lot of these problems that we ease. >> thank you so much for being on al jazeera, sir kens >> >> this is al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz, live in new york. the counting begins in afghanistan as the world waits and learns who will become president and what it will mean for american forces. a sounds from the death. a lead in the search for the missing jet and time running out. we are learning what may have prompted a shooting rampage is the fort hood. and a dramatic rescue to save a baby sick at sea.

tonight afghanistan is counting the votes and whoever becomes president will be critical the way the american forces remain. afghans seem to embrace the significance of the moment. more than 7 million voters showed up. turn out 60% and widespread violence did not erupt as expected. >> the queue started to form before the polling stations open. despite taliban threats to target the elections people wanted to vote. in 5,000 years this, is the first democratic transfer of power. people are eager to seize the chance. >> we don't care about the taliban. i don't have any threat for me, from the taliban. i'm not afraid of the taliban. >> 12 million people were

eligible to vote. in parts of the country where the taliban held sway, polling situations were closed. had is the situation repeated at polling stations. people queue up after going through a security check, dipping their finger in indelible ink. they pick up their ballot papers, go into the booths to cast their ballots and in their boxes here. the blue one is for the presidential election, the green one is for the provincial elections. there are just eight candidates. provincial elections they get six pages like this, there are 400 candidates in kabul. each person voting had to choose one candidate so it's not a quick protest. president hamid karzai was the person to vote. it brings to an end 12 years of rule since the taliban came into power.

>> i cast my vote, i'm glad and proud that i voted. i'm certain the event and our people's participation would take afghanistan towards stability and better lives for the people. >> kabul was locked down as part of an unprecedented security operation that mobilized 4-00,000 security personnel, bricking the numbers of attacks below the hevering in afghanistan. -- average in afghanistan. >> ballot counting started. there are allegations of fraud made already, testing the undepends of the election commission. >> i am not very 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 - the past experiences that we had with the two commissions have not been desirable. this time around it remains to be seen whether they will act

sin seriously or act in -- sincerely or in favour of one of the candidates. >> the commission isn't expected to announce preliminary results for four to five days. this was never expected to be a poll free of fraud, but how much there is will determine whether afghans accept the final conditions on the win are. >> eight men are running to be the next president of afghanistan. three are considered the favourites. the frontrunners ashraf ghani ahmadzai used to be the finance minister, and holds a ph.d. from columbia and worked for the world bank for more than a record. then there's rousz are, the top -- rousz , the top -- zalmai rassoul, the top specific. he was the finance minister and unmarried. which is unusual for a minister. >> abdullah abdullah ran in 2009 but finished a distant second to hamid karzai. he was a former eye doctor.

he has been the foreign minister. >> let's talk about zalmai rassoul. he's the one considered to be most like hamid karzai. jane ferguson looks at what his victory could mean. >> each those hoping to run this country can't travel by road. the presidential helicopter lands at a spot which is a 2-hour drive from the capital, a journey too dangerous for him. previously foreign minister zalmai rassoul is seen as hamid karzai's chosen successor. that support, however, could come with a legacy of corruptionlinged to the government -- corruption linked to the government. >> the hamid karzai government will be well-known for a long time for horrendous levels of corruption, you were part of the government. what will you do differently. >> i have not been involved in corruption issues. i repeat myself, that the fact

that i had been involved, i know what is happening. i know which kind of thing you should do to correct that. i want to put this experience that i got, the achievement and lack of achievement in the service of afghan people. >> while zalmai rassoul was minister, hamid karzai refused to sign an agreement with the u.s., allowing foreign troops to remain in the country. throwing relations with the u.s. into crisis. >> the fundamental of relations in afghanistan is solid. we have problems, problems happen with the friends. i was involved on drafting it from the afghan side. i believe that the national interest of afghanistan has been respected in that. it is in that interest of afghanistan and the united states, and i'm hopeful that the issue should be signed soon. >> in jalalabad speeches are herd by thousands of hopefuls,

including warlords. of the eight men running for president. r zalmai rassoul is one of three. image and protocol mould themselves to campaign locations. when we are in the capital candidates want to present themselves as the future of a modern afghan state. when they travel to the provinces to areas like this, 13 years since the fall of the taliban, therenot a single woman in the crowd. >> he's worked in the finest schools. his legacy as a descendant is seen as an asset in the eyes of many afghans. as a candidate he will be seen as a vote for continuity. if they decide to have more of the same style of government, he stands a strong chance of

leading it. >> u.s. forces have been in afghanistan since object of 2001 when president bush launched operation enduring freedom after 9/11. it was aimed at dismantling the taliban. mr bush kept around 30,000 troops, but by 2010 president obama increased that number to 98,000. two years ago he began to scale back. today about 38,000 american forces remain in that country. more than 2300 u.s. servicemen and women died in the afghan war. after weeks of violence today was relatively peaceful. the taliban did not launch any serious attacks. credit has been given to the afghan security force, i asked whether the taliban is wered to take over their own security. >> it proves a lot about their ability to handle short-term operations. there's a lot in terms of

overall logistics, eighty to provide medical relief to soldiers, eighty to sustain forces in the field, and strategic direction, creating a campaign plan and following through on it. those are the things, when talking about afghan security forces, they are the questions asked. in terms of standing with the afghan people and that they could set a task and get it done, it was a big win for them. >> still the taliban is a concern, if it turns into a run off it will likely redouble its efforts. >> crews may have caught a break in the search for missing malaysian jet. a ping was detected in the search area, in the southern indian ocean, about 1,000 miles off australia's coast.

three crew members heard the ping but did not have time to record it. it's not confirmed that it is from the plane. black boxes have an average life of 30 days, which is not long after t after. >> the equipment can go as deep as 20,000 feet and is dropped in the water. the search area is no more than 13,000. the ship pulls the device, listening for signals. the pings are beyond the range of human hearing and can be picked up a mile away. the ship has to be close to detect the sound. >> joining us via skype is alan deal, a former investigate with the n.t.s.d. and author of. how big of a breakthrough do you thing the ping is? >> this could be the biggest we have had yet.

i don't think the chinese would have reported this if they didn't believe they had something. not recording it makes it difficult to verify. this sounds very - i'm optimistic about this, and i hope the australians get out there and verify this via the joint coordination center. >> do you think it's truly a solid lead. i'm a little confused about why it wasn't recorded, i'm not sure if that is not normal or it was a fluke. >> we don't know what kind of equipment the chinese use. we have seen the coast guard cutter and semi rig it boats with the hired phones over the side. i know it's u.s. made equipment but it looks primitive. but they may have been in the right location. it's like real estate location, location, location. >> being in the right place at the right time. is there anything else, playing devil's advocate that could emit

this signal under water that may not be the black box? >> i suppose there are. i'm not an expert on underwater sound wave detection, but the fact of the frequency, they didn't record it, but monitored the frequency, and the one second pulse rate which i don't know if they recorded, bus if you have 90 seconds of that correct frequency and pulse rate. i think that sounds solid. >> okay. encouraging. time is running out. the batteries last for 30 days, and they are about on the 30th day of the safe. >> i talked to the man who tested the battery, a few days back, from the manufacturer. at the factly they put on full strength for about 34 days and spent about five days declining.

i think we have until the 15th, if my maths is right. signals will be weaker after today or a few more days, but there's a little time. i sure hope they get the tow in the area or the british nuclear sub to get close. i guess the water is 13,000 feet, and the signals are only guaranteed for a mile. >> they have to be on top of it to hear it. >> they sure do. it may be that they lucked out. >> what happens next. let's assume - honestly everything with the search seems to go wrong. let's assume they don't hear the ping. do they send in underwater equipment or crews. do they have a precise location? >> it's up to the joint section. i hope they get other detection devices there, and the latitude and longitude and eventually, a

couple of days later they'll arrive with the towed array, a u.s. navy device. the british have another device. the first two steps - aerial survey, towed arrays, and start sending the side looking boats down there to map the area and look for the wreckage. if they are not able to confirm this, this is still probably the best lead. you start off with the array, go to the side-looking sonar, and remotely operated vehicles with cameras to photo document it and the decision has to be made how best to get the two recorders up to the surface. assuming that... >> assuming that be find them. that's the hope and attention. a lot of people praying assist coming from the plane. >> alan diehl. former investigate junior and author of "air safety

investigators using science to save lives - one crash at a time", thank you for your time. >> a prayer service for the crew, flight family and passengers is occurring now. buddhist organizations organised the event and it is broadcast online. we'll hear more from a conference from the australian search group. stay tuned for that. >> the army believes an army with other soldiers most likely led ivan lopez to open fire. >> the commanders said it was an argument that was a precipitating factor to the shooting on wednesday, and the father of a shoulder wounded said his son saw ivan lopez go into the personnel office to request a leave form.

when ivan lopez was denied the form and told to come back the next day, the specialist became angry, got his gun, came in and began to shoot. he killed three soldiers, wounded 16 before turning the gun and killing himself. we are learning more about who lopez was from his friend in puerto rico where he grew up. they tell us that ivan lopez's mother died of a heart attack and ivan lopez wanted to spend time and go home for their funeral. he had been upset the army gave them a 48 hour lead. in september, when his grandfather pass said away. he was unable to attend that funeral. while it is early and motive has not been determined, the question of leave, and what that invoked in ivan lopez on wes is an avenue explored. >> as far as the community

around ford hood was -- fort hood was concerned. they are reeling. five years ago major nidal hasan killed 13 and wounded 32. in august last year fumely they found closure when a panel sentences nidal hasan to death. just when they turned the page, this happened. people are left questioning how that could have happened and how further violence could be prevented >> ivan lopez was being treated for anxiety, depression and evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. the army said his medical condition was not a direct factor in the shootings. >> still ahead demonstrations in 40 cities. the fight to stop deport agency. >> a slow start to tornado season. severe weather through april.

>> welcome back protesters are demanding change from president obama on immigration policy. they marched in 40 cities calling for an end to deportations. patty culhane has more. [ chants ] >> a slow loud march through washington dc. karen sent her 11-year-old daughter katherine, part of a crowd that marched to the white house. they are here in many ways for her. because soon she could be the 2 millionth person deported since president obama took office. >> in 2011 i was at my house and immigration came looking for someone else. they found me. for her daughter that means fear, she can't find the words she expressed. because i don't wanna...

>> they found their voice to protest deportation policies in atlanta, in san jose california - a few arrests. all of these protesters hoping to send a message that the immigration system has to change. now - most of the group doesn't believe u.s. congress will pass law, so they are focussing on president obama, and want him to change policies when health officials don't believe the president has the power. >> we are fighting to staff deportations. >> they don't believe the president when he says his priority is deporting criminals. of more than 368,000 deported in 2013, it 152,000 were noncriminal removls. for the vast majority the only law they break was entering the country illegally. president obama ordered a review of deportation policies, it's not clear when that will be complete. it seems likely that it will be

lock after this couple have their day in court. >> and a young man who grew up in new york city is awaiting his day in court. he and his sister were brought here illegally by their parents. by now a looming deportation could drastic change their lives. kale een ford has their story. >> juan carlos and his sister denise are inseparable, ever since coming to new york from mexico. when they were 8 and 11 years old. they knew life here could be tenuous. >> mum always prepared me for what to do in case they were deported in a raid. the family was not prepared for the day three years ago when juan carlos was stopped by police. >> i began to sprerment with marijuana, i would usually be

around my school, and because of all the police around, i got stopped and frisked a couple of times. >> juan carlos was arrested and spent five days in gaol for violating his probation. when released agents from immigration and customs and enforcement were waiting to take him to a customs center. he said the fear was always there. it was pretty overwhelming. it challenges me, making me feel like an ugly person. if he loses his appeal he will be sent back to a country he hasn't soap in a decade. there's a lot of shame put on us for the choices that our parents had to make or the choices we make. the debate is public right now on what should be done with us. we are living in the every day. >> according to the department of homeland security 1.8 million immigrants have been deported.

the number is set to reach 2 million. >> after pressure from immigrants rights group, president obama ordered a review of the policies and priorities, in the hopes that laws could be enforced humanely. >> immigrants rights groups say it's not enough. it's dishonest to say that detention and deportation can become humane. we are asking for a stop, and for the president to meet families. >> the deportation order affected denise's plans to be a teacher. >> something i carry all the time. itself hard for me to think of a future when i'm not with my brother. a future that is uncertain as they wait for reform. >> time for the weather and rebecca stevenson is here with that. it is spring, which means severe storms for much of the country.

>> they had a slow start. chilly and cold and had the snow and the ice in places around the midwest. and that slowed down the start of a typical severe weather systems. now they are firing up with warmer air coming into place, thunder storms along the golf coast as we get into sunday, we'll have another round further east impacting places like indiana, georgia, alabama. come with a risk of being severe. when you look at the tornado numbers, it was a slow start. >> in march it was typical, a 3-year average, and that is 82. and we recorded 25 this year. now as we get into april, look at the spike in action. it goes up to 250 tornados. so far we have 11. we could be adding big numbers to this. it will seem like a rapid spike

because we get the warmer air off the coast of mexico. the jet streams will be lifting north. as we look at the probability of the locations with tornados. on april 5th. the most likely location will be oklahoma into texas. last thursday we had the tornado touch down in denton in the north-east. forecasters, rain fall and thunder storms. stretching from texas all the way over into alabama, and parts of georgia, and 3-4 inches of rain fall coming down. that will cause issues. we have studies impacting parts of the south-east as we get through the day tomorrow. where we get rain changing over to lighter showers. it will dry out nicely for you tomorrow. nice dry day with warmer air coming up from the south. textures will be hitting around 80 degrees. they'll start out at 54.

warmer in the east coast and mid-atlanta. nice sunday. boy, we could hold off on the tornado action. let's hope for know tornados. check this out of the stunning images of a solar flare captured by n.a.s.a., they are a powerful burst of radiation. they can disturb gps and communication symbols. wednesday's event was classified as a flare. the most intense are ten time more powerful. still ahead. dramatic rescue at see is underway. the coast guard is working to save a sick little girl stranded on a boat hundreds of miles from shore. >> it's been 20 years since one of the worse gen sites in history -- gen sides in history, a look back at how the country is recovering. >> a live picture from perth australia where the head of the

australian search is to occur. we'll bring it to you at the bottom of the hour. [ male announcer ] it's here -- xfinity watchathon week, your chance to watch full seasons of tv's hottest shows for free with xfinity on demand. there's romance, face slaps, whatever that is, pirates, helicopters, pirate-copters... argh!

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>> welcome bag to al jazeera america. -- back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories. a possible new clue in the search for the missing malaysian airliner, a chinese ship heard signals, it's not certain if they are from the missing plane. the pings are consistent with the frequency of the plane's black boxes, as the search enters the fifth week malaysia promises not to give up. you are looking at a life picture from perth, where a news conference will be held at the bottom of the hour. we'll bring it to you live. >> and the nation's first democratic transfer of power. 7 million voters showed up

making tonne out 60%. scattered attacks killed 20. >> investigators are focussing on an argument between ivan lopez and fellow soldiers before a shooting rampage. the dispute involved a leave request. >> now for the saturday segment "a daper look" -- deeper look", it's been 20 years since hundreds of thousands died in awe wanda's -- rwanda's gep site. tutsis had taken ref ug in a school, but were slaughtered when peacekeepers pulled out. >> people were long divided since before the genocide, beginning back in 1916 when belgium colonized rwanda. the minority attitude sis -- tutsis became a social elite. it caused riots in the late 50s.

more than 20,000 tutsis were killed. a few years after that the hutus took control after independence in 1962. ethnic fighting continued for decades, and a peace deal was signed in 1993, but was broken after the plane carrying the president was shot down, and that act enraged the hutus. who began to mass anger. 800,000 were slaughtered in 100 days. this week rwanda is reflecting on its past and looking to its future. we visited a memorial in the capital hop ouring those that lost their lives. >> this is the memorial, a place for the many dead. 50,000 people died in this school at the height of the rwandan genocide in which ethnic hutus killed mostly tutsis. the government encouraged them to come here so they'd be safe

from the hutu militias. it was a trap. now they are only the remains of the dead to remind the living of what happened. >> this represents a crisis of humanity. it's easy to say it happened in a small african country. it's a representation of the failure of the world. >> there are bodies of victims. this is one of a few who survived the massacre. parents, and eight brothers and sisters were murdered. it's by choice, his way of dealing with what happened. >> i'm feeling proud. i feel it's my responsibility and concern. i'm feeling the void of dad, mum and other brothers and sisters. in the 20 years of the gen said

he made. in fields where mass murters were committed. farmers worked to feed the nation. the government implements an ambitious plan to reveal the infrastructure. >> they laid a plan for the future. enforcing a zeer havo tolerance. this kind of emission faces the future with the knowledge that slipping backward is not an option. >> the tragic events in 1994 remains in our memories and they can't stop us from moving forward and building a bright future. that's a legacy they are having from the leadership led by the government.

>> rwanda's progress is popular due to financial aid from western countries. >> people are hard at work developing software and computer applications. they say that through technology, rwandans can pull themselves out of posterity - one of the things that -- poverty, one of the things that caused the genocide in the first police. >> genocide has been committed throughout history, but the word was not coined until 1944 during world war ii. then in 1948 it was categorised as an disagrees add crime. it occurred in cambodia, northern iraq, bosnia and rwanda. it wasn't outsiders that ended the killing, but the president. we have this explanation. >> it was ended not because outsiders intervened, but rather from within. the rwandan patriotic front, let

by the now president of rwanda defeated those carrying out the genocide militarily and put an end to the kitting. that's the other element. not just conscious inches, but the force and political will to use the force. unfortunately in many of the crisis we have seen in the last 20 years, the second element, the force and the will to use it has been missing. the united nations kaud the war the worst sips rwandan genosigh. the author of rwanda says each crisis is different. there's no set formula for fixing the situation. >> i don't see any solution at the moment. the only party we can figure out is to stop the regime.

is russia. he has no knengs of doing that, nothing will stop the mixed bad, men terrorists, from keeping up the opposition. no one can stop him from doing that. i regard syria with a broken heart. not only is it possible. it's impossible to stop - i know who could stop c e.r. is any number of republics by sending in troops. that will not work. i don't know what we'll do about it. we'll have 150,000 killed, 2 million refugees, we in north america can barely conjure with, nothing will stop it. >> how can he be convinced that the rwandan genocide could be stopped. >> each case is different. rwanda with a small country, the genocide army was really tifl

small... >> we are jumping now to the taped piece there to go live to australia where we are expected to hear any moment from authorities there. this is the first time they'll speak after a chinese ship detected a possible ping from the indian ocean. this was the first big lead in the search for the jetliner. let's listen to what they have to say. >> good morning, commodore peter le vrk y the task for commander. i have mr scott constable on my left from the australian safety maritime society and bob armstrong from the australian transportation safety bureau. i have call this media conference to provide you with the latest information i have regarding the search for the missing malaysia airlines flight mh370. as you are aware, late yesterday reports surfaced in the chinese

press that the chinese ship had detected electronic pulse siing thats in the indian ocean. i issued a media release overnight confirming that i had been advised that a series of sounds had been detected by the chinese ship, with characteristics consistent with the aircraft black box. additionally i confirmed a number of white objects which were also sited on the surface, about 90km from the detection area. i made clear, how far, that these signals and the objects could not be verified as beping related to the -- being related to the missing aircraft at that point in time. that remains the case. i also advised that the australian maritime safety

authorities rescue coordination centre spoke to the rescue coordination centre in china asking for further information that might be relevant. this morning we were contacted by the chinese authorities, and advised that the ship had late yesterday afternoon redetected the signals for 90 seconds within 2 kilometres of the original detection. this is an important and encouraging lead. but one which i urge you to continue to treat carefully. we are working in a very big ocean, and within a very large search area and so far, since the aircraft went missing, we have had very few leads which allow us to narrow the search area. obviously we take any reported leads in the search area seriously. that's why today royal australian air force assets will

deploy to assist in further examining the acoustic siing unless in the vicinity of where the chinese ship has detected the sound. h m.s. "echo" and australian defense vessel "ocean shield" are being directed to join "haichwin 01" as expeditiously as possible to assist with discounting or confirming the detections. echo is the closest to the site. "ocean shield" will be delayed while she pursues an acoustic noise in her current location. a word of caution - in the days, weeks, and possibly months ahead. there may be leads such as the one i am reporting to you this morning, an a regular basis. i would ask you, the media, to

treat them as unverified until such time as we can provide an unequivocal determination. and i think that's very important. and i ask for your assistance and cooperation. i assure you that we will follow up and exhaust every credible lead we receive. we need to keep at the forefront of our minds families and friends of the 239 passengers on board the flight. speculation and unconfirmed reports can see the loved ones of the passengers put through terrible stress and i don't want to put any - put them under any further emotional distress at this difficult time. today also the international investigative team has this

morning advised of a correction to the satellite data that has been used to calculate the flight path of mh370. the correction arises from new information about the state of the satellite itself, when it received transmissions from mh370 during its flight. the effects of the correction is to raise the priority for searching the southern component of the existing search area ahead of the northern component. in other words, you'll see a higher probability of importance on the southern part of the search area. the whole of the existing search area remains the most likely area that the aircraft entered the water, but based on the new advice, the southern area now has a higher priority.

the air and surface searches for floating wreckage today are already in progress, and will be completed as planned in the available daylight. tomorrow's searches for floating wreckage will be adjusted to acts for any new information. up to 10 military aircraft, two civil aircraft and 13 ships will assist in the search, which will cover an area 216,000 square kilometres. fortunately the weather in the search area is expected to remain good, with a cloud base of 2,500 feet, and visibility greater than 10km. i'm now happy to take your questions. one at a time. >> reporter: just questions - do you have at data and analyse by the experts in australia?

second... >> sorry, just which data >> reporter: the data of the signal from the chinese ship and analysed it. second, any condition is needed to be fulfilled throughout the conclusion - confirmation with the plane, can you draw conclusions? >> well, the process is one of, you know, verification, and essentially the information has been passed through the chinese authorities to the australian authorities, with a request to do further investigation of the acoustic detection. so that is why h m.s. "echo", and australian defense vessel ocean shield, which has special equipment, which will be useful

in these circumstances, are proceeding to the location of "hishwuan 01", all the data available to the authorities is obviously looked at closely. at the moment, at the moment, the data we have does not provide a means of verification, we have to do further investigation on the site itself. >> that's why all the resources are being moved to that location. i think we have to let the experts take the necessary time to come up with their conclusions and on the basis of that we'll know whether it is a

credible contact for n or not. you have seep when we first start. there were many leads. some looked promising. we sent zips to pick up the stuff identified on the surface of the orksz ocean. step by step we looked at it and couldn't find a connection and it was discounted. so far none of the visual or wreckage or material we have recovered from the ocean has been, i guess, linked to mh370. we'll go flow a similar process when we go underwater. underwater, the environment is

quite difficult. there are lots of occasions when noises will be transmitted over long distances, depending on the temperature layers in the water and so on. there's a complexity about working under water that makes the task difficult. we have the expertise to operate there and on land supporting the efforts of the people doing the work. >> reporter: from your professional knowledge, if it is confirmed the siing mall comes from the black box, how difficult will it be to recover the black box in that area. if it is confirmed will you announce the result or will you withhold the information to announce together with the other

four countries? >> the water in which the "haixun 01"is working at the moment is very, very deep. i think it's in the order of 4,500 metres. that is - that's incredibly deep. 4.5km straight down. so any recovery operation will be incredibly challenging and very demanding and will take a long period of time. that's if there is anything down there. i mean, first of all, we have to establish the fact that there is something down there. we are a long way from making that conclusion, that's why we need hmas "echo", and the australian defense vessel "ocean shield" to come to the location, because they have special equipment to help us make the

judgment whether there is anything down there. but i think the fact that we have had two deductions, two acoustic events in that location provides some promise which requires a full investigation of the location. >> just to clarify what you were talking about then, the two detections in the area. the boat picked up something, came back and found something in a separate area... >> you have been listening to a live news conference from angus houston, overseeing the search for the missing malaysia airlines flight. encouraging hope for the families and all the people looking for the plane. he tells us that the chinese searchers looking for the missing malaysian airliner have

now heard a signal coming from the ocean floor twice. twice now. the second detection was heard within 2km of the original pings, and that the chinese crews were able to hear that for 90 seconds. now they say they heard the pings twice in the relatively same location. it's a big development. a lot of people are feeling hopeful they are possibility zeroing in on the location of the missing jetliner. the authorities make it clear they have not found confirmed reports of the plane and this is far away from locating the wreckage. >> todd curtis is standing by with more on this. >> help us understand the significance of this, the chinese crews heard a ping twice. we don't know if it's from the plane. a lot think it might we. >> australian authorities gave

us a clear signal. it looks like they'll take all the air assets, taking them to the area where the pings were closest. at the same time there was another area where pings were heard. it looks like there's a strong indication that around the "haixun 01," the chinese ship, that there's evidence of pinging, but there's one other location where that is going on. the signals are the same frequency as signals emitted by the black boxes. >> that's correct. >> what else could emit the same kind of signal, if it's not the black boxes? >> various experts vary as to what else could be giving off something of those frequencies, from military devices to other ocean graphic equipment.

given the location where this is going on, i would say the coincidence of having something in that frequency range in the same location as other oceanic equipment is probably low. depending on the equipment. this would be verifiable or not verifiable, which is why they are sending the assets there today. >> we have been watching this. now it's the fifth week. there have been a lot of false leads, a lot of reports of signing of possible wreckage, signals heard. when you see this, this news, how hopeful are you that it will zero in. >> i'm very hopeful. this is a situation where if they can get recordings of the pinging, if they can analyse it with equipment on board ships, on the aircraft or on land, they'll be able to see if there

are newances. if they can get that kind of verification, that would be a clear signal that the blax boxes may be there. they are sending ships and planes right now. time is of the essence. the batteries last 30 days, and the safe has entered its 30th day here. how much of that is a concern? >> well, for all kinds of systems, there are requirements that systems have to make. in most cases manufacturers exceed the requirements. it wouldn't surprise me if they took a random sample of pingers, that a portion lasts 30 days. it wouldn't surprise me if there's a signal coming out of this, specially since as we look at the graphics, they go not

work well. you have to be on top of black boxes to hear the sound. is it the case of luck, the ships stumbling across the signals. i hope the authorities are a bit transparent and give the searchers, not just the ships, involved in the search of what the thinking process was because if, indeed, they are on to something, it's something that should be shared with one and all. >> it's potentially a huge break. walk us through what happens next, especially if the signal fades and the batteries die on the black boxes, how do they search for the wreckage. does it move into sending submarines , or underwater vehicles to scan the floor with cameras. what happens next? >> first thing is what is happening now. they'll have assets, other

deduction systems to confirm whether the signal is from the black boxes. if they confirm it is, they'll concentrate the research on the small area. this will turn into a situation with somewhat like what happened five years ago with air-france, they didn't have a signal but had a good idea what area of the ocean to look at. they had a methodical search and found the aircraft. one of the things that will happen soon is they'll have to get some idea what kind of territory they are dealing with. as mr houston said in the briefing they are talking about water that is it 2.5km deep. it depends what is on the bottom. if it's sandy, it may not be too bad, if it looks like the rocky

mountains under water it could be challenging. >> todd, think you for your insight. stunning news out of australia with the search for the missing malaysian airliner. chinese crews heard twice a symbol from the depths of the indian ocean on the same frequency as the black boxes, it is a solid clue, it's not confirmed. more news after this quick break on al jazeera.

>> you're watching al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz in new york with the top stories. hopeful crews in the missing malaysian airliner, australia confirmed a short while ago that

a chinese ship has twice now detected electronic signals. the pings are consistent with the frequency of the black boxes. developments are promising, they urge that it's important not to jump to conclusions. 7 million turned out for saturday's presidential election in afghanistan. the army says an army is likely what provoked the shooting at fort hood. the shooter requested time off. he killed three soldiers, wounded 16 before killing himself. >> immigration protesters demanded on end to deportations that break up families. some were arrested. they want president obama to change his policy with or weight support from congress. >> atlanta's catholic archbishop gregory apologises for his

$2 million mansion. he will sell the home. parishioners angered said ha should have lived a simpler lifestyle. those are the headlines. "consider this" starts now, for updates later in the day go to aljazeera.com. >> a bombshell report claims that pakistan not only new where obama was, but protected him as he hid. america's plan to trigger protests in cuba secretly using social media. plus, who holds the keys to the internet. we meet a member of the select secret group. can a convicted child rapist escape a prison sentence because he's rich. here is more on what's ahead. "conside