>> hi, everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. >> house of chaos. the frontrunner for speaker steps aside. >> one thing i found in talking with everybody, if we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help us do that. >> leaving the republican party reeling. >> growing crisis. accepting forces to syria.

russia firing missiles in iran. water exodus out of new orleans. >> why nearly half the city's tap water vanishes every day. plus, speaking out. >> i got a letter inviting me to return to the school where i had been raped and then silenced when i was a student to speak about the rape they had denied. >> a survivor with a remarkable story of strength and inspiration. >> and we begin with an sos for the g.o.p. the party trying to reclaim the white house is now facing a leadership vacuum in the house of representatives. it appeared majority leader

kevin mccarthy would succeed john boehner, and then suddenly mccarthy withdrew. hard liners call it a victory, but what is the cost? >> john, good even to you. i thought i would be standing here talking to you about the nominee for speaker when elections are held october 29th. now there is a question of who that is going to be, and also if there is going to be an election on october 29th. it all started this morning with the abrupt withdraw of kevin mccarthy. >> when the day began, kevin mccarthy was the frontrunner for the house speaker. then the unexpected happened. >> kevin mccarthy went up to the micro phone and said he was withdrawing his name for speaker. >> ryan costello broke the needs.

>> speaker boehner got up and said based on what was just said we're going to move to postpone. >> mccarthy didn't think he was that face and sent republicans scrambling for a new voice. >> we need a lot more family discussion. we need to find somebody that our whole body can unite behind and do what we were elected to do. >> a difficult task considering the discord among republicans that many fear that caused john boehner and kevin mccarthy to bougbow out and it may have been simply a numbers game. >> i don't want to go to the floor and win 220 votes. i think the best thing for our party is to have 247 votes.

>> but mccarthy didn't have the 218 votes to win. and they acknowledged that they suggested that the bengahzi committee was designed to do political damage to hillary clinton. >> i should not be a distraction from that, and. >> you don't know about the dynamics of things. there is a race. then there were two candidates and then three. that changes the dynamics, but you don't know how. then there are two, and maybe more. >> john boehner is trying to persuade paul ryan to run. the former presidential nominee is viewed as a leader and member who could easily get the necessary votes. but for now and potentially for longer than he had planned john boehner will remain the speaker

of the house. >> and in fact, john boehner said that as long as there is no speaker elected, he will, as we said, remain as speaker. john, that could go well beyond the october 30 resignation that he had planned. it gives him a chance to do some of the things he wanted to do, although he really did want to leave on the 30th. >> thank you. the house freedom caucus is just a small group. but it's influence is large and growing. david shuster has that story. >> closed doors a few blocks from the capital the most conservative members of the house are again flexing their muscles. >> the questions we will ask will represent the 60%. republicans that i think the washingtonian republicans had portrayed. >> the congressman from kansas part of the freedom caucus, the

hardcore conservatives are demanding all candidates for house speaker personally commit to fighting democrats harder than ever. >> i don't want a pledge. i want it on paper. ethics putting your principles on paper ahead of time. >> the freedom caucus represents a slice of the 247 republicans in the house. but there social media conservative talk radio and outside organizations the group has amplified its power. >> while the republicans have a big majority, if a certain segment of that majority is willing to play ball they can exercise control over what happens or what doesn't happen as we look ahead. >> earlier this year the freedom caucus, members felt it was not tough enough. last month the caucus tried to eliminate funding for planned parenthood. >> people asked me what is the--what is the greatest thing about being speaker? >> and recently members played a pivotal role in ousting speaker

john boehner. caucus founder jim jordan, like boehner, is also from ohio, and was described as stoic and determined. >> a guy who stands on principle. ironically what john boehner said he was sent to washington to do. he wants to accomplish a no-compromise position with the white house. shut down the government if necessary. get people who are angry about the way government is run, get them the sense that they are doing something about it. >> in the house leadership elections, though, freedom caucus members have not offered their own candidate for speaker. representative jason chaffetz is one of the contenders. >> our message is one of bringing the group together, to be a fair arbiter for the house of representatives, and particularly you know, this group has a very vocal message. >> the frontrunner for house speaker was california's kevin

mccarthy. >> i think the job of the speaker is to be team captain. but this week conservative skepticism about mccarthy kept growing. >> you're judged today for who you are. you're not going to change your stripes when you get to a different position. that just doesn't happen. >> less than 48 hours later mccarthy withdrew from consideration. >> i think i shocked some of. >> you the civil war over leadership has raised alarm bills. >> there is a lot of frustration, and you've got members that represent that frustration, and the republican conference it's--you know, your freedom caucus. >> it all means that congress that could become even angrier, louder and less productive. >> i think the house has become a deadlocked house, and i don't--i don't think there

is--there should be any expectation that things are going to get better with a new speaker as opposed with boehner. if anything, the house could become even nor dysfunctional. >> joining us from capitol hill, congressman, i understand that you're a friend of congressman mccarthy. did you talk to him today? did he have anything to say? >> i've texted with him a couple of times. he has had his plate pretty full today. >> i'm sure he has. what is wrong with congressman mccarthy? why didn't he work for some members of the republican party? >> because a lot of folks back home, especially in texas, in some of the more conservative districts that i respect, like the one i respect, see him as an extension of john boehner 2-0. >> what was wrong with john

boehner? >> i think there was a sense that he didn't fight enough. he gave in. he didn't enforce the will of the house enough, and just gave up before the fight started. >> you just listened to that story in part about the difference between a washingtonian republican and freedom caucus republican. can you tell me what that is? >> again, i think there is a group--and i'll include myself in that, that wants to see congress go a little bit more to the right. they don't want to give up things before we put a bill on the senate table or on the president's desk. we've got to move forward. we've got to move forward with appropriations. quit doing these continuing resolutions. give all the authority to the white house. we want to use the power of the

force the way the institutions intended it. >> so is there room, though, for republicans who were dually elected by their districts who are not as far to the right as you and your friends? >> absolutely. you got to come together. i think that the republican caucus agrees on 90% of the issues. there are some issues that we don't agree on, and i think there is a group that didn't feel like they were getting a fair shake they add to that the frustration back home with congress not being able to get some of the things that were promised to the constituents done. >> isn't there a risk that the republican party is going to be a party that can't get anything

done? >> i hope that's not the case. that's why we're seeing this rigorous debate about who is going to lead us. everybody in the republican conference wants to lead. we have better ideas for the country. we can get people back to work. we can create a healthy economy. we can make it work. we've just got to get over the 60-vote rule in the senate, and the president doesn't want to sign anything that is sent his way. >> there are two people, tre gody and paul ryan, either one of them could unite the party. that's not to say that there isn't somebody else. because ryan and gody have said no, we're looking for someone else. >> is paul ryan conservative enough? >> i think paul ryan is conservative.

he's respected and he's a good communicator. the knocks on boehner he didn't do enough radio and television, he didn't get the message out. you saw how paul ryan sold his budget. he sold it. he's good on camera. he has the experience for having run for vice president. he's a communicator. we need a communicator both within the conference and talking as a spokesman to the public. >> you heard from your constituents that they didn't want kevin mccarthy. they didn't want john boehner. >> that's correct. >> they're cheering you on. what did they tell you next? >> they told me to find a good conservative candidate who will fight for our principles and an good communicator and spokesman for our eyes. >> what about chaffetz, motherland and webster?

>> i suspect you'll see two or three other people appear in the next 24-48 hours. >> john baner is going to be here for a while. >> once we get all the nominees sorted out, we're going to be able to make it happen. i still see the current speaker leaving on schedule. he has said he's willing to stay if we can't work it out. but i'm an optimist on this by i really think that we have great leaders within the conference, and we just have to figure out how we're going to move forward and who is going to lead this. >> this is the direction you would like the party to manufacture in. is there is minority who is really ruling the north? if we were in a parliamentary system we might have parties that would form the coalition government. you would have the freedom

caucus, the libertarian, the tuesday group. as it is right now in a two-party system, we agree on 90% of the issues, but still have some things we have to work out. it's a natural thing. remember, the founding fathers intended it to be difficult to get things done up here. >> despite the fact that your friend withdrawer you're happy today? >> i'm happy because i think we're going to get a good conservative. lots of people can get behind. this gives us the opportunity for more open debate. there was a lot of pressure from a lot of folks to vote for mccarthy. he was the assumed winner. but now it's a wide open field, and we really are going to hash out the issues and maybe do some healing within the republican conference. >> we'll be watching to see what happens next. great to talk to you. thank you very much. >> russia is denying reports

tonight that warship misfired several missiles today that landed in iran instead of syria. the news comes as the syrian army goes on the offensive in the north. our senior washington correspondent mike viqueira is standing by with more. mike? >> well, good evening, john. president obama is facing criticism in the wake of the new russian back offensive by the assad forces. they say that president obama is not doing enough to defend the u.s. allies, the moderate opposition within syria that the russian bombs are now hitting from the skies, and the cruise missile strikes yesterday. they say that president presidenbarack obama is not doing enough to stand up against

russia. >> carter listed his objections to russia's moves. russian background defensive by assad regime forces. russian aircraft coming within a few miles of u.s. drones. and cruz missiles lost without warning. thursday reports emerged that four of those missiles badly missed their mark crashing near iran. russia had received permission for iran for missiles launched to fly over its territory on its way to targets in syria. russia denies the report and said that all the missiles reached their target. they vowed to act when it comes to fight with russia.

>> nato is ready to protect all allies against any threat. that, of course, also goes for turkey. >> critics say president obama should have anticipated russia's aggressive actions, and that he has been outmaneuvered by his russian counterpart vladimir putin. >> i think a lot of it is simple misunderstanding of russia's intentions. you know, we always think that if we could just get together at the table, if we could just have a conversation we could find a win-win scenario. we're all about win-win scenarios. but putin does not see diplomacy this way. for him it's zero sums. >> even as russian missiles and bombs rain down on opponents of the assad are a scream, for now the u.s. military is focused on fighting isil, not russian forces. >> what does the white house do to protect those allies that are being attacked by russia on

the ground. >> that does not include directing actions on the ground. russia has failed to distinguish between shows groups that are and the extremists in isil. >> and john, the russian barrage against those opposition forces continued on thursday giving the assad forces room and cover to continue their offensive. >> mike, thank you very much. professor stephen fish has rent several books on post communist russia. he teaches political science in berkeley and he joins us tonight from berkeley, california. professor, this is really more of a military question, but what do you think it will take for nato in the united states to response mill taylorly if russia continues this sort of activity like flying over turkish air

space? >> that's a very important question, john, and i don't think we know the answer to that. russia and the united states and nato, have not really confronted each other like this since the end of the cold war. in fact, it's been some time even during the soviet thing has happened. what has happened is a to be proxy war over the west and russia. for russia and nato to be engaged in opposite sides in the conflict in a country like syria is very dangerous, indeed, what do you make of these reports that russia has fired missiles on iran. what could the strategy be. >> i don't think he has fired

missiles on iran. if, in fact, these reports coming from american intelligence are right, i think it just misfired and fell in iran by accident. you wouldn't strike iran for any reason. what it would say is that the shows of bravado, launching the missiles from the caspian sea worked to begin with, these are things that could have taken care of by iran planes very easily. imagine if they had fallen in turkey. this would be a very different situation. imagine there are civilian casualties. this would raise yet another problem. these kinds of muscle flexing you exercises are very dangerous. >> is it fair to say that the response by the united states secretary of defense or the head of nato in the past few days makes nato and the u.s. look weak compared to russia?

>> not necessarily. there isn't up that nato can do other than to back it's own members. it should try to strengthen it's own members' position video vis-a-vis russia. >> we see these missiles being launched from subs and ships and we hear words from the united states. >> that's right. but what can the united states and nato do? russia has an alliance in the form of the assad regime. it's very easy for them to define their mission. they want to keep assad in power. they've been close to that family and power going back to the 1960s. >> no matter how much it costs. >> no matter how much it costs. putin cannot afford this venture any more than ukraine. the economy is flat lining. it's shrinking. oil prices are down but he decided this is his big play,

his big ploy, expanding russian power in the world gaining a foothold in the middle east. he's hell bent on defending the assad regime come what may. and the united states does not have a strong ally in syria. it has a rag tag rebel groups that it backs, but we don't have an army or government or part of a government we can get behind to oppose putin's ally in syria. it's a very tricky situation for us. we've concentrated on trying to deal with isis. russia is not interested in dealing with isis. they want to shore up the assad regime. isis can come later. >> thank you for your insights. coming up on the broadcast. battered business. the effect rainfall has had on the economy. >> when you don't invest in it. if you don't maintain it, it will come back and bite. >> you the high cost of the water pipes. tens of millions of gallons of

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>> south carolina. bracing for another round of flooding. thousand more residents are urged to evacuate. it's hit the economy hard. we're in colombia south carolina. >> well, the joh john, the floodwaters have receded but thousands of people are urged to evacuate. in this part of the state. focus has shifted to clean up and recovery, and small businesses like this one are just starting to pick up the pieces. >> this had to be cleaned up. water was just gushing through here. this is where the water came up

to. >> before the flood milly and the rest of the staff were gearing up to celebrate 50 years of serving pizza. now they are cleaning up, trying to get their heads around what has happened to this small family business. a local favorite. >> you're in shock. you don't know what to do. it was surreal. it's like part of a nightmare that you can't wake up from. i woke up monday morning and thought, it's not real, right? >> the muddy water was waist-deep in the parking lot. they're winning everything out, right down to the floor tiles. >> this is a 1,000-year rainfall event. we had a massive amount of flash floods. the sun is going to shine. there is not going to be win, there is not going to be rain. but there is going to be a lot of water. don't under estimate the power of water. >> there is something that few small businesses think about. >> we do not have flood

insurance. i honestly i have not spoken to one person in this area who would consider flood influenc insurance. >> it's too early to know how hard small businesses have been hit. but over all damage will stop $1 million. city building septemberers stoppe inspectors. a loyal commerce has set up a go fund me page to help rebuild and reopen just like it was. >> right now we're trying to salvage what we can. i've had people beg not to change anything. it has been the same for 50

years. >> they're going to need small business loans. an people are fanning out across the state trying to help people start this process. but it will be a long time before these places are open for miss again. >> thank you very much. coming up next on this broadcast. anger and scorn. lawmakers turn into the head of volkswagen over the cheating.

>> revved up. in washington. >> we havwe take full responsibility for our actions. >> raids in germany. the volkswagen emissions investigation shifted in high gear. supply and demand.

>> a sustain and secure water supply for today and into the future. >> the battle in flint, michigan, where dangerous levels of lead were found in the water. how change could be on the way. plus leak scandal. >> you don't maintain it. at some point it comes back and bites you. >> why new orleans loses almost half of its drinking water every day. >> germany authorities raided volkswagen's headquarters today. vw said it turned over a range of documents to prosecutors and suspended several top managers. on capitol hill today. the company testified before congress. lisa stark has more. they were in for some rough

going. he was grilled for two hours who called the auto company deceitful, untrustworthy and air began. >> they faced rare agreement from both sides of the political aisle. >> it's time to clean it up or get off the road. >> the american public are not crash test dumeys and cannot be treated as such. >> they have been charged for deliberately installing software to cheat on emissions test. michael horne offered his sincere apology. >> we take full responsibility for our actions and we're

cooperating with authorities i in a cooperative way. but horn refused to blame the top brass for the deception. >> this was not a corporate deception. >> lawmakers were incrediblous. >> vw is trying to get the united states to believe that this was a couple of rogue engineers? i categorially reject that. >> volkswagen is still working out a fix. some lawmakers called on the company to offer a buy back program. >> the company's word is not worth a dime. the only thing i want to hear today is exactly how will volkswagen make this right by consumers. >> vw has almost a cult following, and the anger among car owners was evident by e-mails shared. >> the vw is the lance armstrong the industry.

these questions go on and on. how do you sleep at night. how do you call yourself a member of the human race when you knowingly poison the family. >> horn says he feels deceived for a country that he has worked for for 25 years. >> we have to use this opportunity in order to get their act together. horn again pledged to make things right. >> we want to fix these issues. we want to remedy our customers. we want to really make sure that this is never going to happen again. >> doing that could take years. and cost the company billions. also testifying two officials from the environmental protection agency, who when pushed said it was very likely that vw will face significant fines and will have to mitigate the extra pollution the extra emissions caused by these diesel vehicles. >> thank you. the city of north charleston,

south carolina, has reached a settlement in the case of a walter scott. an unarmed black man who was shot to death by a police officer. scott's family will receive $6.5 million. he was killed by officer michael slayinger in april. running away from a traffic spot. the incident was caught on video by a bystander. the settle was unanimously approved by the council. a new gun law will make it more difficult to buy guns online. it will call for tougher penalties for illegal sales. they said that the killings at umpqua community college showed that there is an urgent need for these measures. >> these ideas would make a real difference in stopping gun violence, but they won't become law without an outcry from the

american people. >> that was senator ron widen. unclear when or if the measure will be brought to a vote. president obama called for a common sense gun law last week, and he'll be in oregon tomorrow to meet with families of the victims. some presidential candidates are also pushing for aggressive new gun control laws. others say that there is no need. jonathan betz is here with that. >> the gun debates flits among party lines, but it's forcing candidates on both sides to focus on the details of their policy. and specifically what they would do if elected. >> when a gunman killed nine people at an oregon community college last week it was the 294th mass shooting so far this year. a stunning number.

>> i'm going to talk about this on a regular basis. and i'll politicize it because our inaction is a political decision that we're making. >> how to stop the violence. hillary clinton is now campaigning forcefully for gun control. >> how many people have to die before we actually act? before we come together as a nation she's calling for universal background checks and said she would take executive action if congress didn't act. it's a position different from bernie sanders. he's arguing for sensible gun control. he's working on a comprehensive package including banning assault weapons. >> this is in every police car. >> republican candidates like

jeb bush resist any action. >> the impulse is to do something, but it's not necessarily the right thing to do. he clarified that it's important to protect personal liberties. something echoed by carly fiorina. >> why don't we enforce the laws that we have. >> they say that the focus should be on mental health. >> you're not going to handle it with more gun control. gun control only works for normal, law-abiding citizens. it didn't work for crazies. >> ben carson said that the second amendment is sacred and he supports the idea of arming teachers. and donald trump said that lives could have been saved if there were more guns, not fewer. >> i will tell you if you had a couple of teachers or something with guns in that room, you would have been a hell of a lot better off.

>> the stark divide has kept washington at a stand till in gun rights versus gun control. while the grim tally of shootings continue to rise. >> it will remain in the conversation and will likely an big topic at the presidential debate next week. >> jonathan, thank you. one of the americans who helped to stop the attack on a train in france last month was stabbed outside of a bar here in the united states. airman first class spencer stone was stabbed in the chest several times in california. police say he was out with friends when a fight broke out. stone is in stable condition and is expected to survive. now to flint michigan. it could get a new source of drinking water. dangerously high levels of lead were found in water supply. many children tested positive for lead exposure, but it took months of fighting to get officials to step up. bisi onile-ere has more.

>> after mountaining complaints michigan governor rick snyder announced he's in full support of the city of flint returning to the detroit water system. >> we believe this will be better for the citizens of flint, which is our paramount concern. >> this comes one week after officials declared a public health emergency when studies revealed elevated lead levels in children. the cash-strapped city go began to tap into a cheaper source, the flint river, more than a year ago. for months the city said that the tap water was self. now the mayor is changing course. >> we know that flint needs a sustainable and secure water supply today and into the future. this is what we're absolutely committed to. >> late this summer the virginia tech researcher found that flint

river' river coercive waters leeched lead. and then a study from a pediatrician revealed high levels of lead in hundreds of children like four-year-old gavin walters. >> we didn't have this water. we lived in the south for four years. we never had this problem before. the only thing that had changed was the water source. >> a new study confirmed that flint's children are especially high risk. >> they were a total of 37 samples taken from 13 schools. of those 37 samples, four exceeded the 15 parts per billion action level. that's the level the mayor said switching back to the detroit water system is just the first.

>> we need to look at factors of affordability and public health and infrastructure all being assessed together. >> still, some residents are angry that it took this long for officials to do something. >> my reaction is that they should have did it way before this because they didn't get the knowledge of it. they didn't just find out that we had a problem here in flint. >> i still have many tough questions that need answering, and i'm going to keep asking to ensure that this never happens again here or anywhere else. >> it will cost $12 million for flint to switch back to the detroit water system. governor snyder said that he'll ask for the state legislature to provide $6 million, a local foundation will cover $4 million and the city of flint will provide $2 million. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera. flint michigan. >> now to another city with water trouble. aging water pipes are causing big problems in new orleans.

tens of millions of dollars leak out of the system every day. the city is working on the fix. but the cost to the federal government and the residents is huge. jonathan martin is in new orleans with that story. >> good evening to you, john. new orleans can brag about a lot of things but it's water infrastructure is not one of them. now this city has a problem that many urban cities have. it has pipes and it has a water system that is aging and worn down. recently it has caused headaches for a lot of people. interruptions that the mayor has recently called unacceptable. >> in jordan, new orleans restaurant,ing in is as unreliable as the water. >> it's been happening so much lately. >> twice recently two of the city's main water pumps suddenly shut down causing a drop in pressure making it easier for bacteria to seep into crack pipes. he had to spend hundreds of dollars buying bottled water and ice and estimates losing hundreds more from a drop in

customers. >> something has to be done about it because it's just a make. >> this problem isn't new in new orleans. there have been at least ten boil water advisories in the last five years. officials say that the most recent interpretation happened after pumps that keep the system pressurized lost power, but it's not clear why. mark davis at the institute of water resources said that the root of the problem is chronic neglect of century-old infrastructure. >> we're seeing the fraying of that system. when you don't invest in it and maintain it, at some point it comes back and bites. >> you it got worse after hurricane katrina. >> all that water that came in and filled the city added weight. that breaks pipes. that really tough on the infrastructure that you have. >> after the storm crews fixed some of the biggest leaks will

yobut new orleans losses 40% of its drinking water each day. frederick grant runs the city's water board. we asked why the system is such a mess. >> we're at the end of surviving on the 19th century infrastructure. we're touching it in sequence, so from time to time there will be those issues. >> along with new pumps, he said next year the city plans to add a pair of water towers to keep the system pressurized. the company that powered some of the city's water pumps said that it recommended similar upgrades several years ago, but nothing was done. >> they were seeing the next two and a half years that the system will be rebuilt. >> the improve edges will come at a huge cost. 3 it would. while the bulk of the money is

coming from the federal government more than 700 million is being passed on to customers. water bills in new orleans will increase 10% each year for the next six years. for jordan it's the price he's willing to pay. it's a long term fix means safer water and fewer interruptions. >> again, what we've seen are short-term fixes. these long-term fix also take time. as you heard. they're trying to expedite some of the work but they say it will likely be the year 2018 before they can officially say that new orleans has overhauled its system and hopefully having fewer problems. >> with these short-term fixes, does that mean residents might still have to boil their water? >> well, it reminds to be seen. what is interesting in these recent boil water advisories. there was no storm. there was no flood. there was no watermain break to cause it. outages seem to be the problem.

while officials hope that it doesn't happen again, they can't say that it won't really looking at what happened in the past. it just happened so suddenly. >> jonathan, thank you. new orleans legend and international superstar chef paul perdon has died. he rose to fame as executive fame, he wrote nine cookbooks and hosted nine national cooking shows. coming up next, my conversation with author and rape survivor aspen may docks. >> calling a rape a rape, calling spade a spade imagination the rape a disgusting horrible thing, not you p and it shrinks it and puts it back in its place. >> coming back from her violent attack.

>> er. >> in australia the parents of abducted children say that the country's laws make it harder for them to get their kids back, and they're fighting for a change. antonio mora is here with that story. >> in many cases when a child is abducted by a parent in australia and taken out of the country little can be done by the other parent. australia has the highest rate of parental abductions in the world. more than 300 children are taken every year, and it's not illegal

for a parent to leave the country without consent. >> if a jumbo jet caring 2300 children disappeared, there would be an outcry. >> a push is underway to change the law in australia. the desperate measures that parents will go to find abducted children. >> more kids are abducted in the united states as part of these international abductions in the world. >> i didn't know this about australia. >> very high rate per capita. >> we'll look for it in the next hour. >> aspen matis was a victim of a sexual assault at her college. she left the school and embarked on an extraordinary journey. she hiked more than 2,000 miles. how and why it chinged her life

is the subject of her book. it's called "girl in woods." i asked aspen why she decided to tell us. >> had i not told this story, there is this just one little anecdote that i think capture this is so cripsly. i remembered for so long when i would--i waited a while to tell family and friends, and then when i did, i would just tell them, kind of details because i feared adjustment. so intens inly. there was one detail i would omit. in the immediate aftermath i asked the boy if he would please sleep over. i begged him to sleep over. and he told me i was f-ing crazy and he didn't. he left. he didn't stay. then i thought i must be crazy. because who asks the boy who has

just sexual assaulted her to stay? so i would omit that detail until i finally wrote--i wrote about what had happened to "the new york times," and they decided i was going to include this because i felt tremendous guilt and shame. i thought there must be something wrong with me. there must be evidence that i had bad judgment. i had to admit and i braced myself for the backlash and i braced myself for all the things they would tell me that i feared. it was my fault. i asked him to stay over and nobody said that. every single person i heard from, and i heard from hundreds of women and a few men as well said, oh my god, i also asked my rapist to sleep over. or i wrote my rapist a love song. or i wrote him love poetry or i

tutored him in chemistry. i thought i must be crazy. i thought, i must be the only one. we all thought we must be the only one. it turns out if "t" is an incredibly common reaction. what you're trying to do is carry on. carry on. as if you're physically intact. if i act like nothing happened then maybe-- >> you'll get through it. >> maybe i can just delete this event. unfortunately, it's just not how it works. i tell your story because you'll realize you're never the only one. >> it's an incredible journey, but in the epilogue you go back to college to speak. >> i do. >> this is a freeing experience in some ways. but it must have been very difficult. was it? >> right, so i--seven, six years after i dropped out of the college, they invited me--i got a letter inviting me to return

to the school where i had been raped, and then silenced. when i was student to speak about the rape they had denied to current students. which was a mind blowing. >> you must have thought about not doing this. >> absolutely. in fact, many people were like--protect yourself. >> don't do it. >> this is not mentally healthy idea. as big as it would be of you, as great as it would be, i don't think it's a great idea. i thought about it, and i realized, you know, they're doing this for pr. they're doing this because they're trying to--they know you're--they're trying to mitigate the damage. >> ultimately, i don't care why they were inviting me back. it was so incredibly empowering. it was maybe the only way they could have gotten me back was to

speak without apology, honestly, and articulately about what they had said had never happened when i was a student there to their students. yeah. i read from my book. i read my modern love and i answered questions. i remember looking up and seeing a woman in the audience crying, and knowing that i was doing the right thing. yeah. >> do you think now colleges get it after so many stories like yours or not? >> victims and the people who love them are holding colleges accountable now for the first time. i think that's the only way to get them to change. i think telling your story will not only unburden you and help you see that rape is never your fault, and you are never alone, and there are always other people who experience it. they will also help change the

culture because other people will then tell their stories. they'll be empowered to do so. >> they are book "girl in the woods" is in stores and online now. thanks for watching. see you tomorrow night. the news continues with antonio.

>> paying the price... >> this will have consequences for russia itself. which is right - right fully fearful of attacks upon russia. >> n.a.t.o. takes action in response to russia's growing involvement in syria, and defense secretary ash carter makes a grave prediction for russian troops. boiling point. >> there is a lot of anger in our co