welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york with a look at today's top stories, we begin with breaking news out of pennsylvania. 20 people were injured after a student went on a stabbing spree at a high school near pittsburgh. this was the scene has students were evacuated. one student now said to be in custody. in that incident happened as students were arriving for morning classes. crews searching for the missing malaysian airlines flight say they have detected two more signals consistent with the black boxes.

ukraine's interim government has retained control in carkiev. the pro-russian factions are still in control of donetsk and luhask. president obama is going to take part in a memorial for the victims of the fort hood shooting. you can see the memorial broadcast live at al jazeera america. those are your headlines, i'm del walters in new york. and remember you can always get the latest news at aljazeera.com. "consider this" is next. >> is ukraine teetering on the edge of a civil war, and does

more evidence show russia could invasion? >> the white house pays an equal pay day, but are they throwing stones from a glasshouse? >> the crazy redundancy at federal agencies, and why d.c. gridlock is leading to billions in waste. >> is technology killing our mental ability to read a book? i'm antonio mora, welcome to "consider this". here is more on what is ahead. >> a brawl breaking out in the ukrainian parliament about who is to blame. >> roosevelt said talk softly, carry a big stick. >> and the credit is for the people in the arena trying to get things done. suit. >> taxpayers are paying $40 million to have federal agencies duplicate each other's work. they don't talk to each other

and they ex-tanned. >> today is equal pay day. >> it highlights the income gap between men and women. >> america should be a level playing field. >> we start with an all-out war in ukraine, as protesters are reaching the boiling point. in lieu, one of three -- luhansk, one of three cities where they want a referendum, a building was seized, hostages held at gun point. investigators say the building was filled with explosives. moscow is accused of being behind this. >> in donetsk, pro-russian masked men barricaded the main entrance of a government building, occupied by hundreds of protesters, who say the city is the people's republic of donetsk.

riot police cleared hundreds of pro-russian protesters, detaining scores in the process, and finding that during a parliament session in kiev, deputies brawled and there are accusations of heavy-handed treatment of pro-russian activists. secretary of state john kerry defended the administration moscow. >> no one should be fooled and no one is, by what could be a contrived pretext for military intervention, as we saw in crimea. russian special forces have been the catalyst behind the chaos. >> we are joined by dr lincoln mitchell, who is currently an advisor to the human rights institute, and works as a consultant on business and politics throughout the country. and the author of the book the colour revolutions.

a late breaking report from "the daily beast" says american spies are seeing all the signs of a russian invasion of ukraine, and u.s. intelligence is not sharing the information with the ukrainians. what do you think of the report, and do you think the russians are preparing to invade. >> they are two different questions. yes, they are seeing the signs. the media is seeing it as well. much of that information is public. i find it hard to believe that it is being conceived from kiev. is russia planning an invasion, we don't know for sure. at the at least they ar instability, which we are seeing. >> should the u.s. share that intelligence with the ukraine. >> yes, they should. >> russia warned any force used by ukraine in the eastern part of the country against the agitators, will be met with

reaction on their part. john kerry speaking on capitol hill said that pretty much what the russians are doing is following the same crypt in crimea and are looking for any ukraine. >> i would agree with the secretary of state. this is not - eastern ukraine is not crimea. that's the bet the united states is making. the ease with which russia got what it wanted is not likely to be repeated. >> demographics is quicker there's fewer russians. >> it's more integrated into the ukraine state. putin in 2008 told george w. bush that it's not a country, referring to ukraine. this was something that many in ukraine - many in the united states as well - were upset about. it demonstrated his contempt for the ukrainian state. he's acting on that notion, that belief that it's not a country,

they are not going to mind if we take over, because they want to be with us any. >> he could be wrong. if he is, and they act on the pretext and ipp vade. they'll have an -- invade, they'll have an insurgency on their hand. it will weaken and destabilize ukraine, which is a victory from moscow. it's hard to believe they'll have an easy time of it. >> you wrote on the debate in the u.s., how to respond to the russian invasion shows the absorption of the political establishment. putin would do what he wants to do. shouldn't the u.s. and n.a.t.o. do something at some point to stop russian expansion. >> of course. the points i was trying to make there is first this notion that everything that happens in the world is because of something we did, is just wrong. if you take the approach to foreign policy, you miss a lot of points.

>> the second thing is what has emerged as a talking point. in 2008, when russia invaded georgia and grabbed south ossetia, that george w. bush, the republican president stood up for the allies and did all of that. that's a right wing talking point with no grounding in reality. that rhetoric is damning, and demonstrates the worst thing through a party son lens. what we have is an international crisis and an actor, leader of the country, creating a great daner, not because obama is soft and bush strong. >> how much should we care. the american people don't care, given what we see from polls about what is going on in ukraine. the reality is the trade with ukraine is negligible. we are doing a segment on venezuela next, and we have more russia.

>> after russia invaded crimea, i made that argument - crimea is not all that important and it's not of central security importance to the united states. destabilising ukraine is different. civil war in ukraine is different. a failed state close to europe is a big problem for the united states and our allies. i'm talking about major european allies. failed states give rise to terrorism, drug smuggling. they are problems that increase in europe. >> we don't on russia in a lot of other sensitive areas. >> we'd like to. >> we'd like to have a relationship in syria, iran and other places. >> an effort to destabilize ukraine creates problems for us in countries like georgia, moldova. they are afraid. they see the precedent and look and say are we next. it

rach et cetera up the fear -- ratchets up the fear. if russia is able to destabilize it, they could do a lot of damage. it's not a global power. barack obama is right about that. but it's an important power. >> it's a big country within europe. so many issues brought up. good to have you here. >> after months of violent protests some venezuela leaders said they are ready for exploratory peace talks with the government. foreign ministers with the union of south american nations shuttled between president nicolas maduro, and opposition groups trying to start talks that could lead to a dialogue. it came as amnesty international released a report warning of spiralling violence, and the country risked the rule of law. it highlights human rights

violation, including torture and attacks fon journalists -- upon journalists. many took to the streets to demonstrate against one of the highest crime rates in the world. i spoke to our correspondent. good of you to join us. the pois demanded that all political prisoners be freed and peace talks be televised before talking to the government. preliminary. >> what is happening is there are very deep differences between both sides. the president nicolas maduro said that he is ready for talks, he will talk about the economic policies, and he will talk about the insecurity. now, as you were saying, the political opposition wants more - more than having this meeting televised and with the mediator, the representative of the vatican

mediating talks. amnesty for all the political prisoners. three air force generals, students considered by the political opposition as political prisoners. they want the sentiment of the pro-government militants what have been in the protests and seen and photographed by many shooting and carrying guns. they want a renewal of the balance of powers. they want members of the report. the tribunal to be changed. it's time to change because the term ended a while ago and they want new people to be named in the post. as you say, a truth commission for a review of the human rights crimes may have been committed by the community forces during

the last two month of protest. >> the amnesty international report that we are going to discuss calls for some of those things, specifically for their to be due process in an independent judiciary. what about the protests, we saw flare-ups, ugly ones. what is going on now. bit. >> they have mainly died down. there are groups that erupt, protesting different places in caracas. we have seen some barricades located in different areas. they have stood up tents in different areas. that's the way they continue to protest. what have they gained. we were talking to analysts that said that the students have not gained anything but the right to begin protesting despite the protestation of the security

force, and they have shown a fracture. some students are asking for nicolas maduro to resign, they don't want any dialogue. others are not asking for economic reforms. others are saying something about the shortages and insecurity, and pro-government hor a government supporter has been telling me as well that this has not been good for the political opposition, because it has also shown that it's fractured among them. >> so many problems in us. >> talks between venezuela's opposition and the nicolas maduro government holds out hopes that months of violence will end, international has soished a report saying -- issued a report saying the teeth toll will rise. abuses by groups, protesters and unidentified individuals, and

abuses by government security forces themselves, including torture, sexual abuse, threats and other inhuman and degrading treatment. >> i'm join the from london. you start the report with horrific stories alleging torture by government forces and supporters. what do people following the conflict need to know? >> we are launching the report after two months of intensive activity. public manifestations of discontent by society, that are resulting in an increasing violence in the country. the report is documented by violations of human rights by security forces in an attempt to control the province, starting in the state. they have been extending across the country, and we are calling

upon the conflicted parties to come together in a dialogue. it has to be an exchange of ideas, a continuing process in which the state, the government has the responsibility to ensure that there is an inclusive process that is not just bringing the opposition leaders into the stable. but it's incluting represent -- including representatives of the civil society, including those critical of the government. >> the opposition was told that they have full guarantees and rights "we have an open democracy." the information in your report levels. >> the report is documented in different cases. in which - which has been demonstrated the violation of human rights committed, particularly against protesters, opportunities, who are

demonstrating their discontent why government policies, particularly the high lels of criminality that the government has not been able to address the inflation, and the problems with economy in general. the report is also documented, committed by government groups, which we know that the government has a responsibility also to control some of these groups, because it's been known over the last decade that the government is not really putting a control in access to weapons, and it's in some ways strengthening the capacity of the groups to operate. and the other groups are committing the grave abuses of human rights, in this context in the country. >> the report criticises president nicolas maduro for encouraging the groups, and raises issues with due process, the lack of an independent

judiciary, and problems of freedom of the press. it says the country runs the risk of descending into a spiral of violence. and that it will only happen if both sides respect human rights and the rule of law. >> from your analysis, who is responsible for the violence. >> the government has the responsibility of protecting human rights of all. it has to really address account eighty in terms of the government being responsible for not just the commission, but responsible to bring those perpetrators of the violation of human rights into justice, and ensuring that human rights will be requirementy in discussion or dialogue. the violations of human rights

has been committed by security forces. we have documented cases in which pro-government groups are involved in abuses. protesters, and violence is increasing in different parts of the country because peaceful solutions haven't been brought to the table for discussion. >> a lawyer with the human rights center said her group found systematic conduct on the part of the state to inflict an inhuman treatment of detainees, your report mentioned people subjected to electric shock, chemicals, threatening to be lit on fire. i take it it's fair to say your applications. >> the report documented around 13 kateses, and -- 13 cases, and we haven't documented more cases because we don't have

information, and many people did not want to have it published in the report. we have allegations of the use of force by security forces, but we have also documented cases that their needs have been reporting torture of a mechanism of oppression. sexual violence in many cases, and violations to the due process. people didn't have access to legal representation at the time they were detained and during the detention, and the charges, the criminal charges were not presented to them, so they didn't have information on the reasons for the detention. more than 2,000 people have been detained in the course of the public demonstrations. >> the majority have been released. we will continue monitoring the situation, and continue documenting the cases to make sure that the government is

accountable not just to bring those responsible for these violations into justice, but is accountable for the application of human rights for all, convictions. >> and the amnesty international report ends by asking for a human rights plan. let's hope it happens. appreciate you time. >> thank you. >> coming up, the white house urges equal pay for women as questions emerge about its own pay gap for female staffers. the president of the national support for women joins us next. >> incompetence is taken to a new level. harmeli aregawi is tracking the top stories. >> in a new exhibit artists prove you can find happiness circumstances. >> while you are watching, let us know what you think.

you can tweet us at:

>> few things are as awkward in the workplace as one employee asking another how much they make.

it's forbidden at more than half american companies. tuesday it was called for that to change hoping it would equalize pay for men and women, happening on equal pay day, which indicated how many more days a year females would have to work to catch up with male workers. >> the average working woman earns $0.77 for every dollar a man earns. for african american women and latinos, it's less. in 2014 that's an embarrassment. it is wrong. >> but there's disagreement with the maths with many experts saying it's misleading. equal pay does not exist in the white house where women make $0.88 to every man's dollar. >> i'm joined by terry o'neill, for the national organization for women. there's clearly a wage gap. how much is an issue that is

being raised. the argument against the 77 number is that it's not based on hourly pay, and that distorts the number, and there's differences in the life choices of men and women. men choose riskier careers that pay more, and men, in the workforce, have longer tenures innons, because women -- in jobs because women take years off to spend with the kids. what is the reality in all this. what do you think is the reality of the pay gap. >> any gap is too large. whether it's $0.70 to the dollar or 64 or 69. equal pay day turns out to be may 11th, and for latinos, it's not until june 17th. that's the size of the wage gap. it's true that part of the wage

gap results from two unfair things in our society today. first, that women tend to be funnelled into lower paying occupations. any job that haned in care, health -- ends in care. health care, childcare, you name it. they pay less and are predominantly done by women. hospitality, retail, teaching. that's an explainer of the wage gap, and it's inexcusable. who thinks that caring for a 90-year-old stroke victim is less valuable. we have a lot of work to do. a lot of the gender age gap is age discrimination. the two executive orders that the president signed will start gap. >> even though it's already illegal to discriminate and not

work. >> absolutely. you need the measures because it's hard to enforce. equal pay to equal work. libby didn't know that she was being underpaid compared to her male counterparts, because it was a fireable offense to compare wages with her male colleagues. so she went years and years without knowing. now, interestingly, in government workplaces, and in unionized work places the pay scales are well known, they are published. salaries are published and in both of those work places we find a smaller gender gap. so the kind of transparency that president obama signed into laws for federal contractors will help to reduce the gap.

>> what do you say to the argument that it will create flexibility of companies, if there is transparency, it will give them little flexibility to ajust merit pay and open the door to losses. >> the reality is these are the same people making the arguments claiming the free market is the way to go. >> a free market is one where both sides of the traction have roughly the same information. we are dealing with a situation where the employer has all the information about wage structure and the employee has little or none. we need to even the scales, the playing field so you could have a free market. yes, when you have a free market, the employer will have to work harder to keep the employees. work. >> let's go back to what you were talking about when it comes

to choices and stereotypesment how much of that is their own choice, and millions of dollars have been spent sips the year 2000 -- since the year 2000 to move women into engineering. from the numbers i have seen, fewer women are going into the fields than before. >> i don't think - i think in the past 10-15 years we have not put as much effort into getting women into non-traditional jobs as prior to the past 10-15 years. we have fallen down on the job. let's think about the question. i'm not sure it's a terrible thing for women do want to go into a particular occupation. it's a terrible thing for patients to be paid so much less than occupations that are predominated by men, right. so if you look at the level of education, training, physical stam yinna, e --

stamina, emotional stamina, you would thing the jobs should be paid more. the scandal is not that women choose to go into those, although the choices are restricted. the scandal is jobs don't pay better. >> are things getting better. we are looking at numbers saying unmarried women are making $0.96 on the dollar. millennials are making $0.93 on the dollar, and there are numbers out there, the bureau of labour statistics says in 2012 the numbers were closer. $0.81, not 87, and pew research says in 2012 it was 84% of what men earn. are things getting better in? >> they aren't. if you look at trends. i don't know where the $0.87 number comes from. if you look at full-time year round.

if you take the numbers, what has happened is we have stalled out since the return of the 21st century. we have not had good enforcement and need to do better. >> thank you, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. >> now to another story. this one should make you angry. it made me angry, a report by the bipartisan government accountability office shows dozens of areas in the federal government are redundant, inefficient or worse. on the bright side it office a way to cut tens of billions in spending. james warren joins us. he was the former editor of "the others. >> it starts saying the federal is on an unfiscal path. there are ten different offices

of the health and human services looking at aids in minority, 11 amps autism. what is the excuse for having different groups that are not working together? >> thank you for having me on as expert on waste. this has nothing to do my current or former employees, so let's not say it's based on personal experience. to answer your question, what does hhs say about autism. it says autism reference is not a linear endeavour and demands are multidisciplinary approach. when it comes to aids research and looking at different minorsity communities it claims by virtue of target different specific communities one needs different groups, agencies within the department looking at it.

that might, in some cases be an absurdity a little bit, a little too close. but examples of duplication. the fourth time they did the report, are rampant. they admit front and center and at a hearing in the congress before a house committee that they can't tell you how much duplication there is, because departments can't explain what spending is. > that was something that jumped out at me. it said the gao doesn't know how much is being waved because the government doesn't keep track of which programs each agency is responsible for. any company would know what department does what. the gao says the government doesn't know thax. >> again, some of the examples, one of my favourites, notice the air force base which has eight different control centres to

track 10 different satellite systems. the same air force base has eight separate entities looking at different satellite systems. of course, ultimately this will be fodder for those folks who i think in some ways captured miths about the american government. it is ipp fencible -- indefencible. is the government wasteful. i think not. >> does the private sector offer answers to the solutions? >> no. we know the private sector can't do certain things. >> i'll take issue with the grot ebbingly wasteful comment. after 9/11, a big topic was agencies have to talk to each other. police need to communicate with firefighters. the report says the department of justice, department of the homeland security and department of treasury, in charge of the

secret service. took hundreds of millions for communication systems that don't connect. as my teenage daughter would say - seriously? >> i agree, it's indefencible. there's billions. if you look at the report, that could be saved by doing away by what seems to be different procurement systems and agencies. we are not talking about big aircraft carriers where you have the real waste, but purchasing uniforms for combat. the way we do that is incredibly wasteful. and if you talk about the pentagon, there are two separate agencies dealing with pows and mias and they are at odds with one other. chuck hagel is taking issue with that. the report is adding new

agencies to wasteful ones that had been highlighted before, and the white house has taken action, congress. who's is doing better. they have addressed 83% of prior recommendations. congress addressed 52% of them. that overstates how well they are doing. most have been partial fixers. >> addressed in some way. ultimately we looked at the video before house oversight committee. i thought "i have spend too much time in washington." was it 15 or 20 years ago. vice president al gore oversure something similar. the one you mentioned up the stop, the post nolle prosequi amall gom. it is an absolute total disaster and what we saw, now that i

think of it, the problems with obamacare, underscored the feeble nature of technology, so you have the worst case scenario. horrible technology that is not in sink with other horrible technologies within the same department. it's nuts. there. >> on that cerebral note, analitical - it's nuts. point. >> time to see what is trending on the web. let's check in with jane harman. >> the photo exhibit on display in new york city approves a smile can happen anywhere from poverty stricken. it is entitled "smile", and has been put together by seven photo agencies, a group of award-winning photo journalists. >> here, street children bathe in the democratic republic of congo, where they access the facilities in exchange for labour.

in this 1999 photo, kosovo refugees are reunited. and here a u.s. marine slides down a bannister in saddam hussein's palace in iraq. >> the artist asked people to share photos on social media. she tweeted this: >> the photos have been bruised over a 30-year span, coming centre more than 30 countries, and there are a total of 85. you can learn more about the exhibit at vii. >> straight ahead has technology made the act of reading a book tough. numbers of people would rather

have their children study the beatles in school than mozart, bach or beethoven. >>

>> have you tried to sit down and read a book only to find you can't make it past the first page. the reason for that, may be in your pocket. the new research suggests the d dimmal revolution may be rewiring our brains, and it could come at the expense of our ability to do serious indepth reading the old fashion way.

joining us now is the professor, dean of school of information at the university of texas, and he teaches information classes. >> what is the reach showing? >> that the way that we read on our computers and tablets and brains? >> well, i wouldn't go that far. that certainly is an implication that people are trying to draw, because the data is rather interesting. humans are not born with an ability to read. it's a skill, and something that involves rewiring the game to some extent to learn to well a skilled reader. we try to bring everyone in the society up to a minimal level. the way we interacted with information over senduries has not changed. the books of three or four years

ago and not that different to the books up to the end of the 20th century. what has changed is information spaces. that is causing us to react differently to create different kinds of information and manifest different information blfs, and that is what is getting a lot of -- behaviours, and that is what is getting a lot of attention. >> is it technology or content? we are seeing shorter articles, links we can click. we see slide shows integrated pictures, videos, all the things can lead to us losing span. >> i think you have to look at these not one or the other. they are hands in glove. new technologies evolve quickly. compared to human history. we are looking at devices that are smaller, faster, mobile,

carried anywhere, accessing vast quantities of information that was never available on the spot. that's a different ecology. we are engaging with it differently. on the provider side, people are writing for the platforms, and they don't enable huge amounts of text to be delivered in ha way that the paper medium can be. you see the twin engines driving behavioural response. people you are using the technology, it's amenable to quick suggestedable short messages. the human system is that. >> there's a professor quoted - her name was marianne wolf. and she talked about how tv news led to shorter listen spans. and now we are talking about eye bites, looking at brief things

on the internet. is there a difference between the way we read a book, how we are skimming or scanning? >> they are different reading behaviours. the reading process is complicated made up of multiple stages of technology. the moment we pick it up, they say you can't judge a book by the cover. those scannings tells us how am i to approach this. then i proceed to engage and have a lengthy engage. and emissive one. >> with the electronic medium we have the same interactions. what we don't do is follow interaction. >> is that because it's different to the way we read newspapers, because we scan headlines and skim paragraphs.

>> we can do that. we immerse ourselves more dopely if we choose to do so. with new technology you are bombarded not just with the information you are seeking, but new information is coming out. ut get movement, animation, hipper media. it captures the human system. it's finite, and you are wired from primitive times to respond. a medium that makes most use of those qualities is going to capture your attention and make you engage with the information space. it's the same old human system. the difference is the medium is driving a form of response, which is different to what we would, with a newspaper, magazine or book. >> an israeli study found people

paper. >> there's early studies which have been sustained over the two decades, pointing to a cap when reading electronically or digitally. funnily enough people don't see it themselves. they are overcost in the digital medium. there's consequences with that, with a generation being born and bred and raised on digital information that is shorter and pushed at them. we have to be conscious of the skill set that is evolved and be conscious of doing that. we'll have a form of biliteracy, and we favour one kind of literacy over another, and that will have grave consequences as the civilisation evolves. >> it's a fascinating story. a lot of issues it brings up. >> coming up, when did d.n.a.

swabs become a part of the dating scene? you have no idea how brave the new world is for symbols. >> 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

>> hello and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters? new york. we're going to take you to washington where today is equal payday, the day set aside to focus on pay equalization. this is lilly ledbetter, she is the woman behind what is known as the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. she found out she made about a thousand dollars less per year counterpart. >> when the supreme court decided in 2007 that goodyear has been paying me unfairly long enough to make it legal -- [ laughter ] >> i knew i wasn't ready to give up my fight for fair pay. less than two years later, congress passed the lilly president obama -- [ cheers and applause ]

>> and president obama made the bill. [ applause ] bill -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- first bill he signed, sending a clear message about his priorities. standing behind the president as he signed my namesake bill into law was one of the greatest moments of my life. yet i knew and the president knew that my bill was just an important first step in the fight for fair pay. in the five years since, we have seen my bill's companion legislation, the paycheck fairness act stalled in congress

with little movement in the fight for fair pay. that is until today. folks often refer to me as the face of fair pay. but for today at least, that barack obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> today president obama will sign an executive order that will ban federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their pay and their salaries. not only is this a critical piece of the stalled paycheck fairness act, but this action also gets at what was my largest barrier for all of those years ago.

i didn't know i was being paid unfairly, and i had no way to find out. i was told in no uncertain terms that goodyear then and still a government contractor, fired employees who shared their salary information. it was against company policy. whoever left me that anonymous note did so bravely, knowing that he or she could face retaliation if they were found out. from my namesake bill through today's executive orders. president obama has been the outspoken leader women and families need on fair pay. i urge congress to join the president on the right side of history fairness act. [ cheers and applause ] >> i thank president obama for

his continued courage, and vision and am deeply moved to be the one to introduce him today. please join me in a very warm welcome of president barack obama. thank you [ cheers ] >> [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. >> thank you, everybody. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you! thank you, everybody, thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, everybody. all right. well thanks to my friend lilly ledbetter, not only for that introduction but for fighting for a simple principle. equal pay for equal work. it's not that complicated, and lilly, i assure you, you remain

the face of equal pay. people don't want my mug on there. they want your face. [ laughter ] >> as lilly mentioned, she did not set out to be a trail blazer. she was just somebody who was working every day, going to work, doing her job the best that she could. and one day she finds out after years that she learned less than her male colleagues for doing the same job. i want to make that point again. [ laughter ] >> doing the same job. sometimes when you -- when we discuss this issue of -- of fair pay, equal pay for equal work, and -- and the pay gap between men and women, you'll hear all sorts of excuses. well, they are child bearing, and they are choosing to do this, and they are this and that and the other. she was doing the same job. probably doing it better. [ laughter ] >> same job. [ applause ]

>> working just as hard probably putting in more hours. but she was getting systematically paid less. and so she set out to make sure this country lived up to its founding. the idea that all of us are created equal, and when the courts didn't answer her call, congress did. the first time lilly and i stood together in this room was my tenth day in office, and that's when he signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay [ applause ] >> first bill i signed into law. and some of the leaders who helped make that happen are here today, including leader pelosi, and senator [ inaudible ], and congress woman daloral. [ cheers and applause ] >> i want to thank all of the members of congress and all of

the state legislators and advocates who are here, because you all contributed to that e eh -- effort. and i want to give a special thanks to though on the equal pay task force. we're here because today is equal payday. [ cheers and applause ] >> equal payday. and it's nice to have a day. but it's even better to have equal pay. [ applause ] >> and our job is not finished yet. equal payday means that a woman has to work about this far into 2014 to earn what a man earned in 2013. think about that. a woman has got to work about three more months in order to get what a man got. because she is paid less.

that's not fair. that's like, adding an extra six miles to a marathon. [ laughter ] >> it's not right. ain't right. [ laughter ] right. [ laughter ] >> america should be a level playing field, a fair race for everybody. a place where anybody who is willing to work hard has a chance to get ahead, and restoring that opportunity for every american, men and women has to be a driving focus for our country. the good news is today our economy is growing, businesses created almost 9 million new jobs over the past four years,

>> this is the real deal man... welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. 20 students at a pittsburgh area high school are injured when a student there goes on a stabbing spree. unrest in ukraine, but there is progress on the dim mattic front. an internet security flaw could put your personal details at risk, details on