Transcripts For ALJAZAM America Tonight 20150916

Its worse than whats on tv or in the media. The reality at this point. You might look at the images saying how could it be worse. Living it is worse. Syrians that escape the crisis at home, but find the pain still with them in americas heartland. Company thanks for joining us. Im joie chen. We watched the desperate journeys of thousands fleeing syria and the wars there. What has caped is the u. S. Role and escaped is the u. S. Role, and what we are going to stem the tide. Only a small number found refuge in this country. As adam may found. Frustration is showing. We are disappointed. This man is giving up on the u. S. Government. We first met the syrianamerican in 2013. Trying to find solace in his ohio garden, between frustrating calls to the u. S. State department. Im a citizen from syria originally. I would like to get my brothers and families from syria to here. For weeks he made the same plea, trying to rescue the family. I appreciate your help. I need your help. Please give me a call back. Thank you very much. Now, two years later, after failing to get any help from the federal government, his sister is among the dead refugees. She perished trying to escape syria with her children. And says they paid a smuggler to help them across the sea, like thousands of others, hoping to eventually get to sweden. When they got to the first island, my sister was getting really sick and once they hit the land they called an ambulance or something. On the way to hospital she passed away. She died. Why is it important for your sister to get her kids to europe. There is no place for them. They cannot work or go to school. She would give anything she can to get them to the safety. It is not alone. His group of Syrian American friends in colombus ohio meet to discuss the conflict. The lack of American Intervention and fears for the family members still living in the war zone. We dont find a family that has not been affected somehow with this crisis. It just reality at this point, that everybody has some pain and some wound. This doctor moved from syria in 2001 to pursue a medical career in the states. The opthalmologist lives with his wife and three children. In the suburb of dublin, a quaint, quiet town a world away from the violence plaguing their homeland. When you look at the new us and you see what is happening there in syria right now, and you look at these three kids sitting safe in ohio. You must be happy you made that decision to move, i would imagine. Its a difficult situation there. I have friends that have kids over there. They are worried about the kids, and thats a factor that pushed people to leave the country. People still like to send their kids to school. But they send them to school, we dont know if they come back, if they come back, we dont know if their homes will be there. Because its bombarded any time. The doctor has seen the destruction first hand. Did you think the hospital had been hit at this point. These are his home videos and pictures. He was back in syria in july. Offering assistance, a mission that almost claimed his life when bombs fell near a hospital. This is an area where the bombing started. Targeted the area along the hospital. What am i looking at here. There with the blood. Honestly, its worse than what we see on tv and in the media. You might look at the images saying how can it be worse. Living it is much worse. Nothing conveys the care that you get, the fear with the shock of the bombing that happened millions of meters away from you. You cannot show it in the video, its a war. We have to understand that it is really a war. Earlier from the summer, the doctor and others met with immigration officials in washington, hoping to convince policy makers to expedite the process. Syrians with ties. The best hope is to gain asylum from the government. While the u. S. Has given more than 4 million to humanitarian efforts in irja, only 1500 refugees have been granted entry to the u. S. Last week president obama said he wants to let in 10,000 more over the next year. Its a fraction compared to hundreds of thousands. It is disappointing. However, its part of how the administration deals with the problem. What would you ask the administration. To help and get the safe zone areas. North and south, and that people can be safe, to facilitate the immigration issues, really we want to the focus on how to get help inside syria to keep people in their homes. Those thoughts shared along the group of syrian friends. Living in america. Supporters of the syrian army. Wondering if the obama will ever offer substantial military support to help them take back and rebuild the homeland. What does a free Syrian Government look like. Hopefully well get a good government. Of course, everything needs to be built slowly and but surely. Do you think youll ever go back to syria. Once we get the dictator out, yes. You want to go back . I will go back to help. Hoping more of his family cunt day waiting. America tonight adam may joins us in the studio. Now that president obama said he will create opportunities, is that a good sign for these folks . Its a small step forward. We are talking 10,000. These would be granted refugee status. They really want expedited provisions for those that are living in the middle of this conflict, and that have brother or sisters living in the u. S. To get family members back to safety. Is it the sense that they want to move to the United States permanently. For some of them, yes. The doctor has established roots, hes happy living in america. They are paying taxes, kids are going to school, this is the new home. They look at america as their home. For others, they are so disenfranchise the by the way the u. S. Disenfranchised by the way the Syrian Government handled the crisis. They wonder what should we do. In the case of a couple of them, theyd like to move back to syria, if the country stabilizes in the future, if the Free Syrian Army is somehow taking over the government. They would like to be part of rebuilding the government in the future. I asked when do you think it would be possible. They hope soon, and the likely answer could be years. In that sense what is it that we could do behind providing refuge for more of their country men. The u. S. Has been stepping up when it comes to money. They are grateful. They dont want to sound ungrateful. They said you cant evacuate every person. You cannot make everyone a refugee, the real answer is to stablilize that country to stop the war. Theyd like a nofly zone over syria. People have been talking about this for a couple of years. We have seen it work. Thousands are dying in syria. The idea of a nofly zone with russia ramping up, getting more involved is unlikely america tonights adam may. Next, help from above. The biggest tool in the firefight, and questions about whether it works. Later, a click away. How six friends could be key to stopping sex crimes on campus. And hot on america tonights website black among the blue. An africanamerican officer on fergusons police force. What she thinks will make a difference, at aljazeera. Com americatonight. In our fastforward segment wildfire watch, we have seen massive wildfires in northern california. The historic drought fuelled two of the largest blazes in the states history. Hundreds of homes destroyed already. Thousands of acres burnt. Firefighters are looking skyward for help to contain the fires. Theres doubt that help from above will help the historic rim fire began in an unremarkable way. It was august 2013, year the Yosemite National park. Its within half a mile. Hopefully they bring the heavies in to dump the big heavies are the largest fixed wing firefighting aircraft in the world. Old dc10 passenger jets converted into air tankers. During the rim fire, help came from 10,000 feet up. We got at closer look at albuquerque. Home base of the only firefighting dc10. The plane has to be ready to go in half an hour. It could be any one. I have a crew that is preflight, waiting for the phone call. How does it change the game for firefighters . Primarily its quantity. This is on an order magnitude four more times any other tanker flying, and gets there with more sooner. Thats a good thing. Ive never had an Incident Commander running a fire, telling me that we got it too soon or brought too much. After decades of air drops, some doubt if air firefighting works. At the university of california berkeley, researcher bill stuart says we should look at aerial firefighting, to see if they are really worth it. When things are really hot, they are going to be an updraft of hot air, it will be hard for light material, retardant or apart to get on to put out the flames. When we fastforward to a second droughtrelated challenge facing the firefighters. Water shortages. Lakes and reservoirs are drying up, forcing the supply further away to find more water, to find the olympic games. Officials are urging the fire crews to get more creative to using dirt and fire retard able to. Next, friends in need. Aiming to stop sex crimes on campus by drawing a circle of protection. [ ] a our coverage of sex crimes on focused on the growing reports and concern on how to stop the results. The solution, as many think, may come from technology and may be on the gown. America tonight sara hoy found there was an app in williamstown massachusetts its a new school year at the Williams College in northwest massachusetts. Settling into School Includes the familiar. Meanwhile Students Learning short cuts around campus and a fresh attempt at dealing with an old problem. Campus Sexual Assault. Sexual assault happened forever. Sex happened forever, no one began to talk about it until recently. I think Sexual Assault on college campses is a big campus assist a big issue, i hope work continues to be done and education happens. The thing is Sexual Assault doesnt just happen on accident. Williams made headlines when it was accused of a 2012 rape. It had no time against them. Title 9 complaints put the schools at risk of federal funding. And a survey revealed 45 to 50 rapes occurred at the college each year. Administration admit they have a lot of work to do. When we think about data, the acceptable number is zero. We have to believe its possible. Then we had companies about what is the acceptable level of sexual violence. There isnt one. Part of the response was to appoint meg, a fulltime of Sexual Assault prevention and response. Shes been on the job for 15 months. A 2005 graduate. Since she graduated she has seen a shift of the conversation. That made you best fit for this job or is there things that you saw. You really do want to help change and believe that its for the better. A significant change, and something remarkable is 10 years is long, and not that long. If we had the conversation in 2003, and 2005, about intervening in situations, what people would have said is its not my business. Another part of the schools response makes it everyones secret. To do that, williams became the first school in the country to use a new social media app. Circle of six was considered as part of the white house challenge. The goal, design a personal app that provides young adults with tools to help Sexual Assault and gaining violence. An hap that involves friends, and preventing assaults was a key requirement. We wrote message and come and get me. With address, g. P. S. Location, having a comfortable interruption, and you as the user chooses who is important, who you feel safest, who you can trust. At the heart of circle six the the idea if you see something, something to each other before things get out of hands. We hope its a game changer. A lot of Administration Talk to me. We want them to have a plan before they go out. Basically you have what you need and you thought about it on a tuesday, not 4 oclock in the morning on a seat. The hard thing about being at a party, i dont know where your boundaries are, if you are there, you are probably questioning it. Its a lot easier to push it away and say everything is fine. Thats dangerous. All incoming fresh many at wments are arrived to down williams are asked to download the app. Specific data is anonymous. Privacy is part of the app. It can track patterns, such as spikes and usage. It shows which options are used most option. I need to talk is the number one button. Students will use technology to call on friends to help. Long before calling the police. Why are police or authorityies in general the authorities in general the last stop after a Sexual Assault. I wish people would understand that. Theres a lot of emphasis on police involvement. And i think it is important. What people dont understand is how tricky dangerous, unsafe it can feel to go to the police. If you make a report, it might become something that is taken out of your hands, and a victim wants to feel that she has control over her situation. I want fair response and accountability. That is not going to get us to prevention. Sexual violence is not a problem of a lack of information. Its not people are not harming others because they dont know about the policy. When you are presented with app situation. They need something in place, skills and capacity, the social norms around to act differently in that moment. You are saying this is about everyone, not just the victims, its about potential predators. That is also a hard word, right. Its about okay, how am i going to be accountable to my community. I need someone to help me with that when i do that. If other people are stepping in, it would be like hey, chill out. That is not cool. That is helpful to increasing safety. Thats the core of the social change we are trying to push. The app is designed to foster an ongoing conversation not only among students, but within the School Administration as well this is not week one orientation. Helping kids to navigate college life, sexuality and relationships needs to be done constantly. Schools have to prioritise this. They cant say we did the orientation programming, we are done. Hype theticily it hurts. Its harder to convince people, friends, those to use the app. Thats what well work on. A survey showed that rely on friends to avoid becoming a victim of Sexual Assault was a friend. A shift. You can see that 82 of our students helped a friend get home if they seemed intoxicated. If we are looking at the Core Functions of the app, people are doing those things. 68 of student talked with friends as a victim of sexual violence. Two of three have done that. For many students, having an app to help comes not a moment too soon. Theres not much you can do. Once it happens, you can be as supportive and helpful as possible. But at the end of the day it happened. And that person has to live with that experience, and cope with that experience and move forward as best they can. Theres work cut out for you. How do you address the issue that says maybe they are blowing smoke . People say you dont want title 9 complaints. Well no, i dont want people to make complaints. The within i dont want that is not because of a reputational issue, but if someone is making a complaint that rights have been violated, that is a problem. If someone is saying you didnt follow your policy or it is hurting people. That is a huge problem. We need to make the systems worthy of the people using them. Those that may feel wrong to say they didnt handle my case well, is this too little, too late . That is the thing about prevention. That is why prevention is so important, is there is nothing that is going to go back and unhurt someone. Its said that change happens slowly, and seemingly all at once. Those at williams say using technology and friendship to criate a safer campus is an idea whose time has come. When friends can make all the difference. Thats america tonight. Tell us what you think at aljazeera. Com americatonight. Talk to us on twitter and facebook and come back. Well have more on america tonight tomorrow. The beautiful flower i am were here to fully get into the nuances of everything thats going on, not just in this country, but around the world. As if there were no cameras here, would be the best solution. This goes to the heart of the argument to tell you the stories that others wont cover. How big do you see this getting . Getting the news from the people who are affected. People need to demand reform. Were here to provide the analysis. The context. And the reporting that allows you to make sense of your world. Ali velshi on target only on Al Jazeera America im ali velshi on target. Oil in the arctic, why some are cold to the idea of a treaty ta could let america warm to it uber on fire why some say theyve been left on the curbing president obama faces changes in the arctic, last month he travelled to the region to call attention to damaging effects of global warming. Villages are suffering from co