>> welcome to al jazeera america, i'm morgan radford. hundreds of search for survivors in a mudslide. and it's election day turkey holds it's first vote since anticipate government protest erupted last year.

>> secretary of state john kerry is in paris where he's meeting with his return counterpart sergei lavrov. >> reporter: this meeting between john kerry and sergei lavrov comes after a direct phone call between kerry and lavrov. kerry was flying back to the u.s. after a meeting in the middle east but turned around after the phone call with lavr lavrov. it comes after the build up of tens of thousands of troops on ukraine's eastern border. it's worrying that russian troops could move into ukraine

proper. sergei lavrov says putin has no intention of what would be considered invading. kerry said that there should be a new constitution for the country, one which creates a federal nation which gives more autonomy for the regions notably. those regions are dominated by russian speakers. washington for its part has according to officials in the u.s. come up with its own plan. he's saying there needs to be international monitors. they also want to see movements on direct talks between kiev, the inter erupt government there and between moscow. that's something that does not look like its happening for a long time now, particularly not since russian forces effectively

annexed crimea peninsula. after a referendum, a very controversial referendum. so both sides have their differing visions of the future in ukraine. they have their own interests in ukraine. there's lots to talk about in paris on sunday night. >> since crimea became part of russia, ukraine has par one regn left of odessa. >> reporter: ukraine is a country still coming to terms with what has happened, and what may be still to come. divided loyalties are playing themselves out on the streets. in the black sea port of odessa, ukraine's only se sea port. >> this is a stand of unity

intended for russia who would preview autonomprefer autonomy. this is the kind of threat russia has promised defend ethnic russians in ukraine defend. >> reporter: they're an group that pro tests the protests that brought down the ukraine government. they are small in number but one of ukraine's biggest problems. glory to ukraine, they cry, death to our enemies. >> our enemies are those who want to encroach on our territorial he integrity, our country's freedom and independence and those who kill the son of ukraine. >> reporter: the pro-russian camp knows that russia supports its demand to split from kiev and promises to defend it's

right. what no one knows is how russia may react. >> do you feel that russians in ukraine are under threat? >> when people walk the streets under neo-nazi flags shouting death to russia, then we feel threatened. >> reporter: in the end a confrontation. the ethnic russian crowds against like th right sector. it's a contradiction that russia is swift to highlight with the threat of the break up of ukraine instead. >> churches in washington are holding prayer services today for victims of last week's devastating mudslide. the number of fatalities have grown to 18, but the number of missing is actually dropped substantially from 90 to 30. al jazeeral jazeera has that st.

>> reporter: a week after the mudslide heavy rain flood the soak rain, trees and debris. that's all that's left of the lives left here. earlier at 10:37 a.m. a moment of silence. the moment one week ago when oso, washington, became home to one of the worst mudslides in washington state history. more than 200 crew members along with rescue dogs navigated through the floodwaters in search of victims. the letters are spray painted to notify rescuers of possible victims. >> the slide force is such that they're not recovering a full impact victim. >> reporter: they have come to terms with the worst. her younger son alan will not be returned. >> the hope lingered for three or four days but the knowledge was very immediate. >> reporter: though rescuers have not recovered alan's body,

they're certain that her fiancé and her grandparents are among the missing. >> i picture them as being in the kitchen, having breakfast, going what's that noise, and it being over. >> alan and delaney were planning a wedding. they were eager to start theirs life together. moments before death alan wrote a facebook post about his fiancé. >> his last text was 45 minutes before the incident, and it was to delaney. it said the ten things i need to make me happy, and it was all you. ten "you." >> reporter: it was entire families that were wiped out. they understand the possibility that while rescuers work around the clock, alan's body may never be found. >> it's only a body.

it's only their shell. they died together, i picture them together where they're at. it's only their shell. i picture them together. >> reporter: that was al jazeera's tawni mosley reporting. we have washington's governor, thank you for being with us this afternoon. let's just jump into it. we understand that the number that dropped 90 to 30, what a counted for the change in those numbers? >> i'm sure you can imagine the difficulty of collating huge amounts of information that folks may know per riflely, and they don't know well. they've found folks who are safe and sound.

it's good the number has come down, but we have people who are in huge grief right now and we're still focused on the recovery effort. >> when it comes to fatalities. we understand that while the medical examiner's toll is 18, but others bodies have been located but not included in the toll. what is the challenge in trying to identify those victims? >> well, this slide had a violence and force that really defies imagination. unfortunately, people who were victims of that great violence and that creates real problems with the medical examiner's office dealing with these families in understanding what happened. it will be some period of time until people are able to get sole information about the victim's. that's the nature of the trauma

that people experienced. >> you mentioned the difficult work ahead. at what appointment will this move into search from a recovery effort. >> we'll do what needs to be done to find any survivors, but i think everybody understands that it would take a considerable miracle at this point to find family members that are alive. i can tell you the very active effort is going on, there is probably 400 to 500 people involved in this effort right now. it is a full-scale effort, and that's going to continue. >> you mentioned the active effort. that includes volunteers. can you give me some idea of the community response? how has your community come together to deal with this tragedy? >> well, it's come together in a way that is very inspirational.

the communities, these are folks that are very self-reliant, very independent. a lot of people live here because they enjoy independence and self reliance. that has allowed these communities to be very unified, and very effective in marshaling all their resources to help one another. it's very heartened. i've been to several town hall meetings. to see families operating, really as you would expect in our community, state, and our country. a third of our rescue voluntee volunteers, i'm told that they never integrated with so many volunteers so rapidly to do this work. they're very good at it, too. the town of darington is a logging community. we have loggers, this is what they do. they get in the dirt and they

move trees. they're doing that right now under very tough conditions. >> governor, in terms of future response, people of the town had virtually no warning before the mud came crashing down. unlike the national warning systems for floods or hurricanes there isn't a national system to monitor mudslides. do you feel like there should be? >> well, we have to understand the enormity of this disaster. this is a mountain collapsing. and we have underlying conditions in washington and hundreds if not thousands of places that have very loosely consolidated soil because glaciers that have carved washington, and as they receded they have left 100-foot high hills and mountains of sand and silt. this is obviously one of the

biggest. we had a similar slide like this a couple of years ago in another part of the state. fortunately, it was in an unpopulated area, but these are risks that are inherent when you have this type of geology. >> given those inherent risks is there anything that the state might be doing t differently? >> well, we'll ask those questions and get back to the bottlbottom here. we'll see if there are lessons to be learn from otherwise, but right now we're focusing on the search and rescue. and that's what we're doing. >> governor, it's been a pleasure to have you here this afternoon. >> thanks, and thanks to everyone helping out. >> a potential setback for french president françois hollande, the far right national party looks like it will win elections in several cities all across the country defeating hollande's socialist party.

it comes as unemployment surges to a record high. today's announcement comes days after army chef general general al sisi resigned and announced his candidacy. if no one gets more than 50% of these first-round votes, then a second round will be held in mid-june. meanwhile, turkey's prime minister faces corruption allegations the country's voters head to the poll. even though those elections are local, prime minister erdogan said that the vote will affirm his legitimacy. we have reports from istanbul. >> reporter: a constant stream of voters eager to make their voice count. for them this is more than local politics, and people are bitte bitterly divided. 85 years old, he believes turkey needs a new political direction.

>> thpeople are waiting patient. and for some it's a duty to support the government. >> there are internal and external forces that are trying to effect us. it is our duty to vote. >> a million voters registered in istanbul, but these elections are overshadowed by allegations and the fighting that has left turkey's society deeply polarized in. it's the first vote since the anti-government protests last summer, and the allegations of mass corruption against the government. at the center of this political storm is prime minister erdogan, who was among those casting their ballots in instan pull. erdogan remains defiant and

blamed his enemies for orchestrating smear campaigns. he said this day is crucial for turkey. >> despite the claims made during the election rallies by my opponents today oh my people will explain the fact of everything. >> the people are hopeful that the time for change has come. >> my biggest dream is to pave the way for clean politics, to hold all politicians companyible tcompanyible--accountable to the people. >> there is a growing sense of anticipation and unease. the results could reflect turk turkey's' tight for change or strong support for prime minister. but regardless who wins turkey will be divided for presidential elections in august and presidential polls next year. >> coming up on al jazeera

america, grief turns to anger as families of those on board flight 370 demand answers from the malaysian government.

>> a series of attacks across iraq has left 16 people dead. the violence has been increasing in the lead up to next month's election. >> we saw an army base camp get hit. we've seen more of these attacks against army positions in the last few weeks. it's much more bolder, much more brazen attacks than we've seen in the past. we would like to see more of these as iraq comes closer to those parliamentary elections on april 30th. in the ongoing operation that's been going on since january we've seen further developments this time in ramadi, just out of ramadi city there was a attack there where 13 army

soldiers were killed and 25 civilians are injured. now anwar province, this has been going on, 17% of the vote. there are many people here what are wondering there is such intensity of fighting, whether anwar province will be ready to vote. a lot of people here questioning it simply due to the level of violence. >> three lebanese soldiers have been killed. the explosion happened in a town right near the border with syr syria. the suicide-bomber drove a car completely loaded with explosives into an army checkpoint. the wounded were flown out by helicopters. nine planes and eight ships are now searching the southern

indian ocean where experts believe the malaysian 370 plane went down. they spotted objects but so far no debris from the plane has been found. meanwhile many families members are clinging for hope as others remain angry as weeks pass by without any sign of their loved ones. many demanding answers from the government. a hectic season is winding down for president obama's healthcare law. monday is the last day to enroll but the white house has extended deadline to mid-april for applications that are stalled on the website. for an in-depth look, tune in to the week ahead with jonathan betz. coming up on al jazeera america, after a strong quake and dozens of aftershocks some experts say it could be the end

of an earthquake drought.

>> good afternoon to you and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford, and here are today's headlines. secretary of state john kerry is in france meeting with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. lavrov has denied a russian invasion of ukraine but said his country will protect russian interests there. municipal elections are taking place in turkey where votes are largely seen as a precursor to the presidential election that will happen later this year in august. the country's main opposition will be trying to end a decade-long rule of the prime minister. washington state is holding prayer services for the missing in the devastating mudslide. crews and volunteers continue to

search for those who are missing. the 4.8 earthquake shook one of the nation's busiest national parks this morning. the quake hit yellowstone. no damage was reported but the university of utah said tremors were felt up to 20 miles from the epicenter. meanwhile residents in southern california are recovering from friday's 5.1 magazine any taught earthquake and caused structural damage, evacuations and more than a hundred aftershocks. luckily there were no injuries but some wonder if the tremors are a sign of more to come. >> reporter: in an area that hasn't had a massive earthquake in decades, this earthquake rattled store shelves and nerves. while the damage was light it was the second significant shake to strike los angeles in the last two weeks.

a 4.4 quick shook residents out of their beds. now many in southern california are worried in the increase of seismic activities as they recall the days of the northridge quake. >> los angeles has had a quiet time since the aftershocks that ended in northridge. the decades before northridge we had a damaging earthquake in los angeles almost every year. >> friday's 5.1 quake was centered in la habra, southeast of downtown los angeles just below the whittier "fault line." the united states geological survey has mapped 300 fault lines in california. more data is needed, but it appears likely that people here should be prepared to feel more seismic activity. >> we should expect the new normal to be higher. the last 15 years was too quiet, it can't be the long term. whether or not we've gone into that new phase we'll have to wait and see. >> reporter: more than a hundred aftershocks have hit after

friday's quake including a 741 magnitude shake that are struck while we were talking to a fullerton resident. >> now that was a strong one. >> what the heck is that? >> that is what you call an earthquake. >> oh my gosh. >> reporter: friday's quake was the strongest to hit the los angeles area since 2008. al jazeera, los angeles. >> while california is dealing with those aftershocks the rest of the country is dealing with heavy rain. let's look at this gloomy sunday. >> meteorologist: you got that right. we're looking at rain across the northwest. we'll continue to look at the flood warnings there. we can see the rain coming in off the coast line. it's pushing in to the northwest. yesterday we have heavy rain across portions of oregon. you can see the streets just flooded. it looks like rivers here pushing on through the streets. that is very, very dangerous when you can't see what's

underneath the water there are currents under the water, and that can just sweep a car away, so be careful out there. if you're dealing with flash flooding you want to stay off the roadways. we'll continue to watch the rain in portions of california, everett, washington will continue to deal with that rain through tomorrow, and additional rain is expected. across the north central plains look at the temperatures in minneapolis. it feels very good out there today. temperatures to a high of 61 all the way down to memphis and very comfortable for sunday here in houston. take a look at this here. the red flag warnings in effect. when you culminate the fact that we'll look at sunshine, low relative humanity in decision to gusting winds we're looking at winds in excess of 30 mph, 36 mph in wichita, those are the ingredients that you need to see fires break out. across the full area here we

have red flag warnings in effect really through tomorrow. talking about wind, look at the northeast. today temperatures are going to generally be in the 30s, 40s and 50's once you make your way through the mid-atlantic. when you factor in the wind it feels chilier out there today. we have a cold front that will bring a little bit of snow to portions of pennsylvania earlier today and rain along i-95. the heaviest of the rain has been across portions of maine where we'll continue to see that throughout the day. temperatures in the 50's and 40s once you make your way back to albany when you factor in that wind it feels cooler out there given the fact that we're not looking at a lot of sunshine. as morgan said it's a gloomy sunshine. a better day across the south. gusting winds across florida brought down trees and power lines. we even have video to show you that. gusting winds across florida all

the way from jacksonville into miami. we'll show you a little bit of that video later on today. back to you. >> thanks so much. and thanks so much to you for watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. stay tune because "real money" is coming up next. >> >> russia's problem is yours too, same for china, turkey and brazil. i'm looking at the tangled web that is our economy. and you want jobs - i've got them, i'm tell you about an industry booming in america. plus a century old event changing the work place forever, with landmark laws that keep you in work today. i'm ali velshi, this is "real money".