migration bringing hundreds of thousands of refugees to the shores of europe. so it should. film is a universal language. where it can, it should shine a spotlight on the suffering of millions. they could have been saved also ahead - a cold war thaw and how it froze out cubans seeking a new life in the u.s. >> the problem on "america tonight" an attempt to protect women from campus sex sult by strengthening the law. why would anyone do that. >> if you bring law enforcement in at an early stage and they are told there's reporting requirements, i think the officer is more likely to recommend that it go criminal, criminal. lori jane gliha on whether they could have been saved also ahead - a cold war thaw and how it froze out cubans

seeking a new life in the u.s. >> the problem procedure. there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason especially not there, what will happen for people left behind. >> a community of medical professionals, and a bitter prescription for their future thank you for joining us, i'm joie chen, a new wave of migration headed to the united states. it might seem counterintuitive that after the thaw in cold war relations, in havana and washington, a flood of cuba migrants could set out for refuge here, fears that it will change policy, making it harder to get citizenship triggered the outflow. already a community of cubans found itself stranded neither in the united states nor cuba, but in bogota, columbia. "america tonight"s sheila macvicar met them there.

>> in this cramped apartment, a cuban doctor nurse and pharmacist await word from the u.s. embassy. they are among more than 700 cuban medical personnel who fled to the columbian capital, seeking special visas to come to the united states. visas that thought was promised under a state department programme designed to undermine the castro regime. with the two countries normalizing relations, whether they'll make it to the u.s. is uncertain. the doctor has been waiting more than four months. >> if they did break their promise that they made to us. they want to be free. >> reporter: cubans here are in limbo. they are in columbia illegally. unable to get to the u.s. they risked deportation and returning to cuba is not an option.

there they would face certain punishment could you go back to cuba saying i made a mistake, i want to be with my family, go back and have all this go away. >> i won't return to cuba, people will hate us, be spied on, accused as counterrevolutionaries. >> the doctor and other cubans were part of castro government's longstanding policy of exporting health care and revolutionary ideas. more than 5 is,000 medical personnel work in 67 countries. since the program began. cuban doctors working around the world treated millions of patients. world. diplomacy. >> they have written a book about the medical brigades.

>> they live in the community. they go to the furthest corners. they live in the slums and the per if ris of cities, they live where the patients are. cuban doctors provided disaster relief. in ebola ravaged west africa, cuba sent more than 200 medical workers to join in the fight. the work praised by the world health organisation, and the kerry. >> reporter: for all the prays the u.s. government has tried to systematically try to disrupt the cuban programme since 2006. u.s. documents offering the right to live and work in the united states are offered to any cuban nurse or doctor or other medical professional who is working or studying abroad in a third country under cuban government direction. it's called the cuban medical parole programme. and critics say it's an

enticement to defect. >> an enticement to defect for cubans like this, who worked in a surgical center. >> it was in our minds before leaving cuba, the idea is to get to the united states this way. through this programme. >> rodriguez knew about the programme because his prornal vegas. >> it designed to destroy cuba's medical diplomacy. that was one thing, and to stop the hard currency learnings. >> cuba gets a lot more than goodwill from the medical brigades. take venezuela, where cuba has an estimated 10,000 health care providers, more there than in any other country. in return, venezuela sends cuba 100,000 barrels of oil a day. other countries pay cash. about 8 billion a year. outstripping tourism as a money maker for cuba.

cuban medical personnel see little of that, and have no say over the conditions in which they work overseas. conditions that can be dangerous and trying. this cell phone video shows roof. the farmer left venezuela for columbia after 17 days. >> for the first few days i was hungry. they didn't feed me. they took me to a house where i was expected to sleep on the ground. there was no bed. it was a pad laying on the cockroaches. >> having made the trip to columbia by bus and on foot. things have not turned out as planned. between the raising of cuban flag at the embassy in washington in july, and the stars and strips at the u.s. embassy in havana in august.

visas for medical workers dried up. what had been an orderly process, taking less than three months, suddenly fell into limbo. for much of the summer, no visas at all were issued. >> i think that there was political pressure from a side that wanted the programme to be taken away. it was what the cuban government wanted. >> this nurse said the u.s. embassy sent an email rejecting explanation. >> across the border with the idea that it will happen quickly. i'm in a limbo here, a migratory limbo. >> frustrated the cubans staged a process. this bass one of the leaders. why the protests. what were they going to accomplish with the process. >> we wanted to call attention

to the community. the government of the united states, to give us an answer for the situation. following the protests, for influential lobbies in the u.s., some were issued. a little more than a week after protests. rodriguez received an email from the u.s. embassy, he saved it on his phone and was told to come to the u.s. embassy for his visa. his visa is one of 150 issued in the last two weeks, cubans say. >> i cried, i laughed, i thanked god. i knelt and everything. >> we met him across the street. where he showed us his new visa. what do you think? what do you think?

>> relief. >> reporter: happy. with plans to take a plane to miami in a few days. rodriguez is one of the lucky ones. hundreds of workers remain in bogota. the cubans say there's more waiting in venezuela. back at the apartment, for those waiting for a visa, and those denied, the strain was taking a toll. this nurse has been waiting in bogota for four months, longer than she planned. she has run out of money, in cuba her second has been forced out of his job because his mother defected. an email from a u.s. congressman telling her officials would examine her case, sent her into floods of nervous tears. this doctor says the situation is very hard. very stressful.

the problem is there's no procedure. there doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason. some have been here for a month, some since february, some since early spring. some are getting visas, others don't know why it's happening, why or how it's happening. >> there's some suggestion that if there's pressure helping some cases move along. that is not clear that those people will be getting visas, behind. >> from 2006 since the program started, this never happened. denies visas without telling us why, they leave us helpless. >> this woman is grat to consider a dangerous option, going by land to central america and mexico. as a cuban, she'd qualify for asylum. for that dangerous journey.

she would need the help of the coyote, a smuggler. >> they could rape you, kill you. we showed up here with the hope that everything will be all right. programme. and at the end. it was like in a day, in a moment. in a second. everything goes away. without a visa, no good way forward to america next, sexual predators on campus, and an outsider targeted women students. vulnerable. later, for sport or science. one of the oceans creatures and the fears or the future. hot on the website now. infected in the hospital.

the deadly mrsa bacteria killing thousands. why most hospitals are not doing what they can to stop it.

back to school marks back on the alert at colleges across the nation. the numbers of sex crimes peaks during the fall. this year, comes as the safe campus act is discussed on capitol hill. the act the change would make, bringing law enforcement into the picture quickly. why that could make a difference, and whether it could have saved the lives of two

young students from "america tonight"s lori jane gliha. >> this is morgan's room. >> reporter: everything in morgan harrington's room - her drawings, photographs, and the posters on her bedroom wall - are where she left them in 2009. >> she was a lot of fun. >> she really was. >> that was morgan's junior year at virginia tech. the last time they saw her alive. it's comforting from me to have her stuff around me. i know that will change. the 20-year-old, an artist who wanted to be a teacher. attending a concert at the universit arena. >> reporter: how long before you had any idea of what happened when you left the conference? know. the missing time is hideous.

having your daughter missing felt worse than knowing our daughter was dead. there are rituals for death. we know how to missing. you are on a pendulum trying to keep hope alive, and logic is filling you with despair, and walking that knife edge - it's debilitating. it's so difficult. >> 101 days would pass before morgan's body was found by a farmer at a remote virginian form. 10 miles away. harrington believes her daughter murdered. >> when i was told by law enforcement it was likely we would find the criminal, the predator who killed morgan. from forensics from another body, something reared up. i wanted

to do everything in my power to stop that. >> reporter: with her husband she started the save the girls foundation. pushing for legislation to deal with sexual assault. it would take five years, tragedy before the virginia lawmakers to sharpen the process. it takes a critical mass of injury for people to take notice. and i think we are at that point now. i think we are at a point where we can make substantive difference in whatever is enabling the crimes to keep happening on campuses. >> it was the murder of another virginian student. the 18-year-old allowing the mystery of morgan's death to unravel in 2014. police found d.n.a. linked to a separate violent rape in 2005.

all connected back to one person. jessie matthew, at the time a man twice accused but never contacted of sexual assault on two different college campuses. >> i have to think if someone had taken a firm hand from the beginning and said okay, this is - this is serious business, if someone has been raped, we need to take this person off the streets. we need to put him behind bars. if that happened initially, i can't say for sure. there's a possibility she might be alive today. the fact that matthew remained on the loose for several years prompted a virginia senator and prosecutor dick black to develop the hannah gram law. requiring schools to include a police officers and local posterior in sexual assaults

investigations rather than handle them demrisively outside the system. >> i wanted a low enforcement approach, if you had a rape. it would be reported and they'd put it through channels like the victim of a rape, wherever it occurred. we want the prosecutor to find out about them. once it does, it puts pressure on him. always being the guy superimpressed next to the picture of hannah gram when there's a disaster. >> i don't think there's anything good about having a law campus. justin is washington d.c. defense attorney who often represents the accused in campus sexual assault cases and says drafting laws in response to a tragedy could be dangerous, and the law could lead to a long-lasting consequence to offenders.

>> most of the people are responsible for sexual misconduct on campus, are young people that have been drinking, finding themselves in an ambiguous situation and making poor choices. if they bring law enforcement. they are told that they have reporting requirements. to a hammer, everything is a nail. and the law enforcement officer is, by his or her nature, likely to recommend that it go criminal. not all of the cases go criminal. why is this law so important for you. >> because i think these are laws that will save the next girl. i think they have to, to change the dynamic, you have to change the culture. >> on july 1st, several new laws go into effect. one how law enforcement can gather d.n.a.

another a student's involvement investigation. some call that a scarlet letter law. and it's that law that dillon worseies could do more damage than good. but potentially leaving a stain on a records. >> i don't think a transport law will stop a predator praying on people. that's just what they'll do. a proper response is for a school to set up appropriate procedural protections for both sides, that pay attention to the needs of the survivors, and the rites of the accused. >> what do you say to people that experienced shorable tragedy, they have hope, and one person. >> i don't think you should pass laws based on the fact that may be there was a small chance that one person could be caught. >> that's a law that affects thousands of people who are nothing like jessie matthew. >>

no one can be certain whether any of these laws swoo have preventeded the death of any of these girls. but they do take comfort that the new laws could save someone else, and are in place in time for the start of the school year in virginia next - the shark secrets. what scientists and sportsmen want to know about the predator of the deep, and what it means for its future and a journey that led them to ohio. next week - resettling syrians fleeing violence into america's cities. correspondent adam may on the challenges they find in the that's next week on "america tonight".

>> i've been asked to

don't go near the water if you are worried about the sharks. a study finding more sharks than ever along the eastern sea board. why is one of the sharks' secret. could climate change play a why. most of us are fascinated, some

afraid of sharks. "america tonight"s adam may on the fascination with the scientists and sportsmen who get up close and personal. >> oh, my god. >> biggest one ever elliott is known as the shark wrestler. reeling in the naturally jumping giant sharks. some more than 7 feet long. >> caught maybe 500. videos like this made him a social media sensation. exploits viewed by millions. but this fisherman is putting his lobby to good youse. pushing it through.

he's one of thousands what tag and release mysterious sea creatures as part of a programme to learn about them. >> they have been studying sharks since 1982. up one of the researchers for noah, charged with managing fish res overseeing a tagging programme. we caught up with him at this shark-fishing tournament to see catch. >> if you see a shift in american's perception on sharks. >> there has been a huge shift on perception since i started. when i started going to the tournaments, the motto was the only good shark is a dead shark. >> and then it started being oh, my god. sharks.

>> this is the liver. we are weighing it. per cent body weight. can i tell you about the overall weight. >> it's a nice big fatty live, is a good thing. it's now sun set and elliott is at it, hoping to catch another shark. of day. >> unlike the fisher many, he releases every catch, hoping to provide some answers. >> if you are too rough with animals, it's not good for it. >> it's a big point of contention. if you keep them in the water and don't drag them on the beach and do worldness with them, and you follow them in the water, get a hook out. measures. getting it back in the water. >> you are saying despite the big killer mouths and shark

teeth, some can be vulnerable. >> they are very vulnerable. >> whether you are shark wrestling or fishing. the fascination is universal i think it's shark wrestling, that's "america tonight". tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/america-tonight. talk to us on twitter and facebook. come back, we'll have more of the "america tonight" tomorrow. >> i kept trying to make him not be a boy... it's not working. >> transgender children. >> i'd sit alone, i'd eat alone, i have no one to talk to. >> some dismiss it as a phase. >> we're trying to pigeon-hole him into "tom boy". >> but is it reallt a crisis? >> when your child wants to die... that's what changes parents. >> meet the families on a life changing journey.

>> i finally get to blossom into the beautiful flower i am! >> you know how everybody say they have a purpose in life? well, at one time i felt that selling cocaine was my purpose. i used to think i was born to be a drug dealer. i thought it was my job to keep everybody high. to get as many people high as i could. >> welcome to the famous wake-up show. this dj king jack.