eastern 6 pacific. meanwhile, n.a.s.a. has called of its next mission to mars because of an instrument malfunction. the geology mission was scrapped due to air leaks. that's all our time. thank you. john seigenthaler is back with more of today's news the iraqi is attack i.s.i.l. tonight. iraqi troops supported by u.s. are reported to be closing in on the center of ramadi. jamie macintyre has the latest from the pentagon >> reporter: after months of planning, training and shaping operations, the iraqi defensive to retake ramadi is in the final phase. it would appear, based on the overwhelming numerical superiority of the forces that i.s.i.l.'s days of ruling ramadi

are numbered, possibly in the single digits. >> reporter: employing a floating plank like this, they began to close in on the busy center where they face house house combat against dug-in i.s.i.l. fighters. back in may i.s.i.l. took ramadi with shocking ease, routing a force with just over 1000 attackers. months of coalition bombing and low-level ground attacks have whittled the i.s.i.l. attackers down to 350 or fewer, while the iraqi numbers over 10,000. it is backed by u.s. air pour which was killed hundreds of i.s.i.l. fighters in baghdad. >> i think the end is coming. that said, it is going to be a

tough fight. >> reporter: for months iraqi forces skewed a plan drafted by the u.s. have been slowly surrounding ramadi, culting off supply lines. for u.s. commanders, the pace of the campaign has been slow, especially since the prime minister has refused to accept help in the form of u.s. attack helicopters that could provide air cover in tight area. >> it is tough to support somebody, but we try to provide support and they, like i said the kind of support we provide has to be consistent with the way iraqi security forces fight. >> reporter: iraq has one piece of important advice, to keep them out of the force to retake a ramadi, a sunni city. the iraqi security sources have been joined by officers and

police. >> i think the it is set for the full liberation of ramadi and we're doing everything we can to expedite the completion of that operation. i remain very optimistic, pretty bullish on it >> reporter: the pen gone has called ramadi a crucial test for the forces. if they can drive i.s.i.l. out of the city, just an hour's drive from baghdad, it won't be just a huge psychological victory, but serve as an grounding for the future thank you. the former director for iraq at the national security council. he is a senior future war fellow at new america and is a contributor. when i hear this, we've heard things like this before. is this different, do you think?

>> we have heard things like this before. so my optimism is a little tempered right now, but certainly everything that we're hearing is good news. even if half of this is true, it is still at least deserves a smile if we're shaving the champagne from later what i'm hearing from the pentagon and u.s. military is that the world hears this, that the u.s. forces are helping the a rack eau crack down-- iraqi cracking down on ramadi. is the pr campaign as important as the military one? >> absolutely. this sent some important messages that needs to be reinforced and fully broadcast. this really is about the iraqi government and the iraqi army. as jamie pointed out, the shia militias are distinctly absent from this, although there are sunni fighters involved.

it is a success for the coalition, the iranians and the russians are nowhere with to be seen in this particular fight and this is a success for the president and his healthy iraqis, hands off, we just stay in the air and provide intelligent strategy. >> reporter: so practically, what does it mean for iraq? >> what this means is that the iraqi government is starting to reclaim the territory that i.s.i.l. has taken from it. i think you and i have talked about this before. when i was last in iraq they are very confident that they're going to eventually, and we're talking certainly months, perhaps going into next year, but eventually take back all of this territory that i.s.i.l. has taken inside iraq. it won't happen as quick as it might under other circumstances if the u.s. were in there directly helping, it would certainly go faster, but they're pretty intent on taking it i'm unclear after all i've read about this and we've talked

about it, how strong i.s.i.l. or how weak i.s.i.l. is in iraq. can you give us a sense? >> that's very hard to say. i think we think they're now down to about 300/350 fighters in ramadi, but we're also hearing that the bulk of the fighters have fled. they realise that this battle is over and they will leave a core in there to make the iraqis pay a price. so it is hard to say how significant their forces are. they don't leave them in place to die enmass where will the next battle be? >> it's hard to say. my guess is falugia, but they could shift the main effort and shifting up towards mosul. my guess is they're going to want to clear more in anwar, the major city there before they push up towards mosul i would assume if they have this success - go ahead.

>> yeah. let's not put ramadi in the bank yet. there is still a fight to be had in ramadi, and let's think about ramadi until the flags road accident raised over the city center good to see you. thanks again. >> my pleasure a new report from amnesty international says russian air strikes in syria have killed hundreds of civilians. the report said russian air strikes conducted from september through november appeared to have directly attacked residential areas. it says russia may have used outlawed cluster ammunitions in the attacks. russian authorities are accused of covering up information about those air strikes. we are learning more tonight about the six u.s. troops in a suicide bomb attack monday in afghanistan. air force major adriana is one of the first gay service members to marry her partner. she leaves behind a wife and

son. another one. in dc a makeshift memorial for staff sergeant peter tubb. bowe bergdahl was arraigned together. he did not enter a plea. he walked off a base in afghanistan and was held by the taliban for five years. if convicted he could still face life in prison. robert ray is reporting. >> reporter: good evening. sergeant bowe bergdahl walked into the courtroom at about 9.50am. the arraignment started at 10am sharp. the judge walked out and read the charges. they said yes and no, then walked out into the rainy weather of fort brag north carolinea. flanked by his army attorney and military police, 29-year-old sergeant bowe bergdahl faced a

judge for the first time on tuesday in an arraignment that lasted about ten minutes. >> the judge explained his right to be tried before a panel or a military judge. the judge also inquired if sergeant bowe bergdahl wished to enter any motions or a plea at this time. sergeant bowe bergdahl deferred all of these decisions to a later hearing. >> reporter: bowe bergdahl, held by the taliban for five years after he left his post in afghanistan, is charged with decertainion and misbehaviour before the enemy, a relatively rare charge that carries a severe punishment including life in prison. he explained his actions in sprues on the pod cast serial. >> when i was seeing from my unit up to afghanistan, all i was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were

clearly, from what i could see in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed. >> reporter: sergeant bowe bergdahl said he planned to alert his colleagues, then show up at another base days later alive and well, a kind of super soldier, he said, likening himself to an ficfion a.m. hero based on the bourne supremecy movies. >> i had a fantastic idea that i was going to prove to the world that i was the real thing stow he was released in late may 2014 as part of a prisoner swap. the deal was the subject of harsh criticism from members of congress who accused president obama of jeopardizing the safety of the country, and from service members stationed in afghanistan when bowe bergdahl disappeared. >> sergeant bowe bergdahl endangered the lives of many

women and men who searched for him. >> reporter: bowe bergdahl said his case has been pushed for informeder >> we want people to realise that he is not an american hero. he didn't serve with honor and dignity and respect. he is a deserter in a time of war. >> reporter: the next pretrial hearing is scheduled for january 12 before army judge colonel jeffrey arnez who will preside over future hearings john, bowe bergdahl has two attorneys, an army attorney and a civilian counsel. neither one of them would say or respond to queries from us today about when exactly bowe bergdahl will make that plea of guilty or not guilty can you explain this charge of misbehaviour in front of the enemy? >> reporter: yes. it is a very rare charge. it was done hundreds of time during world war ii.

we haven't seen it very much since then, but essentially what it is, and this is the reason why there is going to be such a major trial ahead, it's way beyond the desertion charge which is a maximum five years in a prison. the misbehaviour charge is a life sentence if he is, indeed, convicted of that. essentially what that means is that when he left the base thorax there was the possibility that he was giving away tactical secrets or information to the taliban that could help them fight u.s. forces in afghanistan. also, it also put in danger the thousands of soldiers that went on the hunt looking for bowe bergdahl after he was captured for a few months. so it is a significant charge, it is very rarely done by now most of us have heard these strange audio tapes of bowe bergdahl. what is his lawyer saying about his mental status when he walked off that base in 2009?

>> reporter: well, you know, indeed, when he got back to the united states, his attorneys, his counsel put him through an evaluation. the outcome of that was that at the time the psychologist think that bowe bergdahl clearly was going through some sort of trauma. he did not have consistent behaviour patterns in his head. so there was something wrong with him at that point. whether he is okay today is a different story. he seemed find when he walked into the courtroom this morning. he had no emotions. he made no eye contact with anyone, but that's not quite surprising by any means, but that will be, i guess, the chest that will be opened when the trial does begin. where was his head, was this deliberate and why exactly did he walk off the base in 2009 big questions. robert ray, thank you very much. now to texas. the family of sandra bland is calling for criminal charges. the 28 year old black woman was found dead in a jail cell in

july three days after her arrest during a traffic stop. a grand jury yesterday issued no indictment in connection with her death. now the family wants charges against the state trooper who arrested her. >> reporter: the grand jury's decision clears the sheriff's department and its jail flows employees of criminal wrongdoing. the family is still pointing at the dash cam video that captured her initial arrest and the state trooper's actions that might have started it all. >> get out the car. i will look you out. get out. now. >> reporter: what began as a traffic stop near houston ended in the death of a 28-year-old black woman ruled as suicide. sandra bland was found dead in her jail cell on july 13 three days after her arrest. the medical examiner finding that she had hanged herself. and now.

>> the grand jury did not return an indictment >> reporter: no criminal charges against the sheriff's office or jailers relating to bland's death. while the county released this video from inside the jail earlier this year, showing the amount the guards discovered her body. the texas rangers investigated the death. the results have not been made public or shown to bland's family. prompting them to question the grand jury's finding >> right now the biggest problem for me is the entire process. it is the secrecy of it all. i can't begin to tell you what's going on because i myself don't even know what's going on. to not have my counsel be privy to any of this evidence that has been presented. i simply can't have faith in a system that's not inclusive of my family that we're supposed to be having the investigation. >> reporter: one of the questions that remained, whether the state trooper who pulled

over bland for failing to signal will face charges. >> i can't care about that. >> reporter: the texas department of public safety says the trooper violated the department's courtesy policy during the traffic stop. he remains on administrative duty. the grand jury will return in january to consider possible charges against him. mean what time, bland's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in a federal court in houston against the trooper, the department of public safety and against the county jail. in relation to the civil lawsuit, they are claiming that the jail was negligent in not checking up on her and not evaluating her mental condition. also the state has asked for this lawsuit to be dismissed. it is on track to go head on january 17 is there still a possibility that there would be criminal charges in this case or is it

over now? >> reporter: right. that book remains open. next month we expect the grand jury to reconvene and that is when they will look closer at the traffic stop and the actions of the trooper. he could face charges ranging from wrongful arrest to assault. we saw him pull the tauser on her during the arrest. tazer. he claims that she was resisting arrest and kicking at him thank you. coming up, ban lifted, the fda changes its policy on blood donations from gay men. does it discriminate against them. speechless and unsensored. >> she was favoured and she got trumped. she lost donald trump does it again, this time with a derogatory comment about hillary clinton. plus, one family's journey.

>> translation: every minute of every hour we were expecting to die. there was no choice but to leave they left syria seeking a better life. tonight we bring you the story of refugees who now call new jersey home. -- call new jersey home.

the 2016 presidential race is getting personal. a war of words have erupted from the democratic and republican front runners. donald trump has called hillary clinton a liar amongst other thing and today the clinton

supporters are calling the billionaire vulgar. >> how can i describe the leaders better than the word stupid. >> reporter: it was vintage donald trump in front of ten thousand people he attacked politicians and he hammered the press >> some of them are such lying, disgusting people. >> reporter: on this night donald trump hit particularly hard at democratic front runner hillary clinton. >> is she crooked or what? give me a break. is she corrupted? i mean, how crooked is she. >> reporter: donald trump took some of his clinton barbs further. >> we believe donald trump will be coming around the corner any minute. -- hillary clinton will be coming around the corner any minute >> i thought she quit and gave up. where did she go? i know where she went. it's disgusting. i don't want to talk about it.

>> reporter: then the billionaire developer described hillary clinton as a loser. >> she was favoured to win and she got slammed. she lost. >> reporter: the noun sclong is a term for male genitalia. the verb means to hit hit somebody. either way, most people would describe its usage as vulgar. the clinton campaign reacted tuesday on twitter. spokesperson said we are not responding to trump, but everyone who understand the humiliation of this should. he has repeatedly faced criticism over the language he has used to describe women >> you've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. >> reporter: after that first republican debate it was said of megan kelly >> you could see there was

blood coming out of her eyes or wherever >> reporter: even during the rally this week he used arguably sexist language when he responded to a woman protester >> that's a very weak voice. go a little louder. we can't hear you darling. >> reporter: the latest clash seems to come from a different place. for three tray straight days he has blasted hillary clinton for making a false claim about him and i.s.i.l. in her debate on saturday night >> he is becoming i.s.i.s.'s best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit. >> reporter: donald trump has even started imitating her >> donald trump is on video and i.s.i.s. is using him on the video to recruit. it turned out to be a lie. she is a liar. >> reporter: and on that charge many republicans agree. to them hillary clinton is a

figure to be despised. -- despised. >> hillay is not a president kentucky's new government has ordered the names of county clerks to be removed from state marriage licences. the county clerk spent six days in jail for refusing to issue licences to same sex couples. she said it violated her religious beliefs in an effort to head off similar protests, there will be no clerks names on new licences. gay rights advocates are calling out the fda tonight. the agency lifted a 30 year ban on blood donations by gay man. it requires gay donors to desist from having sex for 12 months

before giving blood. eliminating the restriction could increase hiv transmission through the blood by 400%. doctor larry mass is with the aids prevention care. he wrote, the first ever paper on aids in the u.s. he is in our studio. welcome. >> thank you so much what's your reaction to this? >> first of all, i didn't write the first paper. i wrote the first press reports on aids, but i think it is really blatantly discriminatory. there is no justification for if. donald trump is all over the news. it reminds me a little bit of the donald trump situation calling for this drastic measure of a ban on all muslims in order to prevent what would arguably be, perhaps, some - the entry or

screening of some criminals. it is really an overkill. it is blatantly discriminatory. it violates civil rights you suggest that the test on blood for hiv is good enough? >> absolutely. the 400% you're talking about, that's almost an inflammatory figure because we talk about there's one case for every one and a half million tests. so you're talking about a set of one case, maybe as many as four cases. so for that you're going to give up what are potentially hundreds of thousands of blood donors, pints of blood from gay donors. i mean-- that has been the case for some time, though, right? >> yeah it's a hold over from the original restriction in the beginning. >> right when there wasn't a test

>> in the beginning there was another group that was identified, a minority group, which was hash national, high risk. they're not disignited that way any more and gay men shouldn't be. now we have the testing it is a matter of risk behaviours and those are the issues, not whether the person is gay or not there are people who would argue that, okay, there is some risk. so how do you minimise the risk? one might argue that both straight couples who have abstained from sex and gay can you believes what have abstained from sex-- couples - are to be the ones who-- >> people should self - you know, if they've engaged in high-risk behaviour in the recent period, no, they shouldn't be donating blood. they should be pre-strained for that recent period meaning?

>> in the previous four weeks-- screened you wouldn't have a problem with that? >> four weeks after they've already had an hiv negative test because there is some period between the time they might have engaged in that behaviour and had hiv where it didn't show up on the test; right? >> yes, but that's - they now have a very, very highly accurate test for the rna and the antibody and they can pick that up in four to seven days. i read a figure of nine days, but they can effectively screen the donated blood and this is about not necessary. this 400% thing why is the government doing this, then, in your opinion? >> i think that they - i think it's discrimination so the stigma still remains? >> the stigma still remains.

the studies that they are quoting, that they say justify this really need to be opened up to much greater scrutiny and commentary. it does not seem scientifically justifiable or valid to do this and we're going to stand up and fight against this as long as we have to. it's certainly not going to endure. it's not a policy that's going to, you know, sustain itself we will see. it's good to have you at the program. thank you coming up next, more than one million refugees have arrived this year in europe. just a small percentage of the migrant crisis across the world. plus the syrian american devoting his time to helping refugees. why he does it and the families whose lives he helped change.

taking a toll, a grim milestone in the refugee crisis. >> this is three to four times as many migrants coming north in refugees as we had in the year 2014 more than one million have reached europe this year. how a syrian family is making a home in new jersey. >> we started helping people inside syria, seconding them clothes and food the american immigrant lending a helping hand. plus the music man, the block

buster soundtrack to star wars and the man behind the magic. another tragedy off the coast of turkey today. 11 refugees bound for greece died in the agean sea. three children are among the dead. seven others were rescued. the turkish coast guard says that it spotted the capsized boat on a routine patrol. the refugees, like so many others crossing the sea this year are syrian. more than one million asylum seekers have reached europe this year. >> reporter: europe is seeing its biggest refugee crisis since world war ii. people are fleeing persecution, poverty and conflict mainly in syria and are landing on a continent where governss are struggling to figure out how to deal with them. >> reporter: most refugees and

migrants entering europe are arriving by sea. risking their lives in hopes of starting new lives. >> most of these people with fleeing war, fleeing for their lives, fleeing terrorism. it is a shocking reality >> reporter: now they're fleeing in record numbers, more than one million so far this year. >> this is three to four times as many migrants coming north as we had in the year 2014. the deaths have already far surpassed the deaths last year. the u.n. says about half of the refugees and migrant crossing into europe by boat are syrians fleeing war. 20% are after begans and 7% iraqis. >> they're also coming from across africa. not all are fleeing violence. some are now fleeing what is climate change. they can no longer grow crops. >> reporter: most refugees and migrants land in greece.

many also aarrive inity fee, bull gar yeah and spain, but to put. migration to turkey is higher. the u.n. says more than two million syrian refugees are there. more than one million of fled to lebanon. they make up a fourth of the country's total population. more than 600,000 are in jordan. many of these refugees have lived for years in legal limbo without the right to work. some are now heading to europe the european union is pouring money into beefing of border security. next year the risk involved in trying to enter arm illegally are expected to grow. >> we may see lower numbers, but we may well see higher debts. we have seen nearly 4,000 people

drowning and dying in circumstances. these are people who are entitled to protection. >> reporter: the real number of people in europe may be even higher in the figure announced today. that's because authorities are having a tough time keeping track of all the arrivals about two thousand syrians have come to the u.s. in the past four years. president obama has promised to take in 10,000 more next year. that's despite many governors saying they don't want them, including chris christie. one family who is settling there. >> reporter: for most parents in measure, children coming home from school a precious but mundane moment, but these two are not like most parents. they're syrian refugees and for them these mundane moments. a normal day at school, a quiet dinner are more than precious. they're all they have--

precious. >> we hered to the car. >> reporter: that was three years ago when they fleed. there he had been a successful lawyer and a housewife caring for the children, tending their six-bedroom house. they were prosperous, happy and ordinary they say until war came to edlib and ripped that quiet life apart. >> translation: where we used to live was a major clash point between the opposition and the regime. we heard a tremendous blast. a shell had hit our house's wall. >> reporter: they moved more than once but everywhere they went fighting and fear followed. in september of 2012 they put the children in a car and drove to turkey. >> translation: every minute of every hour we were expecting to die.

there was no choice but leave. >> reporter: that must have been terrifying. >> translation: of course it was difficult, but sometimes circumstances are stronger than any decision. the >> reporter: the family stayed in turkey for two and a half years and so they applied for refugee status with the united nations. six months ago they were helped to settle in new jersey. they emigrated from syria with his parents 35 years ago. today he say businessman living in allendale, new jersey. since the syrian war began in 2011, he has been doing everything he can to help, both here in the u.s. and in syrian refugee camps. >> it is a catastrophe in syria. i mean, your heart would bleed. we have sent some 27 containers to syria. we give them generators, today,

tents. i got them heaters in the winter. they were so happy. >> reporter: he is also helping the family settle into their new home. here the family of eight is squeezed into a tight three-bedroom apartment, but the children are doing well in school. the six-year-old who has autism is getting the help she needs. this man is trying to learn english and look for work. they make ends meet with u.s. government support and donations from the local syrian community >> translation: our thoughts are always with family and friends left behind, but thank god we have a better life here in america. >> reporter: a better life despite the angry talk about muslims and refugees in the wake of the attacks in paris and california. that talk has them worried. >> translation: people think

islam is a religion of terror, violence and blood. god willing, we will work on that. >> reporter: the children are already dreaming big. 11-year-old wants to be a paediatrician and some day return to syria. >> i miss my country, but i know it is better and safer here. >> reporter: what do you want for your children? >> translation: other gouley is to provide them with a good education to secure a good future for them, god willing. >> reporter: do you feel you're some place safe where you can rebuild and have a new life? >> translation: in america we feel there is justice, we feel we can improve our lives. god willing, we hope things many get better. >> reporter: this family are not alone. on sunday evening they joined other refugee families at an islamic cultural center in

northern new jersey. >> translation: of course, i miss my country, but thank god we make sure our kids are safe. >> reporter: they're all struggling but grateful to be anywhere but syria jennifer syme is at the international rescue commit. welcome. >> thank you a story like that has an impact on you. is that family typical? >> yes. with the syrians we haven't resettled that many of them here in the united states here. about 2400 have arrived since fiscal year 11, but i would say that the clip we just watched is typical of a syrian refugee family resettling here you see the smiles on their faces and they talk about how they're thankful to be in america, a country of many immigrants, and yet they're also worried about what they're

reading in the newspaper, seeing on tv and the conversations that are being have about muslims. how does that affect refugees? >> i think what is important to remember is that refugees are extremely resilient people. just as you saw with that family, they have been through horrible things in syria and they spent a couple of years in turkey where necessity have not had an easy life. they they come here-- they have not had an easy life. they are very eager to start school, to begin working and make a living here yet there are governors in this country that say no syrian refugees. we don't want them. what do you say to them? >> that's definitely unfortunate. i think it is important to remember that this is a country that has been enrichard by many immigrants and refugees throughout history. these newer aarrivals are contributing to making this

country stronger i know that's what you believe, but i'm not sure that message gets through at all. what else is going to have to happen in this country in order for americans who don't agree with you to hear what you've just said? >> i think you would be straysd because we have officers in 26 cities throughout the united states and we have been overwhelmed with calls, with visits of people wanting to volunteer to give us donations, students from elementary school or high schools sending care packages for these families. there really has been an overwhelming demonstration of support do you think americans understand that these can be productive citizens that will improve the life of all of us? >> i think americans can definitely understand that. since 1975 the u.s. has actually resettled three million refugees and those people have gone on to have very productive lives in

this country. i think it's always harder for the most recent arrivals, but in reality these people go on to do great things, and the second generation benefits greatly do you worry about the people who say, "i'm concerned. i don't trust these people. there may be somebody in that group that's going to do some harm to americans". what do you say to that? >> i think first of all it's important to educate people about who refugees are. these are people that are fleeing violence, terrible conditions in syria. so they are not perpetrators of violence. the people that come here are very, very carefully selected by both the united nations as well as the u.s. government because there is a strong security vetting process that takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months it's good to see you. interesting family and interesting story >> thank you for having me a judge has ruled in favor

of the mall of america to block a group from protesting. the mall sued to stop the demonstration that was meant to draw attention to the shooting death of a man last month. it could still go on. >> reporter: these protesters are being told by the country's largest mall not to demonstrate on their property wednesday. the mall of america asked the judge to grant a temporary restraining order to prevent a huge demonstration like the one last year where some stores had to shut down. the mall says that protest cost irreparable to the mall of america saying it prohibits all forms of protest, demonstration and public debate >> our country was built off of protest. protest is meant to make people uncomfortable, it is not meant to be easy, but it is a struggle that we must go through to get justice here.

>> reporter: mall officials also want protesters to delete or take down any online material soliciting demonstrates to the mall. demonstrators want to draw attention to the death of this man killed by police. this is not about free pace. this is not about whether or not these folks have a good cause. of course they have a good cause. they've been demonstrating for weeks, demanding investigators to release the video of the shooting. authorities say they can't because it could interfere with ongoing state and federal investigations. the attorney for the mall says they don't take an issue with the message, but they don't want protests two days before christmas on a busy shopping day. some protesters seem to be doubling down on their promise to go to the maul. they have been tweeting with the hashtag, sue me too a major change in gun laws

in virginia. they will no longer recognised concealed hand gun permits. under the old rules, people could carry a concealed weapon if they visited virginia. it is being revoked. coming up next on the broadcast, preserving native alaskan heritage through video games.

>> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

a u.s. appeals court has struck down part of a federal law that parred the registration of offensive trademarks. it cited first amendment grounds. the patent office had refused to register the name of an asian american rock band called the slants. in october the group's founder talked with us about that case. >> they are basically saying if people see our website and it says the slants and then they see a picture with asians in it which, of course, would be us because we're a band, in the name of fighting against racism they are denying me rights based on my race. that seems unjust the rule could affect the agency's recent decision to cancel the trademarks of the n.f.l. washington redskins. from trademarks that often inspire anger to a new video game that aims to inspire pride, one company is used the technology to connect alaska's

children to their heritage. >> reporter: this sec year old is - seven-year-old is serious about her video games. during these countless hours on her x box she is not shooting anyone. >> that's how you do it. >> reporter: she is battling a bliss arid, communicating with-- blizzard, trying to protect her people. it is called never alone, based on a legend of the group of native alaskins who live above the arctic circle. a gifrl must over come a series of object stack ems to see what is causing the never-ending snow storm that threatens to damage her village.

the game introduces a culture to a wilder alled whence >> one day over lunch about three and a half years ago, we said that why not video games. why not use the greatest asset that we have? our peep, our stories, our culture. >> reporter: the game is based on this place. this is barrow, alaska, the last of villages that belong to a certain people. their culture, their stories are based on a life drawn from whaling, from carriboo, a subsistence life that ask slipping away. james is an expert in the language. he narrates never alone. >> reporter: the culture and language in danger? >> the way that we lived was in the language and that's going to be lost by the young people >> reporter: he says the game

could help preserve a language that is spoken by only two thousand of 15,000 remaining in the area. >> the game will make them interested enough to get them serious about living in the way. >> reporter: are you satisfied? >> we will make our money back. not only will we make money, but we had a huge impact in the world, in the industry. >> reporter: what's that? >> a polar beer. >> reporter: the fact that never alone is sparking his daughter's interest in her culture is all that matters. >> if there is a better way to kind of communicate a message to a certain audience like kids, you know, they like video games, that they can actually learn something from and have fun doing it. so i think we're doing an awesome job. >> it's actually cool. >> reporter: jacob ward

you can see more of his report on america tonight coming up at 9.30 eastern time. also tonight ali velshi "on target" is looking at veterans. >> reporter: they're men and women who sacrifice for this country. they have earned their money, but the problem is too often they are persuaded to spend it earning credits that other colleges don't take and earning degrees that employers won't want. we're looking at whether some for profit colleges are recruiting veterans for cash we will see you then. coming up next on this broadcast a man behind the star wars music. hollywood's most celebrated composer, john williams.

star wars continues to smash box office records. it has taken in more than 610 million dollars worldwide. the music plays a major role in the saga and the man behind it has played a major role in shaping the sound of holly holm hollywood for deck eights. >> reporter: seeing star wars is one thing, but hearing it is another. the movie, the franchise

wouldn't be the same without its composer, john williams. >> when i think of one of the things that george lucas did right in that first movie, nothing on that list is more important than the music. >> the scenes are incredible and adding the music to is like another thing to see it all coming together. it's stunning >> reporter: at 83 the hollywood legend is considered america's best-known composer with five academy awards, 49 oscar nominations, second only to walt disney. after a three year stint in the air force, he attended julliard before settling in as a studio musician on various movies.

then came his partnership with steven spielberg on jaws, et and, of course, the indianna jones series. now he has done it again with the latest star wars. >> you can't over sell the persons of what he does and to know that he was coming back to create a score for the force awakened was as exciting as any other aspect as working on this movie >> it is exciting for me also, even though i've been with it for so long and from the very earliest days with george lucas. i think the buzz has never stopped for us >> reporter: breaking box office records all over again, four decades later that's our broadcast. thank you for watching.

i'm john seigenthaler. ali velshi "on target" is next. >> i'm ali velshi "on target" recruited for cash. american hero handing over hard earned money for college degrees that employers don't respect slow track to safety, what is keeping rail roads installing technology that could save lives few industries in america had a worse year than for-profit colleges. you have probably seen the storie