>> >> good morning and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton r let's get you ought up on the top stories this hour. >> an 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit off the chest of chile. tsunami warns were issued. throughout the north landslides are blocking some roads. >> it didn't meat the expects for g.m. is that what you would consider acceptable. >> as we know today, it's not. >> general motors c.e.o., mary barra, tells a house committee that the house will find out why it took 10 years to recall cars

with faulty parts that have been linked to 13 deaths. >> it has been 12 days since the washington state mudslide devastated a county north of seattle. receding floodwaters are helping in the search. the death toll is up to 28, with 20 others missing. >> hundreds of worshippers gathered for mass at the border. roman catholic bishops pushing for reform, and preying for those trying to across the border. >> republicans and democrats unable to reach agreement. >> those are the headlines, i'm thomas drayton, news at the top of every hour and on general motor accused of hiding a serious safety problem as one

mother seeks answers, congress puts gm in the hot seat. >> in other words, there is no report? >> i am saying i will share what is appropriate. >> i hear the answer. puzzle. what can we learn about flight 370 from the inside out? the anatomy of a malaysia airline's boeing 777. >> you can see if this is in the water, under the water, because they are going to sink, they are going to be hard to find. and an "america tonight" special series, your secrets out from intimate family details to your private medical history. data brokers profiting off of your personal life. >> so they know in some cases more about me than, maybe, some of my friends or relatives do. >> they know more about you than you know about you.

♪ good evening, everyone. thanks for joining us. i am madam may in forjoie chen. lawmakers grill the head of general motors about defective ignition switches that killed at least 13 driveways. congress wants to know why gm and the national safety administration failed to react sooner and recall millions of cars. it wasn't just lawmakers in search of answers. victim's families and crash survivors gather on capitol hill tuesday morning demanding that the world's second biggest auto maker come clean. >> our daughters, sons are gone because they were a cost of doing business gm style. >> laura christianson's 16-year-old daughter died in this 2005 crash in maryland involving a chevy cobalt.

the cobalt is just one of the gm models included in the massive recall that has ballooned to more than 6 million vehicles. since newly appointed ceo mary barra has taken over, gm has called vehicles because of ignition switches that could turn off unexpectedly shutting down car power and safety systems including the airbags. a fatal flaw that barra claimed responsibility for during tuesday's testimony. >> this is an extraordinary situation. it involves vehicles we no longer make, but it came to light on my watch. so, i am responsible for resolving it. >> barra was grilled by a congressional committee about not only what gm knew and when but about the company's commitment to public safety. >> isn't it true that throughout its corporate history, gm has represented to the driving public that safety has always been their number 1 priority? >> i can't speak to the

statements that were made in the past. all i can tell you is the way we are working now, the training that we have done, we've changed our core values. it is decision making we are leading, leading by example. >> hasn't the core values of general motor always been that safety comes first? before. >> "america tonight" sat down with the mother and sister of amador cortin a s, the 23-year-old who was driving a friend home in his cobalt when the car swerved into go into oncoming traffic. he and his friend were killed. his mother and sister expressing outrage over the recall and the motor. >> when i started hearing that they knew about this and they just ignored it, they hid it, and that these vehicles were still on the street, i was very upset because this is america. and we should be safe.

you know, in the vehicles they sell us. you know, they should -- we lives? >> do you believe that general motor should have taken action soon sooner, and do you believe if they did that your son, that alive? >> absolutely. >> yes. i do. i -- i have no doubt in my mind that that was the cause of this accident. i think they definitely feailed in their part of being -- of keeping consumers safe of what they are putting out there productswise and hiding it. >> reports indicate that gm knew about it for decades. they are promising to share some investigation. >> there will be -- if there will be a full report, will you share it? >> i commit we will be very transparent and share what's appropriate. >> in other words, there is no commitment to share the full report? >> i am saying i will share what is appropriate. >> i hear the answer. >> according to a congressional

investigation into the recall, the auto maker rejected a proposed repair of faulty ignition switches because of costs. >> fact not missed by a congress woman from colorado. >> sir chairman, i have a copy of the ignition switch assembly for one of these vehicles. and this is it. a spring inside the switch, a piece that costs pennies, failed to provide enough force causing the switch to turn off when the car went over a bump. gm knew about this problem in 2001. they were warned again and again over the next decade, but they did nothing. >> on top of the potential for huge lawsuits, gm faces possibly an even more daunting challenge: regaining the trust of the american public. >> we are in a situation that, you know, we don't trust the company right now. >> well, it turns out that general motor vehicles is

shielded from legal liability for nearly all accidents that happened before it exited bankruptcy back in 2009. ali velshi, host of real money with us to explain what this means for not only general motor but the victims' families. first, i want to ask you a little bit about general motor' reputation. they have been through a lot with the bail-out, the bankruptcy. will they survive this? expecting? >> it's interesting in light of what you just said about whether they are shielded from legal like itty or not. legal liability at this point is the least of general motor' problems. it is a company with a lot of money. it sells a lot of cars. it's going to need to do what it needs to do to settle legal claims. whether or not it's within the law, gm's problem is reputation. this is a massive company. when i look back to ford and the bridgestone, firestone or the bronco or i look back to toyota and the brakes, they all come back, and they can come back strong but certain things need to happen first. and when it comes to cars, people have to trust that the

car is safe. now, just this week, the insurance institute for highway safety ranked a 2014 particular chevy model one of the super plus picks in terms of safety. what general motor would like you to believe is that all of the problems we are dealing with right now were from a long time ago. there was the old gm. now, they are the new post-bankruptcy gm. the problem is that today's testimony, you didn't get answers, adam, that suggested that they were coming clean or they knew everything. part of it is because mary barra is a new ceo at gm. they submitted 200,000 documents to congress. she is not familiar with some of them. she is not new to general motor. she has been there for 34 years. it's the only job she's ever had. so the image problem with general motor is, is mary barra, the first woman to ever lead a major automobile maker part of the new gm or the old gm because the old gm seems to be a bit of a problem. >> how do you think she did sitting in the hot seat?

>> i don't think she did well at all. i think there was a lot of "i didn't know that." there was a lot of "i'm disturbed by these allegations" when she came out of the session, there were some reporters there who asked her questions i think she could have been able to answer and she kept on saying, that's why we've hired tony velukus. i looked him up, and he runs a major law firm. so, you know, what i didn't need to here from a ceo of a major corporation is "talk to our lawyers." this was the opportunity to hear from people. she was in front of congress today. so, i thought that was disappointing. again, i am going to cut her some slack. she is the brand-new ceo of general motor, and nobody wants to inherit that stuff. but what i need to understand and what americans need to understand is: is she the new generation, or was she part of the crew that knew this was going on and didn't want to fas the litigation or the costs associated because, again, adam in those documents, it shows that general motor knew in 2005 and had an opportunity in 2007 and in 2010 to deal with these

ignition switch problems and decided not to. was she there? did she know? was she part of that decision? if she was -- she claims she wasn't and we will give her the benefit of the doubt. >> so many unanswered questions after that grilling. ali velshi, host of real money . thanks for joining us. >> for a story we have been following closely. washington, d.c. police searching for 8-year-old ralish a-r a-rod. people confirmed they found the suspected kidnapper dead and is accused of murdering his wife. the case that has brought national attention to the safety of children living in shelters. >> it's really, i think, just heart-wrenching to know that, you know, a child is out there and may or may not be living. it's really wanting to bring closure to the family. >> derrick butler nose the

sinking feeling of looking for a missing child but knowing it could be a search for a body. monday evening, he was part of a volunteer group filled with some hope tapped by the washington, d.c. metro police department to help find missing 8-year-old ralish a-rod. she hasn't been seen since march 1st? >> it's an empty feeling. i mean it's something that you just don't -- you don't know how you are going to feel for one day to the next. you really know what the other family is going through because you have lived through it. i mean you have highs and lows, ups and downs, just wondering, you know, what really happened. and, you know, whether the pain. >> butler is personally touched by this case. his own sister has been missing for years. he is also a member of the black and missing support group trying to shine a light on missing persons of color. >> we are looking for any children articles, shovel, bags,

just about anything that, you know, that we thought might have been connected to the case, clothing, an especially children's clothing, shoes. just anything that looked odd, out of place that shouldn't be in the woods at that time. if you see a piece of dirt or something that looked like it was just dug up, you know, just kind of poking around, looking to see if it was actually just a tree had fallen over or whether somebody had dug. for three hours he helped sort through the kennelworth park and aquatic garden, a 700 acre recreation area with endless possibilities when it comes to hiding places, including sewers, vast wooded areas and some buildings like the place where police found the body of kahlil tatum, the victim of an apparent suicide. police sad been dead for at least 36 hours when they happened upon the body monday

night but he might have been dead for days. he was the last person seen with ralisha. they spent time together as he was a janitor at the homeless shelter where she lived. >> if you look over, i guess, to southwest over here, it's -- that's kind of where the body was found. this? >> yes, uh-huh. they were actually in the woods with us, yes. and some police officers, also. >> the bitter dail of finding tatum's body was unsettling for volunteers as they set out on their search? >> i hope she is here, but it's kind of hard to believe that, you know, that this man has killed himself and killed his wife, you know. but why would he do something like to a little kid. >> she could be alive. >> that's why we are asking for the public's health. we don't have a crystal ball. >> the police chief says the search will continues for a few more days. her crews have methodically

searched shoulder to shoulder looking for ralisha with no sign. volunteers will help the search again. butler is finished for now but on standby to help. >> after looking for a while, you know, you kind of are ready to give up, but not give up for good. just regroup and come back later on. >> the entire time they were searching the park, they were searching for ralisha. they went to that park because they received information that he had spent some time there in early march, the day after ralisha disappeared. but he went back to work for several days after the last time she was seen. so the last thing they expected to find here was tatum's body. if they don't find anything tomorrow as far as ralisha goes, that doesn't mean the investigation has ended. just that the search at that park is over. >> it's such a mystery. there are still so many unanswered questions. let's bring in tom morris, investigative crime reporter. tom, i think the question everyone is asking right now is with the primary suspect dead, with this little girl still

missing, if they don't find her body in the park, where do they go from here? >> i know from sources in npd that they are searching northeast. so that's going on. there is also the possibility that he placed her body in the river if, in fact, she is dead. the river runs right near that park. so, she could be in the river, and if that's the case, being a small child, it doesn't take much to weigh down a 40 or 50 pound body. river. >> how long do they continue to search, though? i mean will they continue to search until they find her body? can they have this many cadets time? >> well, it reminds me for the search for shandra levy. the same sort of massive search occurred, npd put out cadets. there was a strong theory she might have been in rock creek park. they searched 1700 acres of rock creek park and did not find her body. a year later, a man looking for

turtles discovered the skeletal remains and clothing articles. so this is a very difficult thing. this is a needle in a hey attack situatio situation. >> we have heard press conferences. there have been briefings. we don't know all of the evidence and people they have spoken to. >> that's important to figure out what could have happened to ralisha. >> the problem investigators have is kahlil took secrets to the grave. without him to interrogate and get confessions out of, it's a dead-end unless someone related to ralisha is holding information that can shed some light on what the arrangement was that led to little girl to be with this 51-year-old man to begin with. the parent, the mother, has been somewhat cagey and has not really given truthful information initially to the police when she first was con fronted about: where is your daughter? she told them that my daughter is with a dr. tatum at a

conference in atlanta. >> that's bizarre to me. >> talk about bringing secrets to the grave, i think that begs another question, what did the suspect's wife know? >> something we will have to wait and find out if the motive ever comes to light. investigative crime reporter tim morris and laura jane gleehah. tmi, too much information in the hands of data brokers. >> all of that gets pushed into a big giant information soup and what comes out at the other end consumers. >> our special series, your secret's out continues. who is making money off you?

consider this: the news of the day plus so much more. >> we begin with the government shutdown. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> antonio mora, award winning and hard hitting. >> we've heard you talk about the history of suicide in your family. >> there's no status quo, just the bottom line. >> but, what about buying shares in a professional athlete? real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america

>> >>. >> i mean, this is before obama proposed the privacy bill of rights. it would have done the same thing. the industry opposed it at every turp. i'm not sure i see signs that that changed. >> the information keeps getting collected. some may be wrong. author of "dragnet nation", a pulitzer prize winner. thank you for joining us.

>> our series - "your secret is out", continues next time. >> you can't make childre behave online. look at how easily i could own people online. >> turning the tables and training the vul ner ible. michael oku explores dangerous threats. his report wednesday on "america tonight". still to come this hour - inside a boeing 777. the mechanics of a malaysia airlines aircraft. we are picking it apart >> on al jazeera america when science intersects with hope. >> i'm hoping to give someone a prosthetic arm for under $1000 >> inovation finds oppurtunity >> a large earthquake

would be an inconvenience rather than a disaster... >> and hardware meets humanity >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done >> eventhough i can't see... >> techknow our experts take you beyond the lab >> we're here in the vortex... >> and explore the technology changing our world. only on al jazeera america

in the headlines here on america tonight, we are following breaking news coming out of south america. an 8.2 magnitude earthquake strikes off of the northern coast of chile. it triggered a tsunami warning, triggering evacwasz along the coast line. in february of 2010, an 8.8 earthquake struck chile killing more than 300 people. the affordable care act has

reached 7 million sign-ups by march 31st. on monday, the final day to enroll, healthcare.gov received 4.8 million visitors and 2 million calls were made to the call center. the white house says the surge in activity included many young adults. their participation is key for the system to work. now to washington ffour more bodies recovered in the mud slide bringing the death toll now to 28, almost two dozen others are still missing. crews say they are concerned they may not find everyone. some new developments regarding malaysian airlines flight 370. the malaysian government released neerm an hour's worth of radio communication of radio communication transcripts. the transcripts contradict previous government accounts. originally we were told the last words from the cockpit were "all right. good night." instead, the newly released documents show the last communication was actually:

good night malaysian 777. america tonight's sarah hoy traveled to florida to get a unique and up-close look at a boeing 777 from the inside out. as authorities scrambled to solve one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history, attention has also turned to the aircraft, itself. the malaysian airlines plane that disappeared during its flight from coquala lumpur, it's one of the best affair praenz in the world, one of the safetiest in the world. it's one of my favorite planes to fly. >> he is ceo in fort lauderdale, florida. he is disassembling the 777.

>> these items are from a malaysian airlines 777? >> each was removed from a malaysian 777 we owned. >> same type of airplane as flight 370. he says the 777 which first entered service in 1995 is one of the most in demand airplanes and remains boeing's best selling dual-i'll twin-engine plane that. popularity, there are more than 1,000 777s in service. it's one of the reasons investigators must find out what happened if only to truly out a problem with the plane, itself. the search for flight 370 has spanned three weeks with more than two dozen countries involved in the mission. parts like the ones at mullberry's warehouse, a black box, trans ponder, landing gear, are some of the items search teams are looking for in the indian ocean. hundreds of miles off of the coast of can't.

>> no wreckage has been found? >> we don't know what altitude the aircraft was traveling at. we don't know what speed it was going at. if we don't find wreckage on the surface, we are eventually going to have to probably in consultation with everybody who has a stake in this review what we do next. >> meanwhile, time is quickly running out for locating the missing plane's black boxes that could possibly hold the key to understanding what happened to flight 370. there are two black boxes just like the set we saw here, one for data and the other for cockpit voice recording designed to survive a crash and signal their location, they can only run on batteries for a month, and that time is nearly up. >> what you are telling me is: we need this to have an answer? >> that's right. without this, we are never going to know. so, it's really important that we find this, stop speculating, focus on finding this.

>> so sarah, these are parts of the engine on the outside. this is what you see when you are sitting at the windows. you will notice this is in the water. they are gray. they are under the water because they are going to sink. find. >> needle in a hay stack? >> exactly. we don't know that this is the exact location that the aircraft went down. as long as they are not finding any piece from that airplane, we have to assume that it isn't because some things would float. in addition to supplying parts, ga tellsis owns a number of planes and leepsz them to the major airlines. they refurbish parts like this 777 landing gear used by malaysian airlines. >> is this something you might be able to see from the sky? >> no. unfortunately, these are very heavy. they weigh thousands and thousands of pounds. they are -- if they are in the ocean, they are at the bottom. >> but there are plenty of parts, like seat cushions, that do float and could provide the break the searchers need. >> most of these aircraft have

composite structures, and these composeit structures do float. so we would hopefully find it. but things like luggage and seat cushions and there are so many things in the aircraft that would eventually make their way to the surface that we will find it. if it's in the indian ocean, we will find it. >> at america tonight's sarah hoy is with us now. what was it like to stand among those giant pieces of aircraft? >> it was eerie. right? because we have this missing plane and though we weren't standing from the parts from that missing plane. this was something similar. this was another version of this plane. so you just couldn't help but think about where these parts them? >> were you blown away by the size of these parts? you look at the window and you don't put it in perspective. >> when you are at the airport, you are shuttled in, off. you don't see what's under the hood, if you will. here we are standing next to this landing gear which i can't even quantify for you the size it was so large. you were dwarfed by this.

it was awe-straubinging. so it's -- striking. it's something to consider about what they are up against out there in that indian ocean. >> how much debris are we talking about? >> millions of pieces. to put together a boeing 777 millions of freezes several hundred companies. this is no easy feat. >> "america tonight"'s sara hoy. next, outbreak, guinea's neighbors shuttering doors to ebola.

this is the 900 page document we call obama care. it could change costs coverage and pretty much all of health care in america. well, my show sorts this all out. in fact, my staff has read the entire thing. which is probably more then most members of congress can claim. we'll separate politics from

policy and just prescribe the facts. it's one of the most lethal diseases on the planet. highly contagion and there is no life-saving vaccine. the ebola is sweeping through guinea like wild fire. america tonight's sheila mcviccer reports >> reporter: this is what it takes to battle one of the deadliest and most miysterious vooirsz in the world iruss in the world. a hemorrhagic fever with no known cure, no vaccine, one that spreads rapidly and this strain, the most aggressive, has a 90% kill rate. >> in this outbreak centered in guinea, africa, nearly 80 people have died so far making this the worst case of ebola in seven years.

what makes it so dangerous is that the virus has now arrived in the capital of konekry, a port city of 2 million people, a regional transportation hub, accelerating fears it could spread to neighboring countries and beyond. >> i am confused. people are crying out. they need help. everybody. even the children. >> two cases, sisters, one who had returned from guinea. sierra space leon and senegal has closed the land border. the geographical spread is worrisome because it could further complicate the already difficult task of containment. >> translator: people move a lot. so the people who are infected are in contact with other people.

and our biggest problem at the moment is isolating the cases so we can put them all together in a specialist treatment unit so they are isolated and can't infect other patients. >> ultimately, it's not just west africa that could be affected. as the world shrinks, epdeemologists warn the potential for a deadly virus to spread from one place to another has become a real threat. the virus first emerged in 1976 and is transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids of effective an male. it's sped by contact with blood and burial rituals. there is an incubation period of three weeks. men can transmit virus in semen up to six weeks later. in 1995, a severe outbreak in the democratic republic of the congo claimed 245 people's lives. many were doctors and nurses infected at a hospital where

they treated patients without protection. for now, the only way to stop the virus is prevention. believing what is called bush meat, wild animals including bats and monkeys could be the sorts. guinea has banned those from human consumption. historically these burn themselves out as thevirus weakens but in a crowded city, if it is not quickly brought under control, the death toll could quickly rise. sheila mcviccer, al jazeera. to shed more light, we are joined by dr. tash, infectious disease clinica in rochester, m minnesota. a 90% fatality rate, how alarming is this? city? >> any time you have an outbreak of ebola or any other hemorrhagic fever, it is concerning. >> what about for healthcare workers out there that may be trying to get a handle on this? do they face a major

risk? >> that's a lot of the problem, when people are coming to hospitals with sometimes non-specific kinds of symptoms, it's difficult for the healthcare workers to think about ebola because that's not something people see every day. there is only later on that they find out that these patients are dying rapidly that will they have been exposed and we get these healthcare workers who are secondarily exposed succumbing to the illness. >> we are living in a different cape and age. mass transit is expanding. people have more mobility. how is this changing the major, major diseases like this? >> yeah. when you are think being some of these earlier outbreaks of ebola, they are often in smaller villages where it was easier to contain these sorts of outbreaks. there was less mobility betweenvillages. now, we are seeing the infection in larger cities, larger transportation hubs, and really, people carrying it from one place to another and so, because

of this, a lot of international agencies have been involved and really trying to stop the further. >> do you believe there is actually a risk of an infected person there in western africa getting on a plane and bringing this to other parts of the world? >> i think in general, we need to look at it and the strategies of containment and that trying to identify the people who are infected, in some ways, the people who become infected become very ill, very fast. and it is easier to identify those. unless you have identified people who are very sick potentially infected, really trying to isolate them and prevent them from spreading it to other people. >> besides containment, is there really anything else that health professionals can do to keep this from getting out of control? >> sure. in some ways, one of the biggest things is protecting themselves, making sure they are wearing all of the personal protective equipment. next thing is trying to support the patients.

you know, really we don't have any clear treatment that is going to be effective but we do -- are able to support them as their body are able to fight the infection. the last thing is, of course, isolation because all of their bodily fluids and things like that are infections and can transmit to other people. trying to contain the patients who are infected, preventing infections to healthcare workers and supporting the patients to let their bodies hopefully cure the infection on their own. >> good in-depth information. dr. tash at mayo clinic in rochester, minnesota. states. >> thank you for having me. a note for our viewers and online followers tonight, april is sexual assault awareness month. of our digital team has launched a new campaign for under reported stories. we are calling it "tracking assault." we want your help. use the "tracking assault hash tag on log onto

al jazeera/americatonight to share your story. every week, we will share our findings online and it may be even right here on our nightly program. still ahead on our final thoughts this hour, off the map. we head to the self ay -- south asian island that's especially vulnerable to climate change. >> look coming up. the stream is uniquely interactive television. we depend on you, >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> the stream. on al jazeera america and join the conversation online @ajamstream.

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the

tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america al jazeera america. we open up your world. >> here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. >> our shows explore the issues that shape our lives. >> new questions are raised about the american intervention. >> from unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. >> we are at a tipping point in america's history! >> al jazeera america. there's more to it.

next. >> finally from us, a risk of climate change is rising sea levels. bangladesh is feeling the effect. residents of a small island say their home disappearing. >> this man never thought it would happen for him. he watched as the river swallowed up the homes of fellow residents. he thought he and his family would be safe. >> translation: even a year ago you couldn't see it from here, it was miles away. the government was building barriers to stop erosion. the waters broke through. >> this was a room where the family would eat. now they are forced to eat in the open. he was born in this house and spent his life here, but now he has to find a new place to stay. many have gone through this

process eight, nine, 10 times. >> this used to be a garden. 10 years ago it used to take two days to walk from here to the riverbank. stretching out there was a dozen villages. they are all gone today. >> according to experts, climate change is to game more the disappearing act. the island faces twin threats - rising sea levels and a river that crashes on its shores harder than ever, thanks to the erratic rains. >> other countries are responsible. responsibility. >> the bangladesh government built villages to house the displaced. there are not enough of them. >> translation: the demand for the houses is more than the supply, there's many people who lost their homes, the demand is too much. >> even some of the villages have been lost to the

encroaching waters. so far half a million residents have been displaced. the rest fear it will not be long before it shares the same fate. >> and that's it for us here on "america tonight". remember, if you would like to comment on the stories you have seen, log tonne the website

>> a crackdown against somali refugees in nairobi as a prominent cleric shot in mombasa is buried. >> welcome to al jazeera, live from doha. the u.s. secretary of state cancels a planned trip to the middle east as the palestinian president pushes for international recognition. >> a massive earthquake off chile's coast. five people are thought to have died. nd