come. but they did and you can get the latest news and analysis on the website. the address is aljazeera.com. [ ♪ ] on "america tonight" - a killer in american hospitals. a bacteria that sickens patients, even kills them. >> i believe his immune system was so compromised he was open to every area possible. >> adam may an explains what mercer is, and why hospitals aren't doing enough to stop it and vicious threats on

sea. >> he showed his gun. >> they drown, sometimes they slash the boats. >> pirates and others trying to flee to safety, and why few in europe are willing to help thank for joining us, i'm joie chen. it's the image that lunched a burst of compassion and frustration over the long simmering refugee crisis overtaking europe. the picture of a young boy washed ashore, a signal of so many desperate travellers fleeing conflict at home, against odds as they struggle to reach safety. escapes have been under way for years. this is the deadliest summer yet by the u.n.'s count. as sheila macvicar tells us, it's not just the challenge of beating

nature, but surviving human threats as well. landing on the rocky shores of the greek island. coming from the beaches of turkey. countries so close from one you can see the other. so close, there's no sense of dangers lurking at seas. >> we get it every day on the north coast. every person on boats. we say 50-55. boats. >> eric has lived on the greek island for 20 years. every morning now he's up at five, binoculars in hand, boats. >> come down, go to the left. increasingly over the course of the summer refugee season, traffic shifted from the longer dangerous journey from libya to italy, to the shorter and

seemingly safer trip from turkey to greece. un-hcr records show 140,000 refugees landed in the greek islands in from the beginning of january, to early august. >> come on. most mornings, they are out on the beach to help. with fellow vom tears handing out -- volunteers handing out water, food, drugs and diapers. and they witness pirate attacks. >> they come up behind the boat. they hit people on the boat with sticks and stuff. i have spoken to the refugees that have been on the boats. they turn the boat around. sometimes they slap the boats. water. >> for months those in the boats described terrifying ordeals. attacks by masked men in black at night.

refugees have reported they have been beaten, kicked. robbed of life savings and threatened with death. this person was on a boat trying to reach greece when he says they were attacked. >> while in the middle of sea, commandos came to us. there were four people. they took out the gasoline and sea. >> no one knows who the masked gunmen are. what is there, is despite months of attacks. neither greece nor turkey nor the international community had much interest in pursuing those, making the crossing so much more treacherous. the refugees respect what little has been done. attackers are from the coast

guard of greece and turkey. the turkish coast guard ship tried to swamp the inflatable dingy. >> we were tempted by the coast guard. he started hitting her. they kept pleading with them. there was a small child with us, pointing at the child and asking them to let us go. they pointed and we kept pleading with them, but they didn't answer. the waves were in our direction you." >> cory young said he is positive the attackers were turkish coast guards. i knew from the uniforms, second, in the waters, once into greek territorial borders, they turn back to the

turkish coast. it was obvious they were turkish from the uniform, and they were in their own territories. >> this man says on the first night he tried to reach greece, his boat was attacked by the greek coast guard. >> the boat is coming around so it was the military that said welcome to greece. he show his kind, and he said numerous people, we showed and he said give it to me. various ways. >> the attackers were wearing uniforms of the greece coast guard, and after they stole the fuel tank they came back to puncture the boat. >> toppling into the water.

there was a lot of families. like a small case. it's very dangerous, you know. we were stuck. there was no one going to help us, they make a boat and said go back, go back to turkey. he said this time the turkish coast guard acted as rescuers. he made it to greece the next night. in is one stage for the smugglers that charge up to 2,000 ahead to provide gas to make it across the street. from the greek islands in to athens, and then the trains and highways in eastern europe. again, at the smugglers. risking death, not ready to take

that risk, rather than waiting for what seems certain deaths at home "america tonight" sheila macvicar is here. you, i know have reported from the locations where the refugees came ashore. this is clearly known to the world. in europe people are paying a good deal of attention to this. is there some way to protect the people before they get into the open waters. >> this is not the first summer that europe has been dealing with this. this is the third summer, the summer of the greatest attacks so far. yes, if the european union shows, it could set up posing facilities in countries of first refuge. >> immediately outside. >> where there are millions, to be clear. very large numbers of syrian refugees. the european union chose not to do that. so the game - literally the game is you get to europe and you make an asylum claim.

because of the circumstances in syria, it will be granted. >> you have to put your feet on soil in europe and then make the claim. why is that? >> that is one of the rules that the european union came up to. they have been unable to decide how to proceed beyond that. the dublin convention - the first place where you touched soil must be a place you touch soil. in a place of syria, migrations from libya and turkey, that's greece and italy. people do not want to stay in greece and italy. neither is prepared to deal with this e they work as hard as they can to get out of the countries. is there a possibility to bring canada? >> well, the united states made a commitment that it hopes to process 1400. today, in 2015, 1,042 syrians came to the united states.

>> that is shocking. canada as well. why? >> because it's not on the doorstep. it's a long way away. the united states is yet to take the limited number of people for permanent resettlement. in order, eligible to come to the united states. first you must be approved by u.n.h.c.r. then you must go through an extensive series of background and security checks. you understand why that is. you need to know who people are, that they are not people fighting with i.s.i.s., siding with al qaeda. fair enough. the process is extremely slow. in 2015, the u.s. settled 10,000 refugees from iraq. and that... >> from iraq. >> and that war ended a long time ago. it shows you how long the a. >> difficult. meantime the people suffer. "america tonight"s sheila macvicar

next - police report. a second look at what might have made a difference in ferguson. could the flashpoint have been stamped out before it exploded. later a hidden danger in hospitals. mercer, bacteria that is killing patients. can a search and destroy mission save them. hot on the website. baltimore's sum ever, the most

we fast-forward with a look at what went wrong in ferguson. a new report shows police were haphazard, inappropriate use of key tools from officers involved.

military-agreed weapons and canines. lori jane gliha had a view from the front lines. >> reporter: the shouting and chanting in ferguson quietened down. the lines of armed officers like these have gone away. and the roads are clean and clear. but the physical reminders of the clash that littered the streets are front and center in a debate about police strategy and equipment. >> okay. we have been fighting all shorts of things. a cannister here in the field. this one here is day to day. smoke, projectile that came out of here. >> these are its left behind after some nights of looting and gun fire and shattered store fronts, as well as peaceful marches, and this military style vehicle. heavily armed vehicles crunched over roadblocks made of bricks and

used various tactics to disperse the crowds. >> it's irritating. >> law enforcement defended some tack six. >> we have been criticized for using the trucks during protest. we did not deploy those into the crowd until things deteriorated. tonight we use the s.w.a.t. struck and another large vehicle to get into violent dangerous areas to extract a gunshot victim. many argue the equipment is too much like military, less like protecting people. >> i think it's probably useful for us to review how the funding has gone because there is a big difference between our military and local law enforcement. we don't want the lines blurred

fast-forward. "america tonight"s lori jane gliha here to talk about lessons learnt. this is not solely focused on the equipment, school so much attention was paid to it. >> not at all, it was comprehensive. it was not aimed at putting blame on a person. the police chief asked for an assessment. he said what can we do different, to make sure it doesn't happen again, it is approveded in future. and that the police were dealing with something different, having people learning to deal and handle that. they looked at the first 17 days after michael brown was killed, and specifically at the four main police agencies that responded to this, looked at what could they do, what worked well, what didn't. >> so what could go better in the next round. the main key things, the relationship between the police and the community. it was non-existent.

>> and it's simple. during the crisis situations. it's not the time you want to have your first meeting with leaders. that is an important thing that can prevent some things that happened. also long-term plan versus short-term plan. some of the plans had, they didn't know how the demonstrations and protests went on. they didn't have the great planning and training. one challenge that they had they weren't prepared. >> it was a different time. >> they weren't prepared for how people from communicating, doing that, putting out messages in a way that was more appropriate or helpful to have messages coming out quickly. it would have been helpful. >> might have made a difference. what was said as a result of this. ferguson put out a statement saying they are reviewing the report, a nearly 200 page report. they said that we are open to changing policies and procedures. they have done that, and their justice system in their city.

the report is not just for ferguson, or the police departments in those areas. it's for 16,000 police departments across the country, to learn from the situation of what happened, what can be improved to avoid terrible things happening. >> "america tonight"s lori jane gliha next, lives at risk in our hospitals? a tiny bacteria, the threat it poses to patients, and why most patients are not doing all they can to stop it. and making a difference. "america tonight" - a special look at baltimore. at the end of a brutal summer we look beyond the headlines and violence. what can build a battered city back up. >>

[ ♪ ] hospitals are making patients, not all of them, but some sick. thousands are becoming infected in american hospitals. one of the deadliest bacteria are known. what is surprising is that there is a strategy that efforts say could sharply kerb the number of infections and death. "america tonight"s adam may say it. >> reporter: in this hospital lab in chicago, technicians learn within hours if incoming patients are carriers of mrsa, mrsa for short.

a deadly bacteria. >> reporter: how alarmed should we be by mrsa? >> it causes tens of thousands of deaths and is one of the few preventible diseases that we know how to tackle. >> reporter: that is why dr lance petersen with the north shore hospital system started a programme called search and destroy. in the u.s. it's not required, even though petersen says it would save lives. >> they search for people with mrsa, colonization, and then they eradicate it. >> since you instituted search and destroy, how have you seen mrsa rates drop? >> in the first year they dropped by 60%. now it's sustained 70%. 70% redungs. >> how many lives would you say have been saved?

>> based on the reduction and disease, 18 per year. 180 real people. real peep. >> those people that get the deadly form of mrsa are exposed in hospitals, spread from patient to patient. the result of poor hygiene from hospital workers. that's where josh contracted mrsa. he was a skydiving structure in colorado. he broke his leg and suffered a head injury in an accident. he was starting rehab when mrsa struck - not once, but twice. >> we got the phone call from hell. 11:30 at night, the phone rang. josh had coded. father. >> as a father i could almost justify if josh died naturalry from a sky diving accident, i'd say he chose that life. put something else that is not

related to that kills him. >> reporter: knowing what you know now, what role it mrsa play in josh's death? >> i believe his immune system was so compromised that he was possible. >> reporter: he says mrsa allowed another bacterial infection in his son's brain, which eventually killed josh. the hospital did not actively test patients for mrsa. it's talking about the horror of what goes on with the disease. it's huge. janine thomas is a survivor of the mrsa survivors network, saying she contracted mrsa. >> i knew the guys, he went into septic shock. they saved me, they had me on different antibiotics. it was a long road to recovery. like?

>> it was about 4.5 years, i leg. >> we put together the information for family members. >> the mrsa survivor network works to educate the public. >> are there questions i should ask the doctor? >> yes, ask if he washes his you. >> thomas advocates hospitals to follow the lead of the north shore university health system and screen patients coming in the door. >> it's simple. >> the doctor showed me how simple it is. a quick nasal squad, the people at risk, such as those that had mercer before, or been in the hospital. the cost less than $14 per patient. >> they have been spending in the past about $4,000 to do the testing.

but are returned by a reduction of treating people. it's 2.4 million a year. >> spent how much? >> 400,000. >> and you saved? >> 2.4 million. >> patients who test positive are isolated. so the infection doesn't spread in the hospital. versions of this search and destroy technique are used in hospitals. >> it's been the norm for years. in hospitals across the netherlands. in scandinavia. as for dr petersen. they first got the idea. >> the doctors are about 10 times lower. >> what do they ask you about the american health care system. the main question is why is the u.s. not doing more of this.

>> we took the question to the point person for hospital acquired mrsa. >> some scandinavian countries have universal screen, seeing mrsa decrease hundreds of times. why not do it in the u.s.? >> there are a number of studies, and scientifically, the strongest methodology has not shown a benefit when we look at the experience of other countries. are they not doing various levels of screen, showing good results. they are seeing big drops in mercer. >> they are seeing big drops, and take a number of different approaches. it's difficult to detect what particular contribution to that reduction the active screening is making. there's a mare amount of scientific controversy over how well universal screening works. >> it's as simple as doing a

test. i don't understand what of the people? >> we live in a world of limited resources. the costs add up. even if costs of a test is low. over time, it adds up. we need to be careful and make sure we know what we are doing, the outcome of that investment. >> we need to have awareness. >> janine thomas says mrsa is not that complicated. the solution is simple. >> there's over 300-based studies saying screening, detection and isolation works. with countries doing it there's an approach why aren't american hospitals screening? >> because then you can prove you didn't have it when you came in. if you get an infection in a hospital and you were fine before, your insurance can say that person didn't come in with it.

there's a lock of transparency about mercer. >> until recently, he didn't realise his son was an mrsa victim until he looked at his son's medical records. >> reporter: should josh be sitting here now? >> josh should definitely be here, yep. josh won all the battles. heap was a strong kid. he won the bottles, but couldn't win that one, a deadly bacteria. >> reporter: a battle against an invisible killer, flaying too many american hospitals that's "america tonight". please tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. talk to us on twitter or facebook and come back. we'll have more of the "america tonight" tomorrow.

>> translator: we have the right to not want to live together with muslim communities. this is our policy. >> hungary's prime ministers to stop coming to europe as thousands are barred from coming further towards germany. welcome to al jazeera live. coming up in the next half hour, their deaths brought a new awareness to the plight of refugees, now the bodies of a family that drowned are being sent home. president one day,ri