wrote years ago. it's complicated. that's the name of your book. good to have you with us. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we're following for you. gm's new ceo is set to go before congress in just a few hours. and privacy concerns surrounding a new piece of technology used by police. ♪

in just few hours, general motors ceo, marry barra will be in the hot seat. she has been called to testify about more questions concerning the faulty ignition switch recall. libby what can she expect today? >> tough questions from members of questions who have questions for mary barra and also the federal government about why it gm a decade to act on this problem. there are also families here talking to reporters, listening to what is going to unfold. they held a press conference this morning, and among those who spoke with lauren christian who's daughter was the first known fatality. the first known victim of one of these crashes involving the chevy cobalt. >> we're the people left behind

when a loved one got into what was supposed to be a safe car. a car that gm new for years was dangerous and defective. our daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, wives and husbands are gone because they were a cost of doing business gm's style. >> mary barra did meet with victim's families last night. press reports say she wept they were able to have some conversation. al jazeera spoke with some of the families to hear personal stories first hand. sherry still expecting her son to come home. >> i'm still waiting for him to knock at the door or ask what is for dinner. >> reporter: but michael sharky is never coming back. he was killed two years ago when his brand new chevy coal

-- coal battle crashed and burst into flames. >> by their own admission. the ceo says we were slow as slow could be, but there's slow and then there's intentional refusal to act. and, you know, and we're talking about ten years, documents that exposed the defect for a decade, and a decision if you believe their documents not to fix the defect because of the expense and cost. >> reporter: robert is an attorney representing 52 owners of gm peoples, including the families of people who were killed in accidents due to the faulty ignitions. >> so many of the folks that we run across, they are not even

aware of the recall. if they don't watch tv they are not even aware of the dangerousness of the recall. >> reporter: for renee, an apology doesn't go very far. >> what have they done other than say i'm sorry. and our cars are fine. do something to prove that. i would like to hear that effective immediately these cars are off of the road immediately. there's 2 million still out there. how many lives -- how many more lives do we have to go through. >> reporter: a federal court in texas is set to hear testimony concerning that the vehicles are unsafe to drive. the new ceo issued an ah opgy. >> we have apologized, but that is just one step in the journey to resolve this. >> reporter: but for sherry

sharky there is little that the gm executive can say or do. >> it doesn't matter. she can't bring my son back. she can't bring my daughter's brother back. she can't bring my grabb grabbgrabbe grabbgrabbe grabbed -- grand children's uncle back. >> reporter: the families will be on capitol hill this week listening closely. del there are 13 deaths that have been openly acknowledged that were caused by these accidents. but they are starting to put the puzzles together to determine whether deaths years ago may have been caused by this

deflect. the "washington post" is reporting a document from the senate intelligence committee states the agency concealed details about the severity of its methods. and harsh health mod -- methods or torture did not lead to information. jonathan pollard was considered to be one of the most controversial spies ever arrested. now there is talk that he may be set free to spur on the peace talks. nick schifrin is in jerusalem. and that explains the urgency behind secretary kerry's last trip to israel. >> this is massive urgency. he has come here twice now unscheduled. and this is about personal

prestige, he has put himself on the line in these talks. he has been here some 13 times, and that's completely unpress debited for a secretary of state to invest this much time in this region, and he basically landed last night with 24 hours to do. when he landed there was a deadline by the palestinians. 24 hours later. the israelis refused to release the fourth batch of prisoners, the palestinians say until they are released we are going to walk go to the un and look for international recognition. kerry came here to convince them not to and to try to convince the israelis to release the prisoners. >> and tell us about the emerging deal you are hearing about? >> this is a deal coming outover two conversations between john kerry and benjamin netenyahu,

and their allies. the first and most important is the release of jonathan pal sh -- pollard. and the talks are extended into 2015. also some 400 at least prisoners released by israel. including the group that was supposed to be released last weekend. and israel promising restraint, but no real freeze in east jerusalem. a lot of people on the palestinian side telling me they feel like they are being forced to accept this deal that they feel doesn't give them a lot, but they are considering it huge pressure by kerry. >> and why is pollard's release

so crucial. >> for the last 25 years, successive cia chiefs, secretaries of defense, and some of their most senior officials have all said that they would resign if jonathan pollard was released. and it goes to show -- as one u.s. official i spoke to said -- how desperate kerry is. it seems like the u.s. wants this peace more than the israelis and the palestinians. if the u.s. is giving up a huge bargaining chip from white house's point of view. they feel like it is not that early. he served a lot of time. but he walked out of naval intelligence with over 2,000 documents destined for israel, documents that were highly

classified. highly sensitive. the u.s. really risked a lot to get that information, for a long time, the cia said under no circumstance can you release this man, so the fact is that the u.s. desperately wants pollard to release these prisoners so these talks can continue. the ukrainian parliament voting unanimously to take part in joint military exercises on ukraine's border. the un secretary expressing doubts that russia will withdraw troops from crimea. rosalyn jordan has more. >> reporter: the political crisis in ukraine and what nato considers the illegal annexation of crimea, has the alliance

stressing why it is still relevant. >> we have come to nato not to claim other lands but to keep other nations free. >> reporter: but after more than a decade of operations outside of europe -- >> the nato alliance felt like thing were relatively under control and it had the experience to undertake missions in far-away places. >> reporter: the countries agreed to defending each other if attacked. but the alliance also cooperates on security issues with 22, so-called partner states including russia and ukraine. 11 countries in the middle east and africa, and eight countries that aren't located anywhere near the atlantic ocean. nato has long made economic coordination part of its mission. it's members have used one off

alliances with non-members to respond to emergencies around the world. the problems, though, are challenging. all nato members are supposed to spend about 2% of their gdp on defense, only 3 countries do so. that means joint operations such as the 1999 air war in kosovo were run mainly by u.s. forces. and after the russia, georgia war in 2008, some members resisted expanding the eye liance because they didn't want to have to depend russia's neighbors. >> moscow sees it as an organization set up to contain and confront the soviet union, but hasn't really found a mission for itself in the post cold war world. >> reporter: is a top to bottom we think hired? or has russia reinforced nato's

purpose, mutual self-defense? >> article five remains at the heart of nato's purpose and mission. >> reporter: a storied defense alliance who focused on its original mission even as it tries to refrain itself for 21st century challenges. ukraine's neighbors fear they could be next, especially those with large russia populations. in moldova some people would prefer closer ties to moscow over the eu. david has our story. >> reporter: after crimea will moldova be next? russian peace-keeping troops already man the border here. a fingernail of territory now trapped on the western frigs of ukraine.

moldova's prime minister appealed to western leaders and russia to prevent his country falling apart after peting with his polish counterpart earlier this week. the strongest supporter of getting them into the european union. >> it is specially in our interests to see this -- this negative develops unrolling. so i hope we'll be able to come back to common sense and look at the real problems. >> reporter: the vineyards were the first target of russia when the country started the process of integration with western europe. last september they banned the import of its vines, which amount to a third of its total exports. this vast ukked ground wine cellar now fills a limestone quarry. all of the streets are named after varieties of grapes.

this vine cellar is like an undergroukd city. it has more than 120 kilometers of roads, and 20 million liters of wine stored here. the russian ban has hit the economy hard. it's the same tactic used by the kremlin on ukraine when they banned the country's lucrative trade in chocolates, a naked form of blackmail. but moldova has refused to join the west sanctions imposed on russia. the communist party has tabled a motion of no confidence against the government. they feel there is no mandate to move the country towards europe. >> we risk to lose moldova state as an integral state, and we risk to lose moldova statehood as such. >> reporter: the statute of lennen in has been replaced with

this monument. but the country relies on the money sent home by moldovians working in russia. this effect could be devastating to what already is one of the poorest countries in europe. the death toll from that massive mud slide in washington state now stands at 24. three more bodies were found yesterday. 22 people are still listed as missing. the search is being complicated by a highway that is blocked that runs through the affected area. ten days now after the disaster. coming up on al jazeera america, we'll tell you about a new tool that police have to catch the bad guys, but activists say reading your license plate is always invading your privacy.

♪ taking a look at numbers,

wall street building on yesterday's rally. the dow is up 50 points. there's a report out showing manufacturing expanded in march, boosting confidence. executives from caterpillar on capitol hill looking at the company's strategy that allowed it to dodge a $2 billion tax bill. a senate investigation claims its used its subsidiary in switzerland to shift the profits overseas. the next time a cop pulls up behind you, he just might be reading your license plate. there's new technology that allows the departments to do much, much more, and privacy experts say you should be concerned. adam may has more. >> reporter: mounted in public places or law enforcement vehicles, these devices scan the license plate of every car that

passes. they can scan thousands of plates per minute. check each plate against a hot list of stolen cars or wanted persons. and data from the devices, which includes photos, time stamp and location is also retained in thousands of databases across the country, and shared by various agencies, even sold to private companies with little or no regulation. >> the use of the alpr has increased exponentially in the last few years. >> reporter: jennifer lynch, a lawyer saying that mass surveillance has now become affordable. >> it has the potential to collect data on a scale we haven't seen so far. if a license plate camera picks up your location many times during the week, it is pin point your path. it can tell who you associate

with, which doctor you are going to, whether you are sleeping at a different house every night. >> reporter: the samsy county sheriff's office has just purchased their first mobile alpr. up with of seven they plan to buy. we went along for a test spin. >> oh, here we go. so we just got an alert. so i have to run the plate. >> okay. >> reporter: this time it turned out to be a false alarm. give me a list of some of the crimes you have seen solved because of this technology. >> auto theft, homicide, stocking cases solved. >> is there any question in your mind that this technology is keeping people safe? >> there's no question that it helps police keep communities safer. >> reporter: but in the wrong hands it can reveal intimate

secrets. melissa hill is a blogger and privacy activist in minneapolis. she wanted to give the police a taste of their own medicine. >> as you can see that is an ice vehicle from homeland security. and they would park in these areas. >> reporter: the database used to be public. so hill searched for unmarked law enforcement cars, ran their plates and posted what she found. minneapolis police worried she would reveal undercover operations. >> i kind of got the sense that the city was not very comfortable with people tracking their vehicles using data they were checking us with. >> reporter: soon after the city made alpr private. coming up on al jazeera america, medical marijuana in canada could soon mean big business, but you can't grow your own. we'll tell you why canada is now

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welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm del walters. these are your headlines at this hour. gm's ceo going before congress today answering tough questions about that massive recall. a development in the mideast peace talks involving the release of a controversial prisoner being held in the us. the convicted spy could soon be freed in two weeks to keep the talks going. and there is a new report out raising questions about methods used by the cia to gain intelligence. the "washington post" saying the central intelligence agency mislead the public about the effectiveness in torture to get information. canada is seeing a boom in business thanks to the legalization of medical

marijuana. daniel lack went to a canadian company trying to meet the demand. >> reporter: all legal now and soon very lucrative. one of the first 12 licensed commercial growers of medical marijuana. they use an old chocolate factory to produce a very different product. under canada's new laws, what springs from this soil will soon be available online to people with a doctor's prescription. >> we have 25 strains, and probably by the ex-of the month we'll have even more. they are strains who are good for people suffering from neurological issue, and right through to pain and cancer treatment. >> reporter: it is still illegal to smoke marijuana for fun in canada, but the number using it for health reasons is expected to sore. a community has to give their consent for a medical marijuana facility, but that has been no

problem here. in fact the police station a just across the street. the mayor, who's late brother used medical marijuana says almost any new business would be welcome. >> i would be hard pressed to stand here and defending you that i just turned down another 100 jobs. >> reporter: it look months to get a license, but finding the right people hasn't been difficult and the work force will soon more than double. >> we have a mix of cannabis related experience as well as horticulture generally. but once you get past the fact that it is highly regulated, that it's marijuana, and the licensing, i see it as an e-commerce business. >> reporter: a final burst of ultra violent light. one company's contribution for

what is expected to grow into a $1.5 billion business. daniel lax, al jazeera, smiths falls. ♪ i'm dave warren. we are starting out west here. watching a storm just off of the coast of california bringing in rain and snow, a good thing here. they typically look at april 1st as the benchmark of when the snow begins to melt. 23% of the april 1st average, central see area, 31%. well below average where we need that moisture and snow typically this type of year it starts to melt. but still well below average, the drought continues. this storm bringing all of that moisture into the south. there is snow inland, some of the mountains there. working its way into new mexico. then we look at western

nebraska, and that's where another storm forms. and this could create severe weather as it moves south. low-pressure just east of the rockies will create the potential for severe weather, and that will be today and tomorrow. this is a dry line that forms here and moves east right in this area. that's the potential for storms today and tomorrow it will push further east with wind and hail. it also brings a lot of warm air from the south, and by friday and saturday, temperatures climbing into the 60s and 70s. del? >> dave warren thank you very much. the boston red sox got an invite to the white house. it's a tradition for the championship teams to meet the president. the last time the team went was in 2008 after sweeping the colorado rockies in the world

series the year before. the president, of course, being a chicago fan. we want to thank each and every one of you for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. check us out 24 hours a day at aljazeera.com. >> both its biggest fans and strongest opponents said that nafta was going to bring the america, mexican and canadian dismiss. now who was right about nafta? that's the "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. three big countries.