>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey with a look at today's top story. >> the debate over repealing this law is over. the affordable care act is here to stay. >> president obama defends the healthcare law with a numbers to back it up. secretary of state john kerry insists despite a day of confusion the palestinian rally is not over. and congress wondering why

it took g.m. so long to fix cars in spite of red flags. >> the short time ago the president announced more than 7 million people have signed up for the online exchanges. he also said the controversial law is not going anywhere. we're at the white house. randall, the president spoke passionately about the healthcare law, which he described as a success. >> reporter: richelle, it is a red-letter day for the president and democrats who all supported and fought hard to get the affordable care act passed and acted. we could hear the cheers on the north lawn and the president and vice president joe biden came out to speak. the presidentry counting the difficulties to the website and

delayed enrollment, and he spoke of the republican opponents who tried to stop the law and repeal it, and even took it to the supreme court. in the end the president said this is an important moment for america and a big step forward. >> this law is helping millions of americans. in the coming years it will help millions more. i said before, i will always work with anyone whose willing to make this law work even better. but the debate over repealing in law is over. the affordable care act is here to stay. >> and the president said it's not just about the 7.1 million people who signed up before the deadline but about the 3 million young people who are under the age of 26 who are on their parents' insurance plan, and the numbers of others who have signed up in the medicaid expansion around the country. it's just the beginning for the

obama administration and the affordable care act. >> what are the republicans saying about these numbers. >> the numbers don't really matter. what is at issue is the fundamental issue of the law. we have a statement on what have of house speaker john boehner who has been a loyal opponent from the affordable care act from the beginning. this is what he had to say: >> david shuster joins us now with a further break down from what the president had to say. this is really a victory for the president of the administration.

>> yes, it certainly is. one of the things you did not hear the president talk about. for example, we don't know whether people have paid their premiums or not, we don't know what the ratio is from young to old, and that ultimately determine if premiums will rise. but at least they have made projections. for that reason alone the white house can declare victory. >> what does this mean for democrats running for re-election. there have been lafayette democrats who have not really wanted to campaign on obamacare. >> especially democrats from swing districts or states. in a statement there is great promise but she wants to continue to try to fix some of the problems. she's trying to thread the needle and say yes, we've made progress but yet there is more to be done. >> what can or will this do for the president's approval rating, any way to know yet? >> that's the interesting thing even folks at the white house say the political reality is set in stone. if you're republican, you hate

it. if you're democrat, you don't. but it got president obama elected. democrats in order to maintain control of the senate or even have a chance at the house they need those energid progressives, and talking about the affordable care act, they believe they will thereby. >> democrats often point out that other programs that are popular now were not popular in the beginning. when you look fondly at these things now, but it took years for social security and other programs to be popular. is that what they're going to say going forward? >> the next challenge is two weeks before the election when insurance companies will set their premiums for 2015. based on what their ratio is from young to old people i think there could be sticker shock, that premiums could go up double digits but that's is not good news for democrats. democrats try to provide some immunity about what may be coming and at the same time we

said all along that the premiums were going to rise, but they're not rising as quickly as they were before. >> so a lot of kinks to work out. >> if they can't get young people to be part of this program, the premium also skyrocket. >> thank you very much. secretary of state john kerry suggested today that he will not return to the middle east to meet with palestinian president mahmood abbas, but kerry said it's completely premature to write off the peace process. it could jeopardize the effort in the deadlock between the two sides. this does not signal an end to the talks, but does a response from abbas signal something entirely different? >> i think if you ask most palestinians they'll say these

talks are dead, and they're dead because they say the israelis are the one the to renig reason the release of palestinian prisoners over the weekend. but what president mahmood abbas has done to respond is de facto citizenship and what he has asked for is a membership in four geneva conventions, five conventions, anti-torture conventions, anti-corruption conventions. again, these are things that he promised not to do so long as the talks were going on. does this mean that the talks are dead? he says no, we're still willing to talk, and we're not walking away from these talks. let's take a listen. >> we will continue in our efforts to reach a peaceful solution through the negotiations. the solution that gives us a state, a 1967 borders and

jerusalem as a capitol as well as a fair solution agreed on to the refugees case. >> now abbas wants to continue talking. the u.s. wants everyone to continue talking. the question is, is israel willing to continue talking after this step that abbas promised nod to do. >> what are the incentives for reigniting the peace process is release, why is the possible release such a critical issue? >> reporter: this is pretty extraordinary. for the last 25 years the c.i.a. chief senior defense department officials all threatened to resign if jonathan pallard were release: before the days of edward snowden, jonathan pallard

was one of the worst leakers in history. he took thousands of documents and walked out the front door with suit case full of documents and handed it over to the israelis. the u.s. accused him of trying to sell it to the highest bidder, not only the israelis. the u.s. said for the last 25 years you cannot release an american city who spied on his own country. the fact that john kerry and president barack obama have considered releasing pallard is extraordinary, and shows how desperate they are to keep these peace talks going. we talked about all day about this possible deal, and now president mahmood abbas came forward and said we're going to the international organizations. we don't even know if these talks are going to keep going.

the possible deal between israel and u.s. really depends now on what israel plans to do. >> really a remarkable development and it remains to be seen to really make a difference. nick schifrin, live in jerusalem. thank you so much. new revelation from the final words of malaysian government about m malaysian 37. thes a ship with a fit kateed black box locater will be arriving. >> we've been hearing all week

long that you don't understand the scope of this thing until you see it yourself. that's true. what search and rescue crews have been saying is dead on. we're on a hillside on the sou h side of this slide. you see the debris field. this is one small portion of this debris field where they've been working non-stop. if you pan to the right you can see the extent of it. up at the top of the hill you can see where the hillside blue out. apparently just exploded out at the base of that hill, it came down across the valley and we're sitting on top that have hill slumped down on top of that. it was a double event here. stunning to see and what you understand when you look at this is not just natural fury that was unleashed here, but the human lives that it exacted. there could be 50 people dead when this is over, and the work

that has gone on, volunteers has been extraordinary. in many cases people searching for and find thinking own friends, their own relatives down in that debris. it's amazing to see this in person. in oso, al jazeera. >> asking ceo of g.m. why it took so long fo to fix the swit. >> as soon as we heard about the problem we acted without hesitation. we told the world we would make the fix. whatever mistakes were made in the past we will not shirk from our responsibilities now or in the future. today's g.m. will do the right thing. >> libby casey is following the story on capitol hill. give us breakdown of what happened today. really a big day.

>> reporter: yes, good evening, richelle. mary barra did what was expected of her. she apologized for a decade of accidents and problems due to the ignition switch. she talked about some of the steps the company has taken in the last couple of months including appointening someone to overlook standard and safeties. they've hired ar a former prosecutor of who knew what, and why no one acted sooner. she also said there would be a process to review whether or not there should be compensation for the victims. so that was a little bit of a new news. members of congress by and large were quite frustrated because mary barra did not answer a lot of questions. instead she kept saying i'll have to wait until the investigation that the company is conducting moves forward. then we'll have answers. joe barton of texas called her

testimony gobble dide-gook. another frustrated member, jan shykowski, a democrat from illinois. >> does g.m. accept responsibility for the accidents caused by the company's defective vehicles? >> first of all, i want to reiterate that we think that the situation is tragic, we apologize for what has happened, and we're undergoing a full investigation. >> i'm talking about responsibility and liability. >> responsibility, i don't understand. >> and even liability. you take responsibility? is the company responsible? the new g.m. is it responsible? >> we will make the best decisions for our customers recognizing we have leib obligations and responsibilities as well as moral obligations. >> mary barra kept talking about the new g.m. how the culture has

changed from a cross culture to customer or service culture, but that was not enough for congre congress. g.m. declared bankruptcy in 2009, and the question is if they can be held liable for accidents that happened before the bankruptcy. now that's what representative schakowsky and other members of congress so concerned. >> tell us more about what lawmakers want to know from ntsa? >> they oversee things like this. they deal with vehicular recalls, and the acting administration. iit looks like ntsa got word of the problems with the key ignition twice but did not move

forward or acton. was it g.m. holding up the flow of information or was it ntsa acting irresponsebly and not moving forward in what would have been a very expensive recall process for g.m. now it's going to cost more because when g.m. replaced the faulty ignition switch. they did not change the part number. now it means if g.m. goes in to find the faulty ignition, they can't tell the good ones from the bad ones. it was not just mary barra in the room, but also the families. they did not testify before congress but they're here in force, and their presence is felt heavily by everyone. they're watching very closely to see how things go. >> thank you very much. we'll have more on that testimony with real money "real"

ali velshi. shthey september asking, are you responsible. it seems like we really didn't get any real answers yet. >> there was real lawyering up going on. as mary barra left the room where she was testifying some reporters got her there and were asking questions that were not legally pointed as the one that jan shykowski asked. and mary barra said this is why we hired jerry lucas who was fired from the law enforcement. there were a lot of allegations that surprised me. they were not answers. it became a little ridiculous to be in front of a congressional panel if you have such little information to share. it was a little unsatisfying to watch it, and mary barra needs to be careful about the dysfunction that they're making

between the pre-bailout gm and mary barra has been at g.m. for 34 years. it's the only place she has ever worked with. that's the case for a number of senior general motors executive. she said she and this group did not know about the depth of these things. but there are 2,000 pages sent to congress which indicates that in 2005, 2007, and 10 g.m. had an opportunity to deal with these ignition switch problems, but chose not to do that. there is work to be done. >> ali, there are companies that recover from things like this, and there are companies that we never hear from again. how much damage could they potentially do to the g.m. brand? >> i got to tell you, i've been thinking about this a lot. i was thinking about ford with

the gas tanks, and ford with the fire problem, and toyota, the conversations are very similar. why didn't you tell us, who knew who. and it looked disastrous twice. tight at a that not only gained all the sales that it lost but more. in the end i we'll bounce back. this is general motors' opportunity to win people back for doing the right thing and not for sitting around and doing as little as possible. >> that's right. what else is coming up on your show. >> i'm speaking with aryan huffington, she has a great new

book out. >> good stuff, ali, thank you. >> coming up on al jazeera america. the new law that will allow florida to keep people in prison long after they have served their sentences.

>> as part of efforts, the former u.s. intelligence officer convicted of spying. why pallard is such a lightening rod. >> reporter: jonathan jay pallard is a hero, to many others he is a traitor. he was sent to prison for life for selling u.s. intelligence

secrets to israel. pallard said he was trying to protect his spiritual homeland from attacks. but prosecutors said some of the materials ended up at the kremlin putting u.s. national security at risk. the government lawyer who conducted the damage assessment calls the pallo pallard case asf the worst and that he should not be released. >> hpallard supporters in u.s. and israel said that he acted out of love for israel. and the 29 years that he has served is more than enough

punishment. >> nobody has excused his crimes. what he did was wrong, and he made a plea bargain with the government. >> reporter: now pallard who is slated for parole role coul coue released sooner. the question is whether in doing so the u.s. undermines it's commitment to the rule of law. >> joining us now is robert o'brien, former delegate to the united nations. thank you for your time, mr. o'brien, why release pallard now? >> they may have to play this card. it's something that the president has the authority to do whether it's good or bad for the united states or the process is another question.

>> they have a lot of riding on it, in other words. is it a sign of weakness to consider this? >> look, pallard is up for parole next year, and he has already served a long sentence. now he's traitor, he committed treason against the united states. he's properly in jail and is being punished. the perception of weakness comes in really two parts. number one, if the release of prisoners that have gone through the u.s. justice system in dealings with foreign countries that undermines the american system. if we start trading terrorists and spies for foreign primarily goals that's a road that america really has never gone down and shouldn't go down with some minor exceptions in the cold war in trading folks with the soviet union. the fact that we have to lean on

an ally as close to israel and free a prisoner to get an ally to do something that is in their best interest is not strong. >> you're deeply concerned about the precedent this might set with u.s. relations with other countries? >> absolutely. if americans were convicted of treason, spying and violating american national security, or for that matter if terrorists are hijackers who have gone to trial in america and are in american prisons. if they'r they believe that maka deal with the american president to get a deal signed, they're going to start an asking for those releases and that's a dangerous step to take. >> having said that if something were on the line more than an extension of talks, if it were more substantial than that,

would this be something to be considered in your opinion? >> i think it was considered before with president clinton. >> indeed, it was in 1998. >> where there was a chance for global settlement. the fact that pallard will be released on parole next year lessens the value of this. i can see why prime minister netanyahu would want pallard to be released. in some ways it's inconsequential in the big scheme of things, but it's a bad step down a slippery slope. >> robert o'brien, former u.s. delegate to the united nations. thank you very much. >> the first ebola outbreak in years and it is spreading. we'll look at how infectious

disease experts are hoping to control this. also migrating birds and flooding in their fields. that's next.

>> a deadly ebola outbreak in west africa. 70 people have died from the virus and now reports say it has spread. in senegal they have closed their borders. we have more. >> reporter: one of the world's most deadly infectious disease citizen spreading across urban and remote parts of west africa. it's movement across guinea is the biggest they have dealt with. >> we're facing an epidemic to the extent never seen especially

as far as distribution of the cases in the area. >> reporter: the symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea and external bleeding. it's the most dangerous strain detected in guinea. >> we're facing the most aggressive strain of ebola. this is the train that has killed nine people out of ten. >> reporter: doctors without borders have sent 40 tons of equipment as well as 60 field workers including doctors, nurses, epidemiologists and water experts to guinea. but there are no medicines or vaccinations to treat ebola. all doctors can do is boost the immune system of patients. it's crucial to stop the virus from spreading any further. senegal has closed it's border, but sierra leone has a number of suspects cases. >> groups are deeply concerned about this ebola outbreak.

there is no vaccine or cure, and it's spreading fast. there are infections fro infectn outbreaks since the 1990's an and 2000 in uganda. monkeys and pigs can carry it, too, but the fruit bat is the animal that carries it. that's why there is concern that this could spread beyond africa. robert, the cdc is stepping in to help. what can they do at this point? >> good evening, richelle, the cdc can do a lot. they study all of these viruses and diseases around the world. over the weekend pepper asked to send a team over to guinea, which they did. they arrived late last night. today they arrived at the

ministry of health and the world health organization. they're going into clinics, hospitals and explain the severity of the situation. that part of africa has not seen an outbreak of ebola in nearly 20 years, and it was not that significant at that time. so the cdc is going to explain to everyone that no this is not an airborne virus, but it can transmitted from saliva, blood, mucus. they want to make sure that folks on the ground understand the severity and communicate with the public that the spread of this does not go further. >> the "world health organization" is hesitant to call this a serious health crisis, why so? >> well, it's interesting. the doctors without borders earlier said this is an epidemic, this is unprecedented, well, the numbers don't necessarily back that up.

the reason for saying that is because of the fact that this went into west africa, again, this has not been that precedented in that part of the continent. but the cdc and the who are trying to tone down the rhetoric. earlier today this is hear what one person from the who had to say. >> in terms of size of ebola outbreaks there have been outbreaks larger than this one. this is quite relatively small still. it's a question of controlling infection in hospitals. it's a question of controlling transmission among the people who might have been infected and don't know that they've been infected yet or are not in hospitals. >> it is important to note, richelle, that there is an one-week incubation period where it festers in a person's body,

thin it will take two weeks to come to fruition. so there is no vaccine as you noted earlier. there is no cure, and communication is the key at this point in making sure that people are taking care of themselves and staying away from any possibility of becoming infected. richelle? >> robert ray in atlanta. thank you so much. joining me now is a senior fellow for global health at the council of formulations and specializes in infectious diseases and bio terrorism. we appreciate your time. thank you very much. as he described this is now a small outbreak but the wordy bowl la strikes fear in people. is it because it could change so quickly? >> it's because ebola is a very deadly and frightening disease. when i was in an ebola epidemic i saw what it looked like and how people respond. it's not proportionate to the number of people infected. it's proportionate to something that is very new, very scary.

people become deranged and hallucinate as blood starts flowing into their brain inappropriately, and it can terrify people in the community who see it. >> and to see this happen to people you love and care about just has to be awful. >> they bleed tears. tears comes from--floody fluids come from all over the body. >> if it has been 20 years since there has been an outbreak, what have we been doing right? >> there have been plenty of outbreaks in the last 20 years. in between we've had outbreaks in uganda, in central african republic, congo, a number of locations. >> why has there been so little progress in finding a cure for this? >> well, we don't have any clue about how go about curing it. it's from a whole class of viruses we don't have curative

treatment for. vaccine is another matter. while there have been innovations in possibly developing a vaccine the problem is there is no financial incentive for anyone in industry to make a vaccine that affects so few people who are poor people who can't afford to buy the product. >> wow, that's a powerful thing that you've just said. do you really believe that? >> absolutely. >> i the threat is very small, but the u.s. does make an investment in trying to find a cure. why is that? >> well, ebola was classified as the top pathogens that are potential bio terrorist agents. after the anthrax mail negotiation 2001 an 2001, theres something called project bio shield. quite a lot of money went in to try to come up with a cure a

vaccine, but it's a tough problem. no great problem came out and industry was not interested in carrying it forward because there just isn't a marketplace. >> back to what you said perhaps it's not the victims that the world cares about enough. how do you make the world care? >> well, if some american came down with ebola there might an shift. let's hope that that never happens. >> it's really moving work that you do. are you seeing some powerful things that maybe the world needs to see more of that. we appreciate you coming in and bringing your insight very much. thank you. >> thank you. >> in cairo three and three other egyptian cities, 45 people were injured in clashes between police and university students. students threw rocks at police in this protest. it has been daily violence since

president morsi was thrown out. in japan, the government said radiation levels are low enough for 350 people to return to the area around the nuclear plant, but some are hesitant because of contamination concerns. 100,000 people were displaced three years ago when the plant was damaged by a huge earthquake and tsunami. in mexico government officials say one of the two remaining leaders of the knight templar cartel was killed in a shootout. the suspected cartel leader refused to surrender last night. security forces have been hunting the knight templar leadership, killing and arresting in the last several weeks. nearly half of all states have laws to allow a person to

be held indefinitely for a crime they have not committed. we have more on these new laws. tell us more about this. >> richelle, not very many people know about civil commitment even though 20 states, washington, d.c. and the federal government has a law on the books. ngo agency tougher law was passed after an eight-year-old girl was murdered by a registered sex offender with a long criminal record. >> reporter: it's wrapped in sky-high barbed wire. this is not a prison. david who has spent four and a half years here said its worse. >> it's like a living death sentence. a lot of people try to take

themselves out while in there. >> reporter: this is where violent predators go. the men are here because the state deems them too dangerous to walk the streets. >> the people we've kept at that center are likely to have committed any number crimes against victims. therif this saves one victim, gg them the treatment they badly need. >> once terms end a team of evaluators determines if they meet a specific criteria, that it if they meet abnormality, and they are kept indefinitely until a judge or jury decides they are no longer a danger to evaluate.

>> a register sex offender committing crimes that date back for decades. last june just three weeks after smith walked out of a jail he raped and strangled eight-year-old cherish per winkle. >> an eight-year-old girl is dead, we want to know why. >> reporter: through her organization, lauren's kids, she pushed for tougher laws. and with it all sexual predators will be evaluated. >> i fight every day to make it so that these monsters, these sexually deviant behaving individuals are as far away from our children as humanly possible. >> reporter: so far the state said it has released 300 offenders from its civil commitment program, but the design iprogram is designed to p

people from getting out. of 650 men at the facility, 72 are awaiting their commitment hearing. >> this is crazy. everything that they're doing as far as i'm concerned based on what i know about the law violates every constitutional right. >> residents wait for their civil trials because mounting a defense takes time. she adds any delays are not the program's fault. it's estimated since the state began to committing violent sexual predators 15 years ago they have saved thousands of people from being their victims, even though it was not enough to save cherish periwinkle. >> the state plans to ex-fond house more sex offenders and the hope is that it will prevent more tragedies. >> you say this is a civil

process, but they are still in lock up. how does this work. >> the state said this is civil because this is therapeutic. keep in mind sex offenders are getting intense psychiatric treatment, and if they complete the program the hope is they'll be given preparation for life outside in the railed world. real world. >> natasha, thank you. new charges about the driver who killed people at a festival. >> there are new charges against the man accused in the deadly crash at south by southwest. rashad owens had already been charged with one count of capitol murder. now he faces 20 charges of aggravated assault.

he was accused of accelerating through a crowd at a festival. four people died and 17 were injured. >> suing glenn beck for definition. the man was injured in an attack and questioned by investigators. beck at one point called him the money man but he was cleared of any involvement. he said that beck's comments damaged his reputation. tiger woods will miss the masters for the first time of his career. he had surgery on his back to fix a pinch nerve. woods said the surgery went well but he needs several weeks to recover. the masters gets under way next week. and former red sox could be worth millions in new york. a norman rockwell painting will be auctioned next month. it's called "the rookie: red sox locker room." it features many players and could sell up to $30 million.

>> that is beautiful. i'll start saving now. millions of birds migrate to california in early spring but this year many of the wetlands they rely on have dried up. now farmers are working to make the trip a bit easier. jennifer london has more. >> an hour or so north of sacramento, in california's central valley the landscape is a patchwork of farm field. this is the state's breadbasket. it's also home to one of the most important resting stops for millions of migratory birds traveling the fly way. a migration route stretching from the arctic to south america. 230 species depend on this water for its survival. but hungry and exhausted for

flying for thousands of miles are finding that the wetland is largely dry thanks to farming and the state's history drought. once upon a time there were 400 million acres now only 250,000 acres remain thanks to farmland that is drying up. >> the loss of habitat, we've oh gone from 40 million birds on the pacific fly way to somewhere around 5 million to 6 million birds. >> the loss of birds is not only a concern for conservations. farmers who have been growing rice here for more than 50 years need the birds to naturally work the fields. >> the birds do a lot of tillage as you can see out here in the field. they stomp the rice in the ground and they're pecking. it kind of mixes everything up. >> to brings the birds back you got to bring the wetlands back. that's what the conservancy is

doing with the help of stone and others farmers. and new pilot programs the farmers have agreed to keep their rice fields flooded a few months longer in the wetland where the birds need it most. >> we have an obligation to and a role to play from the pacific fly away in supporting the birds. it will be better for the birds as well as the farmers. >> the irony is that scientists who in large part are responsible for the disappearance of the whet lands are now helping to bring them back. >> this project is a good example of the nature conservancy really thinking about our work and what our farmers do very differently. instead of thinking of these farmers adversaries, we're making them partners in the solution. >> it's a win-win situation. >> later in april stones' fields will be dry and the birds,

rested and fed, will be able to continue their long journey north with the hope that next year they'll be back. al jazeera, california. >> coming up on al jazeera america. >> you are embarrassing our city. >> the vote for anyone but rob ford, canada's mayor with a huge campaign against him

>> al jazeera america. there's more to it. >> toronto's embattled mayor rob ford is running for election and the election has gotten strange. john terrett has a mystery for us. >> reporter: thank you. you remember rob ford. >> oh, yes. >> reporter: you know who he is. toronto's portly man.

i'm sorry, he's just portly. he just is. he admitted to smoking crack cocaine probably in a drunken stupor, not the best things to do. to our neighbors in the north he is a nightmare and they want it to end. so much so that three posters in the "anyone is better than rob ford" campaign turned up at trinity bell woods park. it says vote jeff mcilroy. promised to just smoke pot as mayor. and the second one. if elected, i will just get publicly drunk. and number three vote where it says when i urinate in public i

won't get caught. now if you're having dinner now i'm very sorry about this. it's a mystery about who is putting these posters up. there is a website but it gives very little clue. they started tv debates even though polling is seven months away. 40 people are running for the mayor's job. but the major rival candidate. >> you know, we've had it with the scandals and the half-truths. you are embarrassing our city. >> well, you know, don't write rob ford off just yet. i've been saying that a lot. i've been saying that about chris christie, too. but it's true. rob ford's numbers are holding up. they're pretty good. if the anti--ford vote splits

too widely than the mayor on crack could be back, giving him, richelle, the last laugh over the poster makers. follow that if you can. >> is that a campaign slogan? >> the mayor on crack could soon be back. i made that up, but it's pretty good. >> you have had too much fun with this. >> i think i have a new career waiting. >> john terrett, ladies and gentlemen. and it is april fool's and pranks are popping up. >> people are having a lot of fun with april fool's this year. starting with google hangout. where you can post pictures and then you'll get david hasselhoff to photo bomb your picture. hundreds of people have posted pictures of themselves, their families. this one says, oh, man, look who snuck in behind me. that guy, just can't get out of my house. this one says there i was, having dinner with my lovely

wife, and bam, david hasselhoff photo bombed it. and another party that is having a lot of fun with this is the baltimore police, our s.w.a.t. team, april fool's day. now richelle you'll recall that hillary clinton has this picture on her twitter page. a famous picture where she's got the glasses and she's texting. and that started the #text by hillary. president bill clinton got in on this joke. he has a picture of himself saying i'll follow my leader. hillary had a joke back. she tweeted back, well, that explains what happened to my ipad. and some companies have been getting in on the joke. ticktack introducing this shakeless ticktack. this has bubble wrap here. this is a selfie put on youtube. it roams around you and takes

selfies of you. and then we have some from virgin atlantic and cheetos. >> collect cancun afternoon and soak it all in. >> or if you run a little hot like me and desire cooler ride, well that's no problem. just select chicago polar vortex and feel the chill. >> pervasive, passion unexpected yet undeniable. >> some of the more ridiculous products that are out there, richelle. >> happy april fool's. we have an update on the day's stop stories next. >> scared as hell... >> as american troops prepare to leave afghanistan get a first hand look at what life is really like under the taliban. >> we're going to be taken to a place, where they're going to make plans for an attack. >> the only thing i know is, that they say they're not going to withdraw. >> then, immediately after,

an america tonight special edition for more inside and analysis. >> why did you decide to go... >> it's extremly important for the western audience to know why these people keep on fighting... ...it's so seldom you get that access to the other side. >> faultlines: on the front lines with the taliban then an america tonight: special edition, only on al jazeera america

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey with a look at today's top stories. this afternoon president obama defended the affordable care act one day after the deadline to enroll. obama said nearly 7.1 people

signed up for health insurance that is here to stay. folks who did not finish their application also have a grace period to do so. the ceo of general motors dogged questions about why it took g.m. a decade to address the ignition problem. secretary of state john kerry suggests he would not return to the middle east to meet with palestinian president mahmood abbas. he said it's premature to write off the peace process despite moves to break the dead look. an ebola outbreabreak in gu. we're getting a firsthand look at the devastation left behind by last month's mudslide in washington state. 27 people have died.

crews are still picking through debris searching for more victims. they're also trying to reopen a major road. i'm richelle carey. "real money with ali velshi" is next. stay right here. >> she had her chance. the boss at g.m. could have told the world what went wrong but we didn't get any good answers from a company that you bailed out with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. i'll give you my take. g.m. is not the huge company that it used to be, but it's still a part of our economy. i'll tell you how big. money, power and an old fashioned alarm clock. ariana huffington with her three-prong idea