an american tonight special edition, >> explain how you were able to get access to the taliban. >> fault lines: this is taliban country then, an american tonight special edition only on al jazeera america sounds from the ocean floor. what could be the most credible lead so far in the month-long search for the missing malaidsian airlines plane. t the defense in at a time trial known as "blade runner"? >> i do firmly feel very strongly, that, yes, that was crazy. >> family members speak out after a california couple gets stranded on sea with a baby on

born. why some are questioning the baby's plan to sail around the world ♪ i am a yankee doodle dandy." "looking back at a legend of the silver screen, the life, the legacy and the many loves of actor mickey rooney. i am stiff knee sy. officials announce they have a strong lead in the several for missing malaysian flight 370. an australian ship as picked up a pulse signal not far from where a chinese ship heard signals the day before. officials believe it could be coming from the plane's blacks box but it could take it days to confirm that. it will disappeared nearly a month ago. officials are hopeful this will lead them to the missing jet. we are john buyerica. we know the batteries on these black boxes could go out any day now. >> this is why searchers have launched the most intensive hunt

yet with more than a dozenships from multiple countries. these picks have narrowed the search. the southernmost area is where the kind easy picked up two pings on saturday. a day later and 350 miles north of there, the lead australian ship heard a third ping. authorities say the area inside these three boxes are in line with where they believe the plane had likely ran out of fuel and entered the water. there is nothing at this point to confirm if any of the picks are coming from the missing plane's black boxes they are still considered a major development in what the australian prime minister described as the most difficult search in human history. >> reporter: in what they are calling the most promising leads since malaysian airlines flight 370 vanished almost one month ago, australian authorities announced a potential break in the investigation. >> the pifinger from the ocean

shield has detected signals emit by those from aircraft black boxes. them would be consistent from transmissions from the flight data recorder and the cock picking voice recorder. >> the search resumed this morning with renewed focus on two zones: the area where a chinese ship detected a black box frequency saturday and the location where the australian naval vessel ocean shield picked up the hunt today. it is a race against time. >> the life of the batteries must be getting somewhere close to the end of life. it's 31 days. so we are already one day past the advertised shelf life. >> with the british navy ship, "echo," authorities are still urging caution since confi confirmation that the picks are related to flight 370 could take days. if they detect another signal, a

drone like this will be dropped into the sea to scan the ocean floor for any sign of the missing jetliner. the depth of the ocean could be a problem. >> unmanned, underwater vehicle can go as deep as 15,000 feet, the same depth of the area they are search oning, which leaves little wiggle room. >> we are right on the edge of capability. and we might be limited by the capability if, for example, the aircraft ended up in deeper water. >> with the one-month anniversary of flight 370's disappear answer almost here, loved lit candles to remember the passengers and crew on board. >> so many countries involved in that search, still, erica, thank you. in the next half hour we will get an in-depth analysis from our aviation expert who spent years flying southeast air. >> authors form blade runner have begun his murder defense. he is expected to take the witness stand as soon as

tomorrow to answer questions about what happened the night he shot and killed his girlfriendtion model reva stein camp. he said it was a mistake that he thought she was an intruder. these are actually live pictures you are looking at from the trial in south africa. pistorius is facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted. in our next hour, we will take an in-depth look with jami floyd. >> the united nations said it was a larmed by about 1000,000 sir i can't know refugees until camp. this is amateur video you are looking at providing an unclose look at saturday's violence. syrian refugees and jordanian forces blame each other for the fighting. jordanian forces used tear gas.

ballots are being counted in afghanistan to determine who will succeed president hamid karzai. millions turned out saturday defying threats from the taliban. nearly two dozen people were killed in election day violence. 400,000 troops were deployed to keep the polls safe. it could take six weeks for results to come in from across afghanistan. ashraf gani and abdullah abdullah appeared to be front runners. remembering the victims of the washington state mud slide. ♪ >> several hundred people filled the community center saturday to pay tribute to 69-year-old limiteda mcpherson, the retired librarian and her husband were sitting in their rekleiners reading the newspaper when the mud slide hit. her husband survived the disaster. funerals for two others were held on saturday. the official death told for the mud slide is now 30, with 13 people still missing.

president obama plans to take part in a memorial at fort hood. the president and first lady will visit the texas military post on wednesday three soldiers were shot and killed last wednesday. the obama were already scheduled to be in texas days of campaign fundraising. the president also visited fort hood in november of 2009 following another shooting rampage that killed 13. ♪ on sundays, flags and crosses lined the entrances of the first united methodist church in killeen. four candles lit at the beginning of the service in rememberance of each of the vict ills and the gunman. coming up in the next hour, we will talk to a former aid to president h.w. bush and get his opinion on a texas congressman saying it could have been prevented. >> the navy saves at family

stuck at sea. the couple was apparently trying to sail around the world with two young children. they asked for help after their infant daughter became sick and needed medical attention. as al jazeera thomas drayton tells us why they would take such some are questioning why they would take a risk. >> sir eye a english can't wait for the moment she can hug her stir and neece? >> i will be probably between crying and jumping and down. i am excited for that moment. >> her sister, charlotte kaufman with her husband, eric and their 2 children were living out their dream to sale around the world, a dream that turned into a nightmare. >> it is nice. i mean, you know, people do crazy nuts things all the time? yeah. they do. my thoughts about it were, you know, about bringing, you know, kids on a trip like that and then having the second one along the way, bringing even a younger kid. i do firmly feel very strongly,

that, yes, that was crazy. >> but siria did he have fenldz her sister and brother-in-law's qualifications. >> he is a former navy he was certified coast guard captain. this is something they have been preparing for, for years. >> the ship is making its way to a naval base in san diego. meanwhile, all family members agree they will help with everything they need. >> do people make foolish, unwise decisions, at times that can cause, you know, harm? yeah. was any ill intent in that? no. they love their children. you know, they are crazy about their kids. >> all right. we are going to go to breaking news in south africa right now. the olympian known as blade runner, oscar pistorius has taken the stand in his own defense. we do not see him in this picture but he is speaking. let's listen. >> for several reasons, which i have terrible nightmares about things that happened that night.

i wake up, and i smell -- can smell -- i can smell and i wake up to being terrified. yeah. if i hear a noise, i wake up just in a complete state of terror to the point that i would rather not sleep than fall asleep and wake up like that. so for so many weeks, i didn't sleep. and april, last year, i had lost a significant amount of weight, and i care about my family. i sought medical advice to start medication for sleeping.

>>. >> can you tell the court about that? >> last year, at the beginning of this year, i woke up, and my sister stays at the place i stay so i can call her to come and sit by me. and on that particular night, i don't obviously ever want to handle a firearm again or be around a firearm. so i've got a security guard that stands outside of my front door at night. but i wake up, and i was terrified. i for some reason couldn't calm myself down. so, i climbed into

the cup bard and i phoned my sister to come and sit by me for a while, which she did. >> mr. pistorius, going to your background, when were you born? [inaudible.] >> i was born on the 11th of -- 22nd of november, 1986, in johannesburg. >> and your family situation? how many sib licsiblings? where do you fit in? >> i am the middle child. i have two siblings. i have a brother who is 18 months older than i am. i have got a sister who is 24 months younger than i am.

suthe relationship between you and your brother and your sister? >> we have grown up very close. my family is a real close family. >> the situation with your parents? >> my parents separated when i was young, and my mother passed away when i was 15. >> how would were you when your mother passed away? >> i was 15. >> as a child, as allegation child, could you explain and sketch for the court your situation at home? >> what was the relationship with your mother? what was the relationship with your father? >> i grew up in a loving home. my father was not often around. he has always worked very --

away from home. so we grew up definitely with my mother. >> you are watching live pictures from a court room in south africa and you are hearing the voice of the so-called "blade runner" who was accused of killing his girlfriend on van he will tine's day of last year. he is testifying in his defense in the 17th day of his trial. we will continue to monitor that and break in as news warrants, but we are going to continue now with other news. experimental drug issuing promising results for those with breast cancer according tories searchers, pfizer's cancer drug can help advanced canner from getting worse. the trial did not significantly improve survival rates. if approved, the drug could generate more than $5,000,000,000 in sales each year. legend area actor mickie rooney has died. his career was 80 years. he is best known for playing andy hea hardy in the 1930s and

40s. he staged a showbiz comeback starring in "sugar babies." the 93-year-old rooney is survived by his wife, jan and 9 children. coming up later this morning, we will give you more on the life of mickey rooney. there are tornado watches across the south and powerful thunderstorms raising fears of flash flooding. let's go to meet romth ebony dion. good morning. >> the south haslogist ebony dion. good morning. >> the south has. it's time to head back to work and school. storms are ongoing. it's not just going to be the southeast, but as we head into the northeast as well, later in the day. >> rain will be spreading up along the coastline. so, it's going to be a day filled with rain, thunderstorm activity, heavy rainfall and, yes, the threat of more severe weather. there is a slight risk today that stretches from parts of alabama on intoga and it will extend dove did he have inas we

afternoon. so the main threat this morning, we are watching out for possible tornados. we have a tornado watch in effect this morning until 8:00 local time. central time. for new orleans around hattiesburg, missile toward meridian and into the birmingham area. it looks like storms are starting to rotate. >> that's why they have prompted a tornado warning. we will need to watch on this area very closely. see the heavy rain that continues to move northward. in addition to the heavy rain, the grounds are saturated thanks to the rain we picked up on yesterday. flash flooding will be a big concern. here is the set-up. we have warm air, a warm front that will continue to push off toward the north and we are dealing a strong jetstream taking a dig across the south. lots of energy coming together to make for an active day here across the southeast. flash flood warnings, widespread. some areas around jackson, mississippi, have already seen nearly eight inches of rain. >> rain will head northward.

northeast, you need to grab umbrellas. >> the city council in albuquerque, new mexico, will meet today to discuss the city's embattled police department. 37 people have been killed, in police shootings in albuquerque since 2010 and that included last month when police shot and killed a homeless man. you can see it in this video. the department is currently being investigated by several federal agencies as jim houle reports, hundreds came out in support of the police this weekend. >> supporters of albuquerque's law enforcement gathered outside of police headquarters sunday. >> the job these guys do each and every day, it proves that at times, they have to think very quickly on their feet and there really is no other courses of action. >> i am concerned about the shootings but i am also concerned about those that don't follow our laws. >> only a week ago, angry, anti-police protesters battled the police close by in a near riot meeting rock throwers with

tear gas and a show of force. the protest had been sparked by the march 16th fatal police shooting of a mentally ill homeless man, james boyd. it was captured on an officer's camera. a few days later, another fatal police shooting. police say al friend redwine threatened him with a gun. his family says he was unarmed holding a cell phone. another mer says he has heard it all before. >> this is where everything happened right here? >> yes. why he. >> that's where my boy was shot and killed. >> michael gom mez's son was shot and killed by the albuquerque police in 2011. the cop was over here he just decided that he was going to be the judge and the executioner. >> police said alan gomez was armed. >> turned out not to be true. michael gomez beliefs the police department needs a complete

overhaul. >> they will be out of control until the leadership is changed. >> got shot. it blew this ear out, off completely. >> care ol' olexac is a retired police officer who was shot in the line of duty in 2003. she believes the officers who fatally shot james boyd may have over reacted. >> but when you have the photos, look like there are about six officers standing close to him, all of them pointing a weapon at him. >> olexak believes the police more training. >> you put additional training. it gives them more thoughts before pulling a trigger right away. >> the albuquerque police are now being investigated by the department of justice and the f.b.i. the city council will meet to discuss the crisis. both family members of the shooting victims and police supporters are expected to speak. jim houle, al jazeera,

albuquerque. >> the department is currently under federal investigation for excessive force and possible civil rights violations. president obama is said to sooip two executive orders this week. two executive orders this week. both for women in the workplace. >> is my software, do i have a virus protection that's up to date? >> it's the end of the line for windows xp. why that could spell trouble for millions of computers, atms and cash registers around the globe. girls and guys gone wild. a spring break celebration that ended with more than 100 people in handcuffs.

>> looking at pictures of annual spring break party near sant a barbara. it ended in a wild brawl. about 100 people were arrested and dozens more hospitalized. many people attending were students at the university of california, sant a barbara.

it started when a university officer was hit with a backpack containing bottles of alcohol. police say they used rubber bullets to contain the mob. in business news, general motor begins repairs on faulty ignition switches today. they can bring any of the six models tied to the massive recall to a dealer and have it replaced. the auto maker says customers should make anpointment. the company says the repair is expected to take about half an hour. gm has recalled 2.6 million vehicles world wide. no relief for drivers at the punt. the latest survey shows gas prices jumping a nickel in the past two weeks. the average price is 3.61. bloomberg says the rise was drain by an increase in demand. all costs and have been fueling the industry. >> ethanol tends to be a good percentage cheaper than gasoline and much the green blended with

ethanol. thus, cheaper ethanol would reduce the price of gasoline but right now, we are in a rare situation where ethanol is quite a bit higher than gasoline value. >> gas prices are now at an eight-month high. on wall street, dow futures are down after a sell off in technology shares knocked down markets on friday. the dow starting at 16.412. the s. and p kicks off at 18.65. overseas asian markets picking up where the u.s. left off on friday, falling nearly 1 and three quarters % to a 1-week low and markets in mainland chinese closing for a holiday. president obama is working to close the pay gap for women. the white house announced he will sign two executive orders this week aimed at increasing transparency over women's pay. the first will prevent federal contractors from punishing workers who discuss how much money they pay make. many advocates say secrecy about

pay has been one of the challenges. president obama wants rules requiring government contractors to reveal their work's gender and ratepates. >> the company will over no more security updates for the operating season windows xp. those running the 12-year-old xp system but many feel it will leaves the door open to hackers. microsoft says anyone running an anti-vie reverse program or firewall will be protected. >> tornados watches in effect across the south. ebony dion has a check on the forecast >> reporter: where we are dealing with the showers and storms today, high temperatures aren't going to climb that much. really not seeing a lot of cool air anywhere across the nation, even into parts of the northeast. we are sitting at 45 degrees now in new york city and 47 in d.c. and atlanta where the rain is coming down. we are in the mid 50s. now, for this afternoon, we are really going to feel the heat across the southwest.

>> that's where high pressure is building in, off-shore flow helping to eat things up. around los angeles, if you are looking for warmth, you will find it well above average approach 90 by tuesday. stephanie? >> we are following a developing situation right now in ukraine. reports say a ukrainian naval officer was shot and killed by a russian soldier today in crimea. crainian lawmakers accuse russian troops of preparing for an invasion just 18 miles from its border. it comes as the government in kiev faces increasing pressure from pro-russian septemberiment ramping up, at least in the eastern part of the country. pro-russian demonstrators stormed government buildings in eastern ukraine sunday demanding secession refer endums. ukraine's prime minister says they will take action if moscow tries to seize more tear attorney. kim vinel is in onesk.

>> reporter: proceed russians remain in control. ships remain inside and more are standing outside supporting them. protesters have reinforced barricades, they have barbed wire standing several meters high. it very organized, food being brought in. they are serving breakfast. they are asking for people, representatives, rather, from around the region from different towns to come here to donesk and to declare a people's council. they then want to ask -- rather demand -- that the government in kiev give them autonomy and that they amend the referendum so they can then choose their own futures, choose whether it's in moscow or not. ukraine's interior minister has come out and said this appears to be some sort of controversy between yanukovych and putin saying they have been conspiring

to stir up unrest in ukraine suggesting that provacatures may be helping the pro-russian sentiment to grow. interestingly, the poles would suggest that pro-russia sentiment is falling in the region indicating that while the sentime sentiment, the people who look to yanukovych are still very active, mobilized and they are very -- they really want to make sure that their demands are being heard. okay. we will continue to follow do. in donesk. 80 ol',000 people were murdered in just one month. >> you might like me, don't like me but you understand that me and you are going to live together. >> that's the new sentiment in the central african nation of rwanda. what's changed in the 20 years since one of the worst general sides in modern history? plus, 800 million registered

voters heading to the polls in the largest election on the face of the earth. >> i am john henry smith. kentucky has youth on their side at tonight's ncaa championship game meet the huskie that gives his team bite.

welcome back to al jazeera america. these are our top stories. pro-russian demonstrators stormed government buildings in eastern ukraine demanding see session referendum. the acting president suggests they sparked an incursion into ukraine by foreign troops. the defense has opened up its case in the murder trial of oscar pistorius, the olympic star on the stand revealing details about the night he

fatally shot his girlfriend. he says he thought she was an intruder. a promising lead bringing new life to the month-old hunt for missing malaysian flight 370. search teams scouring the indian ocean after australian and chinese ships picked up signals. officials are hopeful this could bring them closer to finding out why the jetliner disappeared from radar. sdmrfrnling i want to bring in jay rollins, an aviation analyst from fort lauderdale this morning. mr. rolands. thank yous for being with us. australian officials say this is a promising lead, that the u.s. navy device detected these signals that are consistent with black boxes. what do you make of this news? >> i think it is encouraging news and we certainly need it at this point.

in the is an attempt to establish confirmation that the ship, the ocean shield and, also, the picks that were heard by the chinese ship are actually picks that are coming from the black boxes. those two ships are 350 miles apart so it's possible one has a false lead. >> i would assume the u.s. navy technology in this case is the more reliable. can you tell us a little bit about how it works? especially given how deep the ocean is in this part of the world? >>. >> yes. they are bringing in a specialized piece of equipment called a tpl, towed pifinger. these are towed through the water by the mother ship. it's time-consuming because the ship moves along at no more than five miles per hour to allow

this to verify these pingers are from the black boxes. they will be able to tell by the signature of the graf if you will, whether this is from the aircraft. at which point, if they do determine that it is, they have a second vessel that they will lower into the water. it's called the blue fin 21 action and that is capable of going at great depths and scanning to the side and creating a mat of the area. they will actually be able to see evidence of a crash. >> so yesterday is really the last time we have heard that they got thisnal. they heard it, initially for two hours and then it stopped. is this as simple as just following where the soud came from, or is it more complicated than that? >> it's a little more complicated. my understand is that the water has different temperatures and different zones, much like the

atmosphere. because of this, sounds can reflect and be difficult to track. also, there are other things that can cause these sounds. everything from animal did like whales to various other devices that have been placed down there for whatever reason. another concern is that the floor of the ocean in that area is about 14,800 feet. it's almost three miles and that is the limit of the blue fin 21, the device that will map the bottom of the ocean. there are some parts of the ocean there that are like canyons that go even deeper. >> right? >> every way has their fingers crossed. >> the timing of this is interesting. the plane's black box battery is predicted to only last about 30 days. we are just beyond 30 days at this point. if the battery is starting to

fade, does it work like any other electronic whereas the battery dies, the sound of the signal also is weakened? is that an issue as well? i expect that to be the case. i believe these are a little bit different than a flashlight that gets softer and softer. i hope stead these tend to maintain a steady level and then they will drop off at the end. >> jay rollins. thank you for joining us this morning. we will see you again in the next hour for more analysis on this. two decades ago, nearly a million people were butchered in the rawandan suicide. rawandan. the flame of rememberance is making its way across rawanda. the blood shed began 20 years ago s

ago. it triggered one of the worst general sides in history. >> i am here to ask god to continue keeping me well, to thank him for surviving the genocide and to ask that the genocide never happens again. >> services were held across the country on sunday to honor those who were killed when members of the ruling hutu group massacred. tootsies and mod rats. rwanda has managed to transform. it's people were long divided. bell jum col onized rwanda and introduced identity cards classifying people according to their ethnicity. >> that's when the minority t t tutsies. more than 20,000 were killed. a few years later, the hutus took control after independence in 1962, but ethnic fighting continued for decades. finally, a peace was signed in 1993. it was broken the next year after a mraep carrying the

president of rawanda was shot down. hutus began the massacre. as can ri reports, there were 800,000 people slaughtered in just 100 days. >> it took alice mckarinda to walk here it's where she was attacked. it took many more years to bring herself to embrace a man, a man who cut off her hand and slashed her face, back, thooiz and left her for dead. ighs and left her for dead. he was convicted and served eight years in prison. >> i went down on my knees, raised my hands in the air and begged her forgivene. we h she collapsed. we had to take her to the

hospital. >> knowing this gives me what i needed. for giving him kept me sane. . >> people here have group therapy. 45,000 died in this district. on this day, they are clearing land to build houses for 5 homeless families. >> projects like this one have been set up across the country. hutus and they work together. the goal is to create trust and strnt en their real estate. it's only a question whether 20 years is enough to say that people are really reconciled. >> people have a clear understanding of the fact that they have to live together. i think that's something that's been achieved. you might like me or don't like me but you understand that me and you are going to live together. more than a million people were tried by traditional courts. tens of thousands were incarcerated. to date, most of rwanda's prisoners are convicted of committing murder during the

genocide. >> court is important. it's to say the truth. what you did. many do not want to confess. >> no one has apologized to claudeen toyet. her sister's remains lie in this coffin. she was gang raped and murdered. her 3-year-old child was killed. she says she can't forgive but will not trust. about 10,000 people were killed in this church that's now a memorial. their blood-stained clothes worn with age fill the pews. many relatives are still waiting for a confession. katherine soy reporting from rwanda. talks involving iran's nuclear program, the deputy foreign minister says he hopes enough progress will be made to draft an accord to bring an end to the decades i've old stand-off. iran is negotiating with six

world powers, including the u.s. trying to come up with an agreement by july 20th. at 8:15, we will hear from former iranian president imiramadi to get his take on these ongoing talks. it has now been one 00 days since al jazeera journalists were imprisoned in egypt. the trial is said to resume on thursday. he job description officials are accusing them of providing platform to the out-lawed muslim brotherhood kerr rugby spoke to her correspondent, peter gresta. >> they would sometimes meet in the this cafe in nairobi. on december 29th. he and the others were imprisoned. alshani has been in jill since last august. >> i tell him to stay wrong.

i tell them we are thinking of them. i tell them we think of them every single day and that they have become the emblem of our struggle and it's every journalist's struggle. it should be everybody's struggle whoever takes advantage of journalism, anybody who reads a newspaper or watches television or listens to the radio. those people rely on people like peter and his colleagues. and they are suffering now for that liberty which all of us take for granted. >> peter was based in nairobi and had worked in the region for years. in the 100 days since he has been in jail, he would have likely covered the fighting in south sudan, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and killed an unknown number. the treating kenyan government ruling to move refugees into camps, there is the at the ti deteriorating security situation in somalia. most recently, peter would have reported on the 20th anniversary of the rwandan general when

nearly a million people with killed. tom roads is for a group that advocates for journalists and says things could get worse for reporters. it's worrying for this region in particular because once they start cracking down on high-profile names such as al jazeera, what does that mean for the local journalists in kenya who don't have the same kind of institutional backing and support? i think it's a dangerous precedent jack lien has been a journalist for nearly one year. she says colleagues like peter grista inspire her. >> he is fighting, i am trying to do the very best i can. >> al jazeera rejects the charges against its staff and continues to call for the release of peter grista, mohammed fami and abdullah malshami. niairob nairobi. >> joined by rory challins reporting from london outside of bbc headquarters.

journalists and activists are gathering to call on egyptian authorities for their release. rory, good morning. this case has sparked global outcry. tell us what's happening there. >> there are two ent events going on. the first will take place in about an hour's time, maybe just a bit over an hour. as you mentioned, there are going to be journalists of all stripes really gathering here at the bbc headquarters for a minute's silence to mark that 100 days since peter, behear and mohammed were arrested. they will stand quietly with their hands over their mouths in honor and to protest the detention of al jazeera's staff. they will, of course, come from the bbc. they will come from al jazeera, but there will be many journalists from other organizations around the world showing, i think, that this is something that has captured many people's attention. >> leads me to the second thing

going on here, a symposiusympos it's coincidentce dental this i happening on the 100 day milestone. a symposium for the safety of journalists worldwide. and what we heard in that symposium when i was sitting in on it is that 540 journalists have been killed doing their jobs since 2007, according to unesco. i think it's a reminder, really, that the work of journalists is important. it needs to be made safer and this is what both of those events are going to be trying to do, taking place here today at the bbc. >> that's an important point. there are so many journalists facing similar situations, rory. i have been following this indicates. it's been striking how little evidence has been presented in the hearings thus far. our colleagues are due in court again on thursday in egypt. do we expect any progress in this case? >> reporter: the pattern that's been established so far over the several-court sessions that there have already been is that

bail is applied for. bail is denied and then the whole court is adjourned for a couple of weeks until the next session. it's difficult to know whether the court session on thursday is going to be any different from that. there have been some encouraging signs. the president, the interim president a few weeks ago did right to the defendants. he expressed his hope that they were being looked after, that their health was okay, and that the trial would be swift and just. but i suppose the hope is that events like this, protests by journalists around the world, will maybe help get things moving properly. >> we hope that, rory, in london. thank you. the world's largest elections have begun. 814 million voters expected to cast their votes in india this

month and as faisel jamil shows t could be the most important election that the country held in more than 40 years. >> that is a sound of an electronic voting machine. there are no paper ballots. the crowd here has bet pretty steady. they were lining up before the polls opened at 7 :00 this morning election officials tell us in that first hour of voting, 10% of the 1 million voters already cast their ballots. >> that's showing a good turnout so far and election committees say they are in for an 80% turnout this time around. now, the main issue here among voters is the same for the rest of the country: the economy. particularly inflation. people have noticed their grocery bill going up every day. they say they want that to change. now, this place usually votes for the governing congress party but voters we have talked to say they have been in power for 10 years and when they look at their bills, they are willing to give the opposition, bjp a try.

voting will go on until the evening hours but won't be counted until may 16th when all of the country's votes will be counted together. officials estimate $5,000,000,000 may be spent there. triple in the 2009 national election. a live look at the house that ruth built. opening day at avery stadium in the bronx just a few hours away. but first, it's the big dance making headlines from coast to coast. john henry smith is here with a look at the final ncaa match-up. surprising a lot of folks. >> very surprising match-up, stephanie. if you are telling your buddies you picked uconn, i will look at you incredously because only .01% of the 11 million brackets in espn's tournament challenge, for example got the match-up

right. who but the most die-hard fans could see an 8 seed playing a 7 seed. after 9, these will be the lowest ceded teams to match-up in a final. it's the first time two teams who didn't even make the tournament the previous year will play in the championship final. the game will be a match-up of youth versus experience while kentucky features an all-freshman starting line-up. uconn starts four upper classman. more on the huskies' heart and soul. napier. >> the last time the huskies won, napier was a freshman. since then, he and and the huskies have had a tumultuous program. the program caused calhoun to retire in september 12th. last year, the team was indelible for post-season play due to poor academic performance.

napier decided to stay in school sdmrfrp i felt like the university stayed loyal to me. i wanted to do the same. needed for me to do a lot of things. i never regret my decisions. >> throughout his tenure at the university of connecticut, napier has made some important decisionsing. he toiled with the idea of transferring but remained with the huskies. after his junior year when he could have entered the nba draft, he decided to fulfill al promise he made to his mother. >> jamaz gal sizes why he stayed, to get a degree. he told his mom he was going to get a degree and he will. he has at that chance to win the national championship at the same time. it's special. >> while honoring his prompts, he hones his skills on the court and grew into the leader that drives this huskie team. >> one of the biggest things i have xwroep is my maturity, leadership skills, intangibles trying to be the best person i can be. grown is my maturity,

leadership skills, intangibles trying to be the best person i can be. it shows you who you are. you can fold or just stand up and fight, you know. and i think i have learned that, you know, through my years at the university of connecticut. >> you can see him talking. his swagger, his positive arrogance electrical lates. >> he is a great leader. he makes sure he hugs us. you satisfy the big shots he shoots. he is a great leader. >> you see it on the court. so, it's like he is our lebron. >> thanks for that report. napier and boatwrite have been dominating. ght have been dominating. speaking dominant, the uconn women did their part to assure a meeting of titans. 39 and 0 uconn to 37 and o,

notre dame. >> a report from arlington, texas about tonight's big match-up. >> thank you. a weighty issue unvealing the fattest and fittest cities in america. from child star to award winning actor, remembering big screen legend, mickey rooney who spent more than eighty years on the silver screen. >> himming high school kids.

>> now inroducing, the new al jazeea america mobile news app. get our exclusive in depth, reporting when you want it. a global perspective wherever you are. the major headlines in context. mashable says... you'll never miss the latest news >> they will continue looking for suvivors... >> the potential for energy production is huge... >> no noise, no clutter, just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now >> aljazeera america presents a break through television event borderland... six strangers... >> let's just send them back to mexico >> experience illegal immigration up close and

personal. >> it's overwhelming to see this many people that have perished. >> lost lives are re-lived... >> all of these people shouldn't be dead. >> will there differences bring them together, or tear them apart. >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves. >> which side of the fence are you on? borderland only on al jazeera america a list of the fattest and thinnest cities of america are in according to gal up: >> those cities, more than 30% of the population is obese. for the thinnest cities: less than 20% of their population was obese in those cities. legend area actor mickie rooney has died at 83.

he died sunday at his home in north hollywood california. his career dated back to the silent era and spanned more than 200 films. in 1979, he managed a rarity in showbiz, a comeback in broad webcast on sugarbabies. >> what he lacked in stature, he made up for in talent. he had one of the longest careers in hollywood. the 5' 3" inch actor was the number 1 box office star in the 1930s. he won an auscaver in 1939 and was nominated again 40 years later. he became famous in the neep 30s in the andy hardy series and in musicals with judy garland. he received an academy award at the aiming of 19 for his roll in "boys dwound. he never stopped acting. he was nominated four more times and received an honorary oscar in 1983 for his versatility in 50 years of film. his off-screen life sometimes

overshadowed his career. he was married eight times, including to actress ava gardner. his 5th wife was murdered by another actor. through most of his adult life, rooney had financial problems, but he persevered overcoming financial difficulties and out living most of his wives and contemraries. >> it's always a thrill to be on stage. i mean the ham bone in me just doesn't exist unless i am on the stage. >> that's where i live because my family is the audience. >> in his later years, he spoke out against age bias in hollywood but he remained active, writing, producing and acting until the end. mickey rooney was 93 years old. del walters? >> at the end of the first hour, here is what we are following: a promising lead in that search for the missing malaysian airlines flight 370. crews scouring the indian ocean after australian and chinese

chips picked up picks that could be related to the black box. sto protesters storming demonstrators. the blade runner, oscar pitifultist taking the stand in his own defense apologizing to the family of his girlfriend saying he was trying to poekt her. in our next hour, gun control debate sparked by the recent foot hood shootings. should more people on military area installations being armed? >> genetically modified crops, the bedate involves .8 plants in country. >> severe storms will be possible from the gulf coast to the mid atlantic. i will have the details on where storms are creating problems on the roads and in the air waves. >> al jazeera news continues. del and i are back with you in two and a half minutes. i am stiff instead of instead of

knee sy. mu much more news coming up in just a few.

>> signals consistent with those emitted by aircraft black boxes. >> the race is on to find a ping that should be from the missing malaysia airlines flight 370 before the signal dies. >> who the acting prime minister in ukraine blames for these

demonstrations. >> we should look at giving them the ability to carry weapons. >> controversy about who should be allowed to carry guns on military installations after the fort hood shootings. >> 20 years after the genocide in rwanda, why many are still afraid to return home. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. >> a strong lead for the-month-old hunt for malaysia airlines flight 370. a ship picked up a pulse signal in the indian ocean. >> that is not far from where a chinese ship heard a ping the day before. they believele sound could be coming from the plane's black boxes. the transport minister speaking out about how significant this new development is in the search for that missing plane. >> reasonable, the new developments over the last few hours has been the most promising lead we have had.

i urge all malaysians to unit in their prayers and not give up hope. >> for the latest in this discovery, we can't forget the fact that the batteries on these black boxes could run out at any time. >> which is why searchers have launched the most intensive hunt yet with dozens of ships from multiple countries. they have intensified the search. this is where the pings were picked up on saturday, then a day later 150 miles north, the lead australian vessel heard a third ping. this is in line with where they believe the plane ran out of fuel and entered the water. while there is nothing to confirm if the pings are coming from the black boxes, they are still considered a major development in what the australian prime minister describes as the most difficult search in human history.

>> in what they are calling the most promising leads since malaysia airlines flight 370 vanished almost one month ago, australian authorities announced a potential break in the investigation. >> the third pinger located deployed from the vessel and detected signals consistent with those emitted by aircraft black boxes. significantly, this would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. >> the search resumed this morning with renewed focus on two zones, the area where a chinese ship detected a signal saturday and the location where the australian naval vessel picked up pings today. the hunt for those black boxes is a race against time. >> the life of the batteries must be getting somewhere close to the end of life. it's 31 days, so we are already

one day past the advertised shelf life. >> with the british navy ship arriving this morning to help the chinese, authorities urge caution, since confirmation to the pings are related to flight 370 could take days. if they detect another signal, a drone will be dropped into the sea to scan the ocean floor. the depth of the ocean could be a problem. that unhand underwater vehicle can be 15,000 feet, the same department of the air they are searching, leaving little wiggle room. >> we are right on the edge of capability and we might be limited by the capability if the aircraft ended up in deeper water. >> with the one month anniversary of flight 370's disappearance, loved ones lit candles to remember the 239 people onboard. >> we can't forget the suffering of those families. stay with aljazeera for our continuing coverage of the search for flight 370.

our aviation analyst will explain how difficult it would be to retrieve the data recorders if they are found. >> president obama plans to take part in a memorial at fort hood, the president and first lady visiting on wednesday. three soldiers were shot and killed by an iraqi war veteran ivan lopez last wednesday. the obama's were schedule would to be in texas for two days of campaigning. in 2009, another rampage there left 13 people dead. coming up in 15 minutes, a gun control debate sparked by that attack. who's calling for more people to carry more guns on military bases. >> we are following a developing situation in ukraine. a naval officer was shot and killed by a russian soldier today in crimea. russian troops are accused of

preparing for an invasion. pro russian demonstrators stormed government buildings in eastern ukraine, demanding secession wrench comes. ukraine will take action if russia tries to take more territory. we report from where some of the most violent clashes are happening. >> pro russian crowds control the government buildings here, hundreds of them remain inside and more are standing outside supporting them they have food and water brought in, serving breakfast. they are asking for representatives from around the region in different towns to come here to donejsk.

they demand autonomy and for a referendum to choose their own futures, whether to join moscow or not. ukraine's interior minister has come out and said this appears to be some sort of conspiracy between viktor yanukovych and russian president vladimir putin, suggesting they have sent protestors across the border. >> it's perhaps indicated that while septemberment maybe falling the people joining moscow, the people who still look to viktor yanukovych still very active, mobilized and they really want to make sure their too demands are being heard.

>> reporting from donejsk. currently, demonstrators need permission from city authorities to protest. human it's act visit said if passed, laws will restrict russian civil rights. >> ballots are being counted in afghanistan. millions turned out saturday can be defying taliban threats. 400,000 troops were deployed to keep voters safe. it could take six weeks for results. an opposition leader appeared to be the front runner. >> it has been a deadly day in iraq, three police officers killed when a suicide bomber drove a tanker filled with explosives into a checkpoint in northern baghdad. another five were injured, including two civilians and two civil service workers with

iraq's minister of electricity shot and killed this morning by unknown gunman using silencers in a baghdad neighborhood. americans are warned by the u.s. embassy in baghdad not to us baghdad international to a specific threat. >> a tornado watch in the u.s. is in effect right now. >> some parts of the country also facing flooding rain. let's turn to our meteorologist. >> it's all across the southeast. we have a little bit of it all, a lot of wind, along with some of these storms that are firing up. it's not just the rotating storms, but also straight line winds. this is the area we are going to watch later today, although area shaded in red, stretching from mobile, alabama into the carolinas. we have a slight risk of severe weather. we still have our tornado watch in effect including the new orleans area, creating really strong winds, more of a marine

warning right now. storms move further in land, new orleans, continue to be on the lookout. we expect a warning in georgia. right now, it's the flooding threat in place around atlanta. some of these areas picked up three to five inches of widespread rain yesterday. we still have additional rain coming in along with that. it will be a wet and stormy day here across the southeast. we are watching really an area of low pressure that's been riding up along the frontal boundary moving southward out of texas, lots of gulf moisture moving northward. heavier downpours moved in. as that lists northward, so is the moisture. we expect rain to pick up across the atlantic. we are dry across the northeast, but clouds will build thicker and lower and we expect soggy conditions in new york city. >> it has now been 100 days

since aljazeera journalists were imprisoned in egypt. their trial is set to resume thursday. egyptian officials accuse them of providing a platform to the outlawed muslim brotherhood. peter's parents told us the ordeal has left them exhausted. >> would you imagine he'd still be detained 100 days later? >> absolutely not. i didn't know how long it would take, but i didn't expect it to be -- probably just a couple of days at the most. >> clearly, our initial response was well, mistakes do happen, you know, this is clearly a mistake. it's all going to be over in a few days. never, ever did we imagine that here we would be, you know, marking the 100th day. >> how are you coping?

>> i like to think that i'm coping well, but there have been many occasions when i think that i've just about reached the end of my tether. i don't know what happens to people once they get over that edge, but i feel that i'm not very far from whatever it means cracking, but, you know, we're not far from that point. >> we're exhausted and tired and we feel as if we are running on empty all the time now. >> are you hopeful? >> hopeful it will be finished on thursday, yes. but that's the heart saying and the head is staying a little bit more cautious. >> being hopeful and having modest expectations.

>> have you been surprised by all the attention. >> yes. it has been amazing and wonderful. we are so grateful to everyone out there for that support that we've had in all of these directions. >> my message to the people of egypt would be that however hard it has been for peter and us, i most sincerely hope that peter is the very last of his kind to find himself in the present circumstances. i trust that there are no more journalists who find themselves in these kinds of difficulties in the course of doing their job at the best of their ability. >> in our next hour, we're going live to our reporter in london where journalists are gathering to call on egyptian authorities to release our colleagues. we'll hear from the family of

our producer. >> the second shooting at fort hood texas in just five years has a new debate about whether there should be more or less guns on military bases. >> the fiery comments coming from both sides on that. >> 900 miles from land with a sick baby, how the navy and national guard teamed up to save this child. >> our big number of the day is 814 million. >> we'll tell you how this will decide the future of one rather sizeable country. >> this is a live look at yankee stadium where the bronx bombers are getting ready for the home opener.

>> today's big number represents the world's biggest ballot, 814 million is the staggering number of people eligible to vote in india in their election this year. >> that number is 100 million more than india's general election in 2009, also roughly four times the number of people who can vote in this country. >> the month long elections are taking place at 934,000 polling

stations, electing 543 members of the lower house of parliament. >> they do call it the world's biggest democracy. it's a lot of people. >> lets look at temperatures across the nation today. good morning, ebony. >> we are expecting a warming trend not so much today in the east, but across the west where temperatures are going to be rising, 10 up wards to 20 degrees above average. we are expecting 90's in southern areas of california. the week ahead, it works it's way eastward, feeling the warmth into chicago, minneapolis and into narc city and san diego, expecting low 80's by tuesday. in chicago, getting pretty close to 70 later in the week by thursday. we'll get in on showers keeping us on the cool side and for today temperatures will remain fairly close to average in the mideast, lower near d.c. >> in business news, general

motors begins repairs on faulty ignition switches today. owners can bring in the six models tied to recalls to dealers. customers should make an appointment to make sure the parts will be there. repairs should take a laugh hour. g.m. recalled 2.6 million vehicles worldwide linked to that deadly ignition switch problem. >> no relief for drivers at the pump, gas prize jumped about a nickel over the past two weeks. nationwide, the price now for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.61, that increase driven by more demand. they say there's another factor that can push prices even higher. >> there certainly could be more developments in venezuela and with venezuela much more of a producer of oil and refined products, that would affect the united states. certainly all eyes are there. if developments worsen, it could mean that gasoline prices go higher than we're expecting. >> gas prices now at an eight

month high. >> on wall street, dow futures are down 43 points, a sell off in technology shares dragged down markets on friday, the dow starts the day at 16412. the nasdaq at 4127. markets in china closed for a holiday and european markets starting the week with losses. >> yahoo may be entering the on line t.v. market, the company close to ordering four original web series. yahoo is looking to spend $700,000 to a few million dollars per episode for half hour comedies. the move would put yahoo against amazon and netflix. >> last week's deadly shooting at ford hood is renewing the debate over gun control.

what are lawmakers in d.c. considering? >> lawmakers looking at a number of things including whether or not the military needs more money to beef up security on our military bases to make sure our soldiers who fight overseas can also be safe at home. >> the shootings at fort hood have departments considering boosting the pentagon's budget to secure military bases. >> depending on the line item, sure. no blank checks. >> perhaps an increase for more military police. another option, allowing soldiers to carry personal weapons. >> some, not all, but maybe some of our senior leadership, officers, enlisted men on base carry weapons for protection. >> the white house is against it. >> the pentagon is looking at proposals, don't think it's a good idea. >> if the military eassesses and says that's the right strategy, i'm going to support them. >> i would be much more in the camp of fixing it that way and

focusing on the individuals than routinely allowing arms on any base. >> ivan lopez was being treated for depression and had been evaluated for but not diagnose for ptsd. that sparking new debate on capitol hill about whether to restrict weapons to the mentally ill, an issue congress considered but put on the back burner. >> there's also the big concern about linking mental illness to dangerous situations like this, wimp clearly is very rare, but there's concern that soldiers may not seek treatment if in fact they are concerned about that stigma. >> a lot of questions still. live in washington, thank you. >> some in congress saying more guns are the answer. joe watkins is a former aide to

president george h.w. bush. good morning. we just heard from -- >> good morning. >> michael mccall on the issue. listen to more of what he had to say. >> we should be looking at the idea of senior leadership at these bases, give them the ability to carry weapons. they defend us overseas and abroad and defend our freedom abroad, the idea that they're defenseless home on our bases, i think congress should be looking at that and having a discussion with the bases about what would be the best policy. >> so, do you agree that more guns are the answer when it comes to violence on military bases? >> i think the congressman makes a very very good point. we know that people who lost their lives were unarmed. the thought is that certainly if these military personnel of able to carry women when in battle, why wouldn't they be allowed to carry weapons, even convened, ons base to be in a position to protect themselves.

congressman mccall is chairman of the committee on homeland security. he is concerned about jihadists, al-qaeda operatives targeting u.s. military bases and making sure u.s. personnel on those bases properly armed. >> there's the other side of the debate, and the n.r.a. even believes that people who have mental health issues should not be able to get guns. if you're talking about the military and military bases, the number of soldiers with ptsd and mental health issues is in the tens of thousand us, prohibiting an awful lot of former soldiers from even getting a gun. >> that's right, the congressman is talking about senior members having the capacity to carry concealed weapons, not everybody. you're right, one of the big challenges whether you're talking about military or non-military people who perpetrate these kinds of incidents is the challenge with mental illness and clearly that's something congress has considered in the past. i don't expect to see anything

happen with it legislatively this year. >> is it mental illness being a red herring, because in the case of this particular soldier, he was undergoing counseling for mental health problems and there's the issue of hipaa. how con the gun supplier find out whether someone has mental health issues under hipaa? >> that's a good question. obviously there's a lot that needs to be worked out to make sure the law if the law is changed provides for the people who sell weapons to be able to get the information that they need so that they prevent any kind of a mass shooting incident like we've seen in the past. we want to prevent this. whether you're a democratic or republican in the united states of america, you want to see an end to these kind of incidents where somebody who has mental illness and access to a weapon ends up shooting a lots of

innocent people and taking lives. it's the burden of congress to make sure that the language is everybody it needs to be going forward to protect american citizens. >> do you expect anything to happen in the american congress given the strength of the n.r.a., anything from sandy hook to columbine to the recent shooting we had in the movie theater in colorado, do you expect anything to happen in congress, given the strength of the n.r.a.? >> i don't expect anything to happen in 2014. the n.r.a. certainly has a strong lobby, but the challenge becomes if you're senator harry reid and want to maintain your majority in the senate, you don't want to deal with controversial issues. every member of the house is up for reelection and a number of senate seats up. republicans are looking to take control of the senate, looking to have control of the senate, a reversal of what is currently the case now, democrats have the

majority. if you're a democratic leader of the senate, you don't want to give republicans any kind of an opportunity to win that majority in the senate, so i don't expect any toying legislation to take place this year like that. >> joe, thank you. >> aljazeera continues our in depth coverage of the fort hood shooting coming up owl morning long. we're going to talk to the democratic side of the debate. >> olympian oscar pistorius has to in the stand in his murder trial. >> we'll tell you how his testimony and celebrity status could affect the verdict. >> a nation remembers the ethnic strife that led to genocide 20 years ago. what life is like now for the refugees who fled the violence and why some of still afraid to return home two decades later. >> i didn't really have much

faith in god, but when i walked in that room and seen my dad, i got on my knees and prayed for him. >> the strangers this family now thanks for their help. >> it's a battle of cinderellas in tonight's championship ncaa game. we'll check in with live reports from arlington, texas later in sports.

>> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day finding stories that matter to

you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm receive sigh. >> i'm del walters. oscar pistorius taking the stand earlier today, what he's saying and how celebrity could affect the outcome of that murder case. >> a battle over genetically modified crops. are they really beneficial for health and the environment.

>> also in hour next hour, a former iranian presidential candidate about the potential for success and on going nuclear talks underway in vienna. >> first, a promising new lead in the-month-old hunt for that missing malaysia airlines flight 370. >> teams scouring the ocean after australian and chinese ships picked up pinging signals that may be collected to the black boxes. officials hope that he is sounds could make it easier to find the jet which disappeared from radar with 239 people onboard a month ago. >> they're discuss this is aljazeera's aviation analyst. thanks for being with us from 40 lauderdale this morning. the battery on the black boxes due to run out. how close do the signals bring search crews to the devices? >> well, the towed pinger

locator, the device they are lowering in the water to isolate these sounds to the black boxes only has a range of a couple of miles, so they first must drive the ship to the area that they heard these pings earlier, this time referring now to the ocean shield off the coast of australia and then lower this device into the water and drag it along slowly, listening for the sounds of the pings again. once they get those sounds, they will then match them electrically to make sure that they're coming from an aviation black box pinger, and at which point if they know that they're within a couple of miles, they will then lower a second device called a blue fin 21, a small submersible that goes much deeper than the t.p.l.'s.

that device will begin to map the ocean floor, looking for the aircraft wreckage. keen in mind that the ocean floor in this area are almost three miles down and therefore, everything is at its limits, the t.p.l. for the two-mile range i mentioned and also this blue fin submersible that has side scanning sonar to look for the wreckage and also map the bottom, the bottom and the floor that this submersible can attain are about the same, so any deeper, and you might have a problem, and some areas of that ocean are deeper. there are canyons that are located nearby. >> that could be deeper than 15,000 feet, in fact. if they did find it and located it, confirmed it, how difficult would it then be to retrieve it at this depth? >> well, the people that are

doing this operation have reported that they feel confident they'll be able to do that. they will bring in a crane arrangement in order to lower whatever devices they need to connect to the actual wreckage, and they're able to haul from great depth, just bring it right up to the surface, so i'm not making light of it. it's going to be a difficult search, and it's also going to be a very carefully orchestrated recovery, but it is doable. >> australian officials calling it a promising lead this morning. thank you. >> it was two decades ago a million people were butchered in the rwandan genocide. that country is holding ceremonies honoring those lost back in 1994. the flame of remembrance now

making its way across rwanda. over the decades, rwanda has transformed itself, it's people divided even before the genocide. identity cards were introduced classifying people according to ethnicity. resentment caused a series of riots. more than 20,000tutsis were killed. ethnic fighting continued for decades and finally a peace deal signed in 1993. it was broken the next year after a plane with the rwandan president was shot down. 1 million rwandans fled across

to the congo. some are now making their way back home. >> after 20 years here as a refer gee, she is finally going home to rwanda. she was 10 when the genocide began. since then, she married, had four children and is pregnant with a fifth. >> i want to go home, because my children do not go to school here. i'm getting older and i want to be back with my family. >> more than 2 million people fled from rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide. they were mostly ethnic hutus. among the refugees were the politicians and militia responsible for the genocide. >> a million people across this border here coming from rwanda into the democratic republic of congo moving into the city of

gomer. then they lived in camps for the following two years along the border area, infamous for squall lid conditions and home to armed groups that continued launching attacks back into rwanda. in 1996, the rwandan army and allied militia broke up the camp and many of the refugees had to go home. others fled further into congo and to this day, there are nearly 200,000 refugees still living here. >> among thousands living in remote areas under the control of the fdlr, she said they don't allow refugees to go home, but she managed to sneak away. she's in a group of 20 being taken across the border by the u.n. they move a small group every week, but the trickle of voluntary returnees are slow. many don't want to go home. we spoke to several who said they are worried rwandan

security agents could target them for criticizing the government or not going home. this man agreed on condition we hide his identity. he said rwanda's soldiers killed his parents in congo. he still doesn't trust the government. >> the rwanda government killed my parents. some people my age who returned have been forced to come back to congo and fight as rebels and killed. >> meanwhile, arriving at the transit center, she's confident her move is for the better. she's given food. in the coming days, she'll be taken back to her village. she's one of many who feel they can now rebuild a normal life. for others, the turmoil of the 1990's and its legacy goes on. aljazeera in the democratic republican of congo. >> we continue our coverage of the genocide in rwanda. we'll talk to women who survived

the attacks and children left without parents because of that genocide. >> a baby girl is in stable condition after a dramatic rescue at sea. her parents sent a satellite distress call when she became seriously ill. the family was 900 miles from mexico. their boat lost power, so they couldn't steer into land. a navy vessel was sent to pick up the family while a california national guard team went by air. rescuers par chute's into the water and stabilized the 1-year-old. >> take a navy sale, paramedic and throw in training. >> i'm glad my little niece is being taken care of. >> the family was attempting to sale around the globe and were two weeks into their trip. >> the man known as the blade runner, olympian oscar pistorius took the witness stand today in

his own defense. a judge's ruling prevents any witness in this trial from being shown in court. he said he thought his girlfriend was a burglar when he shot and killed her. >> i'd like to apologize. there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that i haven't thought about your family. i wake up every morning, you're the first people i think of, the first people i pray for. i can't mention the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that i've caused you and your family. i was simply trying to protect her. >> she was shot and killed on valentine's day in 2013. he also testified that he has nightmares from the night of the shooting and takes medication. he faces life in prison if convicted. >> he took the stand about an

hour ago. he also testified that he's been on anti depressants and medication since the shooting, saying that he has nightmares. how is that going to affect the jury? >> one thing that oscar pistorius has working against him is that he doesn't have a jury. they don't have juries anymore, abolished in the 1960's. they have a judge and he has chosen to work with two assessors. >> this is a hard line judge. >> yes, especially on women's issues, that is her cause, but she does have two assessors to help her decide, closer to the jury system we have here. he's got to take the stand here. i think the factual that he's taking the anti depressants, that he has taken hem shows his

reaction. >> guilt or remorse, whether he did it or not, what happens in court is not evidence, right? what he does in court, the retching, the crying, the plugging his ears up. >> it does play on the minds of those present. >> i think that's right. that's why we as lawyers counsel our clients so much about how they behave in court, no outbursts, no anger that the testimony that you hear. please don't say anything out loud in court, because it does have an effect on the finder of fact. >> it has an effect on the finder of fact when the finder of fact is a jury. as you indicated, this is a judge. judges by their nature have seen a lot more than the average. >>. does it play well to a judge or backfire. >> i think it has an affect on the judge. i don't think it back fires. the difference is that a judge is much more capable of looking at the evidence and the law

independent of outside influences. they are much more capable of going back into that deliberation room or chambers more specifically here and clearing their head of all of the distractions, looking at the facts, looking at the law, and making a determination. >> when we see this case, we automatically con. >> up memories are o.j., the dream team, but this is south africa. how is it different? >> they don't have a jury and has a fact finder less open to manipulation. that's key. it's remarkably similar. they have the presumption of in sense. they have the requirement that the defendant be proved guilty, that he doesn't have to prove himself innocent. it's really quite something that they have the televised trial, but in this case, the judge makes decisions about what will be televised. you notice how much more control there is in this courtroom than there was in the simpson case and all those cases that have

come before in our country, their constitution is quite similar, but really, the rules of common law of dictating what evidence comes in in their courtroom. >> he is a celebrity, but so was she. in the war of celebrity figures in this case, who wins? >> that's a very, very important question and good question and it shouldn't be about celebrities, she it? in their system of justice as in ours, the celebrity factor seems to matter almost as much as the allow, doesn't it? >> our legal contributor here at aljazeera america, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> $50,000 has been raised to help a detroit driver who was brutally beaten when he stopped to check on a boy he accidentally hit. the boy stepped out in front of the car and it was not the driver's fault. he is in a medically induced coma. his family said he does not have health insurance so set up a fundraiser. >> it's hard just to see him

laying in the bed, not knowing who we are or where he is or what's going on. >> i just hope that he comes out of this and remembers his grandchildren. >> the two teens were arrested over the weekend in connection at the beating. >> an 11-year-old girl has been shot and killed by her 2-year-old brother. this was the scene outside the family's home in philadelphia over the weekend. investigators say the children were playing with their mother in an upstairs bedroom. when she left the room, the 2-year-old boy got his hands on a 357 magnum that belonged to the mother's boyfriend. the bullet struck the girl in her arm and traveled into her chest. prosecutors are looking at possible charges against the mother. >> an experimental drug shows promming results for those with breast cancer. the drug can help prevent advanced breast cancer from getting worse. it doubled the time patients lived, however did not significantly improve survival rates. if approved, the drug could

generate $5 billion in sales each year. >> the ncaa final four now down to its final two. >> it is not the two a lot of people were thinking about. the surprising trip to the big matchup. >> i called the final two. >> you called it. >> no, i didn't. >> i didn't think you did. >> i could feel my pinocchio nose growing. >> tonight's game is something of a contribution. connecticut and kentucky are two of the most storied college programs with 11 national championships between them and yet almost no one expected them to make it this far this year. kentucky's an eight seed, kentucky a seven seed. never two teams seeded so low met for the national championship. ross is live just after sunrise in arlington, texas with more on tonight's game. how are you doing, ross?

>> good morning, it is the calm before the storm here at at&t stadium. they're expecting a record-setting crowd, 80,000 fans for tonight's national championship game between u conn and kentucky. there's been hype and hoopla surrounding the kentucky team. they are starting five freshman in the final four. the last team to do that was michigan's fab five in 1992. this kentucky team is looking to do something that michigan's fab five could not, and that's win a national championship. >> i'm definitely not satisfied. i mean, we have one more game to go. we've been through a lot this year, and, you know, we deserve to reward our receivers to go out and play hard and give it all we've got, so definitely not satisfied. >> did he say certified ranked number one to start the season, kentucky fell short of expectations. early losses sent them tumbling

down the ranks and the wildcats weren't even a top 25 team. >> they have an unbelievable will to win and part of that has come from how they've been treated all season. they have been ridiculed, criticized. i mean, they were absolutely mauled. i think it made them stronger and mated them come together. >> proving it's not how you start, it's how you finish. kentucky used a clean slate of the postseason to start again. john calipari's version of the freshman fab five has been led by harrison, who knocked down three-pointers to put tuck you can up for good in three straight games during their run. >> he's not afraid to miss. if he misses, give me another one, i'll make another one. the best players i've had that played that way and make those plays, they have amnesia from play to play. >> for connecticut, it's not youth, but experience that led the huskies into the national title game.

for the upper classmen, it began last season. u conn wasn't allowed into last year's tournament, courtesy of several years of poor academic progress rate scores. while this year's junior and senior players accounted have transferred, they stayed the course. >> we've been through a lot with each other, this group of guys have been together for three years and been through a lot. we love each other and believe in each other. >> it's going through the dark days believing. they just believe in each other, no matter this they're down, if they're banned, no matter if they can't play in ncaa tournament, they just believe and they keep fighting, when everybody counts us out, think we're on the mat, we get back up. that's what this university's all about. >> u conn's last two national championships have been captured in this great state of texas, 2004 in san antonio, 2011 in houston. they'll be looking to score the

titrifecta tonight, tip off set for 9:10 eastern time. >> enjoy tonight's game. vegas has put kentucky at a 2.5. favorite. >> i'm going to tivo it. tomorrow morning, don't tell me who won. >> i'm going to tivo it myself. >> neither of you are watching it live? you're kidding. >> i'd have to stay up all night. i like to come in here fresh. you guys keep us on our toes. >> ok. thank you. >> an international technology giant ignites a fight over an egg plant. >> eggplant. ok. we'll call it a plant controversy when we come back.

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources

to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. >> i'm actually quite nervous... >> as u.s. forces prepare to leave afghanistan, fault lines brings you an eye opening look at what life is really like under the taliban. from girls attending school, to enforcing sharia law. >> they rely on the local population, and so they need to win the hearts and minds of locals to be able to fight. >> then immediately after, an american tonight special edition, >> explain how you were able to get access to the taliban. >> fault lines: this is taliban country then, an american tonight special edition only on al jazeera america

>> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. genetically modified foods, a battle brewing over eggplant. >> let's find out about potential precipitation today. >> this is where we can tap into where we're seeing the most moisture in the mid levels of the atmosphere. here across the east, a pull of moisture continues to stream over much of the eastern u.s. the satellite radar, you can see the areas where we're seeing the rainfall stretching from the gulf coast into the mid atlantic. we're getting showers. our tornado watch continues across alabama into mississippi. we're now dealing with severe thunderstorm warnings around alabama.

keep that in mind. these storms are very strong and moving quickly, but capable of producing heavy rainfall as well as strong winds. >> legendary actor mickey rooney died, his career spanning 80 years, including over 200 films. he played andy hardy in the hit franchise during the 1930's and 1940's. in 1979, he was in the broadway play "sugar babies." he had nine children. >> i remember him from the black and white days. a lot of younger people will remember him from the night at the museum series where he was a frumpy janitor. >> he was the voice of santa claus in the christmas claymation movies. people still watch them every year. >> good at movies, bad at marriage, married eight times. >> had some trouble with his finances, too, but he will be missed. >> prince william and kate

middleton beginning their tour of new zealand today. she carried prince george down the stairs as they arrived. it is only his second appearance. he is getting bigger now. >> cute. >> the couple received a warm welcome including the custom of touches noses and meeting warriors there. >> a the country's first genetically modified crop is resistant to pests that have been destroying the vegetable. >> this eggplant could change the lives of farmers in bangladesh forever. it's the first genetically modified crop. scientists in the agricultural research distribute of distributing the plant made from monsanto to a select group of farmers across the country. one of the farmers hopes the

genetically modified crop will make his life easier. it is resistant to the bore insect that destroys crops across bangladesh. there are a number of pests, but the bore is the most proppatic. >> we have to spray pesticides twice a week. it's time consuming and expensive. scientists tell us we won't need to anymore. >> not everyone is as optimistic. >> there are over 100 varieties of egg plants. those who oppose saying introducing it into the soil will forever harm the local crop. >> supporters of the crop say the protestors are misguided, acting out of a general opposition to genetically modified food. >> why are they putting all this effort into this when they should be protesting against the

use of pesticides. almost everything we grow and eat in bangladesh is sprayed with poison every week. >> critics pointed out the seed was developed in india, yet not approved for cultvasion. >> this is solving the problem of only one insect, but there are still many others. they will still need pesticide, so this is a false notion created that they will solve all the problems. >> monsanto's affiliate in india said they hope cultvasion in bangladesh will prove that it is safe to use. it all comes down to whether the genetically modified crop is good for business. aljazeera, bangladesh. >> participating is big business in dang la deash. 80% of the countries population lives in rural areas with 54% working in agriculture. nasa is preparing to roll out new space duds and asking the

public to help them decide with an on line contest for designs. the vote will last until april 15 with 3 choices. >> there has been a promising lead in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. crews are scouring the indian ocean after signals were picked up that may be connected to the plane's black box. >> protestors storming buildings in ukraine, the acting president saying he believes the demonstrators are trying to convince foreign troops to enter his country. >> oscar pistorius taking the stand in his own defense, apologizing to the family of his girlfriend saying he was simply trying to protect her. >> the gun control debate alive and well following those shootings in fort hood texas. should there be more or less guns on military bases. we'll talk to a former aide for

bill clinton. >> the changes a gay couple homes will come about after having their baby bob tides in argentina. >> the latest watches and warnings issued, plus where the severe threat will be later today.

>> there has been a promising new lead in the search for flight 370, ships scouring the ocean picking up signals that could be from the black boxes. >> pushing for a long-teem deal over iran's nuclear program, talks aimed at curbing nuclear ambitions. >> the pain is too much to bear. we still have the scars of the genocide. >> looking back at the genocide

in rwanda and nearly 1 million people who died. >> looking back at the life of mickey rooney. >> there has been a strong lead this morning in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. two ships picking up audio signals in the indian ocean that officials believe could be coming from the black boxes. the malaysian transport minister speaking about how significant this development is in the search. >> the new developments over the last few hours has been the motor promising lead we have had. i urge all malaysian's and international community to urinate in their prayers and not give up hope. >> while the pings seem promising, there are concerns that the batteries could run out

any minute now. >> searchers have launched an intensive hunt, in fact the most intensive yet with more than a dozen ships from multiple countries. these new pings narrowed the underwater search considerably. take a look at this. this area is where the chinese ship picked up two pings on saturday. then a day later, and 350 miles north of there, the lead australian vessel picked up a new set of signals. authorities say the area inside these three boxes are in line with where they believe the plane likely ran out of fuel and entered the water. while there is nothing at this point to confirm if any of the pings are coming from the missing plane's black wolves, they are considered a major development in what the australian prime minister distribution as the most difficult search in human history. >> in what they are calling the most promising lead since malaysia airlines through it 370 vanished one month ago, authorities announced a

potential break in the investigation. >> the pinger located deployed from the vessel has contained signals with those consistent from black boxes. significantly, this would be consistent with transmissions from both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. >> the search renewed with focus where the chinese ship detected a black box like frequency signal and where the ocean shield picked up pings today. the hunt for those black boxes is literally a race against time. >> the life of the batteries must be getting somewhere close to the end of life. it's 31 days, so we are already one day past the advertised shelf life. >> with the british navy ship echo arriving to help the chinese, authorities urge caution since confirmation that

the pings are related to flight 370 could take days. if they detect another signal, a drone will scan the ocean floor for any sign of the missing jetliner. the depth could be a problem. that unhand underwater vehicle can go 15,000 feet, the same depth of the area, leaving little wiggle room. >> we are right on the edge of capability and we might be limited by the capability if the aircraft ended up in deeper water. >> with the one month affairs of flight 370's disappearance almost here, loved ones lit candles on sunday to remember the 239 people onboard. you can see the shape of a heart with a flight number inside of it. two thirds of the passengers are chinese. >> let's go back to those black boxes and the batteries. is it possible they might last longer? >> it's possible. the manufacturers only guarantee them for 30 days, but

consultants have said that some have losed another two weeks beyond that. hopefully that happens and they have more time to work with. >> you saw that memorial for the victims of malaysia airlines flight 370. also this weekend, they were remembering the victims of the washington state mud slide. several hundred people filled a community center paying tribute to 69-year-old linda macpherson. she and her husband both sitting in their recliners reading the newspaper when it hit. her husband survived. two other if you know release were held saturday, the death toll third, 13 still missing. >> president obama and the first lady will visit ford hood texas on wednesday to pay respect to the victims of last week's shooting there. the president last visited fort hood in 2009 when an army fire killed 13, injuring 30 others. we'll talk to a former aid to

president clinton about calls for more guns on military posts. >> the president also working to close the pay gap for women, announcing that he will sign two executive orders this week. the first will prevent federal contractors from punishing workers who discuss how much money they make. secrecy about pay has been one of the major challenges in enforcing equal pay laws. the president wants rules to reveal employees pay, gender and race. >> defense secretary chuck hagel is going to tour china's first aircraft carrier today, he'll be the first foreign visitor allowed onboard. the pentagon chief urged china to be more transparent about military expansion. hagel is kicking off a 10 day trip to asia. >> a ukrainian naval officer has been shot and killed bay russian soldier in crimea, russian troops accused of preparing for an invasion just 18 miles from

its border. pro russian demonstrators stormed government buildings sunday, demanding secession wrench comes. ukraine's prime minister said they'll take action if moscow tries to seize ukrainian territory. aljazeera is in the city of denejsk. >> pro russian groups maintain control of the government buildings, reinforcing barricades with tires and barbed wire. it's very organized with food brought in, serving breakfast, and they're asking for people, representatives from around the region, from the different towns to come here and to declare a people's council. they then want to ask rather demand that the government in kiev give them on you to know my

and amend the referendum so they can choose their own futures, whether to join moscow or not. ukraine's interior minister has said this appears to be a conspiracy between ousted president viktor yanukovych and russian president vladimir putin, saying they've been conspiring to stir up discontent and unrest in the eastern ukraine, suggesting that provocateurs may have been sent across the border to help the pro russian sentiment here to grow. interestingly, the polls would suggest that pro russian sentiment is actually falling in the region, perhaps indicating that while the sentiment maybe falling, the people who do look to viktor yanukovych still very active, mobilized, and they really want to make sure their demands are being heard. >> reporting from denejsk,

ukraine, protestors calling for a referendum. >> russia is voting on laws preventing a ukraine like uprising, including fines and prison final for those to protest anti rally laws. human rights activists say if these laws are passed, they will restrict the civil rights of russian people. >> the world's largest elections underway, 814 million voters expected to cast ballots in india this month. it could be the most important elections the country has held in more than 40 years. >> that sound you're hearing is of a vote being cast on the electronic voting machine. in this indian election, there are no paper ballots. the crowd has been steady, lining up even before the polls opened at 7:00 this morning. election officials tell that you say in that first hour of voting, 10% of the 1 million

voters in this constituency cast ballots, showing a good turnout. they are aiming for an 80% turnout this time around. the main issue is the economy, particularly inflation. people have noticed growth rebuild going up every day and want that to change. this place usually votes for the governing congress party but voters say they've been in power for 10 years and when they look at their bills, they're willing to give the opposition a try. voting will go on until the evening hours but won't be counted until may 16 when all the countries votes will be counted together. >> officials estimate that $5 billion will be spent by politicians, triple the amount spent in 2009 in national elections in india. >> people in afghanistan going to the polls this weekend, electing a new president.

ballots are being count, millions turn out on saturday defying threats of violence from the taliban. nearly two dozen people were killed in election day attacks. it could be six weeks before we know who won. former bank executive, and opposition leader abdullah abdullah appear to be the front runners. >> christians forced out of a town just north of aleppo. >> a barrel filled with exthrowsives hit a residential area. witnesses say there were many casualties. >> parts of the city have come under heavy bombardment in the latest offensive by the syrian military against rebel held areas. president bashar al assad troops

have made gains near the border with lebanon. the rebels have been pushing into what was previously considered assad's best protected strong hold. rebel advantage led to rumors on social media networks of massacres being perpetrated against armenian christians. it triggered pro tests in several countries, including turkey and france. some of the safe kessab say turkey is now aiding syrian rebels in order to commit similar crimes. these accusations are denied by the rebels. they say they've coordinated with the turkish red crescent for the transfer of armenians within turkey. >> in order to be able to take it all the way you want to go, we need to make sure to be safe on the road.

>> at least 18 people, mostly elderly have been taken by bus to the turkish border. this activist video the armenians say thief been treated well bit the release. asses government is accused of exploiting the situation to portray its as the protector of minorities inside syria. the campaign is to try to draw the worlds attention to the fact that they say all syrians are suffering in this war. >> the leader of hezbollah in lebanon said the assad regime is no longer in danger of falling, fighting alongside syrian government troops, prompting sectarian violence in lebanon. >> parts of the u.s. dealing with severe weather, including tornadoes. for more, we turn to our meteorologist. >> we are seeing unsettled weather conditions all across the south, but our tornado watch

start to go shrink in coverage. we are now only seeing it mainly across areas of alabama and along the gulf coast. these area shaded in orange, watching out for strong storms. radar, you can see the darker red, the line of thunderstorms that have come together, sparking those severe thunderstorm warnings we're seeing now. bowing just a little bit, extending out just a bit, when it starts to curve just a little bit, that is the area we watch for strong winds to occur. with these storms, while we see that side of tornadoes through the day, right now, the most immediate threat will be the straight line damaging winds. severe threat in the carolinas through the day and we're dealing with a flash flooding threat, some areas around jackson, mississippi picked up eight inches of rainfall.

an area of low pressure along this front, lots of warm, moist air out of the gulf of mexico moving in. with the instability through the day, strong to severe storms possible. mid atlantic later this afternoon, we'll see rain spreading into the northeast by this evening. >> an experimental drug shows promising results for breast cancer. the cancer drug can help prevent advanced breast cancer from worsening. it doubled the time the patients lived without their tumors advancing, but didn't improve survival rates. the drug could improve $5 billion in sales each year. >> former olympian oscar pistorius is taking the witness stand in his own defense this morning. a judge's ruling prevents any witness from being shown inside the courtroom, making a fearful opening statement, saying he thought his girlfriend was a burglar when he shot and killed her. >> i'd like to apologize.

there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that i haven't thought about your family. i wake up every morning, you're the first people i think of, the first people i pray for. i can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that i've caused you and your family. i was simply trying to protect her. >> he shot and killed her on valentine's day last year. he testified that he that nightmares from the night of the shooting and continues to take medication. he faces life in prison. >> actor mickey ruin any died, his career respond 80 years including 200 films. he played andy hardy during the 1930's and 1940's. 1979, he starred in a broadway musical "sugar babies." the 93-year-old is survived by

his wife and nine children. we'll bring you more about the life and legacy coming up later. >> heading back to the bargaining table, former iranian candidate weighing in on whether world leaders can end the standoff over the countries nuclear program. >> the navy conducting an emergency rescue operation on the high seas that save a stranded family and their sick child. why that family now defenders its failed journey around the world. >> an unprecedented baptism taking place in argentina, the social change the parents hope the ceremony will create in that country.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. talks involving iran's nuclear program getting underway in vienna, iran's foreign minister hoping an accord will be drafted to bring an end to the standoff. negotiating from wrists of six word powers, all trying to come up with a comprehensive agreement by july 20. the former presidential candidate in iran and president

of the american iranian council joins us. what should we expect to come out of this latest round of talks? >> there will be some discussions on the parameters. the power plant is another one, the reactor there is an issue, also there is issue on the sequence of what iran does and what relief it gets for the -- from the sanctions. >> i want to listen to a speech from senator bob menendez saying he believes once again, sanctions should be back on the

table. >> they are smiling at our negotiators around the table, plotting in the back room and we must keep that in mind. it's time to put iranian rhetoric to the test. if we are to take president rouhani's word when he said that iran does not seek nuclear weapons, if that's true, the iranian government should not have any problems with the obvious follow up to that claim. >> is he correct in his skepticism? >> obviously the two sides have been apart for 30 some years, the iran and u.s. significantly and the nuclear issue is a most important one. i think the skepticism here i think to just put all the blame on iran is a little bit too far to go. i think there are all sides, they have to make compromises on all sides, otherwise, it's not

going to work. the fact is that there are nuclear programs and they are going to stay with enrichment. the question is what formula they can find to make iran a save enrichment place for what it is doing, and then obviously the american rightly are concerned about iran moving in the direction with the program. >> let's look at what some are saying is on it airanian side. iran chose a man who is actually to have participated in the 1979 seizing of hostages at the american embassy. it said if this possible nomination were the nomination, it would be extremely troubling and we have raised those concerns about the eye raines. why, when you're trying to get along after 30 some years would you choose a man who held u.s.

citizens hostage for 444 days back in 1979? >> well, first, he did not keep those people hostage. he was a translator. second, i think mr. ar the prest made a mistake, he did not know the background of this man. he has been an ambassador. >> did he consider the outrage that would come about? >> i think obviously if i were president rouhani, he would withdraw the nomination, almost certainly, there's no question about it. i think it was a mistake on the part of the president rouhani. i don't think he knew what was the background, and this is the united states of america. he thought he has been in

europe, so there must be no problem and yet there is a problem. >> thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> he is the former iranian presidential candidate, also the president of the american-iranian council. >> wall street looks poised to pick you the with more selling. a sell off in tech shares knocking down the market on friday. overseas, asian markets, nikkei falling to a one week low. markets in china closed for the holiday. european markets are starting off their week with losses. >> more pain in the pump, gas prices jumping about a nickel over the past two weeks. nationwide, the price for a gallon of regular unleaded is now $3.61. the rise driven by an increase in demand.

ethanol costs have also fueled price increases. >> ethanol tends to be usually a good percentage cheaper than gasoline, and much of this nation's gasoline blended with ethanol, thus cheaper ethanol would reduce the price of gasoline, but right now, ethanol is quite a bit higher than gasoline value. >> gas prices are now at an eight month high. you probably already know that. the number of americans without health insurance falling to their lowest level since before the president took office. a new survey finding that 16.6% of all duties without health coverage for the first three months of this year is a decline of about 1.5 percentage points from the end of 2013. it translates into about 3.5 million people gaining coverage. this comes as the initial signup for the affordable care act drew to a close last month. let's look at the temperatures across the nation today. >> a cool start for most in the

northeast and upper midwest, in the 30's and 40's. we have 50's in memphis and houston at 56 degrees. high pressure in full control across the southwest. we are going to get an offshore flow, really help to go heat things up across southern california, temperature running 10-20 degrees above average. around l.a., mitt 80's this afternoon, but closer to 90 on tuesday. we fall to average later in the week. on tuesday, still 51 in minneapolis, but wednesday up to 70. >> remembering one of the worst genocides in history, the victims look back on the blood shed and the children conceived in the conflict. >> when it's one of our own, it really hurts. >> as residents in killeen,

texas trying to honor the victims of the fort hood shooting, guns being held by soldiers on military posts are discussed. discussed. >> looking live, opening day at yankee stadium in the bronx just a few hours away, taking on the o.'s.

so many money stories sound complicated. but don't worry. i'm here to take the fear out of finance. every night on my show i break down the confusing financial speak and make it real. >> ahead in our half hour, survivors of one of the worst jen sides in modern history recall horrors they witnessed. >> new ground is broken in latin america with the baptism of a very special baby. >> two decades ago, 1 million

people died in rwanda in the genocide there. the country is honoring those killed. the flame of remembrance making its way across the country, the blood she had began 20 years ago on sunday when the president's plane was shot down. >> i thank god for helping me survive the genocide and pray that it never happens again. >> members of the ruling tribe in that country, many girls raped, some of them becoming pregnant, some keeping their children, others deciding not to. we talked to women still trying to make sense of everything that happened. >> tears of pain. for the past 20 years, these women have relived the trauma of not only seeing their families

hacked to death, but also getting raped. they can barely narrate they are ordeal without breaking down. most members of her family was killed in the genocide. >> the pain is too much to bear. we still have the scars of the genocide, but our children give us hope. >> just 12 years old, her parents and seven brothers and sisters were murdered. she fled, but was caught by the militia and raped by several men. she lives with her daughter, now 19 years old. >> a kind neighbor who had taken me into his home advised me against abortion. he told me i would also die did i did it. i have never regret keeping my child. she is all i've got. >> it was not every woman who was raped and got pregnant who chose to keep her baby. many abandoned their children

and many ended up in orphanages like this one. the center for children in did he say stress has been run for more than 30 years. he saved the lives of hundreds during the genocide by hiding them at the orphanage. after the killing stopped, he took on the task of raising the babies. >> they would mostly leave their babies close where we would find them. there were some who didn't wish their babies to live so they threw them in latrines. a few of the women wanted to keep their babies. >> this is a country of thousands of traumatized women, wives, mother and widows who suffer for each other, they separate their children from the hatred they feel for those who raped them. >> april 7 is designated as an

international day of reflection on the genocide in rwanda. april 16, a memorial ceremony will be head at u.n. headquarters in new york. >> former san francisco mayor now free after three months of house arrest after being found guilty of sexually harass be women. he resigned at san diego's mayor after less than a year in office. >> an annual spring break party, many arrested, many sent to the hospital. many were attending university of california santa barbara. it started when an officer was hit with a backpack containing bottles of alcohol. police used flash grenades, rubber bullets trying to contain the angry mob. >> the navy saves a stranded

family, the couple trying to sale around the world with their two yuck children. they asked for help after their young daughter became sick. some now want to know why the family took such a great risk. >> just arriving into san diego, she can't wait for the moment she can hug her sister and niece again. >> i am going to be probably between crying and jumping up and down. i'm really excited for that moment. >> her sister along with her husband and two children were living out their dream to sale around the world, a dream that turned into a nightmare. >> it is nuts. i mean, you know, people do crazy, nuts things all the time? yeah, they do. my thoughts about it were, you know, about bringing, you know, kids on a trip like that, and then having the second one along all the way and bringing an even younger kid. i do very firmly they'll very

strongly that yes, that was crazy. >> she defends their qualifications. >> he is a a former navy core man, certified court guard captain. this is something they've prepared for for years. >> the ship is making its way to a naval base in san diego. all family members agree they'll help with everything they need. >> do people make foolish, unwise decisions at times that can cause, you know, harm? yeah. was any ill in tent in that? no. they love they're children. they're crazy about their kids. >> a facebook group supports them and the baby, hope to go raise money to help the family get back on their feet once they do reach the u.s. >> jailed israeli spy jonathan pollard serving an enforcement this weekend, former president jimmy carter is in favor of releasing him as part of a diplomatic agreements, only if

israel accepts a deal from secretary of state john kerry. carter joins our dignitaries including george shuts and henry kissinger over his release. he provided classified information to israel. >> president obama is going to be taking part in a memorial at fort hood texas wednesday honoring those killed in the shooting last week. this is the second attack on that base in five years. heidi reports on how it happened. >> this isn't the first time crosses ever adorned the lawn in killeen, texas. in 2009, 13 crosses marked the lives taken by army major nadal hasan. now three are here for the soldiers killed by specialist ivan lopez. >> unfortunately, weaver had another tragedy, so we've set it up again. >> the people of killeen and fort hood had just found close irfrom the earlier i understand,

hasan sentenced to death last august. in a memorial service sunday, people are now in disbelief after the latest act of violence. >> our hearts are broken, our community is hurting today, but we pray for encouragement and comfort and remember those lost on that day. >> representatives john carter and roger williams visited the wonned saturday and remember the three soldiers lost. >> sergeant danny, a brave soldier whose courageous act of blocking a door with his own body prevented further bloodshed, a husband and father, dedicated more than 20 years of his life in the service. a counselor, family man and dedicated soldier planned on serving in the army for many years to come. >> it's tragic when anyone turns a gun on someone else, but when it's one of our own, it really hurts. >> now the question on everyone's mind is how could this happen again. fort hood increased security and

mental health resources for soldiers after hasan's attack. in 2011, the vigilance appeared to pay off when the f.b.i. arrested an awol soldier later convicted of planning to bomb a restaurant popular with fort hood soldiers. on wednesday, lopez with his personal gun not registered with fort hood and his troubled mental health slipped through. >> it's not unusual that we've heard fort hood's name come up several times, because basically hasan planted the seed. >> i think that community is very strong. as military families, you don't look forward to anything like this happening, but you definitely brace yourself for blows like this. >> after five years, the community wondering why the violence that taken root here and what can be done to pull it out.

>> allowing military personnel to carry concealed weapons on base is being discussed. >> they defend is overseas and abroad and defend our freedom abroad, so the idea that they're defenseless on home bases, congress should be having a discussion with the bases about what would be the best policy. >> the texas republican adding that congress needs to focus on the mental health of its soldiers. a former aid to president bill clinton joins us this morning. congressman mccall calling for more military guns on bases. do you agree? >> i think it misses the mark. after the new town, connecticut shootings, we heard the national rifle association and allies say what we really need are armed

guards at public schools. if we had armed guards with their own guns, we could have prevented this. right after that, the navy yard shootings here in washington, d.c. happened. of course the navy yard has armed guards. then we had the shootings at ford hood again and again the call from the gun rights lobby is more guns. i just think it completely misses the mark. we already have an jim perfect background check system in the united states today. nine out of 10 americans including four out of 5n.r.a. members would support expanding background checks to include mental health on all gun purchases. only 60% of gun purchases today are covered by background checks. >> how do you check the background of a soldier when you're talking about mental health with hipaa rules and the statistics reveal that as many as 100,000 soldiers are receiving counseling for mental health reasons? >> you pointed out in your own

story that the weapon at issue here, i believe was privately acquired, was not a military issue weapon. right there, you have evidence that if we had a better mental health background check system in the united states, purchases just like that, if we could close the gun hole loophole, we'd be better off, safer. the bigger point being missed has nothing to do with whether or not our gun laws are right. it has everything to do with the cost of war. we send young men and women off to war. we bring them back home and expect them to function in society as if nothing happened and that's a fantasy. war costs, it costs us all. it costs in mental health and i think the notion that we're seeing more and more shootings occurring on military bases is further evidence of that, so we really have two issues we should be talking about here, gun control issue, but mental health

in the military. >> let's continue down the theme of mental health and whether the soldiers should carry concealed weapons. is there belief among anybody in washington that in this political climate after andy hook, after columbine, after colorado that anything is going to happen on gun control? >> no. no. i'll tell you senate majority leader reid has said he doesn't have the votes to bring it up. if you look at quantity facing senate democrats, they have very vulnerable members of their caucus, loom arkansas and alaska, north carolina, states where the gun rights lobby is extremely strong, part of the fabric of every day life. senator reid is not going to bring up a vote that would be

difficult for his most vulnerable members to make. >> if i had somebody outraged by the issues, how should i vote this coming mid term? >> if you're a single issue voter, you're going to vote against a lot of incumbents, because most incumbents in congress have buckled under the pressure of the national rifle association and its allies, most. i say that with a tone of sadness, because i don't think it has to be that way. i served president clinton and i know that he was very proud of the fact that the brady bill became the brady law early in his tenure and that has demonstratingable safety effects across the country. it worked. if you look at the polling, the vast majority of americans would support expanding background checks. it's not a controversial issue. it's an issue of concentrated power not among the n.r.a., their funding comes from the

firearms industry. most n.r.a. members would actually support expanded background checks. it's the funders of the n.r.a. coming from smith and wesson and other manufacturers that have lobbied hard to push away any hint of expanded background checks, because they want to protect sales and that's insidious. that's where industry harms us all in terms of safety. >> former aide to president bill clinton, david thank you very much. >> thank you. >> today marks day 100 our aljazeera colleagues in prison in egypt. the trial adjourned until thursday. egyptian officials are falsely accusing them of providing a platform for the muslim brotherhood. we continue to call for their immediate release. we spoke to his brother. >> my brother is a professional award winning journalist and in

no way associated with any political group. seeing my brother in this situation is the worst feeling. i cannot describe it in words. he's a very kind and warm person and concerned about us all. we miss him too much and want him back. >> a fourth journalist has been in prison now without trial since last august. journalists and activists are meeting in london today calling attention to media freedom around the world and asking for the release of all our journalists. >> there are two things going on here today. one of those is directly linked to the detention, it is a minute silence that's going to be held in a couple of hours time here at broadcasting house. journalists of all stripes gathering together to mark the 100 days of those detentions. they will stand in silence with their hands over their mouths

and honoring really, protesting the detention of all the aljazeera staff. the other thing happening here is there is an annual symposium going on for the safety of journalists. this is a coincidence really that it happens to fall on the 100 days of the detention of aljazeera staff, but it's a fortutious coincidence, because what's being said that in compose yum is this isn't about the one channel of future, this is about 540 journalists being killed, doing their jobs according to unesco since 2007, most of those local journalists working in their own countries, many you won't have heard of. this is about media organizations being able to get their message out to their

audience wherever they may be in the world unhindered. >> in sports, now there are two. nobody picked these two. >> if you're in the market for a crystal ball, i'll sell you mine. it didn't help me much in picking these final two teams. if you're telling your buddies you picked u conn and kentucky, i'm going to tilt my head down and give you a raised eyebrow glare. only 12% ever brackets got tonight's matchup right. who but the most die hard fans of these two teams could see an eight seed kentucky playing a seven seed u conn? tonight just after 9:00, these will be the lowest seeded teams to match up in the national championship final. it's the first time from teams who didn't make the tournaments the previous two years will play in the national championship final.

five freshman in michigan's early starting lineup were five fabulous freshman who would go on to lead the wolverines to back-to-back ncaa appearances, the fab five. a new fab five will lead kentucky into tonight's championship game. >> there was a time college basketball starters were seniors and giving their roles to freshman was unheard of. one michigan team from the early 1990's came from a six seed to take the ncaa tournament by storm. jimmy king remembers the knocks they took from their brash style of play. >> coming off the rim after a dunk or a big three or big steal or play and how they are able to celebrate now, we sacrificed that lot of technicals and bad press, you know, to allow the college kids today to enjoy them receivers in the play and that

style of play. >> sports writer st. john remembers the impact the fab five had. >> they were certainly great, they were trend setters. to that point, people were fictionated of letting senior take shots, senior leadership and all that. these guys said hey, we can come right in and we can lead. >> we impacted the culture, the shorts, the bald heads, the black socks, the black shoes, just of the overall look. >> what they brought to the tournament in 1992 and 1993 was more than just style, but an attitude. >> i think that's what made us special is that we weren't scared of the moment. we embraced the moment, and that's why i think we became bigger than the moment, because we fit right into it. we knew how to accel in it and not let it overwhelm us. >> kentucky comes in as an eight seed and king knows how

comparisons to their people must feel. >> they want everybody to know that they're better than the fab five, that it's not a mistake, it's not a fluke that they're here, that they're one of the best recruiting classes ever. they want to show that. >> on the verge of glory, advice from those who have been there. >> enjoy it, have fun, it's a game and play the game like you played it a you will your life, because you never know when you'll get back a. i would record every moment, when i wake up, when i go to bed, on my way to practice, coming from practice and shoot-around, every moment that i could document, that's what i'll do, because it's truly a special moment. >> by winning tonight, the kentucky freshmen can in one respect settle the issue of which fab five was better for all time. the michigan fab five despite getting to the championship game twice never actually won the big game. >> they were good, so we'll have to see tonight. >> a hollywood star fades to

black, the personal struggles that helped shape mickey rooney's career, straight ahead. a

>> welcome to al jazeera america. straight ahead, we look back at an actor who made all of us smile, mickey rooney. first, some of you will be seeing severe weather. we ever an update. >> we are dealing with moisture that continues to stretch from the gulf coast into the mid atlantic states, but mainly across the southeast we are dealing with severe weather. for now, our tornado watch extended into parts of georgia south of the atlanta area. we do have a severe thunderstorm warning around troy for another 20 minutes. we're mainly dealing with the threat of damaging winds, but

isolated tornadoes will be an issue through the day. right now, widespread heavy rainfall coming down on areas that have already seen a ton of rainover the weekend, five to eight inches in spots. now all of that moisture is lifting northward, we'll see rain moving in this evening in the bigger cities of the northeast. >> the child of a same sex double has been baptized in argentina, the first known ceremony of its kind to take part in a latin america country. they hope to make an impact on the catholic church. >> at cathedral, an unprecedented baptism and blessing for the two-month-old dear of a lesbian couple. she's the first child of a same-sex couple in argentina known to receive the catholic sacrament. the father told us he was waiting for a marriage like ours, a guy couple and it just

so happened that he accepted us, which gave way to social change. the roman catholic church has said yes to the baptism of a child of a gay couple. >> the president signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption in the country. it came when cardinal francis, now pope was argentina's leader a understand opposed the measure. he has six said that all children have the right to be about that sides. he has shown more openness to gays and lesbians. >> we are awaiting a wedding now. what a wedding for the two of us. >> the couple of liamly married but now requesting an official ceremony in a catholic church.

aljazeera. >> a couple who had their baby in january reached out to argentina president in facebook, she saw their message and then agreed to be the child's god parent. >> mickey rooney died in north hollywood california surrounded by his family, his career dating back to the silent movies, spanning more than 200 films. in 1979, he managed a comeback starring on broadway. we have more on his life and art. >> what he lacked in stature he made up for in talent. he had one of the longest careers in hollywood, the 5'3" actor was the number one box office star in the 1930's, won an oscar and nominated again 40 years later. he became famous in the 1930's in the andy hardy series and in musical with judy garland. he received an academy awart at

19 for his role in boys town. although his popularity declined after world war ii, he never stopped acting. he was nominated four more times and received an honorary oscar for his versatility in 50 years of film. his off screen life sometimes overshadowed his career. he was married eight times including to act stress ava gardner. his fifth wife was murdered by another actor. through most of his adult life, rooney had financial problems but per severed overcoming financial difficulties and out living most of his wires and contemporaries. >> oh, it's always a thrill to be on stage. the hopple bone in me just doesn't exist unless i'm on the stage. that's where i live because my family is the audience. >> he spoke out against age bias in hollywood, but remained active, writing, producing and acting until the end. >> stephanie sy, aljazeera. >> the role he turned down that

of archy bunker. another look at the life and legacy of mickey rooney. there's more news straight ahead in just two minutes. we'll see you then.

>> welcome to the news hour. we have the top stories. in prisoned in egypt for 100 days, al jazeera demands its staff are released immediately. >> reporter: in london, one of the places where journalists arounaround the world have been coming together in solidarity to say that journalism is