end of combat operations in afghanistan, 15,000 troops remaining in afghanistan to train afghan security officers. >> when veterans return home from combat, some face a battle of another kind, app adicked -- an addiction to prescription drugs. now the v.a. is taking a new approach to stop deadly overdoses. jacob ward has the story. >> the veterans administration is an enormous and traditional institution.

when they take this radical a step, you know the problem is out of control. nowhere is that more apparent than when you talk to the veterans themselves, especially those in the grip of addiction. >> this veteran who asked we call him by his nickname says he's been addicted to heroin. heroin and prescription opiates offer a similar addictive potential and rick of death by overdose. that's where the veterans administration has a problem. 50% of patients seek help for chronic pain, helping to make v.a. the largest prescriber of opiate pain-killers. the united states is one of the biggest prescribers of opiates. a national group led by va

specialist is developing a programme giving a veteran at risk of being prescribed opiates, and others, another drawing, narcan, it can temporarily reverse an overdose, whether from heroin or pills. >> opioid painkillers were prevented to treat temporary sharp pain. since the 1990s, they have been prescribed as a standard means of treating chronic long-term pain, and alternative therapies available are more expensive and hard are to come by. >> 50% of the people that come to v.a. have chronic pain condition. if every one need to go to a multidisciplinary pain clinic, that's a lot of pain care you need to private. >> for the vast majority, it is effective. because the v.a. has not been

able to cut overdoses, narcan is a last-ditch crisis management tool. >> people think about this in terms of an enny pep. this is something -- enny pep, you know, this is something it wouldn't hurt to have in case of emergency. >> the complication is the drug from the v.a. can lead people into heroin. >> yes, but that certainly doesn't reduce our - you know, our need to protect people. >> for boston, payment cannot arrive fast enough. >> i have lost a lot of friends. some were the biggest addict. they were fathers and brothers and best friends. to lose someone like that, because the government has not come around yet, it's ridiculous. >> i have the opportunity to ask the v.a. doesn't it damage the

goals of this programme if they make their way out into the streets, ending up in the hands of people using heroin, and not people broken to accidental overdose, and the v.a.'s response was no, it makes no difference. this problem is so incredibly out of control, that they don't care who gets it as long as it's in etch's hands. for that kind of traditional organization to take that frank a stance, it indicates something about the state of opiates in our country. >> still ahead - taxes or citizenship, a growing number of persons willing to give up their passports to avoid paying the i.r.s. damage control - threatening to sue the media over hacking problems. we talk to an expert and see if sochi has a case. -- sony has a case.

about the state of opiates in sochi has a case.

this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler, coming up, two years after the attack, family members of the sandy hook victims sue the company that made the gun hacking scandal - sony threatens to sue media outlets - do they have a case. pay gap - should major companies be forced to reveal the differences between men and women it is tuesday afternoon in sydney, where people have been paying tribute to the hostages, two killed after a 16 hour standoff. a live picture near the site of the attack where people are bringing flowers. the man that carried out the attack was also killed. officials say he apparently acted alone. and had no connection to

i.s.i.l. now, prime minister tony abbott just paid his respects. andrew thomas reports. >> reporter: hostages pick their moments and run for their lives. moments later police storm the cafe. one officer appeared to throw a stun grenade, and then the crack of what was likely gun fire or a flash of explosion. from different sides of the building, the scope plays out. paramedics were there waiting, and quickly ran towards the building. one woman could be seen carried out, her foot injured. the siege began during monday morning's rush hour. >> the woman summoned police, she had the phone to her ear. three motorcycle police arrived and others on foot. she said she went to go in the cafe, and the glass sliding

doors that normally open therein disabled and shut. she thought it was closed, then realised something was going on inside. she told police she saw a nan with a blue back and what she -- saw a man with a blue bag and what she thought was a shotgun. >> reporter: a flag was shape at the window, on it there was only one god, mohammed is his messenger. police believe the man to be this man, man haron monis, he was known to authorityies, writing letters to families of soldiers killed in afghanistan. >> this pen is my gun. these words are my bullet. >> man haron monis faced charges including sexual assault and being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. he was described as politically motivated. bomb disposal units moved in to check the cafe, and a 16-hour

drama drew to a close. many answers shaken by the attack and images of terror on the doorstep. >> i understand there was a number of gunshots, causing officers to move to an ea. emergency action plan, causing them to enter. >> reporter: police were determined the siege would be brought to a peaceful resolution. it wasn't. what is not clear is why they felt the need to end this in a dramatic way it has been two years since the massacre at sandy hook elementary school. a lone gunman killed 20 first graders and six school staffers. some of the victim's families are suing the company that made the gun. the rifle adam lanza used should never have been sold to the public. >> reporter: 26 died in less

than five minutes. families of nine victims are filing an unusual legal challenge, claiming adam lanza would not have killed so many, if he didn't have this rifle, a bush master, sydney automatic. it names three defendants, gun manufacturer bush masters, the distributor, and riverview gun sales. it closed branches where lanza's mum brought the gun. it was designed as a military weapon, but it was sold to civilians. the suit alleges: cleaning up the loopholes. >> some families appeared to support laws that curbed gun

violence. >> this will take time. it's worth it. every day that we proceed is hopefully another life saved. that is the goal to keep focused on. >> if you don't have one of these, your home is not complete. >> according to a survey, public opinion is increasingly turning against stronger controls on guns. for the first time in more than two decades, more mens support gun ownership rights over gun control. this marks a shift over the newtown shooting when less than half satisfied supported gun rights. the families say without more controls on guns like this, they'll keep landing in the hands of criminals and those that are unstable. >> they want all manufacturers to sit up and take note, and they were filing suit, and if we were to one, this would be a huge warping notice. it's a big if. i think they have a high bar.

>> the families are speaking unspecified monetary damages, and they say in the complaint they want accountability. i reached out to the three companies named in the lawsuit. nonresponded. >> attorney and legal analyst joins us. do the families have a case here? >> difficult case, but i think an important case to pursue. in 2005, president bush signed into law a federal law that protects gun manufacturers from these lawsuits. the attorney who represented says he's pushing the bar, trying to test whether that law can withstand, you know, the challenge made by the particular plaintiffs. >> sound like a tough case, if guns are illegal, why are the gun companies that made the guns used in the crime responsible. >> when you think about car

manufacturers, tobacco manufacturers, they have some liability. it's an incredible law in 2005 giving gunmanufacturers a safe haven, an immunity from lawsuits. there's an exception, negative entrustment. >> what do they have to prove? >> they have to prove that the gun manufacturers knew that it was foreseeable. that the risk of harm, that the shootings were being conducted by individuals using the products put into the marketplace. there's no precedent for these lawsuits against the manufacturers. there's hope here. >> before you get to the hope, let me try to break it down. it sounds to me, if they had to know in advance, how can anyone know in advance that this would happen? >> we had a lot of mass

shootings, the rife has been used in other cases involving mass shootings, the sniper case is one in particular, where the same prauct. -- product. many were killed. that's the claim that the plaintiffs were making, that there should have been knowledge. >> when you said there's hope, i interrupted. go ahead. >> there is hope, because we know that the country, even though many people don't believe there should be tougher gun laws, the exception has not been used to challenge the law. but there was a settlement in the d.c. sniper case. the d.c. manufacturer settled with plaintiffs. it gives the plaintiffs a glimmer of hope. if they don't go the distance, they can find an entry way. >> i believe 10 were killed in the d.c. shooting.

what is the ramifications for gun manufacturers. >> major. >> if it's not an early dismissal. the plaintiffs understand it was an uphill battle. if they force the gun manufacturers to settle, maybe it starts a conversation about amends the 2005 law, ending the immunity that gun manufacturers have. i know listening to the plaintiffs, they expect something to change. it may not be wholesale elimination of the law, but a conversation about how do you get the assault rives out of the hands of individuals since they were really for highly trained law enforce. . >> we'll watch with you. thank you a boston doctor who responsible out in favour of gun control will be the nation's next surgeon germ. the senate approved the nominee.

republicans delayed his nominations saying murphy was a political activist. the harvard medical cool instructor said he'd use the position to create better education on obesity and tobacco sochi threatens -- sony threatens to sue anyone publishing information obtained by cyber thieves, one of the greatest film script may have been compromised. >> bond, james bond. >> reporter: another day, another sequel in sony's nightmare. another headache, the release of the scrupt of a future film. and guardians of peace or g.o.p. says it's getting started. they are promising a christmas gift, larger and more interested that the data dumped so far.

>> it's a mined boggling amount of data. >> the expectation is they'll continue to release data up until christmas day. >> since don'ty's computers were -- since sony's computers were hacked, movies have been released, embarrassing emails, salaries and confidential information. sony is trying to do damage control by hiring david boyce, famed litigator. he has taken on tobacco companies, and argued bush v gore. now is warning media outlet to stop using what he says is sony's stolen property. oscar writer eric sorenson is calling media to back off, writing:

now that the leak has started. it may be tough to stop. >> if journalists are not reporting, bloggers are reporting on it. it will be hard to control the information, now that it's out there. there has been widespread speculation that north korea is to blame, because it's angry about the planned christmas release of a movie, the interview. into it seth rogan and james franco play journalists plotting to kill kim jong un. >> we set out to make a movie entertaining to audiences, i think we did that. rogan said he could never have thought of so much real-life drama about a fictional comedy. >> john burns is in washington - can sony attorney david boits prevent the media outlets from publishing the information, or not? >> no, no. he really can't. i mean, there's no legal basis

to prevent the media reporting on the hackers. if there's a copyright infringement possible pending, that could be pursued. there's no basis at this point to pursue an ingrinningment law. >> is boyce trying to scare the media? >> absolutely. >> he's acting as an cornery. he's trying to minimise his client's risk. things are out of control. >> you say emails is one thing, copyrighted material is different? >> entirely different. as a copyright holder, it's intellectual property. you are entitled to use that property and prevent others using that property as well. at this point, there's no allegations set forth that any of the media outlets are republishing, they are simply reporting on it. if the allegation exists and comes forward that they are using the copyright at work, it could be an infridgement lawsuit moving forward. >> we heard heads might role at

sony as a result of this. can a company fire one of these executives for emails that were leaked and stolen from them? >> well, a company can hire and fire someone for pretty much anything. they can't fire someone because of their race, their religion, their age or origin, besides those classes, you can fire someone for any reason. there were inappropriate things going on behind the curtain. based on what i saw and read, from sochi's and a pr perspective. they may want to let anyone go. >> do the executives have a right to privacy? >> corporations and individuals have a rite to privacy. you have to look at what happens here. the right to privacy was not

invaded. the hackers are performing the illegal act. you can't come down media for reporting on what the hackers did, and from the perspective of the people in terms of privacy. you don't have privacy in your emails when you work for a corporation. >> good to see you. thank you. we'll watch what happens with this one. seems to have a new bit of information every day the pay gap between men and women in the u.k. is at a record low. women earn significantly less than me. now a new law could help to change that. simon mcgregor-wood reports from london. >> reporter: despite over 40 years of equal rights legislation, there are huge discrepancies in what men and women are paid for doing the same job. in many companies women earn thousands less than men. that outraged women's magazine editor jane bruton, who started a petition to change the law. >> a woman found a colleague

doing the same job, same hours, at the same level was paid £9,000 more than her. at the end of the year, while he got a £2,000 bonus, she was given £100 of shopping vouchers. >> reporter: numbers speak for themselves. a report from the chartered management institute shows the scale of the so-called pay gap. it says on average women earn if% less than men. it gets worse when the gap grows to 35%. if a woman in the u.k. wants to earns much as her mail equivalent. she'll need to work until she's 80 years old. the new law will force every company with 250 workers to publish their rates of pay. britain's labor party is pushing the vote. >> it's not just a woman's issue. no dad, husband or brother wants their loved one to be paid less

than deserved. if you shine a light on it, get transparency, you can hope to put it right. >> at pricewaterhousecoopers, they are doing it. it's complicated. >> if you think the gap is because women are in certain positions not others. you are only picking from half the working population, it's not business sense, is it? >> reporter: causes are complex, to do with maternity leave, women staying longer, not enough women becoming top managers. the hope is that the new law will see women taking a look at the pay gap. >> a record number of americans living abroad are giving up their citizenship. surrendering their passports to avoid paying taxes. mary snow has the story. >> would you give up your

citizenship to avoid paying taxes? thousands of americans are doing that, giving up their passports in record numbers to avoid paying a new tax as part of the foreign ght tax compliance act. the critics say it has caused a 3 fold increase in the number of americans surrendering their passports. between 2010 and 2013, 7,246 americans renounced their citizenship. compared to 1,721 to the four years prior. created in 2010 in congress, he was initially intended to crack down on overseas tax sheets. the congressional research service projected facts that would generate 8.7 billion over 10 years. it imposes a 30% tax on americans that had money at foreign banks that are not cooperating with the i.r.s., banks and countries that refuse

to identify or provide information on the american clients. critics say they have gone too far, too draconian and imposing undue hardships. so says a member of the cato institute. >> it causes heart aches and headaches for foreign and financial institutions and overseas americans treated as pariahs because financial institutions view them as very, very costly to service. >> the u.s. is one of a few countries which taxes its citizens based on nationally, not residency. faced with a larger tax bill thousands of americans living overseas would rather give up their passports than pledge allegiance to uncle san. i.r.s. said: >> the united states is one of a

few countries to have extra territorial taxation. an american living and working in another country is required to pay tax to the country where they live, but file a tax return to the u.s. no one does that. >> reporter: one thing is clear, for a number of u.s. citizens, holding on to a bigger share of their money is more important nan holding on to their american passport. >> still ahead - picture of the day, and bill cosby and his wife speaking out against the growing list of accusations against him.

one are our californian storms has made it to the middle east. to the north-west, snow, to the south, severe weather this evening. it's the snow that we'll watch, especially with winter storm warnings in effect. anywhere from nebraska up here to minnesota. that will continue through the evening. and behind we are looking at cold air. bismark, lows of 11, ahead of a cold front. temperatures for the low, well above average for chicago, waking up at 42 degrees there. we expect the snow to shift across much of the great lakes in chicago. and you'll see a miserable day tomorrow. o'hare, delays at the airport. things will get better.

temperatures will drop. across the north-east. rain coming into play ahead of the system. we will see new york, not looking too bad as we get past tuesday. tuesday approximately be a rainy day and temperatures on wednesday, beautiful at 51 there. dropping to thursday. that's a look at the weather. more news coming up after this.

across the north-east. that's a look at the weather. across the north-east. that's a look at the weather. more than 20 women accused bill cosby of drugging and

assaulting them. through it all one woman stands by his side. today kamil cosby refutes the allegation. >> there's no response. >> reporter: the last time bill cosby spoke publicly about the sexual assault accusations, it was a month ago. while he spoke you almost couldn't take your eyes off his wife, kamil, whose smile never broke. she has released a statement saying: mrs. cosby compares the media covering to that of the university virginia rape story publics by "rolling stone". stories that ran in two newspapers on sunday - cosby told a reporter:

cosby did not directly assess the sexual assault allegation gs, but addressed how his wife of more than 50 years handled the controversy quoting her love and strength of womanhood. according to a recent accuser, it's that that kept her coming forward. beverley johnson, supermodel, said that cosby drugged her in the '80s and her respect for camille kept her quite. >> i walked up to her, she knew me and embraced me. at that moment i decided not to push the issue, because of her. >> institutions across the country continue to sedans themselves from cosby. they gay -- gave $20 million to a college for women. on sunday the school suspended the professorship citing the counter context of event.

>> there are now only five northern white rhinos left in the world. one of the rare animals died yesterday of old age at the san diego zoo. poachers killed rhinos for their horns, and has the species close to extinction. the only known surviving rhinos are in conservation parks. timely the picture of the day. fed ex says today is the busiest shipping day. one of the delivery trucks turned over in new jersey. that's the mess. all the bombs out on the street -- boxes out on the street, in the yard. hopefully it's not one of your boxes - or mine. i'm john seigenthaler, thank you for watching. "faultlines" is next.

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nalists live. >> august 25, 2014. michael brown is laid to rest by his family and friends