how it spends it's money. that's our show for today. i'm ali velshi in washington. thanks for joining us. >> a teenager goes on a wild stabbing spree at a pittsburg area school, and now he's facing charges as an adult for slashing 20 classmates. >> it was like the movies, houses were exploding. >> a story of survival - living through the washington state mudslide, watching it tear through her home as she held on to her baby.

>> massachusetts senator elizabeth warren - why she may be the democratic challenger that poses the biggest tlat to hillary clinton. >> a new hope in the battle against lung cancer. a test that doctors believe will stave countless lives. >> good morning and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. in an era of columbine and newtown, the latest school rampage was uncommon because of the weapon of choice. instead of guns, 18-year-old alex used two 18 inch knives to upflict his rage. alex hribal in 20 minutes slashed and stabbed 20.

two are in critical condition, fighting for their lives. the rampage ended when with the help of assistant principal, he tackled alex hribal. alex hribal is facing charges of homicide. hundreds gathered at a candle-lit vigil. many can't get the images out of their mind. the father of the accused attacker said his thoughts are with the victims. >> i hope they recover as quickly as possible. >> morgan radford has more on the young suspect. >> alex hribal, 16 years old, now an adult in the eyes of the law. charged in a rampage through the halls of his high school. >> i don't know what i have going on down at school. i need someone here. >> school has not started. when panic erupted. >> according to police, a 16-year-old working the flue,

just outside of pittsburg, slashed student at random. with two large kitchen knives. >> we don't know how she's doing. my brother's friend was stabbed in the back. >> more than 20 were injured. stabbed in the stomach and chest. the stab wound 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. my wife or not. to get down to get her. no parent can prepare for this. >> the suspect is a soft more, when a security guard and principle tackled him. students described the chaos, crying and screaming in

hallways. the fire alarm went off. i was walking towards the accident. there was blood over the floor. ncesnd bus lanes panicked parents. >> it's the worst case scenario. it's panic. your stomach just drops, you don't know what is going on what is happening. >> the violence in the school all-too familiar. this time the weapons were different. the district just practised a safety drill three months ago, a critical move according to safety cult ants. >> it's -- consultants. >> it's difficult to teach this. we don't want to scare everybody of the schools are, by and large, a safe place to be. we should have awareness, preparation. >> police say a student pulled the fire alarm likely saving lives, helping to evacuate the school. they don't have a motive for what could have led to the rampage. >> now, franklin regional high school where the attack occurred

is expected to be closed for the rest of the week. and counsellors will be provided. many that knew alex hribal say there were no obvious signs of trouble. classmates in murrysville described him as shy and quiet. his attorney said he had good grades, averaging b pluses but there are concerns he may suffer from a mental illness. prosecutors say he's a threat to the community, and he repeats that he wants to die. >> ahead in the next hour we'll speak with the attorney representing accused stabber alex hribal. >> a manhunt is underway in florida for a driver that caused another driver to crash into a daycare center, one little girl died. 14 others, mostly kids, were hurt badly. the police released the name of a man wanted for questioning. >> i can't imagine how it happened, looking at the scene. i have no - i can't imagine at

all how this could have happened, looking at the car coming out. >> it's the question florida's patrol wants answered - why this car, according to police, was forced off the road and sent careening into a day care center in winter park outside orlando. >> the vehicle in front was making a turn into the shopping center or the daycare center when it was rear ended by the dorengo. the vehicle took off and as it turned it went into the building. >> ploughing into the building, killing a 4-year-old, injuring 14 others. as frantic parents scrambled to be reunited with the kids, first responders raced to treat injuries mild and severe. >> it could have been my son. it could have been my son. it's heart-breaking. my son is not more important than any other kid, but it's heart-breaking.

they were bleeding, bruised. >> two hours later a search for the driver, who police say fled the scene, led them to this house, where the silver s.u.vl with damage to the front bumper was in the driveway. a manhunt is under way for this man, who is a person of interests. >> he was at the airport, units are heading to the airport to see if he's there and we can advise him. >> police are advising the public not to approach him, saying he should be considered dangerous. >> the driver of the convertible that crashed into the day care center was not hurt. >> president obama travelled to texas to honour the victims of the shooting at fort hood. five years ago the president was on the same field remembering victims of another attack. the commander-in-chief promised to do more to protect american soldiers. >> at fort hood, it was full honour force the fallen.

top civilian leaders including president barack obama. all there not only to comfort the families of the fallen, but praise them and qufrt the community. 576 soldiers lost their lives in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. on wednesday, the men killed at home, while on base, were honoured as heroes like any other. >> you gave your sons to america. and just as you will honour them outlines, so, too, will the nation that they served. the president honoured the fallen by name. sergeant first class daniel ferguson. staff sergeant road reeg us and tim owens. >> president obama referred to two issues raised in the wake of the tragedy - the mental health of the alleged gunman and all returning veterans, and a call

to end the ban on soldiers carrying concealed weapons on the base. the logic is if they had the weapons, the tragedy could have been stopped sooner. >> as a nation, we can do more to help counsel those with mental health issues to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are having such deep difficulties. as a military, we must do everything in our power to secure our facilities and spare others the pain. >> for president obama, there was a bitter simmistry. five years ago shortly after becoming president she spoke at the first of a series of mem yorials. this time at fort hood, the same sprawling army base in the wake of trage di.

>> today president obama and three of his predecessors are in austin texas to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. the president and first lady were great by former president george h.w. bush, joining clinton, carter and george w. bush it pay tribute. on the opening day of the summit former president carter says america is falling short in particular with racial disparities, employment and education. >> a woman pulled from the devastating mudslide in washington state is it speaking publicly. amanda says she was sitting with her infant son duke when the lights went out. that's when she turned to see a giant wall of mud barrelling down the hillside towards her home. >> i heard what sounded like a truck off a rumble strip.

it continued and i thought maybe it was an earth quake. the lights started to blink. i looked out the side door and didn't see anything. then i looked out the front door and it was like a movie. houses were ex-moding and the -- exploffeding and the next thing i see is hour neighbour's chimney coming into the front door, and i turned and held duke and i did not let him go. >> besides the obvious trauma. she suffered fractures to her arm, leg and acknowledging. her 6 month old son duke is the youngest survivor of the disaster. the death toll stands at 36. 10 people are still missing. >> the weather seems to be cooperating for the ongoing search. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> after the mud slide we had a wet pattern, causing problems in

some of the recovery efforts. things have dried out. it's good news. not only anything still going on, but just in general. a little bit of sunshine after what seemed like weeks of rain. i do want to mention that because we had so much snow, look at some of the temperatures. lots of sunshine in the forecast temperatures. near 70 for a couple of days. >> when you get into the interior, you add the warm weather, places like parts of montana, and the mountainous region. the river is rising. you want to be aware of that. these are watches, the potential is out there. a warning that that could be happening. >> this region is dry and warm much with a front coming through the great lakes, moisture and

cooler. not a lot of changes. a lot of country - this goes out three days, will stay under sunny skies. that's what we have out there now. you can see through the mid west a little bit of boundary with the front and moisture. cooler air, but a lot of warm stuff. more on that in a few minutes. >> kiev lawmakers proposing a truth with pro-russian protesters in eastern ukraine. protesters will not be prosecuted if they lay down their arms and leave government buildings. ukraine's interior minister issued a 48 hour window to negotiate peacefully. russian foreign minister sergei lavrov told secretary kerry that multilateral talks should focus on constitutional reforms for kiev, not a russia-ukraine stand off. the u.s. is pointing the finger at russia for fuelling the unrest. we have this story from donetsk. >> with a 48 hour ultimatum

issued by ukraine's interior minister, the pressure is on. pro-russian activists in control of the state administration building is on high alert. negotiations are underway. protesters agree to carry out government property, saying they don't want state workers to lose their job. >> clearly then some signs of negotiation. many of the people we have spoken to here say they remember the soviet era as the golden ears, 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. >> they give us ultimatums, if they want to do something to us, they can't break our spirit. >> just a few kilometres from the protest site in a chain that

many see as the opposite of what protesters stand for, business is booming. business is divided. >> the majority of people, the people sat here, are against the events of the last few days. i think it's very bad. >> i think we need to be an autonomous part of russia, donetsk with ukraine is not donetsk. >> in lieu, protesters pa -- in lieu luhanstk protestures made clear -- protesters made clear their position. dozens of hostages were released. they are negotiating with police, but they believe russia needs to act. >> translation: i understand we will be trying 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 prepared for any eventuality. both sides are keen to avoid bloodshed. it could be difficult. negotiations doing little to change the result of those in the firing line. >> that was kim vinnell reporting from donetsk in eastern ukraine. >> n.a.t.o. released the satellite images to prove that moscow is building up troops near ukraine's border. they were taken in late march, showing planes, helicopters, trucks and tanks filling up a southern russian air base. the hardware appears to be combat ready. the u.s. and others accuse moscow of massing troops to put pressure on ukraine. russia's foreign minister said there's no cause for alarm. >> let's go live to kim vinnell in donetsk, in the east of

ukraine. you suggest that things are cooling down somewhat. is that the mace. >> well, we have heard from interim president, and he has made an offer of amnesty to protesters saying if they leave state buildings within 48 hours and hand over weapons, they'll not be prosecuted. we heard response at pro-russia hq, if you like, in donetsk, leaders saying they don't need an amnesty. they believe they are the legitimate leaders of the republic, self declared. they say instead that the authorities should be listening to them. the question is now how will kiev spon. the two sides have deep divisions in terms of the demands. leaders continuing their resolve for a referendum declaring the status, the independent status

in the republic of donetsk. >> kim vinnell reporting from eastern ukraine. thank you. >> well, russia may have withheld information about one of the boston marathon bombing suspects. according to the "new york times", moscow denied a u.s. request for more information on bombing suspect tamilon two years before the attack. it included a telephone call in which he and his mother discussed islamic jihad. the request came after russian authorities warned the u.s. that he was radicalized. at the time it was believed he was a threat only to russia. three killed, 260 injured in the boston marathon running. >> devastation in the solomon islands. >> i lost everything, my house, my belongings and my son. >> families ripped apart by floodwaters, left struggling to hold their families together.

>> i want you to fight along beside me. we are in this toot. >> massachusetts senator elizabeth warren offered tough talk, why some think she could challenge for the white house in 2016. a medical breakthrough may be on the horizon thanks to 3d printing. surgeons are working on creating a human heart for transplant.

>> this aztec period is in mexico and may be sink. the 2,000-year-old pyramid is too dry on one side so cement was added to stablilize the structure, it may have created new problems. archeologists are trying to figure out how to save the tourist attraction. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. trying to pick up the pieces after villages are swept away by flooding in the south pacific. first the temperatures with meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> a lot of people have been enjoying the forecast.

it's milder after getting out of the cold winter. temperatures in the 40s. when you get to the midsection of the, here a closer look. as far north as demini. there'll be a front coming through. in a couple of dayses morning temperatures are the warmer ones. you can see the cooler air sinking in by the time we get into the afternoon. we'll watch for a bit of that. this doesn't have a lot of moisture with it. ahead of that a lot of '70s, and 80s. >> the flood-ravaged solomon islands and the pacific ocean are facing a new threat. diseases are breaking out in areas affected by the flood. 28 were killed. andrew thomas met a man who lost everything. >> what was a school is now a

squalid camp for almost 2,000 people. at night there are 40 in each classroom. so some tried to sleep during the day. most here have lost their homes, some had lost members of their family. hudson's younger son was washed away. he was found in the morgue, two days after the flood. >> when i saw my son, i don't know what to say. it's something - i didn't have enemies. i lost everything. i lost my house, all my belongings and my son. >> there were more tears on hudson's first trip back to where his house stood. he had been working in a shop a kilometre away, when he had a frantic call from his wife,

marooned in the middle of a torrent. hudson got as far as the house on the other side of the river. this was under water. virtually all the houses gone. this remained. his younger son was clinging to that in ta tree with his wife, normally, father-in-law, brother-in-law and one of the other children. >> for seven hours they clung on. hudson's wife and 8-year-old son made it. 5-year-old rex was not. his body washed back in shore by the see. >> we didn't have history telling us that this place is not really good here. only this flood takes everything that we own and then challenged our lives. >> honiara has flooded, but thursdays was more like a tsunami, ripping up trees and flattening everything in its path. at honiara cemetery they are

digging graves. hudson buried his son rex on saturday. >> many people are still missing. much of the aid effort is hampered by destroyed roads and bridges. >> all right, taking a look at wall street. stock futures are lower at this hour, investors hoping the fed's calming voice can keep stock rallied. there's no plans to raise interest rates, not until they are certain the economy has recovered. >> there could be surprises in the sentencing here for fac capital. a new york judge is expected to decide whether to accept a plea deal between the hedge fund and prosecutors. the judge raised concerns that

the settlement properly reflect the sign. the charges include wire fraud and scourties. jpmorgan chase taking a pay cut, falling to $11.8 million, down from 19 million the year before. it was cut by the board after the massive london whale losses that cost the firm more than $6 billion. >> costco was busy, sales rising 5%, beating expectations. the extra day in march and easter bringing in more customers. >> the programming note - ali velshi will speak about the vasion if ukraine with christine la guard. 7:00pm eastern, here on al jazeera. >> it's more than a democratic election taking place in india. the country's history could be

changing with more than 800 million people able to cast a ballot. >> i value but am scared to death. >> are you scared to death? >> always before a test. >> an annual test by doctors that can reduce the number of deaths. >> a family and sick baby back on home soil, but who pays. >> the masters tee off without the number one golfer in the field.

>> a live picture from flushing meadows queens in new york city, the location of the 1964 worlds fair. new york debaying the future of these iconic structures, like the globe. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. in a few minutes 3d printing

opening up a world of possibilities. how the two small objects could have doctors printing human heart for transplant. a look at the top stories. 16-year-old alex hribal will be tried as an adult, accused of going on a wild spree at his high school, stabbing more than 20 people. police are not sure what motivated the attack. two victims are in critical condition. a manhunt is under way in orlando. one little girl died and 14 injured after the 26-year-old driver of a dodge, who fled, after causing another car to crash into the childcare centres. >> protesters in eastern ukraine will not be prosecuted if they lay down arms and leave government buildings. the interior minister issued a 48 hour warning to negotiate peacefully, as officials from the u.s., moscow and ukraine are

expected to meet to discuss the crisis. >> breaking news - officials searching for the malaysia airlines jet have heard another signal, coming from a manmade source. the hope is that it's from the flight data recorders. it was in the same area of the indian ocean, as pings detected on saturday and this week they have now dropped sound local buoys by parachute into the water. crews racing to find the devices before the batteries run out. >> the world's largest elections are currently underway in india. over the next five weeks 815 million people will head to the polls. they are electing the next prime minister and members of india's lower house of parliament. we go to our correspondent in a polling station in the north. india's voting pool - it's mined boggling, it's larger than the

total population on the united states and western europe. logistically, how is the election commission to handle a massive undertaking? >> well, it's impossible to do 800 and so many million people in one day. they break it up. what they have done for this election is broke it up over nine days, starting last week, going on until may 12th. the voting today in delhi, as well as a suburb and other states. this is the only way to do this. one thing that the election commission has done to deal with the logistics of this is brought in electronic voting machines, broken it up and registered as many as you can. this is the largest democracy on

earth. >> the election, highlighting the two streams of india's narrative - home to one-third of the world forward. >> when you want to speak to the other side of india, it is modern - how is the economy factoring in to the elections. >> well, the economy, to borrow an american phrase, people have been saying "it's the economy stupid. they are not concerned with issues, but are worried with economic growth and bringing down inflation. economic growth slowed to 5.5%. in america it sounds like a lot. for developing country, it is slow. they had it up to 9% a few years before. the economy, where i am now, is home to many professionals.

multinational corporations, the place that i see here are 21st century. malls, skye scrapers, in this area, the economy is king. >> al jazeera's fez in the north of underia. >> the election taking place in india is historic because of the size of it. 850 million people eligible to vote. there are more than 1600 political parties to choose from. as fez reported, it will take at least five weeks to counselled the votes. in the end the indian government is expected to be a coalition. no party has won a majority in 30 jurors. >> the head of the asian program at freed, a european think tank, specialising in india, representative joins us from

brussels. >> let's talk about the poor. they tend to vote in larger numbers than the rich. are is that. are candidates making economic promises to them? >> thank you for having me. it is true that there is a larger population that boards, which is considered mainly in the porer sections. this is so for a large number of reasons, one, because the campaigns are carried out in a number of regions. political parties reach out to the boarer sections, the passes which take the time to come from political rallies. at times there has been cases where the masses have been bribed with food, with alcohol, and then they are pushed to come out and vote. there's general awareness that they want change and their voice to be heard. this is a reason why they do

come out and vote. the b.j.p. has made a number of political promises that have come about especially through their main candidate. he promised to construct around 100 smart city, a high speed railway network and create 250 jobs. this is significant and has credibility based on the past performance as chief minister. >> let's talk about noreneda mowedy, who would be the prime minister if the b.j.p. party were to win in the parliamentary elections, he would become the prime minister. he's a hard line conservative. and i know one of the issues that is emerging in india is about the status of women in that country. how will women vote in this election. will it be about the economy or are these larger women's issues at play here as well?

>> ever since a case which got a lot of international media attention in 2012 - 2013, sorry, this is becoming quite a key issue in india, especially amongst the women. women's issues have been portrayed as one of the key determine nants of the election, but i don't think personally that it does account for the majority of decisions that will be made, especially amongst women. women are well reported, and these issues, sadly are nothing new to the indian communities - sorry, the women's communities in particular. it does not create that much of a change. however, the b.j.p. have said that they would take a strong stance against - violence against women in india.

>> head of the agora asian europe program joining us from brussels. thank you for your insights. >> another set back toorth bridging the pay gap towards men and women. senate republicans blocking the paycheck faurns act, requiring employers to prove difference in pay, and allows workers to discuss their wages. g.o.p. shot down legislation in 2010 and 2012. >> massachusetts senator elizabeth warren is a favourite among democrats. it's her strong views on the left that could make her a viable candidate for the white house in 201. >> she is the potential 2016 democratic candidate that point's team fears. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. >> i'm fighting to build real opportunity. fighting to give every child a

chance to build something extraordinary, and i want you to fight beside me. we are in this together. >> this past weekend in the same speech in minnesota, warren hammered two of the biggest stars, accusing house budget chairman paul ryan of caring only about the rich. >> that may be paul rin's vision of how america works, but it's not our vision of this agreed country. >> she ridiculed ted cruz who led the government shutdown. >> now, the shutdown that sucked $24 billion out of the economy. talk about a financial genius. >> born and raised in oklahoma, the 64-year-old warren spent most of her life working as a law professor, recently at harvard. in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis she was named chair of an oversight panel for the troubled asset relief program. in 2012 warren ran for u.s.

senate. a grainy video of her speaking in a home got more than a million views on youtubeful. >> there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. nobody. you built a factory out there. good for you. i want to be clear. you moved your goods to market on the roads of the rest of us paid for. >> warren received $40 million in campaign contributions, and hand illy defeated republican scott brown. in the last three month, and her second year in the senate. she has raised over $2 million for democratic candidates and senators. that's more than anybody excepts for president obama. warren's exceptionally liberal policy use set her apart. she believes the minimum wage should be raised to $22 and introduced legislation that would make student loans interest free. watching warren with admiration

and nervousness is hillary clinton's team. the former secretary of state is to the right on most issues and primary voters are more liberal than democrats as a whole. >> elizabeth warren says she has no plans to run for president in 2016 and insists she is barnstorming the country to have democrats keep control of the senate. she's generating enthusiasm and ious, crucial to any law-maker inspiring to higher office. >> warren was named one of "time" magazine's most influential people in 2009 and 2010. doctors in louisville say creating a heart out of a patient's fat cells so the body doesn't reject it when it's transplanted. the team has printed heart valves and veins and tested tiny

blood vessels in mice and belief they will print and assemble a hard in 3-5 years. >> lung cancer is one of the most deadly cancer taking 160,000 lives each year. more than breast, colon and prostate capsers. a panel recommending screenings for high risk patients. doctors hope it will save thousands of lives. >> this 70-year-old woman is getting a cat scan of her lungs. >> she started smoking decades ago before the harmful effects were known. >> 50 years later i regret that they did. >> this is armani's third ct scan. an earlier one showing miniscule pots on the lungs. if this had grown, it would be

alarming, possibly lung cancer. >> i'm scared to death. >> are you scared to death? >> always before an important test. >> we are familiar with mammograms to look for breast cancer, colon os copies. doctors hope the ct scans become just as routine for those at high risk. >> armani's doctor says up until now when lung cancer is caught, it's usually too late. >> patients don't develop symptoms until the cancer has spread outside the chest, when it's more advance and not curable. >> only 15% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive more than five years. with this test doctors hope to find the cancer. >> studies show the scans can reduce deaths by 20%, and that is why a key panel recommended an annual scan for high-risk

smokers and former smokers between the ages of 55 and 74, who spoked the equivalent of a pack a day. >> you will increase the number of people that can be rid of the disease in time. >> despite the success rate some critics argue the test can lead to false positives and unnecessary surgeries. any risks are offset by the lives saved. >> it's not every day that you can feel like you have made a difference in people's lives. this is a big one, a real big one. it's good, very good. >> it's very good for gabrielle. >> this scan is fine. >> i suggest to everybody whom i

see, go and check, go and check. it's so important. arman. >> will be back next year. the scans are part of the check-ups. >> now, the scans average around 150. not all insurance companies cover it. under the affordable care act most plans will have to cover it entirely starting next year. >> olympic runner oscar pistorius defending his relationship with his girlfriend in the days before her death. you are looking live in the courtroom. in his fourth day of testimony he said he had been dating reeva steenkamp for four months before shooting and killing her on valentine's day. the prosecution says their relationship was volatile and painted the run ir as a selfish moody man who cared only for himself. on the witness stand oscar pistorius called it an

exaggeration. >> reeva steenkamp was a person that stood up for herself. if she believed i treated her badly i know for a fact she wouldn't have been with me. i didn't treat her badly. we can argue it wasn't what we wanted and i understand she felt i didn't treat her in the way she should have been treated, anything less than a lady. >> the prosecution accused oscar pistorius of making a spectacle in court for crying as he delivered an apology for reeva steenkamp's family. oscar pistorius said he was sorry and didn't intend to kill his girlfriend. if convicted he faces 25 years to life in prison. >> we don't know much about how much it cost to rescue an american family from the pacific ocean. they arrived on a navy ship. the parents and two young children were attempting to sale around the world when their toddler got sick. the navy coast guard sprung into action this week after getting a

discretion call from the boat. it was 900 miles off the coast of mexico. the family will not be charged because they don't want others to hesitate to call for help if they really need it. >> the first major golf tournament begins today without its biggest star. it john henry smith is here with that. good morning. >> good morning. that's been a lot of hand wringing about the absence of tiger woods. let me say this, the movementers has been around for -- masters has been around for 80 years. this event will survive tiger woods being absent for the first time in 20 years. if you are in the field, you have to think this is your chance to supplant tiger. could it be a familiar face like phil mickelson, or could it be a new face. there are 24 first-time

participants. >> to baseball, before big money import made his home debut at yankee stadium someone asked oriel's out-fielder jones what he thought. and he applied - why don't you ask tanaka about mean, i've been in the major leads. tanaka struck out jones and got jonathan shute. the 3-run home run putting the oryells up 3-0. yankees respond. carlosway solo shot. outside for the 80th on the all-time run. still up 3-1. there's the proof in case you thought i was making it up. >> he struck out 10. the guy starting three. ryan flaherty securing a 5-4 win. >> rangers visiting the red sox,

trailing 2-1. men on first and third. david ortees hits one team. it's called a home run. ron says "i don't know about that", wants it reviewed. take another look. i'm not sure why ron washington needed the review. that ball kind be fairer if it was judge judied. >> within the past year n.b.a. jason collins and college football michael sam announced to the world that they are gay. now you can add college basketballer derrick gordon. he came out thursday, becoming the first openly gay player in division one men's basketball. he shared his story with osama bin zeid. he talked about the -- sid ziegler, he talked about the change in derrick gordon's demeanour. >> the people around him that have known him say they have

noticed a different. he laughs a lot more you hear this all the time. when people are true to themselves with their friends and family and team, it's a weight lived off their shoulders. i'm excited to see how derek performs next year on the basketball court with the weight lifted off his shoulders. staying with college basketball. first she won the heart of michigan players with her street smiling place and prin sis lacy won the heart, the spart jp stars making her part of the team. the cancer that ravaged her body claimed the life of lacy holdsworth. her fight brought payne and lacy together during a team visit. in a statement payne said "she taught me how to fight lo everything with a smile on my face even when things have gone wrong. i'm a better man because of here." a memorial service will

be held where michigan state place their open game on april 18th. >> bringing meaning to a nonstop flight. >> thanks to this the plane can fly forever. >> a team of pilots planning a trip around the world in a plane that will never have to stop for fuel. and coming up in the next hour - an up to where the new law bans fracking even though its economy is built on oil drilling.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. ahead flying around the world in a plane that never has to stop for fuel. first, another look at the forecast across the country. meteorologist nicole mitchell is here. >> good morning, this pattern that we have been in, one of the dryer ones we have seep. lots of sun -- seen in a while.

lots of sun shine. you can pick out a front towards the mid west. as i look up the individual observation, not seeing the moisture making it to the ground. if you see anything, right rain is expected. here is how it progresses, moving through the great lakes. by the time we get into tomorrow rain to the east coast. limited moisture. back to you. >> imagine a plane that could fly forever. that's what the creators of the solar impulse projects are trying to achieve. we have this report on the plane powered by the sun and the journey it's about to take. >> even if you have no interest in planes, you have to admit this is impressive. solar impulse set a message flying across the united states last july. not the first plane to do that. definitely the first to do it without an until drop of fuel in its tanks. in fact, all that plane needed was this - sunlight. perhaps the most natural form of fuel there is, enough to power

solar batteries and keep it in the air. that trip was deemed such a success that in switzerland, back where it began, they made a sec well. here is, premiered on wednesday. the name not so imaginative, solar impulse is solar impulse ii, but the ambitions are. the wind pan is the same as a boeing 747. it's covered in 17,000 solar cells, weighing 1.5 tonnes. >> you can take off, climb to 1,900 metres. you can land, give the energy to the grid. the more you fly, the more energy you get. >> the pilot needs to be

comfortable for their own company. there's barely any room to stretch. there'll be no heating, pressurised cabin. this is a feat of endurance in a machine favouring aerodynamics over comfort. >> the aeroplane flying slow. that's the technical price to pay to have an unlimited endurance. thanks to this the plane can fly forever. >> the scourny we gins -- journey begins in a few weeks. the big trip is expected to take 20 days all in all. solar planes may never be adopted commercially. poilts and airlines are waiting to see if this tags off. >> the pilots plan to take the plane on several test pipes. >> an iconic car is looking for

a new owner. kit is not the original, but the 1992 replica, it has the w-style steering wheel, the red strobe. kit is expected to fetch between $30,000 to $50,000. i'd say it's a barring yan. del walters is looking at what we are following. >> that makes it a kit's kit. >> here is what we are following - the teenager who police say went on a stabbing spree at the pittsburg high school has been charged as an adult. >> a child is dead and 1400 injured after a hit run sent a far flying into a daycare center. >> the diplomatic solution for the crisis in ukraine. as n.a.t.o. provides proof that russia may be readying for

action. >> former presidents marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. >> the aljazeera.com morning news continues. stephanie sy and i are back in two and a half minutes.

>> i'm always going to be haunted by that vision of my best friend getting stabbed right in front of me. >> a community coming together trying to support each other after a teen goes on a stabbing spree at a suburban high school. >> the clock is ticking down on a new deadline for pro russian activists in ukraine. kiev has given forth eight hours to lay down their arms and leaf government buildings they seized. >> we've got to find a way to make free enterprise and

democracy work for the poor and the middle class. >> america's successes and failures since the civil rights act was signed into law. >> it's like a movie. houses were exploding. >> a mother's terrifying story of survival. she talks about living through the mud slide tearing through her home as she held her baby. >> as a community. we need to bond together with something so tragic and we need the peace, as least i do, in my heart. >> hundreds gathered for an emotional candlelight vigil after the stabbing attack by a young student at a local high school. good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> the weapon of choice was

different than usual. >> instead of guns, alex ribold used two knives. he stabbed and slashed 22 students in a regional high school. >> two victims are in critical condition, now said to be fighting for their lives. he is charged as an adult and faces multiple charges of attempted murder. we have more on the young suspect and the attack his friends say they never saw coming. >> just 16 years old, now an adult in the eyes of the law, charged in a rampage through the halls of his high school. >> i don't know what i got going down here, but i need units asap. >> a 16-year-old walking the first floor slashed students at random with two large kitchen knives. >> my one friend got cut across the face.

we don't know how she's doing. my brother's friend got stabbed in the back. >> more than 20 were injured, fluiding four stand deeply in the stomach and chest, critical wounds close to major organs. >> 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 inside the school. >> she was crying and told me to get down here now, either my wife or i to get down here and get her right away. i don't think no parent can prop for anything like this. words can't describe how i felt. >> a security guard and assistant principal tack would him, now hailed as heroes. >> the fire alarm went off. i was walking over towards the exit, and there was blood all over the floor. >> outside the school, cam ambulances and bus lanes

panicked parents. >> of course worst case scenario is panic, your stomach just drops, not knowing what's going on and what's happening, it's a terrible, terrible feeling. >> the violence in the school all too familiar. but this time, the weapons were different, and the district practiced a safety drill just a few months ago. >> it's difficult to teach this, because we don't want to scare everybody in that schools by and large are still a safe place to be, but we should have some awareness, preparation. >> police say a student pulled the fire alarm likely saving lives and helping quickly evacuate the school, but they don't yet have a motive for what could have led to this rampage. morgan radford, aljazeera. >> the school's assistant principal sam king is called a hero, credited with tackling the teen and holding him until please arrive. the teen's father says his

thoughts are now with the 60's. victims. >> stay with aljazeera for in depth coverage of the stabbing. in 15 minutes, we'll be joined by the attorney representing the suspect and he'll discuss how the case is being handled so far and his suggestion that the young man may suffer from some type of mental illness. >> a driver caused a car to crash into a day care center, one girl died, 14 others hurt, some badly. most of the victims are children. two hours later a search for the and would driver who police say fled the scene led them to this house in winter park outside orlando. they found a silver s.u.v. with visible damage to its front bumper parked in the driveway, the driver was gone. >> the information we have was that he was at the airport. we have units heading to the airport to see if he's actually there and if we can find it. >> police advice the public not

to approach the man wanted for questions. officials say the 26-year-old could be dangerous. >> president obama traveled to texas to honor the victims of last week's shooting at 40 hood. he was on the same field remembers victims of another deadly attack just five years ago. >> we must honor these men withh a renewed commitment to keep our troops safe not only in batting, but on the home front, as well. >> ivan lopez shot and killed two soldiers. >> the movement in eastern ukraine is gaining steam. denejsk wants independence from ukraine. protestors won't be prosecuted if they lay down arms and leave

government buildings. yesterday they were given 48 hours to do so or be forced out. kim has the very latist. >> some pretty chaotic scenes here in denejsk. just a short time ago, leaders said they will not be taking up an offer of amnesty given by interim president. he offered to give border rights to the people in the east so they can have more say over the state of affairs in ukraine and offered to set up a special commission to look into reports of conflict in the east. the pro russia parties here in denejsk say they want kiev to appreciate, to realize, to accept that they are a legitimate government in the republic of denejsk and to give legitimacy to that.

clearly deep divisions, kiev has said all along that it wants to remain beyond, it wants ukraine to stay whole and will not let the east of ukraine follow in crimea's footsteps. >> that's reporting from denejsk in ukraine. at 7:30, we'll find out if promises of not prosecuting protestors has a chance of defusing the situation there. >> cashedding to "the new york times," moscow denied a u.s. request for more information on bombing suspect tamerlan tsarnaev two years before the attack, which include a telephone call. the request came after russian authorities warned the f.b.i. that tamerlan tsarnaev had

become radicalized. >> another underwater signal has been heard from the missing malaysian jet. the hope is that it is from the flight data recorders. the signal was in the same area of the indian ocean as pings detected saturday and earlier this week. they have dropped sound locating buoy's into the water. crews are racing to find the devices before the batteries run out. >> in syria, 25 are dead after two car bomb exploded. the bombs were set off during a half hour park during a busy portion of the day. the group has close ties with bashar al assad. >> the trial of our three detained colleagues has resumed in egypt today. they are all falsely accused of providing a platform to the banned muslim procedure hood.

so far, the court has seen reports from kenya and sky news, their coverage of egypt, defense lawyers telling the court that these reports have nothing to do with the case. aljazeera rejects the charges against our colleagues and demand their immediate release. >> olympic runner oscar pistorius defending his relationship with his girlfriend in the days before her death. in his fourth day of testimony. he says he had been dating dutch model reeva steenkamp for four months. the prosecution says their relationship was volatile and painted the runner as a selfish, moody man who cared only for himself. sitting on the witness stand, pistorius called that an exaggeration. >> she always stood up for herself. if she believed i treated her badly, i know for a fact she

wouldn't have been with me. i didn't treat her badly. when we did argue, it wasn't at all what we wanted. i understand that she felt like she shouldn't have been treated like anything less than lady. >> the prosecutor is saying he is making a spectacle of himself crying while testifying. he faces 25 years to life in prison. >> another setback in bridging the pay gap between men and women, the senate blocking the act. it would allow workers to discuss what they make. the gop shot down similar recreation in 2010 and 2012. >> austin texas today marks the 50th anniversary of the civil

rights act, paying tribute to lyndon b. johnson in a series of groundbreaking civil rights laws he signed in the 1960's. >> president jimmy carter. >> when president barack obama arrives, he will be one of four american presidents to speak at the summit. they will mark a half century since president lyndon johnson signed the 1964 civil rights act. >> i urge every american to join in this effort. >> the act outlawed discrimination based on race, religion or gender and followed a year later by the voting rights act. speaking to a crowd packed with students and activists wednesday night, president clinton slammed new voting laws tightening access to the polls. >> these divisions and the lack of a spirit of coming together put us back in the dust bin of old history.

>> civil rights era figures john lewis, andrew young and julian bond also there talking about the future. >> we've got to find a way to make free enterprise and democracy work for the poor and the middle class. >> along with dr. martin luther king's youngest daughter bernice quoting from her father's nobel prize speech. >> i believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. >> many argue advancing civil rights was johnson's strongest legislative legacy. >> he decided to form a more perfect union, and so should we. >> on the opening day of the texas summit, former president carter said america is still falling short in particular with racial disparities, unemployment

and education. we'll discuss a voting rights issue that's being called a roll back on progress and the biggest challenges america faces on civil rights today. >> switching gears to weather, spring has finally sprung. >> meteorologist nicole mitchell is here with your forecast. >> there's a little extra spring in some steps because of it. definitely warmer air out there. take a look at the big picture, not a lot of moisture. we have a front going through, but even with that, just a little bit of a cool down. temperatures are staying well above average. ahead of that southerly flow, it's been windy. where you fall under that, places like arkansas today, you could have a slightly elevated fire danger. watch for that between the heat, humidity and winds to drive that, but a lot of warm air, also into the west coast, we're seeing more of that. take a look at a couple of these places. today, easily into the 80's, oklahoma city, 86 degrees, nice arm air here. then heading out to the west coast, phoenix is already in the

90's, to me, that's already a little too warm, but of course we expect it here and it's been very dry through the region. we're going to see temperatures stay through the 90's. we'll have lots of sunshine in that forecast. the front will drop temperatures a couple of degrees, it's mostly dry going through, haven't seen a lot of participation making it to the ground. here's how that heats up, staying warm, dry, most of the southwestern portion of the country and a lot of the plains, as well. could be moisture just south of the great lakes. this goes over three days. we don't have a lot to be concerned with in that forecast. i'll talk more about the temperatures as we get into the weekend in just a few minutes. back to you guys. >> something everybody is talking about, that 16-year-old accused of stabbing and slashing 22 people as a suburban high school. >> i believe that's a picture of his father. his attorney joins us next. >> we're going to be talking about our big number of the day,

8,200,000,000, that's today's big number. >> the sales this represents as six states change a specific law. >> plus a mother describing the seconds she had to save her baby from that mud slide that destroyed that washington state community. >> well, the next thing i see is our neighbor's chimney coming into our front door, and i turned and i held duke and i did not let him go.

>> i'm never going to look at that hallway the same. i'm never going to walk down it the same way again. i'm always going to be haunted by that vision of my best friend getting stabbed right in front of me. >> a student describing the terrible scene at a pennsylvania high school, 16-year-old alex ribold accused of going on a stabbing spree there. >> authorities are not sure what motivated the attack. we will be speaking with his attorneys in a few minutes. >> first let's find out about the temperatures across the

nation today. >> definitely warm, even starting off the day. well into the central planes, you can see that bubble of the yellows and greens. the eastern tier of the countries in 60's and 70's. minneapolis springing back up to near 70 as we get into tomorrow, then finally, how do we start off the weekend? still warm out here. sixty's and 70's up and down the east coast. cool air in billings, we've really had the warm stuff and staying quite warm into the southwest, as well, a little cooler on the coastline. >> on wall street, investments are lower at this hour. stocks taking off art a report

show fed policy makers have no immediate plans to raise interest rates. the dow start and nasdaq up. european markets have turned higher at this hour. >> a major milestone for greece today, the government there selling bonds again for the first time in four years and demand was very strong. the country raced more than $4 billion, much more than expected. the country had been locked out of the bond market since its international bailout in 2010. >> wal-mart is teaming up with wild oats to sell a new line of organic foods, saying it tends to use the massive size to drive the price of organic food to make it more affordable to low income customers. it was pioneered in the 1980's,

but largely disappeared from store shelves since 2007. >> ali velshi will be speaking about the situation in ukraine and more. that's tonight on "real money." >> our big number of the day is $8.2 billion. that is the projected gross amount for the marijuana retail business in four years. industry analysts say decriminallation laws in washington state and colorado helped spur the forecast. >> the marijuana business predicts sales will hit $4.2 billion. they also expect medicinal sales to top $4 billion in the same time period, marking the first time recreational revenue would outpace medicinal sales.

>> the oil rich town of carson has put a moratorium on all oil drilling. residents are telling oil companies not in my back yard. >> this might look like any industrial park, but carson, california south of los angeles is unique. the dominguez oil field at one time produced more than 270 billion barrels of oil lies just below the surface and it's become the first city in the state to ban any new oil drilling. driven by fears that they will use fracking techniques as a way of finding oil and natural gas. >> you can't tell me that putting 200 oil wells in an area that's in close proximity to our lovely homes, that it's not going to affect the residents. >> the proposal calls for erecting 200 wells two miles

deep in this complex, located next to a number of residential communities, like the one council member's home is in. >> as a homeowner, as a mother, as a ground mother who thinks enough of this city to have my children here, i could think about their safety. >> the company pledged to conceal the new oil drilling operation behind a sound proof compound but that's not good enough for the council. the drilling ban unanimously approved last month by council members lasts for 45 days, but could be extended two years, effectively shutting the project down. >> we don't want any new contamination and polluting activities to come into our community. they refuse to guarantee that it's going to be safe. >> in a letter sent to the city, the company which didn't respond to interview requests said at this time it doesn't plan to use fracking at the site but also says there may come a time when

it would be appropriate. >> oil drilling and fracking isn't new in california. in the heart of los angeles, you'll find the nation's largest urban oil field surrounded by some 300,000 homes. at least two test wells have been fracked here. city officials are working on an ordinance to impose a mother tore come but it hasn't been passed yet. >> people of finally realized that hey, my next door neighbor is an oil well and they don't like it, and part of it is a matter that nobody told them what was going on, because the industry never tells anything unless we absolutely have to. >> california allow which took effect in january now requires oil companies to obtain permits for fracking. for now, it's up to small cities to take on big oil by themselves. >> jennifer london, aljazeera,

carson, california. >> santa cruz california also passed laws against fracking. >> we'll talk about the push to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis in ukraine. >> world leaders hope a meeting between all sides will do the trick. nato says russia is ready to make a military move. >> i'll never go back. i won't visit. i can't. >> pulled from the devastation of that washington state mud slide, a mother explaining how she managed to survive and save her baby, as well. >> how will a masters fare without tiger woods? we examine the impact and next wave of golfers looking to make their mark. >> you're taking a live look at flushing in queens new york, the home of 1964 world fair where it's a small world disney

attraction debuted. my favorite ride at disney.

>> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. ahead, she had seconds to act, the mother decides how to save her baby and herself from the deadly mud slide in washington state. >> it's a dramatic piece of sound. she talks for the first time about the terrifying moments when pieces are houses were heading toward her. >> president clinton said he wouldn't have been elected without the civil rights act. what he believes is threatening to roll back legal reforms. >> we'll talk about the stabbing at the suburban pennsylvania school that is raising now once again concerns about security. we're going to talk to the president of the school safety advocacy council, to discuss why these attacks keeping happening

over and over again and what can be done to prevent them. >> first lawmakers are proposing protestors will not be prosecuted if they lay down arms and leaf immediately. >> this comes as officials from the u.s. moscow and ukraine are expected to meet to discuss this crisis next week. here to discuss the crisis is deputy director at the woodrow wilson center joining us from washington this morning. thank you for being with us. >> let's first talk about this development. ukraine's acting penalty today extended an olive branch of sorts to the protestors saying it would not prosecute pro russian separatists if they left the buildings. would you expect this to help

dial down this crisis? >> well, one hopes that it does, it's unclear whether the protestors inside the buildings will take this olive branch. i think they are trying to have a much more strong response to what's going on in ukraine. i think they want to make their protests more stronger and show exactly why they disagree with kiev and the direction the country is going. while one hopes the crisis is dialed down, i'm not 100% convinced to the separate activities and protestors inside the building will accept this offering. >> do we have a better idea of who the separatists and protestors are? the white house accused moscow of directly funding and orchestrating and organizing these activists. is there evidence of that? >> well, there's various evidence that these acts were coordinated, because they weren't isolated events. they occurred in three cities at approximately the same time. that obviously suggests that

someone was orchestrating these events and the likely suspect obviously is moscow. in terms what have we know about the protestors, we know that some might have come across the border from russia into ukraine. we realize some might be locals who are actively protesting what's going on in ukraine, as well. it's a combination of people who occupy these buildings. what's interesting is it hasn't sparked larger protests inside ukraine. >> the polling shows it's actually a rather low percentage of people within those eastern areas that want to be annexed by russia, speaking of which a couple lines coming out of russia today. >> to blame nato for responding

too strongly, after what russia has done in crimea, and next crimea is obviously a little rich from nato's perspective. i don't think that that's really going to have a lot of traction in the public argument. >> russia's first deputy prime minister said in berlin today that: >> does this strong rhetoric hint at putin's future intentions in ukraine and beyond perhaps? >> i think putin is trying to at least examine what might be the political solution to his problems in ukraine, and his problem is that he wants a loosely fed rated ukraine that doesn't drift to the west. i think he's trying various ways to do that, through pressure on

gas to demanding the ukraine change its constitution and so fort. the response to sanctions is also just kind of a little more bluster that these sanctions won't impact russia, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that russia fears financial sanctions, and any attempt by the west to separate russia from the international banking system. i think there's a little bit of bluster on russia's part and i think putin is trying to see if there's a political response if he decides it's necessary to use military force. >> thank you, sir. >> we have more coverage of the ukraine crisis just ahead at 8:30 eastern. the role natural gas supplies could play in this conflict. >> iran's nuclear program had

six world powers meeting, the next round taking place about a month from now. >> a woman pulled from the devastating mud slide in washington state is speaking publicly for the first time. amanda was sitting with her son, duke when the lights went out. she turned to see a giant wall of mud barreling down the hillside toward her home. >> i thought i wasn't going to make it, so i'm feeling good. >> she is one of the lucky ones, lucky to be alive, when the earth gave way in oso washington last month. >> i heard what sounded like a truck off a rumble strip. then it continued, and i thought oh, maybe it's an either quake. >> amanda has endured six surgeries and excruciating pain, but it's her tale of survival

that will hound her. >> the lights started to blink and then i looked out our front door and it was like a movie. houses were exploding, and the next thing i remember -- well the next thing i see is our neighbor's chimney coming into our front door, and i turned and i held duke, and i did not let him go. >> not letting go of her five-month-old son, duke, as their home shifted more than 600 feet, and when the shaking stopped, amanda and her baby were trapped in a pocket formed by her broken couch and her roof. >> here i am trapped with my child and this debris and i can't move, and i can't scream loud enough for help, because we leave in oso. >> unable to move with a fractured arm and two broken legs, amanda waited for help as her child began turning blue. >> and i would pat on his chest and say stay with me, bud.

>> help came as rescuers used chain saws to rescue her and her baby, who suffered a fractured skull. >> he had half a mountain fall on him, but he's getting better. every day is a good day and tomorrow will be better than today. >> so amazing to hold him again. >> doctors say she might be able to go home this week, but for amanda, there's one place she'll never go back to. >> oso is home, but i'll never go back. i won't visit. i can't. >> amanda's six month old son is the youngest survivor of the disaster. the death toll now stands at 36 with 10 people still missing. >> we still don't know how much it cost the american public to rescue that family from the pacific ocean. they arrived in san diego wednesday onboard a navy ship. the parents and the two young children attempt to go sale around the world when their

toddler got sick, a distress call coming from the boat 900 miles off mexico. the family won't be charged for the rescue mission because they don't want others to keep from calling for help if needed. >> american prisoners held by the japanese in world war ii secretly pieced a flag together. one of the men who made the flag proudly unveiled it again. the son had been searching for that flag for 50 years and finally found it inside the navy archives. >> lung canner is one of the most deadly cancers taking 160,000 lives each year, more than breast, colon and prostate con serious combined. annual screenings are recommended for high risk parties. doctors hope it will save thousands of lives each year. >> she is getting a cat scan of her lungs, recommended for people with high risk of lung cancer.

she started smoking decades ago before the harmful effects were known. >> 50 years later, i regret very much that i did. >> this is her third c.t. scan, an earlier one showed miniscule spots on her lungs. if this scan shows they have grown, that would be alarming. possibly lung cancer. >> i tell you that i'm scared to death. >> are you scared to death? >> well, as always, it's an important test. >> we're all familiar with mammograms to look for breast cancer, colonoscopies to look for colon cancer. doctors hope these c.t. scans become just as routine for those at high risk. >> up until now when lung cancer has been caught, it is usually too late. >> patients don't develop symptoms in my the cancer has spread outside of the chest and that's when it's more advanced and is not curable. >> because of that, only about

15% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive more than five years, but with this test, doctors hope to find the cancer when it's small enough for treatment. studies show the scans can reduce deaths by 20%. that's why a key panel recently recommended an annual scan for high risk smokers and former smokers, those between the ages of 55-74, who have smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years. >> this is a game-changer. it will increase the number of people that can be rid of the disease in time. >> despite the success rate, some critic argue the test can lead to false positives and to unnecessary surgeries. lori, who has been battling for years to get the scans approved says any risks are more than off set by the lives saved.

>> it's not every day that you can feel like you've made a difference in people's lives. this is a big one, it's a real big one. it's good. all very good. >> it's also very good for gabriella armani. >> this scan is fine. >> i suggest to everybody whom i see, i say go and check, go and check. it's so important. >> armani will be back next year. the scans are now a part of her yearly health check ups. lisa stark, aljazeera, washington. >> the scans average $150, not all insurance companies cover it, but under the affordable care act, most plans will have to start covering the costs entirely starting next year. >> golf's first major about to begin, but will it be the masters without tiger who is still nursing that bad back. >> how will tiger's absence determine the outcome?

>> he will be felt by his absence, i am sure. this will go on this morning without tiger woods, despite the fact he hasn't been playing particularly well this year as his back injury continued to sabotage his game. many have wondered what effect his absence will have this year in augusta. ross shimabuku has the story. >> every april, one tournament catches the attention of golf fans from around the world, from augusta georgia. tiger woods has wowed the crowds and taken home four green jackets, but a back injury sidelined woods for this year. that could have a real impact. >> when tiger's in the hunt in the final round, you look at maybe between 60-100% doubling your rating, so that's a big thing. >> ticket prices are down 66% from last year and for the sponsors, the loss is greater. nike indicated that during the 2013 masters, woods' coverage

provided them with three times more air time than rory mcelroy. that could translate to $4 million in loss exposure for tiger's sponsor. mcelroy is looking to win his first green jacket and phil mickelson could tie woods and arnold palmer with four wins. the value of having tiger woods in the field cannot be denied. >> it's unbelievable what has happened with the growth of this game and tiger's been the instigator, the one that's really propelled and driven the bus, bringing increased ratings, sponsors, interest. and we've all benefited, but nobody more than i have and we're all very appreciative. we all miss him so much. >> the tiger effect on golf has been huge since the mid-90's up until now, and i think any sport benefits from a dominant figure like that to not really drive

the game forward, but having tiger in a tournament definitely creates more buzz, more of an atmosphere. you know where he is on the course just by the gallery that follows him. >> mcelroy has a real chance of becoming that dominant figure in the sport. >> he's a superstar personality, very comfortable with the attention, which i don't think woods ever was. i don't think mickelson is as much. rory mcelroy embraces the spotlight. i do think there's going to be a post generation of guys inspired by tiger who are going to capture our imaginationed, rory is the first. >> for that to happen, he has to win, and that means getting part mickelson. after his win in 2000 fine in the face of his wife's cancer battle, he can't be counted out. >> if he wins this time, he'll have tied tiger in masters championships, which is just amazing to think about. i think mickelson with his

success of the course, how well he likes it, he's the absolute favorite. rose, mcelroy, there's a lot of guys who could do it. >> they should be teeing off any second now. >> 66% ticket sales down. >> that's quite a lot. >> i to have keep telling my mother that tiger is not her son. it's that bad. >> she's stuck with you. sorry. >> america president's past and present gathering 50 years after the civil rights act is signed. >> the progress made over five decades and how it has changed the face of history. >> the civil rights act and voting rights act made it possible for jimmy carter, bill clinton and barack obama to be president of the united states.

>> the death toll could be much higher than anyone known. >> posing as a buyer... >> ...people ready then... >> mr. president >> who should answer for those people

>> tumble weeds rolling across the pair rye, an iconic image out of the 1930's dust bowl, but plenty around today especially in drought stricken southern colorado. >> i remember the dust bowl well, the tumble weeds are blocking irreaction canals and roads. it's tough to get rid of them. once they're clear, the winds make more. >> they can be found in new mexico, oak on the ground and texas. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> up next, controversy at the ballot box and whether new laws are infringing on americans' right to vote. >> nicole mitchell is tracking tropical weather. >> it is so quiet in the united states, i figured i'd go around the world, because this front isn't producing a lot of rain.

more activity all all the way down under to australia, look at that tropical cyclone coming in. that is what we would call a hurricane. you can really see the definition of that eye wall and a perfectly formed eye, so the winds are cranking up enough right now that this has winds over 100 miles per hour. this is what we would call a category two storm and making that landfall within the next 24-36 hours in greensland. back to you guys. >> nearly half the states in this country have laws on the books that critics say make it harder to vote. supporters say the measures are simply meant to crack own on voter fraud. in wisconsin, a lot of people don't see it that way. >> protestors are in the rotunda at lunch time each weekday, blasting the policies of governor scott walker.

today, more restrictive voter laws on the menu. >> we're not going to put up with it and we're not going away. >> two ekes ago, he signed legislation banning early voting on weekends and weekdays after 7:00 p.m. the law comes on the heels of a voter i.d. law passed a few years ago and now challenged in state and federal courts. supporters say the laws make voting hours around the state more uniform and eliminate voter fraud. david braun, with the liberal advocacy group one wisconsin now say they really just make it hard tore vote. >> it's going to take longer, and be more complicated to vote. it is rolling back a right which has been granted to the people of the state of wisconsin. >> since 2011, 15 states have passed laws making it harder to vote by requiring identification and limiting early voting. five states have made it easier by allowing on line registration and expanding early voting.

four states do a combination of both. >> history, wisconsin has been one of the more progressive states when it comes to voter rights, allowing for same day voter registration and voting early for no reason. >> critics claim new laws are politically motivated by a republican controlled legislature and governor. they claim requiring identification and reducing early voting hours make it difficult for working class minorities who tend to favor democrats to vote. ern neat moss said the laws make it tough on senior citizens like her mother, who counted on weekend voting. >> if you're in a presidential cycle then, it may be long lines, so we didn't want to take that chance to have her have to stand. >> senator glenn grossman agreed to an interview with us about the more restrictive early voting law he sponsored and backed out and wouldn't talk to us.

republican strategist said the new allows are designed to protect the voting process. >> we said if you want to vote, you should be able to vote. that's what election administrators are trying to do in ways that are appropriate to their own jurisdiction with the history that they confront in that jurisdiction. >> wisconsin voters seem divided on more restrictive voting, while more than two thursday of those recently polled said they favor more early voting hours. the same number favored i.d.'s to vote. ♪ >> in madison, a liberal city has long embraced dissent, voter rights could continue to be a battle cry echoing through the capitol for months and possibly years to come. aljazeera, madison, wisconsin. >> former president bill clinton saying our country has made great progress towards creating to more perfect union but believes there is still a lot of

work to be done, voting laws could be a step backwards. >> we all know what this is about. this is a way of restricting the franchise after 50 years of expanding it. >> president clinton making those comments at a civil rights summit held in texas. president obama and former president george w. bush will be speaking there today. the founding director of the center for race and democracy at tufts university and author of several books on the civil rights movement joins us. brown said we ignore the casualties, saying the schools are now just as segregated as ever. >> when we think about 50 years since, it's a tale of two cities, barack obama, african-americans who have done extraordinarily well, but i look and it is unemployment rates and mass incarceration to tell us that we haven't progressed as

far as we thought in the last 50 years. >> does the civil rights movement also ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the middle of the room, which is that civil rights, which used to be an ambition, used to be a cause turned into a job for so many of the leaders. they went inside the boardroom, so did it get co opted? >> aspects of the movement did. on one level that was the in tent, to get more black elected officials, more black folks in higher education, on television, in corporate america. on another level that's hurt the movement, because we miss some of the insurgency when people were in the streets demanding racial justice. when somebody like jesse jackson goes from outsider to an insider, on one level that helps black businesses, helps decrease the wealth gap but impacts the movement, you don't have to dissident figure who can speak and pressure presidents to do the right thing. >> i've heard a lot of younger

people say that part of the problem with the movement was after those people took over the board rooms, they froze out the younger voices coming up behind, not creating the next generation of civil rights leaders. >> we have some of that problem. young people now are hungry for a chance and an opportunity that goes beyond the outlines that were written in the 1960's and 1970's. i think that we need a civil rights movement in the 21s 21st century that's agile enough to mentor young civil rights leaders and talk about grassroots issue. i think public school education, things like unemployment, voter i.d. like clinton talked about are the next generation of civil rights struggles. but criminal justice reform is priority number one. >> i want you to listen to what former president jimmy carter had to say. he has been very outspoken. >> we still have gross disparity between black and white people on employment, the quality of

education. we kind of accept the self congratulations about the wonderful 50th anniversary, which is wonderful, but we feel like, you know, lyndon johnson did it, we don't have to do anything anymore. >> not exactly known for pulling punches. >> i think he's right. african-americans lost 53% of their wealth during the mortgage crisis and great recession of 2008. that hasn't been egained. black businesses got 1.7% of the billions of dollars in federal contracts that were just given out. this is under an african american president. there's a huge wealth gap in the united states that is really linked to institutional racism. >> is part of the problem on the footsteps of the media? i think about people like randall rob bib son who led transafrica, the movement to release nelson mandela for jail.

>> there's a whole generation that continues to struggle and fight. the students i teach, i always tell them the movement continues, civil rights didn't go away, but we don't have the same kind of visibility for civil rights activists of this generation, including people like randall robinson and those who came right after and it's that next generation of leadership that has to be cult vaulted. >> a professor of history and the founding center of the center for race an democracy at tufts university. that's a mouthful there. thanks for being with us. >> nba hall of famer big russell stepped into the conversation about gay athletes in pro sports. he spoke during a panel discussion on sports and race at lyndon johnson presidential library. he said the fight by gay athletes for quality and acceptance reminded him of his own struggles in the 1960's. >> a lot of questions they asked about gay athletes were essentially the same they used to ask about us.

>> 80-year-old bill russell was joined by his long time friend nfl hall of fame running back jim brown. >> here are the stories we're following. the teenager police say went on a stabbing spree at a suburban pittsburgh school now charged as an adult. more than 20 classmates among the injured. >> a child dead and 14 more injured after a car crashed into a florida day care center. the driver that caused the crash still on the run. the push for a diplomatic solution to the ukraine crisis, nato providing proof that russia may be ready to invade the country. also ahead, thousands of miles of coastline in the u.s. simply vanishing. why man made symptoms made to protect people may be to blame for the disappearance. >> a new crisis for millions of syrians struggling due that that countries civil war. mother nature may be leaving a lot of them hungry. >> the heat is on. where temperatures could run

20 degrees above average, ahead in your forecast. >> the aljazeera morning news continues, dell's back with you in two minutes. i'm stephanie sy in new york. have a great morning.

>> i'm always going to be haunted by that vision of my best friend getting stabbed in front of me. >> students left stunned, a community trying to heal in the wake of that mass stabbing as a high school in pennsylvania. the crisis in ukraine, secretary of state john kerry reaching out once again to his russian counterpart trying to bring an end to the standoff in eastern ukraine. >> it was like a movie, houses were exploding. >> a survivor, a mom that

washington state mud slide speaking out for the first time, a mother saying what it was like trying to protect her baby. >> flying a plane without a drop of fuel, a new aircraft running on solar power is unveiled as it prepares to make a trip around the world. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. it has happened again. first there was columbine and atlanta, sandy hook, now the nation's latest rampage in pennsylvania. in just five minutes, police say alex hribal slashed students, two victims now in critical conditions, all fighting for their lives. hundreds gathering for an emotional sandal light vigil. many say they can't get the images out of their minds. now the father of the accused attacker saying his thoughts are with the victims. >> my first thought is with the

victims today. i hope they recover as quickly as possible. >> on a day the entire nation tries to recover, as well, we have more on the young suspect. >> alex hribal, just 16 years old, but now an adult in the eyes of the law charged in a rampage through his high school. >> i don't know what i the going on down at school here, but i need reinforcement asap. >> panic reresulted. a 16-year-old walking the first floor at franklin regional high school just outside of pittsburgh slashed students at random with two large kitchen knives. >> my one friend got cut across the face. we don't know how she's doing. my one friend, my brother's friend got stabbed in the back. >> more than 20 were injured, including four stabbed deeply in the stomach and chest, critical wounds close to major organs. >> the stab wounds were large in my experience. these were all impressively large holes in each of the patients that i saw.

>> his ninth grade daughter was inside the school at the time. >> she was crying and told me to get down here now. either my wife or i to get down here and get her right away. no parent can prepare for this. the words can't describe how i felt at the time that she called. >> the suspect is a sophomore, stopped when a security guard and assistant principal tack would him, both now highland at heroes. students described the chaos. >> the fire alarm went off. i was walking over toward the exit, and there was flood all over the floor. >> outside the school, ambulances in bus lanes panicked parents. >> it's just panic right away, the pit of your stomach just dropped, you're not knowing what's going on and what's happening. it's a terrible, terrible feeling. >> the violence in the school all too familiar, but this time, the weapons were different and the district just practiced a safety drill three months, aba

critical move according to safety consultants. >> it's very difficult to teach this, because we don't want to scare everybody. schools are by and large still a safe place to be, but we should have some awareness, some preparation. >> police also say a student pulled the fire alarm, likely saving lives and helping quickly evacuate the school. they don't have a motive for what could have led to this rampage. >> the high school is expected to be closed for the rest of the week. other school schools in that districts will be open and counselors provided. many say there were no office signs that the student was troubled. classmates have described him as being shy and quiet. his attorney said he got good grades, averaging b plus but indicate there are concerns he may have suffered from a mental illness. he is held without bail, prosecutors saying he is a threat to the community and

himself. he keeps repeating that he wants to die. >> the assistant principal is credited with tackling the teen, holding him until police arrived. we'll talk to the president of the school safety advocacy council about whether more security is needed at schools. >> lawmakers in kiev propose a truce with provision activists in eastern cities, saying they won't be prosecuted if they lay down their arms and leave government buildings immediately. protestors have until friday to agree to the terms or face military action. pro russian activists in denejsk are defiant, proclaiming the eastern city is independent from ukraine. >> nato considers deploying american troops to alliance in member states in eastern europe, a counter move to the russian military threats along the

eastern border. >> pretty chaotic scenes here in denejsk just a short time, ableaders came out saying they will not be taking up an offer of amnesty given by interim president. in a phone call, he offered to give border rights to the people in the east so they can have more say over the state of affairs in ukraine and offered to set up a special commission to look into reports of conflict in the east. the pro russia party say they want kiev to appreciate to realize to accept that they are the legitimate government in the republic of denejsk and give legitimacy to it. clearly deep divisions, kiev has said all along that it wants to remain united, it wants ukraine to stay whole and will not let

the east of ukraine follow in crimea's footsteps. >> that is reporting from denejsk in ukraine. coming up, uniting a divided ukraine, the system of government some believe may be key to putting an end to the ongoing demonstrations. >> russia may have withheld information about one of the boston marathon bombing suspects, moscow denying a request for more information on tamerlan tsarnaev two years about the attack, including a telephone call in which he and his mother discussed islamic jihad. the f.b.i. was warned that tamerlan tsarnaev had become really radicalized. >> the venezuela president is blaming unrest in his country on america's thirst for oil, saying that the obama administration is fueling the street protests in

slow motion coups to get their hands on venezuelas oil reserves. venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of crude to the united states, sending roughly 1 million-barrels a day in exports. the u.s. denies involvement. he plans to meet with members of the opposition today. >> the largest election on the planet taking place right now in india. over the next five weeks, about 815 million people will head to the polls there. they are electing members of india's lower parliament and in turn, the country's next prime minister. the economy is playing a major role at the poll for both the rich and the majority poor in india. >> people here checking their names against a registered list of voters, voters have been coming to this polling station since the polls opened at 7:00 this morning. it is very different than other cities in india, very modern. this 21st century architecture happen built up in the last 10-15 years. even among the younger voters,

first time voters, the economy is not the only issue important to them. >> i also wanted to stable government at the center, somebody i knew who would stick to their policies, somebody who i now what the next move was going to be. for me, i need a stable government for the next five years. >> just a few kilometers from here, the landscape suddenly changes into a much more rural area. these villages are part of gurgao. even in those village, having a good economy is important, as they've seen benefits in the last 10-15 years and want that to continue. whether you are in an urban area or a village, the economy is an important part for whoever forms the next government. >> that is aljazeera regarding from northern india. >> officials searching for the missing malaysia airlines flight 370 say they have heard another underwater signal, it appears to be coming from a man made source. the hope is it is from the flight recorders. it was in the same area as pings

deteched on saturday. they now have dropped sound locating buoys into the water. they are race to go find the devices before the batteries run out. >> a tale of surviving from the victim of the washington state mud slide was sitting with her infant son when the lights went out. she turned to see a giant wall of mud roaring down the hill. when it was over, the entire neighborhood was gone, destroyed. >> i thought i wasn't going to make it, so i'm feeling good. >> she is one of the lucky ones, lucky to be alive when the earth gave way during the deadly mudslides last month. >> i heard what sounded like a truck off a rumble strip. then it continued, and i thought oh, maybe it's an earthquake. >> amanda has endured six surgeries and excruciating pain, but it's her tale of surviving that will always haunt her. >> the lights started to blink,

and then i looked out our front door amounted it was like a movie. houses were exploding, and the next thing i remember, the next thing i see is our neighbor's chimney coming into our front door. i turned and i held duke and i did not let him go. >> not letting go of her five-month-old son duke as their home shifted more than 600 feet and when the shaking stopped, amanda and her baby were dropped in a pocket formed by her broken pouch. >> here i am trapped with my child, and this debris, and i can't move, and i can't scream loud enough for help, because we live in oso. >> unable to move with a track further arm and two broken legs, amanda could only wait for help as her child started turning blue. >> i would pat on his chest and say stay with me bud. >> help came as rescuers used

chain saws to rescue she and her baby who had a fractured skull. >> he had half a mountain fall on him, but he's getting better. every day is a good day and every day, tomorrow will be better than today. >> so amazing to hold him again. >> amanda might be ail to go home this week. there's one place she'll never go back to. >> oso is home, but i'll never go back. i won't visit. i can't. >> stephanie sy, aljazeera. >> her six-month-old son is the youngest survivor of that disaster. the death toll now 36, 10 people still missing. >> there might be a spring in your step this morning, spring finally taking hold in much of the u.s. we turn to our meteorologist nicole for more. >> after all the grumbling of the cold and the know over the winter, i think you should be thanking your meteorologist today for some of this forecast. i want to start off with the northwest where we were just

talking about the mud slide and recovery going on there. we've had a nice change in the pattern. this has been a much drier part of the country. i do want to caution with all the warm air, montana, elevated places that have the snow still, that's going to melt rapidly. watch for isolated flood be due to snow melt. this is pretty dry for us, so it's not causing a lot of rain that i've seen even hitting the ground. a little more moisture towards the great lakes. the big story has really been that mild air, headed of the front, a southerly flow, so a lot of places running above average, but the one thing, when you combine temperatures above average and not a lot of rain and spring time, it means everything is growing, the pollen is out there and most of the country under high allergy levels right now because of that. until you get to the rain, it doesn't wash it away. >> oklahoma city, 86 degrees,

growing plenty of that vegetation, but making a lot more sneezes this time of year, getting out into the southwest, not as much, because this is a drier air, but very comfortable at 67 degrees today. >> president obama and three of his predecessors are marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act in texas today. the presidents all paying tribute to president lyndon johnson and the groundbreaking civil rights laws he signed into law back in 1960. the legislation banned discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, color. president clinton spoke about disparities. >> lawmakers say the pair

exchanged emails and text messages that could answer questions by lanes were closed and if it was a political attack. the ruling is expected to be appealed. >> coastal erosion in louisiana could be giving way to a way of life. why some residents blame the environmental disaster on the oil and gas industry. >> i can't imagine how it happened, just looking at the scene, i can't imagine how this could have happened looking at the car coming out. >> a deadly chain of events send ago car colliding into a day care center. the police are searching for the man they say is responsible for the accident. >> a medical break through in 3-d. how the device could pump new life into a heart.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. since the 1930's, 3,000 miles of louisiana coastline has disappeared, threatening a way of life and the a plan to fix the problem will be costly.

we have more as part of our series, battling for the environment. >> for more than two decades, he has been fishing the louisiana bayou. as a boy, he remembers searching those coastal we had lands along the gulf of mexico in search of crabs, fish and shrimp. >> within five years, i've seen places that i used to fish completely gone. it's crazy. >> the city of new orleans along with the rest of the region is built on a delta created over centuries by sediment deposited from the river into the gulf. it's vulnerable to hurricanes, which have more than once devastated the area. in the 1930's, engineers build levees to protect the city. in turn, triggering the demise of the state's we had lands. >> 10 years ago, all of this water behind me was once march

land, but now it's gone. in its place, these bamboo poles mark where the wetlands used to be. >> from the air, you can see the erosion, made worse by the state's oil and gas industry. the march land's natural nooks and crannies have been marked into canals for oil extraction. from the air, jonathan henderson documents the damage. >> the storm surge brings in a lot of water intrusion into the fresh water march. that is like poison for that march. >> permit agreements are supposed to require oil and gas companies to restore the wetlands once work is complete, but it's legislation poorly enforced. industry jobs are the priority. roughly 90% of louisiana coastline has been eroded.

plans now in place to stop the land loss, but it's expected to cost more than $50 billion the state doesn't have and the u.k. congress has yet to finance. >> i just mainly want to see it come back that way, when i have kids, they can enjoy what i've enjoyed. >> that's uncertain. without urgent preservation, what took nature thousands of years to create now faces extinction in a single lifetime. aljazeera on the louisiana bayou. >> in part two of our series, battling for the environment on aljazeera america, we'll look at general leading what is called louisiana's green army, fighting big oil trying to protect endangered lands. >> one thing you can't see in that story is the pollen, nicole mitchell just got back from that area and says it is really, really bad. >> it is. i have the traveling for reserve duty last weekend between mississippi and texas and i heard sniffles and sneeze's

pretty much everywhere i want. rain helps clean the pollen out and reduce allergy levels, so watch for that. that region 40's to 60's, but through the rest of the day, more temperatures in the 70's helps all those beautiful flowers go and gets the pollen going, as well. a lot of 70's and 60'sual the coastline. hot spot in phoenix at 96. minneapolis at 67 degrees, certainly above average for april. a lot of people like the warm would like to not have the sneezing to go with it. back to you. >> good morning, nicole, thank you very much. >> 16-year-old alex hribal is accused of a stabbing free at his high school, stabbing more than 20 people. authorities not sure his motives. the community is torn apart by the violence, but say the pain feels all too familiar to other school attacks. the president of the school

safety advocacy council joins us this morning. good morning, sean. >> good morning. >> i was at columbine. there they said it must never happen again. they said the same thing in atlanta, aurora and newtown and it's happened again in pennsylvania. what are we missing? >> well, i think that the bad part is that america is resilient. we take these tragedies and say we don't want them to ever happened again and we hope they never happen again, but the unfortunate part is a month after they do happen, we forget about them and do not learn about the mistakes that we made in the past. >> i talked to a person last night and they said that a decade ago, these very same children were described as being hyperactive and needing medication. is there, in your opinion, a correlation between the drugs that these kids were given and the violence that we're now

seeing especially when many of these medications have warnings that say if you pull them off the medications, they may have suicidal tendencies. >> well, i think there is a direct correlation between mental health. if we research this and go back and research what we know of the prefers school attackers, whether they're shootings or stabbers, they all have a history of mental health or it has come to light just because of the incident, mental health. the drugs do have a big part of it. we are describing drugs for almost everything for our children today. we do school safety assessments across the country. when we go into the nurse's office, it's amazing the amount of drugs handed out every day in class just to keep these kids that will be able to attend class and correct their actions. >> in this case, it's a 16-year-old in custody for stabbing 20 classmates, he smuggles a knife into school, no metal detectors there. are we at the point where metal detectors must be in place in

every school? >> i don't think we're at that point. i think that metal detectors are a great buzz word and people like to use them, because everyone has the thought of the airport in mind, but they're just not practical. they are not the most effective way to keep schools safe and i don't think that metal detectors are right for every school. there are issues as far as planning, manning, cost, and effectiveness that really don't make them the answer. >> so the n.r.a. says it's not guns when it's guns, you say it's not drugs or it may be drugs. you say it's not metal detectors so what is it, what do we need to do? >> well, i think we need to take schools and we need to take the safety of schools seriously. i think the s.r.o. program is a great med roll. i'm not saying that we should change schools into armed camps, but the s.r.o. program is a great prevention program -- >> what is s.r.o. >> school resource officers.

we have a full time law enforcement officer either from a police department or sheriff department assigned to that school as in pennsylvania. they become part of the school community, interact with kids, build a relationship with kids. the one thing we have to remember is anytime there has been a student-led attack in a school, after the event, we have found out that someone knew about that attack prior to it happening. >> thanks for being with us this morning, joining us from newton, massachusetts. >> how the proposals in kiev will sit with moscow. >> big changes on all the way for the police department facing allegations of excessive force following a string of deadly shootings. the reforms the federal government could put in place. >> traveling around the world without having to fill up, the journey of a new high tech

plane. >> no tiger, no problem? the masters tees off this morning without the world's number one golfer in the field. a look at who the favorites are now. >> as we head to break, we want to look at our images of the day. another look at that school scandal, that stabbing situation in pennsylvania on wednesday. how residents there came together in their time of need, trying to heal after the violence. the images once again disturbing today, sadly. more news straight ahead in two minutes.

>> you're looking at queens new york, home of the 1960 world fair. that is where the famous disney attraction small world debuted 50 years ago today. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. ahead, these two objects could be part of a major medical break through, leading to a second

shot at life, and the surprising place they come from. >> millions of syrians dealing with civil war may face a deeper crisis, not enough food. >> first, the movement in eastern you a crane gaining steam having claimed the eastern city independent of ukraine. protestors say they won't be prosecuted if they leave government buildings right away. we are in denejsk ukraine with the very latest. >> with a 48 hour ultimatum issued by ukraine's interior minister, the pressure is on in denejsk. pro russia act visits in control of the state administration building remain on high alert, but negotiations are underway with protestors agreeing to carry out government property, saying they don't want state workers to lose their job. >> clearly then some signs of negotiation, but many of the people we've spoken to here say

they remember the soviet era as the golden years, a understand they say 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've 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. >> just a few kilometers from the protest sight, in a restaurant chain many see as the opposite everything protestors stand for, business is booming. people there are divided. >> the majority of people are against the events of the last few days. i think it's very bad. >> i think we need to be an autonomous part of russia

because denejsk without ukraine is not denejsk. >> protestors made clear who they believe should come to help. standing outside the city's state security building, they say they want to support activists barricaded inside. those activists after releasing dozens of hostages are negotiating with police, but believe russia needs to act. >> i understand we will be trying to resolve all this by ourselves, but we may fail. mr. putin, have mercy on your fighters. if you lose us, you will lose the last hope to create a good neighbor. >> the clock clearly ticking in the east with demonstrators prepared for any eventuality, both sides keen to avoid bloodshed but that could be difficult. negotiations hoping to change the result of those who could be in the firing line. aljazeera america, denejsk. >> we are joined by the executive director of the america institute in ukraine.

good morning. >> good morning. >> thanks for being with us here again. ukrainian officials threatening to use force, is that going to work and is that not playing right into the hands of vladimir putin who some say wants to see violence. >> i don't know if he wants to see violence, but it would tend to give the russians a pretext to do something to protect their people under assault, you know in ukraine. clearly the government in kiev has to proceed carefully here which is what yanukovych faced. when he faced the upheaval against his rule. he never moved to liberate buildings when they were seized. he realized this could be a pretext for bigger problems. i think the current government in kiev faces the same problem. >> yesterday, secretary of state john kerry said that u.s. officials didn't expect much from the proposed talks on ukraine in which ukrainian

officials would be at the table with the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. >> we don't have high expectations for these talks but we do believe it is very important to keep that diplomatic door open. >> that of course not the secretary but a number two at the state department. she points out even though both sides will be talking, nobody expects much to happen. do you? >> i think it's very difficult. the sides are far apart. it's clear what the russians wants. the russians want a situation where ukraine is removed as a bone of contention between east and west where you have autonomy for the regions, where you have written into the constitution that ukraine would not become a member of nato. nato is completely unacceptable, a dagger pointed at the heart, which is what it would be. it's not clear that the americans will be supportive of

a negotiation. that would remove ukraine asen issue between east and west. >> here's the problem. four months ago, we were having the same conversation about russia, about what the west was going to do and also about what the u.s. is going to do, and my wife always says if nothing changes, nothing changes and nothing has changed. >> no, because it goes on and on. that's absolutely correct. >> the eastern parts of ukraine that we're talking about right now will belong to russia. >> i think time is on russia's side. there are things they can do to wait this out. you see what's happening with the gas prices, you see what's happening with the economy of ukraine proper. the people in east ukraine now face a massive increase in their gas bills. >> because vladimir putin is saying you owe russia $16 billion. >> now the u.s. taxpayers are going to have to give money to ukraine to prop up the regime.

>> which will wind up in the hands of moscow. >> to pay the russian gas bill. that is why the whole thing is in sane. if kiev were thinking ration ally, it wouldn't be at this point. >> what must be done in order to stop the aggression in eastern ukraine? >> i don't think they want -- i don't think they intend to launch any kind of aggression in terms of invasion if that's what you mean, no, i don't think they intend to do that. >> there are satellite pictures of troops amassed at the border. >> for psychological reasons. to force key to have come to terms. there would be no reason to come to terms if russia were not doing that. >> you don't think he'll pull the trig officer. >> i don't think he wants to. the only way he will do that is if he sees imminent threat to the life and lymph russians living in east ukraine.

the bottom line for putin that always been we believe not be cannon fodder for the new world order. he intends to defend his people. he doesn't want it to come to that. he wants to negotiate a settlement with this problem of ukraine taken out of the mix between east and west and it becomes a country that is incidents greated with east and west. lavrov just last week saying why are we not talking about a large pan european free trade in which ukraine would be integrated with russia and europe. why are we talking about the war? >> remember the olympics? >> yeah. >> thank you very much. domestic terrorism could be behind that car bombing in greece this morning, the attack near a bank causing no injuries. the bombing coming one day after a labor strike there and a visit from german chancellor angela merkel friday. germany is imposing austerity

measures, raising more than $4 billion in bond sales today, its first in four years. >> oscar pistorius defending his relationship with his girlfriend in the days before her death on his fourth day of testimony saying he had been dating reeva steenkamp four months before he shot and killed her last year. the prosecution saying their relationship was volatile and painting the runner and selfish and understoody, caring only for himself, pistorius calling that an exaggeration. >> if she believed i treated her badly. i know she wouldn't have been with me. i didn't treat her badly. when we argued, it wasn't at all what we wanted. she shouldn't have been treated anything less than a lady. >> the prosecution accusing

pistorius of making a spectacle in the court for crying as he delivered his apology to her family. he said he was sorry, saying he did not intend to kill his girlfriend. if convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison. >> the results of that federal probe into shootings by the albuquerque police department will be unveiled today. 37 shootings by police there since 2010 are investigated. if found responsible, the democratic faces costly reforms and federal oversight. this homeless man was shot and killed by the police department. >> a helicopter just dropped off a patient in the university of new mexico before a crash. investigators are trying to find out what caused a crash. witnesses say there was a gust of wind and the helicopter started to wobble after takeoff. >> an arrest warrant for a driver of a car who caused another car to crash into a day

care cent. one dead, 14 others hurt badly. police have released the name of the man they say they want to talk to. >> i can't imagine how it happened, just looking at the scene, i can't imagine at all how this could have happened looking at the car coming out. >> it's the very question florida said highway patrol wants answered, why this car, according to police, was forced off the road and sent into this day care center in winter park just outside orlando. >> the vehicle in front was making a turn into the shopping center or, you know, the day care center when it got rear ended by the durango. it took off and as the vehicle turned, it went into the building. >> plowing into the building, killing a 4-year-old girl and injuring at least 14 others, 12 children. as frantic parents scrambled to be ebeyond with their kids, first responders raced to treat injuries both mild and severe.

>> it could have been my friend. it's heartbreaking. my son's not more important than any other kid here, so it's heartbreaking. i saw them. they were bleeding. >> two hours later, a search for the alleged driver, who place say fled the scene, led them to this house where the silver s.u.v. with visible damage to its front bumper was parked in the driveway. >> a manhunt is now underway for this man, who troopers are calling a person of interest. >> we ever united states heading to the airport to see if he's actually there and if we can find him. >> police another vice the public not to approach him, saying he should be considered dangerous. >> thomas drayton, aljazeera america. >> a popular hot sauce in hot water. it is declared a public

nuisance. residents complained of a strong spicy smell coming from the factory. the hot sauce maker will have 90 days to fix the odor which causes itchy eyes and burning throats. the city filing a lawsuit against the maker. the trial has been set for november. >> on wall street, stock futures lower at this hour, hoping a calming voice keeps yesterday's rally alive. fed policy makers have no immediate plans to raise interest rates. the dow starting at 16437. s&p add 1872, nasdaq 4183. overseas, asian markets ended higher. honk stocks up 1.5%. european markets are lower. >> there could be surprises in a sentencing hearing today, a new york judge expected to decide whether to accept a plea deal

between a hedge fund and prosecutors. the judge has concerns whether that settlement properly defines the crimes. bleeding guilty, the charges include wire fraud and securities fraud, as well. >> j.p. morgan chase c.e.o. jami diamond taking a pay cut, from $11.8 million down to nearly $19 million the year before. his pay was cut by the firm's board after the massive london losses cost the firm $6 billion. >> we will talk about the situation in ukraine tonight on owe real money" at 7:00 p.m. eastern time, 4:00 p.m. pacific time right here on aljazeera america. >> the masters is officially underway this morning without the tiger. here's john henry smith. >> it means opportunity for

others in the masters field. the masters has been around for 80 years. no matter the short term financial pain that tiger woods's absence might cause, the event will survive the fact that tiger will be absent for the first time in 20 years as it begins this morning. if you're in the field this year, you've got to think this is your chance to supplant tiger as the face of golf. could that face be a new familiar face like three time winner phil mickelson, adam scott o. accounted it be a new face this year? the masters got going about an hour ago and stuart synch and tim clark teed off. here are a few more notable tee times for the opening round of the 78 masters. at 10:41 a.m., duffner and scott will tee off. group 17 will tee off featuring rory mcelroy. in the second from last group of the day, three time champ fill

mickle con will tee off with dustin rose. >> the new york yankees opened up a four-game series against the boston red sox. masahiro tanaka went to the home mound for the first time. a home run blast was the only one that did damage, orioles up 3-0. bottom of the second, same score, yankees respond, carlos beltran with a solo shot to right, beltran now tied for 80th. orioles up 3-1. tanaka struck out 17 in seven innings. markakis singles to right, securing for the orioles a 5-4 win. >> rangers visiting the red sox, red sox trail 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, men on first and

third, david ortiz hits one. it's called a home run. ron washington's not so sure, wants it reviewed. take another look yourself, coming up. not sure by ron washington thought that needed to be reviewed. that ball couldn't be fair fit were judge judy. the call would stand. red sox win 4-2. >> two big stories in an nhl game wednesday night, the detroit redwings were trying to extend the longest playoff streak in pro sports. second, the pittsburgh penguins were welcoming chris back to the lineup after suffering a stroke. >> i'm nervous. it's been a long time since i've been playing. something that can happen whenever, sitting around, walking around. i'm not scared to go out and play. >> in on the rush, his shot won't go. jokinen finds the puck and scores. the same shot left sitting in the crease and jokinen capitalizes on the loose puck to give the pens a late lead.

the rally sends it into o.t. bearing down, tricky shot, rolls on his back and somehow makes the save. take another look. incredible save, maybe the save of the year. jokinen on this move, penguins get the shootout, i four ore three. the playoff spot clinched for the 23rd straight year. >> the goalie said he did that on purpose by all the way, said i do it all the time in practice. >> that's why he gets paid the bug bucks. >> the civil war in syria left tens of thousand us dead, another million have fled seeking safety. now those not region face another threat, starvation.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. straight ahead, the looming

hunger crisis set to hit syrian refugees. >> first, spring has sprung. here's nicole mitchell. >> temperatures finally warm up and more sunshine, look at the radar and satellite and how many places don't have a cloud in the sky across the country. one area, we see a front without moisture moving through the midwest, bringing chance for rain in the great lakes later today. this is limited moisture. even over the next couple days, that's how that adds up. the western half of the country remains moist and dry. the one part of the world we're watching closely right now, you can see this psych loan, which is what we call a hurricane in this side of the world, winds equivalent to a major hurricane, making landfall in 24 hours. >> in syria, 25 were killed after two car bombs exploded in the government held district of homs, the government saying it was a busy time of day on

wednesday. the area has a large population of a group closely to do with president bashar al assad. more than 100 were injured. >> those who fled the violence face starvation. a drought in syria could affect millions and worsen the refugee crisis. from the united nations world food program, we have a guest. thank you for being with us. the members tell a very disturbing story. wheat production in syria is expected to reach 2 million tons, far short of the 5 million tons needed each year. what happens when the food runs out? >> unfortunately, it's simple. there's a food gap. we will have food deficit in the country. if those figures when the harvest season comes, then definitely syria will face food

gaps for next year. this is one of the reasons that i'm here, to speak to donors and alert them we could face serious food crisis in syria in addition to the ones we are facing. right now, the world food program in syria is feeding more than 4 million people in syria. that's not the entire need. we are not covering that entire need. this is only part of the need. there are other people that we are not able to reach, so if you add to that the looming drought and the consequences that have, definitely, we are going to have a serious food shortages on our hands. >> take me though in department behind the numbers with that the numbers are sterile, cold, what does it look like on the face of a child looking at its mother trying to figure out what to eat. will there be food and what happens to that child? what happens to those children? >> it's about this, actually, it's not about the figures.

it gives the size of the problem. it all boils down to a child wait to go eat, to a mother waiting for the world food program to deliver food so she can feed her children. i want you to imagine with me a motor that if we don't have funds to feet her family, if the trucks of the world food program do not reach to her and say here you go, here is the food, your ration for the month, how would this mother explain to her children that sorry, we can't eat this month, you are going to have to go to bed on an empty stomach? as a father myself, i feel with that and i cannot imagine how bad it is. we see that every day when we deliver our food, the anxiety on the faces especially of the mothers waiting to make sure that the food we bring for them at the decision is enough to give for everybody. it's really serious. it's about this. it's about children, it's about women. it's about the victims of this

world, the syrian crisis are by far political crisis. we in the world food program are dealing with the failed politics. we are -- yes, go ahead. >> i was going to ask why you bring that up. are you concerned that there are forces on each side that wants to use hunger and starvation as a weapon in this war? >> well, for us, as you know, working the world food program, each one, everybody has the right to food. nobody should stop anybody from having their right to food. we are working with both sides of the conflict to make sure that that is implemented, make sure that world food program has access. there are 2.5 million people in besieged, hard to reach areas. we made progress last month, reaching more than 350,000 people in besieged areas where we haven't reached for a long time. this is a result of the locally

negotiated ceasefire and peace talks on the ground. we are happy for that. we are happy that we managed to cross the border from turkey. to us, this is not enough, this is not the end of the story. people eat every day. we must have regular, unhindered access to everywhere in syria. we must reach the innocent civilians, wherever they are inside syria on a regular basis. >> thank you very much. >> americans filing for unemployment fell to the lowest number since 2007. the report shows the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell to its lowest level sinceian of 2008, analysts saying it is a sign the job market is growing. >> an as tech pyramid in mexico maybe sinking. it is still too dry on one side

and archeologists are trying to figure out how to save the popular tourist attraction. they have found the structure is supported by soil. researchers analyzed 3 million data points. cement was added in an effort to stabilize that pyramid. >> the heart could soon go high tech, researchers trying to build a 3-d printed human heart for patients. scientists hope the finished product will bability a bioficial heart. they say the biggest obstacle is getting cells to work together like those in a normal heart. 3-d technology has been used to print a human ear and splints. >> imagine a plane that could fly forever. that's what the creators of the solar impulse project are trying to achieve. a many that is powered by the sun and the journey it's about to take. >> even if you have no interest in planes, you've got to admit this is impressive, solar

impulse set a record last july when it flew across the united states. not the first plane to do that, of course, but definitely the first without a single drop of fuel in its tanks. all that plane needed was this, sunlight. perhaps the most natural form of fuel there is, enough to power its solar batteries and keep it in the air. that trip across the u.s. was such a success that now here in switzerland where it all began, they've made a sequel. >> and here it is, premiered on wednesday. the name not so imaginative. its wing span the same as a bowing 747, this is a huge craft, covered in 17,000 solar cells, yet weighing one and a half tons. the plan is to fly this around the world and do it in less than a year's time. >> we can take off with empty

batteries in the morning, fly the entire day, climb to 9,000 meters, the altitude of the airlinesser. in the evening, you could land and give this energy or use it. the more you fly, the more energy you get. >> the pilot needs to be comfortable with their own company. there is barely any room to stretch, let alone fit another one in. there will be no heating, no pressurized cabin here. this is a feat of endurance in a machine favoring aerodynamics over comfort. >> flying slow with only one pilot. that's the technical prize we have to pay to have an unlimited endurance. thanks to this, the plane can fly forever. >> this plane's journey begins in just a few weeks with test flights over switzerland. its big trip around the world is expected to take 20 days, and solar planes may never be

adopted commercially. aljazeera, switzerland. >> the pilots are planning several test flights this year. that's going to do it for this edition of aljazeera. i'm del walters in new york. more news straight ahead in just two minutes.

>> from aljazeera america headquarters in thee, this is the news hour. coming up in the next 60 minutes, 100 million people cast ballots in the most important phase of indias month long election. >> stopping the killing, rape and torture in the central african republic, the u.n. votes whether to send in a peace keeping force. >> bail denied to three aljazeera journalists held in prison for 103 days