>> >> seeking a diplomatic solution - secretary of state john kerry holding talks with his russian counterpart to put an end to the standoff in eastern ukraine. >> a community left stung. residents in one pennsylvania town coming together in the wake of a mass stabbing by a high school student. >> president barack obama and the first lady honouring the lives lost in the fort hood shooting, as the president promises to take actions to keep soldiers safe at home. >> being caught on the wrong

side of the immigration system. a man that has been left in limbo over questions of where he was born. >> hi, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton, good to have you with us. >> at this hour world leaders push for a diplomatic solution as the situation in east ukraine intensifies. secretary of state secretary of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov spoke by phone on wednesday. the summit should focus on constitutional eform, not a russia ukraine stand off. it comes as the interior ministry gave pro-russian activists 48 hours to negotiate a solution. the state department says russia is fuelling the unrest inside eastern ukraine. >> this was a very carefully orchestrated well-planned, well targeted, well coordinated effort to take over buildings in

four cities. >> al jazeera's kim vinnell has been tracking the story from donetsk and has this report. >> with a 48 hour ultimatum issued by the ukrainian interior minister, the pressure is on in donetsk. pro-russian activists in control of the state administration building are on high alert. negotiations are under way for protesters agreeing to carry out property, saying they don't want state workers to lose their job. >> some signs of negotiation. many of the people we spoke to say they remember the soviet era as the golden years, and the only outcome they'll be happy with is if eastern ukraine has the chance to join russia. >> i've been living here for 73 years. i have built all of this, and they give me ultimatums. i can't look and listen to these people who fill their pockets while the earth burns beneath them.

>> they give us ultimatums, but it doesn't scare us. if they want to do something to us, they can't break our spirit. >> a few kilometres from the protest site. everything that protesters stand for, business is booming. people are divided. >> the majority of people, for example, the people sat here are against the events of the last few days. i think it's bad. >> translation: i think we need to be an autonomous part of russia. donetsk without ukraine is not donetsk. >> protesters made clear who they believe should come to help. standing outside the state security building they want to support activists barricaded inside. those activists, after releasing dozens of hostages are negotiating with police, but believe it's russia that needs to act.

>> translation: i understand we will try to resolve this by ourselves. we may fail. mr putin, have mercy on your fighters, if you lose us, you lose the last hope to create a good neighbour. >> the clock ticking in the east, with demonstrators preparing for any eventuality. both are keen to avoid blood shed. negotiations doing little to change the result of those in the firing line. >> moscow warned ukraine that using force to crack down on protests could lead to civil wars. as tension rises, an effort is put forward to ease frustrations, officials from the u.s., moscow and ukraine are expected to meet to discuss the crisis. rosalind jordan has more. >> the most significant development on wednesday was the agreement between the u.s. and russia that a face to face meeting should take place some time in the next 7-10 days. who would be at that face-to-face meeting.

russia, ukraine, the e.u., and the u.s. the parties will have a chance to express their concerns, and start hammering out the ways that they could resolve this split cole and sometimes violent crisis. this is a situation that clearly has raised the stakes with the u.s. imposing sanctions on government officials and current russian officials. the u.s. is keen to see the situation resolved sooner, rather than later, because it is concerned about the increasing instability that seems to be growing, particularly inside eastern ukraine. russia, for its part, says that it does have legitimate concerns, and whenever the meeting is scheduled, it's hoped they may start to make a bit of progress on resolving some of those anxieties on all sides. >> rosalind jordan reporting from washington. >> hundreds in pennsylvania are

coming together to support the victims of a stabbing. the community of murrysville came together in a candlelight vigil. 20 were injured when a student slashed them with a knife. five are in critical condition. many who witnessed the attacks can't get the images out of their minds. morgan radford reports. >> alex hribal, 16 years old, but app adult in the eyes of the law. charged on a rampage. >> i don't know what is going on in the school, but i need someone here as a.p. >> school had not started when panic erupted. according to police, a 16-year-old walking the first floor at franklin regional high school outside of pittsburg slashed students at random with two large kitchen knives. >> my one friend was cut across the face, we don't know how she's doing, my brother's friend was stabbed in the back.

>> many were injured, including four stabbed deeply in the stomach and chest. >> the stab wounds were large, in my experience. these were all impressively large holes in each of the patients that i saw. >> morris hundley's ninth grade daughter was in the school at the time. she was crying and told my wife or i to get down and get her right away. no parent can prepare for anything like this. words can't describe how i felt when she called. >> the suspect was a sophomore, stopped only when a security guard and assistant prisoner tackled him. both hailed as heroes. >> students described the chaos. the fire alarm went off. i was walking to the exit, and there was blood over the floor. >> outside the school, ambulances and bus lane s. panicked parent. >> your stomach drops, you don't

know what is going on or happening. it's a terrible feeling. >> the violence familiar, but this time the weapons were different, and the district practised a safety drill, a critical move according to safety consultants. >> it's difficult to teach this. we won't want to scare everybody. schools are a safe place to be. we should have some awareness, preparation. >> police say a student pulled the fire alarm saving alarms. but they don't yet have a motive for what could have lead to the rampage. >> classmates described the suspect as a shy and quiet kid. >> president obama and the first lady were in texas on wednesday to pay tribute to victims of last week's shooting at fort hood. five years ago the president was on the same field remembering victims of another shooting. al jazeera's mike viqueira reports, he promised to do more

to protect american soldiers. >> at fort hood texas, it was full honours for the fallen. president obama, top military brass there to comfort the families and comfort the wounded. 576 soldiers from fort hood lost their lives in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. on wednesday, the man killed at home, whilst on base, were honoured as heroes, like any other. >> you gave your sons to america. and just as you will honour them always, so, too, will the nation that they served. >> the president honoured the fallen by name, sergeant first class daniel ferguson. staff sergeant rodriguez and timothy owens. >> president obama referred to two issues that have been raised

during the wake of the tragedy, the mental health of the gunmen and all returning veterans, and the call to end the ban on soldiers carrying concealed weapons on a military base. the logic is if they had the weapons, the tragedy could have been stop the sooner. here is more of the president. >> as a naugs, we can do more to help town -- as a nation we can do more to help counsel those with mental health issues, to keep firearms out of the hands of those having deep difficulties. as a military, we must continue to do everything in our power o to secure our facilities and spare others this pain. >> five years ago, after becoming president he spoke at the first of a series of memorials, 15 in all. that time, five years ago, at

fort hood, the same sprawling army base in the wake of tragedy. >> still ahead - world leaders trying to hold peace talks together. the concerns that israel is raising over comments by the secretary of state john kerry. investigators continue to scour the indian ocean as officials offer hope that the missing malaysian plane could be found. pushing for equal pay for men and women, proving to be a difficult task. the major roadblock to close of gap in congress.

>> welcome back. investigators say they could be close to solving the mystery of the missing malaysia airlines plane. the australian navy has picked up two more signals that could be from the flight recorders. they were in the same section of the ocean as pings detected on saturday. they were weaker and shorter. crews are racing to find the

devices before the batteries run out. >> in syria at least 25 were killed after two car bombs exploded in the government-held district of homs. they were set off half hour apart, in a busy part of the day. they have a large population of allo whites. state tv -- alawites. state tv said 100 were injured. >> a war of words between palestine and israel leaders are not helping the peace talks. >> secretary of state john kerry and the foreign minister of israel were expected to discuss iran, syria, but the middle east peace talks on the agenda, the stalled middle east peace talks, both men indicating they want to find a way to move forward, echoed by jan sachy.

>> we believe cooperation between israel and palestine would be good to both sides. we note that the contact in meetings between the negotiators are continuing, and note that they are engaging in serious efforts to find their way out of the impasse. >> they said to john kerry, "we know you are a close, reliable friend", but the israeli gst is upset over remarks that john kerry made, deeply disappointed. the remarks were made on capitol hill, when john kerry was testifying and talking about the middle east peace talks. he said that both sides, the israeli and palestinians made unhelpful actions. that's a reason the talks for the. then he signalled out israel, saying they failed to make good a promise to release palestine prisoners. >> unfortunately the prisoner were not released on the

saturday they were supposed to be released. a day went buy, day two, and then in the afternoon, when they were about to get there. 700 settlement units were announce said and that was the moment. >> after the comment the state department defeated out that at no point has john kerry engaged in the blame game. all this comes as attempts were underway to see if the stalled talks can be restarted. secretary of state john kerry set the end of this month as a deadline for progress. >> al jazeera's lisa stark in washington. >> skepticism on capitol hill over comcast's $45 million purchase of time warner cable. critics say it's a bad deal for custody ners. democrat al-franken said the merger would mean fewer options, higher prices and less services.

the company says it's not true. >> this is not a challenging traction from an antitrust -- transaction from an antitrust perspective. our company does not compete for customers. the for example will not lead to production in competition or consumer choice. >> if approved the merged company would serve a third of the country's cable tv households, and 40% of homes with broadband internet services. >> democrats suffered a setback towards bridging the payback between men and women. the paycheck fairness act was blocked. it would have required all employees to improve differences and pay is not based on gender, or allow workers to discuss winter games. the g.o.p. shot done legislation in 2010 and 2012. according to the sensis bureau, women earn less than 80% of what

men make. >> detroit's public employees could be given help from a deal worked out by a bankrupt city and bond holders. they were to pay back $400 million in funds. the remained will be used to set up a fund to stop retirees falling into poverty. the deal has to be approved. >> we have seen absolutely beautiful weather along the eastern sea board. that's after the rain that we had across parts of the weekend. you can see where we are looking at. clouds pushing through. snow to the north. temperatures cool to drop snow in the higher elevations. as you see on the radar satellite, we don't expect to see too much rain, only across the lakes.

it will be friday and thursday. it the be light at times. temperatures on thursday. warm in new york. 65. philadelphia 68. and washington - of course the cherry blossoms are out - they'll look at 70. new york, friday to saturday, light rain showers developing, getting a little harder and the overnight hours. by saturday the rain will be ending and on sunday back to a cloudy day. here across much of the south-east heavy rain. that is in the atlantic. it is a little cooler than average. but for atlanta, it will be a beautiful week. the rain not coming back into the picture until sunday. more of the same in the south-west. slightly down from yesterday. los angeles, 87 degrees there. phoenix warm. los angeles, maybe a little

cooler on saturday with a temperature of 69. >> we are all looking good. still ahead - getting caught up in the fight over immigration. the fight of imprisoned immigrants are making to prove they are citizens. another autorecall, involving 6 million toyota vehicles. the list the problems the company says autos are facing. >> gulf marquee events without one of the game's bigger stars. the impact tiger woods's absence will have on the master's tournament.

>> as they say in golf it's a tradition unlike any other. the masters gets under way on thursday, but it will be missing its biggest star. >> every april 1st tournament catches the attention of golf fans from around the world. from a quaint corner of america, augusta georgia.

for the last 20 years tiger woods wowed the crowds and took home four green jackets. a back injury sidelines him this week, and according to golf.com's michael walker it could have app impact. >> when tiger is in the hunt in the final round, you luke at 60% doubling ratings. >> ticket sales are down, and nike indicated that during the 2013 masters, they had three times more air time than rory mcilroy, and that could translate into $3-$4 million in loss of exposures. rory mcilroy is looking to win a first green jacket and phil mickelson could tie woods and palmer with four wins. the value of tiger in the field cannot be denied.

>> it's unbelievable what has happened with the growth of the game. tiger is the instigator. he is the one that has driven the bus. he has bought increased ratings, sponsors, and interest. that's why we miss him. >> the tiger effect on golf is huge since the mid '90s. up until now. i think any sport benefits from a dominant figure like this to not really drive the game, but having tiger in a tournament creates more buzz, an atmosphere, you know where he is on the course. >> crowds or not, rory mcilroy has a chance at becoming a dominant figure in the sport. >> i think he's comfortable with the attention. i don't think woods was, rory mcilroy embraces the spotlight. i think there'll be a post

generation of guys inspired by tiger, who really capture the imagination. rory has to win at augusta, and that means getting past woods. >> i don't know why phil mickelson is not a main choice. he will have tied tiger in championships. mickelson, he's the absolute favourite. there's a lot of guys that could do it. >> it's the first time that he'll be missing the masters. that's sport for this our. >> toyota stock tumbled near 2% after the company recalled nearly 4.6 million vehicles worldwide. the world's largest automaker says 27 vehicle models are involved including the rav4 and

yaris. air bags may not inflate, steering problems and seats that could fly forward. >> ford motors is celebrating a victory, selling more than 1 million ford focus vehicles. more than a quarter were sold in china. the united states is the company's second largest market. the company used new vehicle registration data from the auto industry company. >> 2 million undocumented immigrants have been deported since president obama took office. it sparked outrage, and some say they were caught up on the wrong side of the u.s. immigration system. adam raney has that exclusive report from tucson ari zona.

>> estban tiznado-reyna is caught in an endless cycle. he gets deported, crosses back and lands in gaol. once smugglers broke his hand. another time he was kidnapped, escaping with the hep of a stranger. >>, "get out of here, if they get you they'll kill you." >> the u.s. government couldn't prove he's not a citizen, he can't convince them he is. >> this is his father's birt certificate. prove that father and son are citizens. in a statement to al jazeera, the government avoided saying whether he was a citizen, only saying that a judge ordered him deported to mexico and site his criminal history and drug possession and burglary. >> we drive to his mother's

place, where he has lived all but three of his 40 years. >> his mother has little time with her son. >> i'm worried about him, that he's out there alone, whether he's eating, what he's eating, whether he's sleeping. if something may happen to him. >> with nearly 2 million deported under president obama, many mother share her troubles. that man was deported in 2008. immigration officers didn't believe he was a citizen. it took him three years to prove them wrong. he's suing the u.s. government to wipe his record clean of any men's of his deportation. >> i get nervous when i pass a police officer. i'm hispanic. they look at me and see i'm hispanic. and i might end up going through

the same thing again. my security number is not active. it shows. >> the government told us as a convicted criminal alien, andres robles was a deportation priority. in 2012 it gave him this document, which states that he became a citizen in 2002, six years before he was deported. asked if they mistakenly deported is u.s. citizen, the government did not respond. >> despite the dangers, they'll cross back as soon as they can. he says he only has one home. >> a programming note - this sunday al jazeera america will debut:

>> that'll do it for this edition of al jazeera news. i'm thomas drayton in new york. news at the top of every hour, and you can get the latest headlines on aljazeera.com. thanks for watching. >> hi, i'm lisa fletcher and you're in the stream. out of the box thinkers share their tool kit for racing smart successful well balanced kids. my co-host and digital procedures wajahat ali.