documentary series called "boarderland." until next time, we'll see you online. >> good afternoon to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city. here is a look at the top stories. >> the polls closed in afghanistan, and now the world anxiously awaits the results. plus, new details in the investigation of that missing malaysian jetliner. the chinese may have discovered a signal from the plane's black box. it's one of the africa's fastest growing nations. the ugly legacy of its genocide still haunts rwanda 20 years

later. >> the polls closed in afghanistan where the country held its first democratic election today. in a few days we'll know who will succeed current president hamid karzai. there has been an increase in deadly violence as the deadline loms for n.a.t.o. -- looms for n.a.t.o. troop withdrawal. bernard smith has more. >> the queues formed before the polling stations open. despite the taliban threats to target the election, people wanted to vote. in afghanistan's 5,000 year history, it marks the first democratic transfer of power. the people here have been eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the taliban. you can see everyone coming here. i don't have a threat from the

taliban, for me. >> 12 million were eligible to vote. in parts of the country polling stations are closed. this is repeated at polling sessions. people dip their finger in indelible ink to stop them voting twice, pick up their papers and cast their ballots in the boxes here. blue for presidential, green for provincial. the presidential vote is easy, there's eight candidates. for the provincial there's six pages like this, 400 can't tats in -- candidates in kabul. and each voting has to choose one. it's not a quick process. >> president hamid karzai was one of the first to vote. the election bringing to an end 12 years of rule since the taliban was forced out of power in 2001.

>> i cast my vote as a citizen of the country, i'm proud that i voted. i'm certain that the events, and our people's participation would take afghanistan towards facility and better lives for the people. >> there are eight candidates for president. abdullah abdullah is one of the three front runners. this is another. along with ashraf ghani. kabul was knocked down as part of a security operation that mobilized 400 security personnel. that helped to bring the attacks below average, according to security forces. ballot counting started as polls closed. already there are allegations of fraud being made that will test the independence of the election commission. >> i am not confident that the complaints would be handled fairly, because we don't know how the elections commission and the complaints commission will

act during the past experiences that we have had with the two commissions have not been desirable, and this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act sincerely or they will act in favour of one of the candidates. >> the mission is not expected to announce blirm results for four to five days. it was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans accept the commission's decision on the winner. >> four weeks after malaysia airlines flight mh370 completely vanished, there's hope that the jet may be found. today a chinese ship reportedly detected a signal matching the black box. it was detect 1,000 off the

coast of australia. a ping was detected this morning. according to the reports, three members of the ship's crew heard it, but didn't have time to record it. the source of the ping has not been determined and the chinese and australian governments say there's no evidence to link it to the missing plane. the black box's batteries last for about 30 days. >> for more on this let's turp to the transportation contributor, a pilot and an expert. he joins us live from newton massachusetts. good afternoon to you. >> thanks for having me. >> these pings that china state newsagency is reporting, what do they tell us. do they tell us where the plane is or can they give us specific information like how or when the plane went down? >> the first question has to be answered by the investigators, whether or not the ping is associated with one of the black boxes. from what i understand the

officials in australia, who, of course, are coordinating the search stated they need confirmation before they send assets into the area to check it out. that may be the next step. sending assets, ships, aircraft, what have you to confirm whether or not this is legitimate. >> you said they need confirmation. what do they need to find out in order to determine whether the signal is related to that plane? >> in essence, what they have is an eyewitness or air witness report, that they tuned it to the frequency of the ping scper heard the pings for 90 seconds. there's no recording, no way to verify that this was from the frequency. other characteristics of the signal that could ping it to being one of the two wingers. that is needed before significant resources are going to be put on to that. >> is it possible that this is the result of a false positive, especially with so many search

vessels in the area. >> it is possible. in fact, the search vessel, the chinese vessel was several hundred miles away. it's not necessarily a bad thing. assuming the impact of the aircraft was at some point in the o. after four weeks the debris will be several hundred miles away. even though this is unconfirmed, the fact that it's not in the same area as the air search gives me positive hope that this is something that can be confirmed to be from the aircraft. >> given everything you just said, what is the status of the investigation right now, four weeks later. do you get the sense investigators are closer to finding the plane or has the investigation lost some of its sting. the investigation came to a turning point because the transportation minister in malaysia announced an international advisory team

would be put together with an investigator in charnal, not a malaysian official who would be part of the team, including united states, malaysia, britain and france. this is an international team that would have some of the heavy weights when it comes to safety. so if, indeed, this organization is going to be made and there's going to be an investigator in charge from a major investigating country, it will be a positive turning point. they'll probably let the investigation go a bit more smoothly than it has. >> thank you todd for being was. >> immigration reformers are rallying in 40 cities across the country. i icesays the obama administration supports a large amount of

immigrants. this week marks the 2 millionth deportation, let's go live to robert ray who is in atlanta where one of the protests are under way. >> what are the people behind you asking for specifically? >> good afternoon. specifically the folks here would like immigration reform. they'd like deportations to go down. they feel that many of the people who are being deported are from the united states of america, are being deported for no reasons, that they are not criminals, that ice's main reason for deportation should be to get criminals out, and not families, if you take a look, the march is coming to an end. we are back at the state capital. look at the group of people, families holding the american flag, people that want a pass to citizenship. they'd like president obama to cut down on deportations of

folks that they feel want to live their life and add to the united states for generations. earlier you asked me a question that i could not answer. i have the answer now. georgia has seen deportations stop. border crossing areas in texas, and arizona, they clearly have seen an uptick because they are on the border with mexico. in the south, if we look at the numbers, they dropped a third. ice, in 2013 deported 15,000 from georgia, down 36% from 2011, where there was a surge. the answer as to why the drop. according to ice, they say they are doing their job, they put the criminals away, and deported them to their country of origin and the numbers are down because of that. it's interesting. i mean, you listen to all the different sides, there are many,

and walk with me, if you could. i was talking to one gentleman earlier. he had good information. if we could, we can see this is wrapping up. let's see if this guy is still here. you can see a little baby. cute kid, nice to see that. chris, i was talking to you earlier. what is the main reason you are out here, and what do you think is the biggest issue over this debate is. >> for me, i would have to say deportation - they tear up families, hurt future generations. getting from his family, eli said, is one of the worst things that happened. throwing money at deportation is not fixing the problem. >> even for criminals? >> criminals is a - it's a harsh word. everybody is a criminal when you get down to it over some silly

law on the books somewhere. lumping everybody that comes across the border as a criminal - "a criminal breaking the law", coming into the country in 1901. they said to my grandfather "where are you from?", and he said "pennsylvania", and that's all it is. we have had multiple generations in my family that served in the military. >> everyone has an opinion, that's why it's the united states of america, and why we are covering this. we hope to shed some light. >> we mentioned ice a few times, it's immigration and customs enforcement. i know you worked from state capital to the ice headquarters. before we go, is the protest wrapping up or will they come back tomorrow? >> the protest is wrapping up. they are not expected to come back tomorrow. the protests are expected to do this more over the summer.

i was told that earlier today by the lovely lady that we interviewed in the 11 o'clock hour. they are planning more marches, no question about it. thank you for being with us. >> memorial services will be held for victims of the shooting spree at fort hood. ivan lopez gunned down three and wounded 16 others. heidi zhou-castro has been following the investigation from the beginning. gp to you. authorities say ivan lopez's mental health was not, in fact, a main factor in the shooting. have they shed light on what was the motivation? >> they sure have. they say that it was an argument that was a direct precip roe kating factor to the shooting on wednesday. we are getting details about what that might have been about. from the father of a wounded

soldier. he said his son sou ivan lopez entering -- saw ivan lopez entering asking for a form for leave. the officer told ivan lopez to return the next day. at that point ivan lopez got angry, went and got his gun and returned and opened fire. >> we are learning about his recent history about why that may have enraged him. in november his mother died of a heart attack in puerto rico. the army gave him a 48 hour leave. ivan lopez did not feel it was sufficient. in december his grandfather in puerto rico died and he was unable to attend that funeral. so leave, apparently a touchy subject for the shooter, and it's something that the investigators are looking at carefully in determining a motive. >> heidi zhou-castro reporting live from fort hood texas. coming up, the impasse in the

middle east , and life in rwanda 20 years after the genocide.

>> today european foreign ministers are giving their full support to the effort of the secretary of state john kerry to keep the middle east peace talks alive, coming after john kerry said there are limits to what the u.s. can do if both the israeli government and the palestine authority continue to antoingonize each other. the u.s. will re-evaluate its role and john kerry's argument stems from both sides, first mahmoud abbas to achievement statehood and secondly binyamin netanyahu's continued hardlined stance. >> tomorrow evening will mark the 20th anniversary of rwanda's genocide. over the course of 100 days, mostly ethnic tutsis were

butchered while the world stood by and watched the today rwanda enjoys strong economic development. >> this is the genocide memorial, a place for the nameless dead. >> 60 thouds people -- 60,000 died at this school at the height of the genocide in which ethnic tute use killed hutus. the government n couraged them to come here so they'd be safe from the tute u but it was a trap. >> this site represents a crisis of humanity. it's easy to say it happened in a small african country, it has nothing to do with me, but it is a representation of the fate of the world. >> here there are bodies of victims.

this man is one of a few. his parents, and eight brothers and sisters were murdrd. it's by choice. his way of dealing with what happened. >> i'm proud to serve as a guide at the memorial site. i feel it's my responsibility. i'm concerned and hearing the voice of my dad, mum and other brothers and sisters. >> in the 20 years since the genocide rwanda made strides in trying to avoid representing the past. >> in the fields where mass murder was committed farmers of different ethnic groups work together to feed the nation. and the government of present implements an ambitious plan to rebuild the infrastructure. rwanda outlied a plan for the -- outlined a plan for the future,

enforcing a zero tolerance, to embracing information technology. the nation is facing the future with the knowledge that slipping backwards is not an option. >> tragic events of genocide will remain in our memories, but they can't top us moving forwards and building a bright future. that is a legacy we are having from the rwandan leadership. >> rwanda's progress is partly due to financial aid from western country. people are hard at work. they are developing software and computer applications. they say that through technology rwandans can pull themselves out of posterity, one of the things that caused the genocide in the first place. >> the united nations says it's a race against time and south sudan where 3.7 million people are already at risk of starving. it could turn into the worst

famine in africa since the 1980, and oil production has been threatened and displaced millions in the country. the u.n. says south sudan says 230 million in aid is needed in the next few days. >> ecuador is on high alert after a number of eruptions. it spewed a 6km pile of ash into the sky. >> and it looks like spring is finally upon us. for the latest i turn to our meteorologist. >> are you happy? >> i'm very happy. >> it's a beautiful day in new york city. let's look at the map behind me. cooler as you make your way to minnesota. at this time of the year winds are pushing in out of the north

and west. you can see the high of 60, but it's not going to feel like it, given the fact we'll see limited cloud cover. it will keep the heat in like a blanket and we'll deal with the wind. is rated snow showers across the state. those will come to an end as we head into tomorrow, but you can see the cloud cover across the interior north-east and with the wind it will feel cooler than normal at this time of the year. toronto at 26, winds at 26 miles per hour. kiev lands 21 -- cleveland, 21, and 41 for the high. 39 and toronto in the 50, and the '60s. across the south central plains in texas, we have a couple of showers. a tonne of moisture in the atmosphere, and the area of low pressure shifting to the east as we theyed to tomorrow -- as we

head to tomorrow. storms will not be severe across texas later today. >> severe thunder storms across louisiana and damaging winds in addition to hail and tornadoes. if you are travelling take it easy. a top of moisture in the atmosphere making tore a wet day as we head into tomorrow. otherwise across the portions of the midwest, not looking at a lot of moisture in the atmosphere. temperatures in the 50s and the 60, so a lot of snow cover is beginning to melt. >> back to you. >> thank you. items from a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away will be up for auction. everything from american space utes and those used for missions are up for grabs.

this shoulder trap covered by moon dust is expected to sell for $35,000, and notes written by buzz ald rein are expected to fix $40,000. >> still to come - a makeover in memphis. >> it's important that folks know it's not the few we know about, there's thousands of stories. >> the civil rights museum opens with new exhibits bringing history to life.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york, here are the top stories. a chinese chip searching for malaysia airlines flight 370 picked up a ping from the floor. the source of the ping has not been determined. in afghanistan the people voted in their first democratic presidential election. the results will be released

later. the country has seen n upcertainlying in violence. >> protests against wosh's deport -- washington's deportation policy are expected. the 2 millionth deportation happens this month. >> it's been 46 years since martin luther king wag asass -- was assassinated on a memphis balliony. years after his death memphis turned the hotel into the national civil right museum. after renovations it's reopening with an indepth look at history. >> the lorraine motel seems to be frozen in time. the balcony where martin luther king was shot and killed, the cars outside, and room 306 where he last left looked the way it did in 1978. beyond the walls is a museum that's been transformed,

designed to chronicle the human rights movement, starting with slavery in the 1600s. >> we saved space so that you can crouch down and see what it felt like to actually be touching one person for months as they travelled through. you can hear sounds. you can hear what they were going through. >> when it opened in 1991, the national civil rights museum painted a picture of the movement. new exhibits go in depth, highlighting churches, homes. it introduced lesser known foot soldiers. >> it's important that folks know it's not just the few we know about, thousands of stories need to be told. >> iconic exhibits like the

sit-in lunch counters have been updated. you can sit inside a replica of the gaol cell, where dr king wrote a litre. >> the montgomery bus is a new environment, complete with statues of women outside. every day women who could have been rows apart, want toing have a seat on the bus. >> a primary exhibit is about brown versus the board of education. it takes you from a courtroom to inside the classroom where there's a map that shows that there were legal changes happening across the country, in places like iowa and michigan. >> touch screens have been added to appeal to younger visitors, creating a better experience. >> we can't get away from it. it should never be forgotten. everyone must know what

happened. >> the museum's final chapter explores present-day issues. encouraging visitors not to just be transported back in time but to be part of the movement today. >> thank you so much. i'm morgan radford. >> for 300 years, the most powerful nations on earth grew richer and stronger on the profits of the slave trade. over twelve million men, women and children were forcibly transported from africa on slave ships like this, to the colonies and plantations in north and south america. today slavery is illegal on every country on the planet. but the truth is, slavery did not die in the 19th century. it is alive, it is thriving, and