raised the risk of mud slides in that area. those are the headlines. i'm richelle carey. "america tonight" with joie chen is up next, and you can always get the latest news on our website. that is aljazeera.com. >> >> on "america tonight", a major develop in the search for ralisha. investigators believe the man accused of kidnapping the 8-year-old is dead. where is she? >> in the thick of it - the strength of neighbours - hurting but hunting for the missions. >> you are mindful of how logs are stacked. someone could be underneath it, it's intense. >> and also a "america tonight" special series "your secret is

out", a look at street surveillance tracking your every move. >> they looked up your information 1400 times - do you have any idea why? >> that's what we want to know. >> good evening, thanks for joining us. joie chen is off, i'm adam may. we begin the search for relisha rudd. she's been missing for a month. the main suspect in the disappearance may be dead. lori jane gliha has been following the case. this is a twist. we thought police were looking for her body. >> and the washington press chief doesn't make identifications like this.

usually the police go through the medical examiner or the coroner's office, but she says it looks like the body of the tatum. they have been searching the park. they determined he spent time there on march 2nd, the day after r erkts -- relisha went missing. >> these are the last-known video of relisha rudd, surveillance video from a holiday inn express. the man by her side is a jan or at b.c. homeless center. according to the police report, the girl's family allowed tatum to take relisha away with him in february, but the little girl didn't come home. >> it's heartbreaking. >> danielle knows relisha well managing an educational play

area where relisha participated. for more than a year, she says, the 8-year-old thrived on art projects and dreamed of being a model or cheerleader. this is a place relisha felt safe. >> she was trusting, loving. she was the first kid - she was outside for playtime, runs up to you "it's play time", and throws her arms around her. people here need to be kept safe. it's unspeakable that there's someone who families trusted with their safety and family's safety. >> shelter managers and leaders at the washington d.c. department of human services which overseas the homeless shelter are not saying much about why an employee was permitted to interact with the little girl outside the shelter. more than 400 families stayed in d.c. shelters last year.

this year it's 700. with the growing homeless population, homeless advocates say it's understandable why families may be vulnerable to situations like relisha. >> when parents come from a background of trauma, they may not be sensitive to boundaries and red flags. it's - there are a lot of people praying on vulnerable people and not everyone has the discretion to tell who is sincere and safe and who is preying on their children. >> jam eela larson co-founded the homeless children's playtime project, in which relisha rudd was a participant. >> she says families like relisha may be crowded foo a small room. >> imagine if you and a family of five were packed in a room like rats for 18 months and someone offered to relieve the

burden and help with the kids. >> search warrants obtained by "america tonight" show police have been working in many places. detectives recovered clothing, shoes, and a photograph from tatum's d.c. hoax. in a joint task force, they took an ipad, work supplies and papers from his locker. it shows a better timeline of event. it wasn't until march 19th that a social worker reported that relisha had been missing from school for 30 days, records show she was treated by a dr tatum. when the social worker went to the shelter to meet with dr tatum, a supervisor told her he was a jan tore, not a doctor. tatum left work, and never returned. >> she's deer to me and the

volunteers. she is a sweet girl. >> the people that know relisha hold on to hope, making buttons to remind people of her cheerful face and can't understand why an employee at the shelter was allowed to spend alone time with a little girl. >> it's clearly in the guidelines, front and center. everyone in the organization knows we are not allowed to do that. we can't be alone with the kids, not even staff or volunteers that have been with us for years. it has never happened, will never happen. >> the search will begin on tuesday and last several days as police look for relisha. they said it seems like a recovery effort and are not ruling out the possibility that tatum killed relisha. it was discovered that may brought 42 gallon trash bags, which could be used to dispose of a body. >> this has to be a setback.

i'm assuming they'd rather have the suspect alive to lead them to where the little girl may be. where do they go in the search. they are continuing to search. a couple of things they may or may not help them and perhaps to help them. we have been to the body. they used different methods, they have cadaver dogs. dive teamed. they us technology and aerial views. they are hoping, of course, that they are finding her alive. >> it's real tragic. >> now to southern california, where people are a little jumpy, following earthquakes and aftershocks, a 5.1 tremor shook the greater los angeles center on friday night. the epicentre was miles from town. aftershocks rocked the region

all week long and another quake today. many are wondering is the big one next? >> the sound was horrible. >> rattled nerves in southern california. it was not the big one, but the 5.1 earthquake has shaken people. >> i'm scared it will happen again. >> and it did - again and again. 150 aftershocks hit since the quake on friday, including a 4.1 striking while the cameras were rolling. >> that was a strong one. >> what the heck was that? >> that's what you call an earthquake. >> the center was in lahabra. 20 miles south-east of downtown los angeles, but felt has far south as san diego. the damage was light, it was the

second significant quake to strike in the past two weeks. the sham rock shake shook loss already awake on st. patricks' day. according to a geological survey, california felt more seismic activity this year than the last two decades. >> los angeles has been in a quiet time. since the aftershocks ended from northridge, the decade before northridge we had a damaging earthquake in los angeles almost every year. >> sys meteorologists say the -- sites meteorologists say a -- size mollingists say a fault not known about very well is behind the quake. the u.s. gs mapped 300 fault lines in southern california. sys meteorologists say more data

is needed. there'll be more seismic activity. >> the new normal needs to be higher. whether we've gone into the new phase, we'll have to wait and see. >> so are these quakes precursors to the big one. dr susan hough, a size moll gift is joining us. is california on the verge of a big earthquake, can we take away anything. >> we can't answer the one question everyone wants to know, is the big one coming, when is it coming when you have little earthquakes, it raises the possibility. we don't have crystal balls

telling us what will come next. >> why don't we have better technology or understanding so we can predict the earthquakes. >> earthquakes are unpredictable. people have been working on it for a long time, looking at different research directions, there's optimism going back to the '70s, when people thought prediction was around the corner. all the methods that people try when you try to predict earthquakes that have not happened have not panned out. >> i have seen research saying if you could predict, it could cause panic, if you can give people notice. do you have thoughts on that? >> considering a hypothetical, some people think earthquakes will never be predictable over the short term. we are moving towards early warming where you figure out the

earthquake happened and you spend a warning signal at the speed of light travelling faster, so you can get people a few seconds of warning. >> this last fault was a hidden fault until 1999. are there more hidden faults we don't know about? >> are there faults - we don't know what we don't know is the problem. we think we have a pretty good idea of the major fault systems, with gps technology, we can see where the strain is building up. that said, it's complicated. if you could x-ray the los angeles basin, it's like a shatter pattern. different fault segments. >> i want to ask you of the early morning system. in this case there was a couple of seconds warning, what impact did it make? >> it's developmental, it's not fully implemented and there's still kinks in the system.

we are a lodge way from the full implementation, we are not at the point of saying "all the warnings went out and here is the actions that were taken." it is - the system is demonstrating the feasibility of the early warning concept. >> that will be interesting to see where you go with that, if there is an early warning, how you can get the information out to the masses. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. coming up, a one track mind, and it's all about you. >> it can tell who you associate with, which doctor you are going with, whether you are sleeping in a different house every night. i couldn't think of another surveillance technology that has the technology to be invasive. >> how law enforcement can track you down when you are on the

move. our special series "your secret's out" starts next.

it's been almost a year since edward snowden ignited a fire storm over mass surveillance conducted by the n.s.a. the n.s.a. is not the only agencies tracking us. we begin a "america tonight" special series on privacy - your secret's out, with an investigation into a controversial new tool for surveillance that has caught on like wildfire among law enforcement agencies, and creating a record of the movements of ordinary americans. i travelled to minnesota for

"what's tracking america." >> hillary has been a licence the private investigator in minnesota for 15 years. digging up information on other people is part of her job. last year a shocking discovery when the tables turned on her. >> came out of the blue in the mail. john and i received letters stating that an individual from the dnr accessed our driver's licence information and has been terminated from his position. >> john hunt, an employee at the minnesota department of natural resources is accused of making 19,000 queries of protected driver's licence records, mostly women, and saving some photos on his computer. hillary said it was creepy and got worse: it opened a can of words. >> pandora's box. >> she and her husbands john

requested an audit of who looked up their data. they got back a stack of record. >> all the cities that looked up our information. the city we live in. the amount of times or private information was accessed. >> what did you find out? >> we had numerous queries >> how many? >> total with both of us 1400, i think >> 1400. >> yes >> they looked up your information 1400 times. do you have any idea why? >> that's what we want to know. >> they discovered a spike in activity when hillary was featured on the local papers front page and the focus on an article "busting a cheating spouse", in a matter of days, dozens looked up her dmv data. >> a pretty girl, and they want to know where she lies. >> that scares me.

i have kids. >> is it uncomfortable living here? >> mm. i think we don't know how far it will go. >> you feel like you are being monitored. >> they were unwitting victims of a widespread case of data abuse in the state's history. they weren't alone. an ex-police officer, a former police union lawyer, and a local news anchor had hundreds of unusual inquiries. >> we have paid out tens of millions of dollars in the last five years because of representatives of government that have illegally searched data. >> john is a representative in the state legislature, in the wake of these stories, a state audit found that half of the law enforce. were likely accessing state databases for questionable reasons. what worries him more is new

surveillance technology called alpr, or automated licence plate readers. >> this technology allowed law enforcement to do something different, which is essentially dragnet the population. >> mounted in public places or on law enforcement vehicles, alpr devices scanned the licence plate of every car that passes. each device scans thousands, checking each against a hot list of stolen cars or wanted persons. data from elp devices, photos, a time stamp and location is retained in thousands of databases across the country and shared by various agencies, and even sold to private companies, with little or no legislation. it's unconstitutional. >> if you don't have an independent probable cause against a citizen or individual,

why are you keeping their data. there's no reason to do it. >> use of data has increased. >> jennifer liynch, a lawyer wih the electronic frontier association says mass deployment is possible. >> in los angeles, the l.a.p.d. has about 250 squad cars equipped with cameras and 35 stationary cameras. each camera can record up to 1800 plates a minute, with the capacity to collect so much data so quickly, the databases are large. >> large and according to lynch, way too invasive. >> if a licence plate camera picks up your licence plate many times during the week, and can pinpoint your location and chart your path through life. that can reveal sensitive information. it can tell who you associate

with, which doctor you are going to, whether you are sleeping in a different house every night. i couldn't think of another surveillance technology that had the potential to be as invasive. >> north of st. paul, the ramsay county sheriff's office purchased an al pr. we went along for a spin. it's picking up the licence plates in the parking lot. >> i'll do one more row here. there we go. so we just got an alert. i have to run the plate. >> okay. this time it turned out to be a false alarm. inspector ron alan says he saw alpr work when he was the deputy chief of the police in minnes a minneapolis. >> give me a list of crimes? >> homicide, stocking suspect.

it gave proof that the stocking suspect was in the area of the victim's home dozens of times. >> is there a question that this technology is keeping people safe? >> it helps police keep communities safer. >> this allows us to go back on the serial criminal actors and look at where were they, and where were the participation victims, which is a capacity we have never had. >> mike is the director of the northern california regional intelligence center, his department has been aggressive in using alpr data and says it can be used to attract suspicious people and crime. >> what this does is allows us in the future to put folks in areas where they are not supposed to be at. you can imagine, a person who is a registered sex offender with a vehicle parked at an elementary school. previously the officer would go

by. now you have the ability once the alert goes off "let me make contact with a person." >> in the wrong hands, it can reveal intimate secrets about the police. >> people can access it for different reasons, against activists or people they don't like politically. >> melissa hill is a blogger and activist in minneapolis, she wanted to give the police a taste of their own medicine. >> as you can see there's an ice vehicle from homeland security parking in the areas. i made sure that the vehicles i ran data on had a police sig nia on it. >> the city's alpr database was public. hill searched for cars near official buildings, ran their plates and posted what she found on the website. according to this document. minneapolis police worried she'd reveal undercover operations. >> i found out they mentioned my

blog and self by name saying "be careful about parking your vehicles in public areas", because i was taking photographs and taking alpr data. i got the sense that the city was not comfortable with people tracking their vehicles using data they tracked us with. >> soon after the city made alpr data private. turn out the trackers don't like being tracked. it doesn't stop them tracking the rest of us. >> automatic licence place recognition is not going anywhere any time soon. it's expanding across the country. should we worry about being tracked. kate crawford the director of technologiy for liberty program of the aclu. you heard police say that the technology is helping them solve murders, find missing children and clear suspects in some crimes, so what is the problem?

>> there's two ways you can use licence plate technology, and in the clips you played the officers were conflating the two ways. they are different. one of them is to do things like flag a sex offender sitting outside a public school when the officer drives by or flag a stolen car as an officer is driving down the street. he encounters a stolen car, makes an encounter. that is one way that licence plate readers can be used. the other way is to amass huge quantities of data, as you described, about innocent people who have not been charged with a crime or even a violation. they are different ways to use the technology. one of them, some may have objected to on the basis that it's creepy and invasive. a notion that maybe you are not a sex offender, and the police can find out if you are near a bar, for example. we don't, at the aclu have a

problem with the first kind. it's the second kind of deployment raising questions. certainly fourth amendment questions down the road. we should not, in the united states, live in a society in which police departments, people that live in your city or down can potentially look up the information that was discovered was searched for. >> if i can interject. has the aclu documented real problems with alpr technology being misused in the fashion that you are talking about, the second concern you raise? >> yes, sure. first of all, i mean, retention of the data is an abuse. that may not be so easy for a lot of people to accept. it's the kinds of abuses that this woman was subject to when someone queried her data. holding on to the data is abusive. you give people access, you don't know who they are. >> some states are holding on to

the data. others are not holding it at all. is that a problem that there's a patchwork of laws? >> the real problem is there's no regulations. that's the problem. we have new hampshire which has baped the use, and new jersey which doesn't have a law, but there has been guidance instructing police to retain data for five years. >> you know a lot about the issue. do you see it expanding across the country? >> absolutely. if people are concerned, get in touch with lawmakers. we are trying to push a bill before the senate committee. get in touch saying it can be used to solve crimes, not track innocent people. >> thank you kate craw from from the aclu. thank you.

>> "america tonight" special series your secret's out continues next time on the program with a look at data brokers. you may not have heard of them. chances are they have heard of you. >> they see your date of birth, male, african american, you have completed graduate school, you are married, you have a child who is seven years old. >> this is pretty accurate. >> it's pretty scary. why does someone need to know that information? >> why do you need to know my child and how hold she is the >> it's disconcerting. it's a billion dollar business for them. correspondent michael ocue brings us that story. >> and the hopes and fears of neighbours banding together in the search for those missing in the mud slide - still to come.

>> a snapshot of stories making headlines - a loophole for consumers looking to sign up in the 11th hour. as long as you start the process on healthcare.gov you'll have until monday to finish. the white house says it's closing in on the goal of getting 7 million. the creator predicts the same results. >> ukraine's acting president inspected soldiers training to combat russian forces. the troop inspection came on the same day the russian prime minister led a delegation of ministers to crimea, promising to pour money into that annexed peninsula. >> north and south korea played war came, exchanging fire across a maritime boarder. what started as a military

exercise resulted in hundreds of artillery shot into the ocean by both countries, residents of an island were evacuated into bomb shelters as a precaution. >> well, nine days after the deadly washington state mudslide officials have upgraded the death toll. 24 confirmed dead and two dozen missing. the bad weather has been a change, and now there's another risk. toxic materials. recovery workers are taking precautions against chemical explosion and toxic slug. "america tonight" spent time with a volunteer recovery worker who says despite the danger he is committed to finding the victims. >> at 6 feet, 8 inches bob cuts an imposing figure on a pre-dawn work that has become a ritual

for more than a week. he is humbled by the fragility of the foothills. the owner of a logging business, he's one of 200 volunteers working the search and recovery effort. today, the force of the slide that has buried neighbours he calls family is haunting. >> i was a police officer for many years. i see a lot of stuff. a lot of death and that type of thing. i never seen anything like this, not so much that it's people carnage, it's devastating. . >> there is a house and a big slide and it is covering the road. >> 911, what is your emergency. >> there's a mud slide and trees outside my house. >> in the moments as the disaster unfolded, de young was attending a funeral before rushing back to help. do you personally know anyone

who was killed in landslide or is currently missing? >> yes, multiple. >> friends of yours? >> yes. >> the mudslide covered nearly a square mile, reducing homes to fragments in a matter of seconds. search teams took to calling the massive debris field the pile. at once a moonscape and a slurry of fuel, scattered sceptic tanks and chards of metal. up to five stories deep, it is unforgiving ter rain. >> you dig, bring a dog through, you have a hit, dig a bit more, and you go in layers, trying to be mindful of voids and the way logs are stacked, it could be someone underneath it. it's intense. you are focussed on anything. we can find parts of people, it's the tough part. >> are there fam lip members

with you? >> family members at times, too. >> do you get worried about what some of the family members may is it find or see? >> one of the families that we found - found their loved one. they were there with us. they helped, you know, with the recovery of the body. they were there when he was flown out. you know, it was - there's a - there's a moment of grieving. they know of their predicament. they don't have illusions of grandure. the people are real. they understood what they are going to see. so... it's tough, yes. it's hard. >> i got to imagine part of the reason people live here, in spite of the fact that there's reports that a catastrophic landslide could happen is because of the beauty of the place. >> it's gorgeous, how could you

not fall in love with this. that's your backyard. >> de young lives in derrington washington, population 1500, a remote stretch of country side along the western base of the cascade mountains, and 12 miles from the debris field. built on the logging business, it's the kind of place where residents say they are going down below when they are going out of town, and where you'll run into more churches than coffee shops. tell me how the community has come together around thisment were you surprised? >> no, we had delivered a semi full of goods, 4,000 gallons of water, toiletries, tooth brushes and toothpaste. the town formed a line, men and women, including the governor got up there and helped us, and we unloaded it in 25 minutes. that's sticking together. >> bob and his wife julie are

steady hand in the community. a nurse's assistant, julie agreed to house tired volunteers hours from home. >> they need a place to go. i have a home. >> and you just couldn't say no. >> i wanted them to be here. they are doing something good, things i believe in. >> into week two the physical and emotional demand have tan a toll on volunteers. >> no doubt there has been tough days, what is the toughest one you can remember? >> the first body i found was tough. then yesterday not finding anything was harder. i would rather find something than nothing. >> as the days wear on, as the death toll rises and officials keep a count of the missing volunteers like bob de young work the pile, cautiously,

reverently. in the effort to recover the missing and give families a measure of piece, there's a sense that they are running out of time. >> there's a sense of urgency to help. can't sit on the couch. it's not just me. there's lots of guys helping. lots of guys that would be sitting in the room doing the same as i am. >> when will it no longer be urge ent. >> to be honest, i don't think we'll find everybody, i'm positive we won't. i pray that we do, but i don't think we will. >> does it pain you? >> it hurts, it will hurt the close family members more than it hurts me personally, but you are trying to help them have closure at the same time. >> so you do what you've got to do. that's what we do. >> how long are you willing for it to go on? >> i'm bell there as long as they need help. eventually you have to get back to work or life too.

it's not going to leave your mind, it's right there, only a few miles away. you have to deal with it for as long as i'm alive you'll have to deal with it. >> i can't imagine what it's like for the volunteers. how are they holding up. especially as they said they are coming to terms with the fact that they may not mind all the victims. >> you know, they take it one day at a time. i get the impression that they take it minute by minute at a time. we do know that over the weekend they were able to make a makeshift road from one side of the debris field to the other. no doubt that will help them in their recovery effort. for the most part even though there's progress, it is slow going, and what we under today is it's not only treacherous, but hazardous. not only are the search teams negotiating around all that debris that is spread out over all of that land there, they are

having to deal with the contents of septic tank as i mentioned and containers of propane and gasoline. it's difficult and hazardous. some of the rescue dogs that you see in events like this - and may an absolutely crucial role, have to be, we are told, a hose-off by hazmat teams every day. we spoke to bob de young and he's struggling with something, an odd feeling as he put it. one of his friends was found by some other people, someone he was searching for. he said he felt significant from the remains - my words, not his. largely because this was no longer the person he knew, his spirit passed to some better place, but he felt amazing satisfaction that this person can finally - his family can finely have some peace. >> dangerous work.

but so needed. >> "america tonight"'s michael oku. thank you. >> after the black on "america tonight", general motors mass safety recall heads to the hill. a grieving mother said the auto maker could have saved her son's life.

>> the c.e.o. of general motors

will testify in front of the house on energy and commerce. leaders will try to learn why the company took years to recall more than 2 million vehicles with flaws. >> lori jane gliha with what led up to the hearing. >> from a celebrated seat in the first lady's box on the night of the union. >> daughter of a factory worker to the c.e.o. of the large aes automaker. >> the first female c.e.o. of an auto maker faces tough questions about why her company took years so recall millions of vehicles connected to a deadly ignition switch flaw. >> it was feb when the national

safety board wasified -- notified and issued a recall. the flaw is linked to 30 frontal crashes and 13 fatalities. laura christian says her daughter died in a related crash in 2005. >> i first contact gm in september 2005. i was trying to find out what happened, what made the airbags not deploy, and how many folks did this happen to. and, more importantly, what they planned to do to fix it. nobody would speak to me. >> as late as friday general motors was expanding recalls to include other makes and models, affecting 2.2 million vehicles around the company. in a mid-march video statement gm mary barra announced the company was the subject of two congressional investigations and inquiry from the department of

justice. >> we have pledged to cooperate fully and make the recall as smooth as possible. something went wrong where the process, and terrible things happened. >> tuesday mary barra will speak in front of oversight leaders from the committee of the energy and commerce. according to a memo released by the committee on the weekend the problems date back to 2001. documents show that is when the company first experienced issues with the ignition switch on a recalled vehicle, an satania but a design change resolved the problem. in 2002 gm went forward with a part approval process with ignition switch supplier, even though sample tests showed results below specification. the company opened an engineering to examine a complaint on a chevy cobb alt. and in 2006 a new change to the

ignition switch was authorised but it was below gm's original specification. by november 2007 federal investigators knew of complaints and four fatal clashes related to the failure of airbags, but decided not to pursue a morm formal application. congressional leaders say they'll be getting to the bottom of why the detect was not made sooner and why the safety transport group could have done something more. parents like laura christian would like answers. >> i'm hoping to speak to c.e.o. mary barra, to find out what they are are going and what they plan on doing to uncover all the information hidden for years. >> mittsa and gm will respond to questions starting 2 o'clock on tuesday. dozens of family members and

friend of victims that died in accident will be on the hill when lawmakers question the gm c.e.o. about the hand iping of it and other small cars. this family will be among them. their son lost his life. thank you for joining us. the accident happened over the fall. what do you know about the accident, how did it happen? >> we know that my son was driving his friend's vehicle home. they had gone out to celebrate his friend's birthday. >> it was a chevy cobalt. >> and he was driving him home. his friend had a few drinks, he was a driver, and we understand that his vehicle went into the ongoing traffic, to another young man who was coming home

from work that morning, and it was 3:24 in the morning. i know i woke up to several police force in my living room that morning, with my son's driving licence coming to tell us that he - he had an accident, that he had passed away on impact. >> investigators ruled out a number of things in the crash - cell phone, alcohol, and were as puzzled as you guys. >> toxicology - in the beginning they wanted to push it toward an alcohol-related accident due to alcohol. but his toxicology came back clean. >> leading to the mystery, and suddenly a few weeks ago you have a phone call. tell me about that. >> we got a phone call from laura - what was her - christian. and she wanted to talk to - she called monica and wanted to talk about... >> this is a woman whose

daughter died in a cobalt accident. >> her daughter was one of the first reported in a cobalt accident, in 2006. >> when you get the phone call and she's saying "i may have some answers for you", what was your reaction to that? >> i can't put it together, i didn't understand why she was calling us. and then monday came after that, and i seen the recall, and i needed to get a hold of laura, and ask her some questions, in regards to what had happened to her daughter, and we just went from there, and so, you know, i - we just knew that somehow maybe god was talking to us, and maybe this is why we are here today, because it was just something he was doing for us to

give us the answers we needed. >> the big question for lawmakers is did general motors wait too long. when you found out about the recall on the vehicle and the trail of problems related to ignitions, what did you think? >> i was mad. i was really mad. because, you know, when i heard that they knew about this. and they just ignored it, they hid it, and that these vehicles were on the street, i was very upset because this is america, and we should be safe. and the vehicles they sell us. we shouldn't have to lose life. >> do you believe that general motors should have taken action sooner, and do you believe if they did, that your brother would still be alive? >> absolutely, yes. i do. i have no doubt in my mind that i thought that was the cause to

the accident that took two lives and injured another, and that one accident, where there's so many coming out now, same exact veering to the left on to oncoming traffic, no brake marks. there's so much that every story has the same relation. >> now you find yourself heading up to capitol hill trying to get some accountability from lawmakers. are you hopeful that something will be done? >> we are hopeful. we don't want nothing else to get hurt, it's a horrible hurt. nobody's family. you don't want that. >> i hope you get answers you are looking for on capitol hill. i'm so sorry for your loss, and thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> we'll be back in a moment.

>> welcome back. finally, limes are an essential agreement in many kitchens and popular dishes. they freshen the flavour from guacamole to marg a reetas. there's a shortage. the lime business is on the rocks. >> in mexico it's hard to think of life without limes, it's a staple of daily living, used to flavour good, ward off illness and adorn drinks. it's the taste of a nation, and without if they'd be lost.

>> translation: i put lime on everything. the only thing i don't put lime on is milk, because i can't, ordinaries i would. a salad is not as good without line. there's not good tequila without lime. lime is part of lives, tradition and culture. >> prices have soared, production is down, and consumers unhappy. in many places the prices tripled in weeks, reaching historic highs. >> customers come and ask how much for limes. they call you gradesy and leave. >> the mexican lime groves have been hit by disease and bad wherever. the bad weather didn't help and yellow dragon plague means these groves are producing less fruit. there's talk of farmers hoarding crops and selling only when the price goes up. some are just making the best of

a bad situation. his depiction of a nation craving limes is seen by millions, it's a way through the crisis. >> translation: we mexicans laugh at things that worry us. maybe it's not important, but it has an impact on the economy. there are other things we can't afterward, but we laugh at it. >> with mexico producing most of the looms the impact of the shortage is global. prices will fall, but at the time being high-priced limes are leaving a bitter taste. >> and this footnote. 98% of the limits sold in the u.s. come from mexico. last year a single line cost $0.20 in the u.s., now it is up to $0.50. not good with the summer pool parties around the corner. >> that's it for us here on "america tonight". remember, if you would like to comment on stories you'd like to

see, log on to the website aljazeera.com/americatonight also join in the conversation on twitter and facebook. goodnight. we'll have more "america tonight" tomorrow. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler, in new york. the midnight deadline to sign up for affordable care act, is hours away. the white house said 6 million

have enrolled. 1.2 million visited the website. the high traffic caused the site to crash three times. general motors c.e.o. mary barra is expected to face tough questions at a congressional hearing, the topic a faulty ignition switch linked to a dozen deaths. mary barra will be asked why it took 10 years for gm to recall. they recalled another 1.5 million vehicles because of electronic power steering problems. >> tensions between north korea and south korea flared. shells hit the waters sending people into shelters. the south fired back. the artillery fire took place on the day of the longest marine drill held in south korea and the united states. >> three more people have been found dead after a mudslide in washington state. the total is 24. several are missing. research into the cause of the slide revealed illegal logging

may have been to ame.bl those are the headlines. see you at 11 eastern. coming up, a special report. obamacare - what now. "consider this" is coming up next. living on an unknown dangerous fault line, l.a.'s recent earthquakes raised fears that the big one could be bigger than we thought. also - venezuela oppression takes a harsh turn in the place where the protests began. is alcoholics anonymous failing the people. why your fears of your kids online activities may be unfounded. hello, i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this". here is more on what is ahead.