sheila macvicar, al jazeera. >> the warehousing of disabled kids, as reported by our sheila macvicar in an investigation led by executive producer jay la monica. children especially the vulnerable ones had no greater champion than jay. he guided the reporting of all of our investigations including a look into history. and the nearly unbelievable attempt to create a super-race, in america. in an "america tonight" exclusive, correspondent lori jane gliha met victims and a courageous nurse who now admits her role in destroying their futures. >> i thought at the time, i was doing the right thing. it's what our legislators wanted at that time and what my bosses wanted. even the president of the united states, you trusted all of those people. so i went right along with them. >> 87-year-old celia vanzegrift remembers her time in the operating room as a nurse in the colony known as the epileptic and feeble minded. teens from broken homes alcoholics and others whom the state considered inadequate. >> how many sterilizations do you think you observed during your career there? >> oh my goodness

it is an outrage and a tragedy that "america tonight's" sheila macvicar investigated in florida. >> when the palms of sebring created what he called loving homes for its residents, the state gave $12003 million, that came from a special trust fund intended to improve care for failuressing home residents. how did the for profit nursing home in south florida spend it? not on extra staff or better housekeeping but on a redecorating spree that included chandeliers, clear fronded refrigerators. >> it borders on malfeasance. not holding accountable using this money. >> brian lee is executive director of the nonprofit families for better care in tallahassee. he says the trust fund has underwritten a number of building projects. >> you see nursing homes that are building verandas, gazebos, sidewalks, jogging trails, fish ponds. that, to me, smells of a capital improvement project because it's adding value to the nursing home. and those are permanent fixtures and placements. >> i don't see how it hems in the care of residents. >> it doesn't help in the care of residents. >> federal regulators agr

sheila macvicar is next with "inside story." have a great night. >> it was an historic moment, 88 years in the making. president obama speaking to the government and citizens of communist cuba on the island's capital city. the first sitting president to visit cuba since calvin coolidge, back in 1978. so with when all of the ceremonies, photo ops and speeches were over, was it all just political theater? or did the president really usher in a new era? it's the "inside story". welcome to "inside story," i'm sheila macvicar, in for ray suarez. it was a whirlwind tour for president obama. three days of diplomacy, meetings, and even a baseball game. but while the president seems to be warming up to his cuban counterpart, raul castro, the differences may be more evident than ever before. reporting from havana. >> reporter: it was the most anticipated part of president barack obama's historic visit, a message earmarked directly to the cuban people. >> i have come here to bury the last remnant of the cold war in the americas. because in

i'm sheila macvicar in for ray suarez. president obama has condemned the deadly attacks in brussels, pledging support from the people of the united states. and back with me, harlilne, pj crowley, former assistant secretary of state and counter terrorism and military expert, michael walsh. given what we have seen today in brussels, and last week in ankora, and earlier this month in abi john, and in november in paris, what do we do? if you were an adviser, you both have been in the position to be advisers, if you were an adviser to this administration, what do you do? do you step up the tempo, do you put boots on the ground or is that what isis wants? to sucker us into a ground war? what do you do? pj. >> i think in terms of two lines. the first is what does it say about the capable of the islamic state, and that is expanding. we have western support for regional forces, whether it's on the iraqi side with the iraqi military. or the syrian side with the collection of hopeful amount to something, and then trying to figure out

"america tonight's" sheila macvicar brings us a tragic story that began with a knock at the door. >> just like that, my overwhelm life was shattered. >> with that knock, rudy and rennie north were about to embark on a 22-month ordeal, one that would deprive them of freedom. >> she never said it was anything other than we have three choices. one: i can call the police. two: i can put you in a psychiatric ward. three: you can go to a assisted living facility. >> reporter: the woman at the door was april parks, appointed by a judge in las vegas to serve as the north' private guardian. unknown to the north and their family a doctor and physician assistant providing in home care had declared the couple unable to care for themselves. then a judge who never met the couple, signed off on the parks are owner be conclusion. >> i elected to go to the third option. going to assisted living. >> instead of two or three weeks, the couple wound up here lakewood terrace, outside of las vegas. sure there was some sort of mixup, confident they would be back home in no time. >> i felt this would just bl

i'm sheila macvicar in for ray suarez. today forces loyal to syrian president bashar al-assad entered palmyra, which has been under full i.s.i.l. control for almost a year now. omar al saleh is there, near the syrian border. >> syrian where officials say syrian officials are near, they describe the situation as very tense and the fightings is fears. fierce. people are called to leave palmyra. earlier in the month they start he the campaign to regain palmyra which fell to i.s.i.l. last year. the importance of palmyra, aside from the historical aspect and the archaeological side, to the north is raqqa and that's a i.s.i.l. strong hold. to the east is are deir ez zor, so the road between them, is tremendous key for i.s.i.l. . >> the move the retake palmyra comes days after ar russia pulled its forces out of syria. u.n. envoy says he's aiming at restarting peace talks next month. but the biggest idea is a political transition from the assad regime to a diplomatically based government. james bays from geneva. >> reporter: these

welcome to "inside story," i'm sheila macvicar, in for ray suarez. it was a whirlwind tour for president obama. three days of diplomacy, meetings, and even a baseball game. but while the president seems to be warming up to his cuban counterpart, raul castro, the differences may be more evident than ever before. reporting from havana. >> reporter: it was the most anticipated part of president barack obama's historic visit, a message earmarked directly to the cuban people. >> i have come here to bury the last remnant of the cold war in the americas. because in many ways the united states and cuba are like two brothers who have been estranged for many years, even as we share the same blood. >> reporter: the u.s. leader's speech at the majestic grand theater was broadcast live throughout cuba. watching intently as obama said that he believed in the right of citizens for free speech, to organize, to criticize their government, and choose their government and free and democratic election, all of this without u.s. interference. >> i would love to embrace hi

i'm sheila macvicar, good night.

here is "america tonight"s sheila macvicar. >> reporter: it's a long journey into night to new york burro burrows. this family makes the trek five times a week. when the children's afterschool programme ends, this disming mother heads home with her -- this single mother heads home with her daughters. it will take one bus ride and two trains. for 17-year-old arlene, it's a physical and emotional journey to be there. it began by doing hard time. >> can you tell me what took you to prison? >> i was home, sleep with my children, and just like any other night their father he did whatever he did on the streets, and would come home late. you know, we were going through domestic violence. he came in 1:00a.m.. drunk and belligerent. his eyes were a shade that i never saw before. it was like death. ha wants to have sex with me. because i don't want to have sex i'm accused of being a cheater whore. >> reporter: arlene's girls, 2 and 4, were in the apartment. >> the children woke up. i put them back into their room. i always grabbed the knife for protection. he started to hit me. he started to punch

nothing. >> reporter: sheila macvicar, al jazeera, las vegas, nevada. >> my goodness. you can see more of sheila's report on "america tonight" at 9:30 pm eastern, 6:30 pacific. >>> a vatican treasurer is admitting to enormous mistakes in the handle of sex abuse cases before the church. >> i swear by all mighty god -- >> reporter: taking the witness stand on the other side of the world. on sunday knight, he answered questions from rome. he was a senior priest in his native country, and later the archbishop of nearby melbourne from the 1970s to the '90s. the commission wants to know whether he knew about the sex abuse and why he didn't do anything about it. >> it's a long time ago, but i can't remember such complaints, and normally they would have been addressed to the education office, not to the vicor. >> well, that might be the case, but from time to time they came to your attention either before or after the education office? >> well, i can't remember any such examples, but my memory might be playing me false. ♪ >> reporter: he said he was too unwell to travel to a

sheila macvicar. you can watch more of her reporting on "america tonight" at 6:30 pacific time. >>> this morning, president obama said that the b bombings are another remind that are the world needs to unite in the fight against terrorism. the latest on the u.s. reaction to the terrorism attacks. >> reporter: president obama began his much anticipated speech to an old enemy for a pledge as a close ally. >> we'll do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally, belgium, to bring to justice those responsible. >> reporter: mr. obama called for a unified fight against the scourge of terrorism. >> we will around the world. >> reporter: the white house release this photo of national security adviser, susan rice, in an early-morning call with top security aids. earlier, mr. obama called charles michelle and offered his condolences. >> as our country has always done, we must confront this threat together. we must defend democracy and defeat terror >> reporter: testifying before congress, secretary ash

i'm sheila macvicar, good night. >>> thanks for joining us for america tonight. tonight a closer look at the impact we make on our earth and the consequences. we see some of the clearest evidence of climate change in some of the world's most remote places, like the small island nations most directly threatened by rising tides. our correspondent saw the risk first hand when she travelled to the marshall islands and met with islanders locked in a fierce struggle to keep from becoming the world's first climate change refugees >> reporter: far in the south pacific these islands ride low above the waves, spret out over hundreds of miles of ocean. there is very little here that is not beach front. this is oon island that is literally one road wide. on this side there's at pacific and on that side there's the lagoon and there's not much in between. for thousands of years these narrow ribbons have been safe and welcoming homes to fisherman, farmers, master navigators, explorer and canoe builders >> the biggest resource we have is the ocean. what connects us to the ocean

i'm sheila macvicar, good night. >> thanks for joining us on "america tonight." i'm joie chen. tonight we look behind the walls of communities facing america's toughest challenges. so often housing projects are written off, considered too hopelessly riddled with poverty and crime to even begin to think about a future. tragically, the residents of public housing are written off with their homes and their stories of trying oreshape their opportunities make their lives better are left untold. "america tonight's" fully cole grether found sometimes it takes someone from the inside to give voice to the voiceless. >> quiet on the set. >> this is project heat. it's a drama series about life living in the projects. >> action. >> it's crazy out here yawl,. >> what's up? >> policeman chasing me down and now older man. >> i don't know what to do, police told me something. >> cut cut cut. >> when the cameras stop rolling, life goes on for cast and crew. the actors live where they work. >> that's how you open a building. >> it's called lewis h. pink houses. and it's the set of project heat.

sheila macvicar is next with "inside story." have a great night. >> it was an historic moment, 88 years in the making. president obama speaking to the government and citizens of communist cuba on the island's capital city. the first sitting president to visit cuba since calvin coolidge, back in 1978. so with when all of the ceremonies, photo ops and speeches were over, was it all just political theater? or did the president really usher in a new era?

my colleague sheila macvicar will very ably take my place in the next three days. i'll see you friday. until then, i'm ray suarez. thanks for watching. good night. ♪ man... >> we're live in ferguson, missouri. >> brick by brick, i will open it. it will take more than a few rocks to stop me from doin' what i have to do. >> suddenly heroin seems to be everywhere. >> there's no way i am willing to give up my family for a drug ever again. >> i know you all have strong opinions about the border. >> i don't believe in borders. >> our government is allowing an invasion. >> i don't really know as much as i thought i did. >> people don't just need protection, they need assistance. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> oh my god... the town's out of water. >> we came up here to talk to some people who are selling fresh water... fresh water for fracking. >> we are a town that greed destroyed. >> what do we want? >> justice! >> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i wanted to dance, and eventually i started leaving the gangs in the st

my colleague sheila macvicar will very ably take my place in the next three days. i'll see you friday. until then, i'm ray suarez. good night. ♪ >> thanks for joining us i'm joie chen. we have seen cases of police misconduct in which police