captioning sponsored by wnet >> brangham: on this edition for saturday, october 24: hurricane patricia makes landfall in mexico, then weakens rapidly. in our signature segment, hoping for safe harbor in the u.s. after fleeing domestic violence in honduras. >> murdered in this country. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: lewis b. and louise hirschfeld cullman. bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company.

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> brangham: good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm william brangham, hari sreenivasan is on assignment. hurricane patricia has toppled trees and battered buildings, but has caused much less damage than expected. the storm, which briefly rated as the strongest hurricane on record in the western hemisphere, with 200mph winds while over the pacific ocean, has been downgraded to a tropical depression with winds of only 35mph. patricia weakened as it made landfall on mexico's pacific coast last night and largely spared the cities in its path, including guadalajara and the seaside resort of puerto vallarta. thousands of residents and tourists had fled inland.

heavy rains have caused flooding but there are no reports of fatalities. the remnants of patricia are expected to add to the heavy rains already falling on texas. more than a foot of rain fell in the central and southern parts of the state in the past 24 hours, causing major flooding. flash flood warnings remain in effect in dallas, houston, san antonio, and austin. 50 miles south of dallas, in the town of corsicana, an overflowing creek washed away train tracks and caused a freight train to derail. no one was hurt. traffic was backed up 12 miles on a flooded section of interstate 45 overnight. today, around 100 flights from dallas-fort worth airport were cancelled due to the weather. european leaders are gathering in brussels for talks on dealing with the ongoing surge of migrants and refugees flowing into the continent, a surge that continues despite falling temperatures in much of europe. one idea on the table: no longer transferring migrants from one country to another without prior agreements. slovenia says it has admitted 13,000 asylum seekers in the past day and 58,000 during the past week.

at one camp along slovenia's border with croatia, police in riot gear used pepper spray to control crowds seeking to board buses for austria. the international organization for migration estimates 680,000 migrants and refugees have crossed into europe this year from the middle east, africa, and asia. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says israel and jordan have agreed on steps to curb a wave of violence between palestinians and israelis. in jordan's capital of amman today, kerry met separately with jordan's king abdullah, and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. kerry announced there will be 24/7 video monitoring around a sacred site in jerusalem's old city. it's known to muslims as haram al sharif, and to jews as the temple mount. israel also said it would re- affirm jordan's role as custodian of the site. kerry said it was a "false perception" among palestinians that israel wanted to change the rules governing access to the site, a charge israel has denied. the conflict over this site has been the source of much of the violence in recent weeks. and today, though, that violence

continued. israeli soldiers shot and killed a palestinian teenager who tried to stab a guard at a west bank border crossing. in the past five weeks, palestinians have killed ten israelis, mostly by stabbings, while the israeli military and police have killed more than 50 palestinians, describing half of them as assailants who had attacked israeli citizens. for more, i am joined by arshad mohammed, he's a correspondent for reuters, and he's been traveling with secretary kerry. he joins me via skype from riyadh, saudi arabia. arshad mohammed, thanks for being here. give me a little sense of what is it exactly that israel and jordan are agreed to today? >> well, according to secretary kerry, there are basically four broad steps that he sketched out. the first is that there would be 24/7 video surveillance of the entire area. the idea there is that transparency will let everybody see what's happening and make it harder to misrepresent what's

happening and whether the status quo is changing. among the other things are that israeli prime minister netanyahu will enforce the existing prohibition on non-muzz lums, jewes, christians and others from praying on the site. third, that he would restate that israel has no intent of dividing the site. and fourth, that israel and the jordanian religious trust, that administers the site, would significantly increase their cooperation, all as a way of trying to reduce tensions and prevent violence. >> brangham: given that there has been so much animosity over this particular site and more broadly between the rells and the palestinians, how likely do you think that this kind of an agreement is going to have any lasting effect?

>> you know, it's hard to say. i think a lot of it depends both on the actions of officials and then public sentiment. if there is seen to be good will on the side of the israelis and the side of jordanians and the palestinian residents of the area, you know, then it's possible that the violence will come down. you know, the other question is whether what other factors that have given rise to the tension and the violence and, you know, one factor that is often cited by palestinians is the feeling that israel is allowing more jews to visit the site and is sort of tacitly accepting that they pray there. whether the palestinians feel like that's actually stopping or abating or being reversed.

you know, i'm not in the predictions business but it does seem to me that both sides have some measure of interest in reducing the violence if they can. >> brangham: all right, arshad mohammed from reuters, thank you very much for being here. >> thanks for your time. >> brangham: signaling a shift in its position in syria, russia says it's ready to support the u.s.-backed rebels who are fighting syrian president bashar al-assad. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said in an interview broadcast today that russian warplanes would support the free syrian army against assad. in airstrikes this month, russia bombed those same syrian rebels. lavrov also said russia is ready to cooperate with the u.s. on attacking the islamic state, or isis, in syria. the u.s. senate has scheduled final votes next week to pass a bill that would permit companies to share information about hacking attacks with each other

and with the government, without fear of lawsuits. the so-called "cyber-security information sharing act," or cisa, has already passed the house of representatives. but several big tech companies like apple and twitter say it does too little to protect individual privacy. joining me now to discuss the bill is "politico" reporter tim starks. help me understand this. we like to think of legislation as trying it solve a particular problem. what is the problem that c.i.s.a. is trying to solve? >> the problem here is that there is some information that's shared now on cyber security threats but not enough. the idea of this bill would be to make it so that companies could send more threat information to the government without fear of lawsuits. it helps them solve the problem of where that threat came from, and, therefore, that-- the idea is that the government has different kind of expertise than the private sector, and the government might be able to help them better than they are able to help thenselves. >> brangham: so is the idea that a company either gets hacked or thinks they're being

probed by hackers, and they want to then share that with fellow companies or the government but they don't want to get sued for that. how big of a problem is that? are companies being sued left and right for sharing this kind of information today? >> no, they're not, but they might be, depending on the kind of information they would share under this bill. certainly the issue of business-to-business is a different kind of thing. that's related to trade practices, for instance. >> brangham: so several tech companyes, apple amongst them, have raised real concerns about this, saying that there's huge privacy concerns. you can explain a little bit about what it is that they don't like about this. >> there are a number of these big tech companies that do not like the bill. that's because they're worried about the privacy implications of it. if you think about the kind of information that might be shared that a company might have on a threat that they've received or that they're aware of, there might be some elements of that, that include what is called personally identifiable information. they don't like the idea of how much of that might get shared under this bill.

i think they come at it from two perspectives. one, silicon valley is philosophically inclined toward privacy. and they are still reeling a little bit from what happened after edward snowden's revelations about the extent of some of the tech companies' cooperation with the nsa. >> brangham: so what is the concern people have raised? they have said if you're getting hacked and you share information with the government, somehow you're going to reveal something about my health information, my banking information. is that the nature of-- that's the concern here? >> yes, that's the privacy groups, they say it's a very dangerous bill, and industry groups say, no, if you look at what the cyber threat indicators are, they're saved guards about making sure personally identifiable information is scrubbed at some point and that the bulk of this information will be information that is just about, you know, actual lines of code in some cases. but if you look at the-- the privacy groups say cyber threat

indicators are poorly defined in the bill, not narrowly defined enough. you think of what an i.p. address might reveal about you. it might reveal your sexuality and certain other kind of indicators that would be included with gender or other sorts of information that is of a personal nature. >> brangham: all right, tim starks of politico, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> brangham: in the past year, the united states deported over 110,000 migrants from central america, many of whom came to the u.s. after fleeing violence in three countries: el salvador, guatemala, and honduras. as the drug gang violence in that northern triangle of central america continues, it's been accompanied by a surge in violence against women. in fact, honduras, a nation of eight million people, has one of the highest murder rates of women in the world. in tonight's signature segment, we bring you the story of a 19-

year-old woman named lilian. to protect her identity, we're only using her first name. lilian tried to escape the violence, but as you'll see, her journey highlights the question: is domestic violence a legitimate, legal reason to be permitted to stay in the u.s.? special correspondent john carlos frey has our story. and a warning: this story includes some graphic images. >> reporter: in this hillside slum in honduras, 19-year-old lilian is hiding from her ex-boyfriend. she says he beat her and raped her for years. >> ( translated ): he would go out with his lovers to drink away his money, have fun, and i would complain. he would punish me, hit me with a belt or whatever he could. >> reporter: their relationship began six years ago, when they met in her rural village in eastern honduras. he was 22. she was only 13. days before her 15th birthday, she gave birth to their son, who is now four and lives with her. when lilian met her boyfriend, she had quit school after third grade and could barely read and

write. he promised opportunities she had never imagined. >> ( translated ): he offered me better things. he offered to let me study-- that he'd take me to the city and other things. >> reporter: instead, she says, he ordered her to work in the fields, cutting lumber and cooking. there was no school; no trips to the city. lilian says the beatings worsened after she gave birth. when she refused to have sex with her boyfriend, she says, he forced her. >> ( translated ): it was pure hell day and night, fighting with me. when the baby was born, he would argue because of the baby. fighting about the baby, that it was his, and that if i left and took him with me, he'd kill me. >> reporter: she wanted to run away, but had no job and no means to do so. >> ( translated ): if i told my mom, she would support me. but my father? never. i also never wanted to bring my brothers into the problem, because they wouldn't like it. also he, my ex-boyfriend, is a very violent man and would tell

me if i told anyone i was suffering he would kill me. he'd show up with a gun and point it at me. what was i to do? >> reporter: "how did he point it," i asked. "like this?" >> like this. to the head and threatened me with it. >> reporter: a pistol, here on the head, and he raped you? >> ( translated ): yes, and he put it like this to my head, loaded. >> ( translated ): every thirteen hours, a woman is murdered in this country. >> reporter: gladys lanza runs a group working to stem the rising tide of violence against women in honduras. she says 96% of domestic abuse complaints are never resolved. >> ( translated ): 96%. that is the degree of impunity that exists in this country. since there is no punishment, since there is no investigation, since the responsible assailants are never found, then there's this permanent situation of crime and violence in the country. it's a permanent state. >> reporter: in the past decade, the number of violent deaths of

women in honduras has risen 260%, from 175 in 2005 to 636 in 2013, according to the most recent data. >> ( translated ): we feel impotence. we feel frustration. >> reporter: maria mercedes bustillos is the country's chief special prosecutor for the protection of women, appointed by the honduran president. her office receives 20,000 domestic violence complaints every year. but only a fraction are prosecuted, because so many women fear testifying. lilian has no official documentation of her abuse-- no medical or police records. mercedes says that's the case for many victims in honduras. >> the victims suddenly retract their cases because of the cycle of violence. and that's where the weakness of the system lies, of not being able to reach them once the complaint has been made. >> reporter: mercedes says even when women seek help, there aren't sufficient government services to assist them.

>> ( translated ): a victim needs a shelter to go to with her children-- a place to eat, to bathe, to sleep before the legal process continues. the government doesn't have any shelters. >> reporter: lilian says her boyfriend became increasingly dangerous after he got involved with a mexican drug cartel called "los zetas." after the baby was a year old, lilian managed to escape for months at a time and support herself-- but each time her boyfriend tracked her down. lilian felt she had nowhere to turn for protection. >> ( translated ): he'd threaten me if i spoke to the police or made charges against him. he threatened to set fire to the house. since i was a little girl, i was really afraid. i was afraid of him for a long time. >> reporter: last year, an uncle in texas offered to pay smugglers $4,000 to help lilian flee to the united states without a visa-- a risky trip that thousands of other women opted to undertake as well. her uncle had only enough money for lilian, so she left her son

behind with a relative, hoping to send for him once she arrived. just 18 and alone, lilian met smugglers in guatemala and began the week-long trek through mexico. >> ( translated ): sometimes it's 24 hours in a bus or walking. there are times that you're locked up alone in a place without food. >> reporter: last may, lilian arrived near mcallen, texas, where us border guards questioned and detained her. "did you tell them your history," i asked. "that you had a boyfriend who was going to kill you?" >> ( translated ): i didn't tell them, because i thought that the government here or that he would find out. i explained about the baby. the most terrible things i didn't explain there. >> reporter: university of california-hastings law professor karen musalo represents women seeking asylum, a legal mechanism that allows people fleeing persecution, or fear of persecution, to live and work in the united states. >> from my own experience working with central americans and knowing what they know and don't know and what their perception of the process is, i

would doubt they have a sophisticated or clear or even correct understanding of what happens when they arrive in the u.s. >> reporter: musalo says migrants who enter the u.s. seeking asylum are screened to see if they have a "credible fear" of returning home. >> if they don't indicate right there at that initial interview that they left because of some kind of fear, they could be immediately returned. >> reporter: lilian's initial reluctance to tell her whole story- to prove a "credible fear"- led immigration officials to send her back to honduras. >> ( translated ): i was deported and had to go home with no money, with nothing. >> reporter: stephen legomsky, a former attorney for the u.s. government's citizenship and fear of violence is not always enough for someone to qualify for asylum. >> if, for example, you were in danger of being killed because someone had a personal grudge against you, or even because a youth gang is angry at you for refusing to join their ranks, the present case law is that you

generally would not qualify for asylum. >> reporter: asylum applicants must also then prove persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. women who face violence may or may not be recognized as a social group, depending on each individual case. back in honduras, lilian says her boyfriend contacted her at least three times after her return, threatening to take her son away. last fall, just four months after being deported, lilian tried to escape again- this time with her son. "with the child, you thought you had a better chance," i asked. >> ( translated ): yes, with the hope not to be detained, i thought. >> reporter: in october 2014, a family friend paid smugglers $6000 to help lilian and her son again make the weeklong journey. they crossed the border near hidalgo, texas, and presented themselves to immigration officials. this time, lilian told her full story- and later presented

sworn affidavits from two witnesses saying she and her son were in danger. one wrote lilian "was mistreated by her former partner, and he continues to look for her and claims to kill her when he finds her." another person in honduras wrote of lilian and her son: "their lives are in danger in this country." like thousands of other migrants from honduras, as well as guatemala and el salvador last year, lilian and her son waited in a family detention center in texas. >> the immigration judges and the board of immigration appeals who decide most of these cases are notoriously under-staffed. they, for years and years, have asked congress for more resources so they can decide cases both fully and expeditiously. and thus far, congress has not been willing to provide those resources. so there's a long, long backlog. >> reporter: this june, homeland security secretary jeh johnson announced a plan to reduce the backlog of cases and to wind down family detention, saying "long-term detention is an inefficient use of our resources

and should be discontinued." after eight months in detention, lilian learned her asylum request was again denied. she also says her boyfriend, who'd been working with the zetas drug gang in mexico, was sent back to honduras. >> ( translated ): then when i spoke to my mom, she told me the baby's father had been caught by mexican immigration, and he was back in my country. >> reporter: in june, immigration officials put lilian and her son on a plane back to honduras. lilian now has a lawyer in the u.s. working on an appeal, and a new legal precedent may offer her a pathway to asylum. in august 2014, the highest immigration court in the u.s., the board of immigration appeals, granted asylum to a domestic abuse survivor from guatemala, saying she was part of a particular social group under u.s. asylum law. though there's no official count, advocates say anecdotally a handful of cases have been won using that precedent, but former immigration official stephen legomsky says the bar is still high.

>> even with this board of immigration appeals decision, and even assuming the woman is able to get here in the first place, she still faces a number of tough hurdles. >> reporter: and of course an immigration judge has to believe lilian's story. >> ( translated ): i went to them with my case that is credible before god, above all things, and i swear that everything i told you and everything i told them is true. it is the truth and nothing but the truth. >> brangham: on pbs newshour weekend tomorrow, correspondent john carlos frey sits down with the president of honduras, juan orlando hernandez, to discuss domestic violence in his country. >> i asked the president about those corruption allegations, particularly that money meant to help battered women isn't reaching victims. >> ( translated ): our administration decided to launch a campaign even before taking office, not just to patch up laws passed by previous congresses, but also to implement programs that will provide transparency and put up a full frontal assault against corruption.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> brangham: the united states and china have recently committed to nearly total bans on the ivory trade. president obama and chinese president xi agreed to the goal last month, which hopes to curb the poaching of elephants who are killed for their ivory tusks. but china still remains the world's biggest consumer of ivory. the newshour's christopher booker has more. >> reporter: hong kong is one of the largest ivory smuggling hubs in the world. despite a 25-year-old international ban on the import and export of elephant tusks, poachers kill an estimated 33,000 african elephants every year. they find a ready market in an increasingly affluent china, especially for jewelry and statues made of ivory. now, the conservation group wildaid, along with the world wildlife fund, is calling new attention to the problem. >> the traders we've interviewed in undercover interviews, what they're saying is that "we can

bring in new ivory, no problem, we can get paperwork for it." it's basically hong kong is an ivory laundry where illegal ivory can come in and once it's here, the people with the permits have legal right to sell it. >> reporter: in this undercover video obtained by wildaid and the world wildlife fund, you can see a shopkeeper explain how lax chinese regulations make it easy to import ivory into china. >> reporter: in hong kong, licensed vendors are allowed to sell ivory they obtained before the 1989 ban, but the supply of ivory items has not diminished as expected, raising questions about whether vendors are topping up their supplies with new ivory. wild aid & the world wildlife fund estimate there are currently 111 tons of ivory for sale in hong kong shops. and while the u.s. and china have pledged to increase efforts to end the ivory trade, the conservation groups are advocating for an outright ban

of all ivory sales in hong kong. >> brangham: and finally tonight, the rare and emotional reunions for families from north and south korea. under a special arrangement between the two nations, 440 relatives visited in a north korean village. souses and siblings, parents and children, many in their 80s and 90s, kept apart for six decades. south korea chose participants by lottery while north korea awarded those who showed loyalty to the state. on tomorrow's program, a look at the obama administration's new call to roll back standardized testing in schools. i'm william brangham, thanks for watching, good night. captioning sponsored by wnet

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: lewis b. and louise hirschfeld cullman. bernard and irene schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. judy and josh weston. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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