the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. they really rallied behind us and gave us strength to go on. >> the story of boston's resilience, the city looks back and remembers that tragic day. and the ukrainian government saying an anti terror depreciation now underway as pro-russian demonstrators seize even more buildings. ♪

hello and welcome to al jazeera america, i'm del walters. it was one year ago today, the boston marathon turned into a scene of chaos and terror. two bombs exploding near the finish line killing three and injuring 260 others. today the people of boston are standing boston strong. john what is the scene there today? >> hello, del, good afternoon from f-- fenway park. very close by the remembrance service will start shortly. but i would like to begin this report by a statement from the white house which has just come in from president obama talking about today's one-year anniversary of the bombings. he says a year ago, tragedy

struck the 117th boston marathon, four innocent people were stilled this week and four other were injured. we send our thoughts and prayers to those still struggling to recover. the president goes on one year later we also stand in awe of the men and women who continue to inspire us learning to stand walk dance and run again. with each new step our co coup -- country is moved by a community. it's a gray miserable day here in boston, which befits the mood for this day at least. a city that is irish, blue collar city, really wants to move on and put this behind them, but they can't not until at least today when the remembrance service happens nearby at the convention center not far from the finish line of

the boston marathon where the bombs went off a year ago. we have a graphic to put on screen. as you can see the opening ceremony will begin midday and at about 12:30 eastern time we'll have survivor stories. at 2:49 there will be a coordinated moment of silence to remember the three fallen on the day and the police officer who lost his life later in the week, and the more than 260 people injured in those bomb blasts del. the guest of honor will be deval patrick, and also joe biden, the vice president is coming in to town to event the obama administration, and the american people, del. >> and as has been the case in every big city event what is security going to be like? >> it is not surprisingly

extremely tight. we have observes all sorts of instances where there is security where once there wouldn't have been. they are going to have something like 35 hundred police officers in the seven towns and cities that lead up to boston itself. and the police commissioner told us he has 2200 staff available on the day. and there is enhanced television security as well. and training for about a thousand officers and members of staff to try to make sure that they concentrate on the crowd and not the race itself. but as we know it's a 26.2 mile race, you can't police all of it, but they are going to give it their best shot. >> john thank you very much. now let's go back to that day, within hours flowers piling up

on the finish line. erika pitzi takes us through the powerful display. >> may we never forget. >> together we are one. >> we will get through this. >> peace and love. >> boston strong. ♪ >> so many notes and the words are just -- they get you the most. >> reporter: until now jackie webb has never seen the makeshift memorial. on april 15th, 2013, she was watching the boston marathon when the second pressure cooker bomb exploded just a few feet away. >> i remember the blinding light, everything going pitch black, and it smelled like sulfur. >> reporter: she was in such shuck she did not realize how badly hurt she was. >> that was when i noticed that my leg was severely injured and

it was pretty much blown open. >> reporter: sharal blue through her leg, and she can now finally walk through the memorial decaded to the victims. when this makeshift memorial was along the barricades of the crime scene, one kind of object quickly started setting it apart from other memorials, running shoes. and lots of them. marathoners placed nearly 600 pairs in remembrance, and they are front and center, a heart-felt show of solidarity. >> there are women's 5, and then men's 13 shoes that were left. >> reporter: the shoes inspired this curator to turn the outdoor memorial into an indoor

exhibition. >> after the bombing they get this extra layer of meaning that is about what it meant for marathoners that day. sometimes those messages of morning and sometimes they are messages of resilience. >> reporter: this sewer vooif vor says the shoes say enough on their own. >> for them to put them down here, that's impactful. because you know that they gave up something that is sacred to them essentially for people that they don't even know. >> reporter: virtually everything here is a way for perfect strangers to communicate with survivors like jackie. strangers. >> i know. i know. it's overwhelming. >> reporter: one year later -- >> 2014 -- >> reporter: and the memorial carries on the conversation. jackie is still recovering

emotionally and physically. but she says the love behind this simple salutation goes a long way in helping her heal. >> this was what we needed and they really rallied behind us and gave us strength to go on. >> reporter: erika pitzi al jazeera. and a reminder there will be a memorial sers today in boston. we will be carrying that memorial service for you live beginning at 12:00 am eastern time. we are follow aing developing story coming out of nigeria. there are reports that dozens of schoolgirls have been kidnap. ivan, what are you hearing, and who are you hearing may be behind this latest incident? >> reporter: we managed to speak to a police chief in the area who confirmed the attack took

place in the [ inaudible ] hour of monday night into tuesday morning on a girl's college where 250 female students were studying for finals. according to what we have been able to get out of the police, what we understand is that the girls were descended upon by armed men believed to belong to the armed group boca haram, who is behind so much violence in the region of the years. they don't believe in education. in fact when you translate the name into english, it translates to western education is wrong or western education is sinful. what we understand speaking to eyewitnesss over the telephone is at least 100 young women were abducted by the assailants and taken away. now the security services, meaning the military and police in the area won't confirm the exact figure of 100, but they do

say a high number of abductions took place, and in the ensuing chaos, homes were burned down, other buildings in the villages, people's personal items were stolen, they also say up with security if i recall was killed. so far no information on whether any other civilians not corrected to the school directly were caught up in the mayhem. >> i know you have been covering this story for quite sometime. do we have any indication as to what will happen to these girls who were abducted? >> we don't have any information at all. but this is not the first time we're seeing this kind of violence meeted out on young women in this region. it has been happening as i say since 2009, the group has attacked education institutions where western education is being taught, and they have abducted young women and boys it must be

said before what i anticipate may happen is there may be some intelligence that may come out, and there will be an attempt by the nigerian services to try to identify where these women have been taken and try to rescue them. but obviously we can't tell right now what may happen. >> ivan thank you very much again. again there are reports as many as 100 schoolgirls have been taken from their school, the boko haram is being expected. in ukraine the country's president saying a national guard bat alan was sent to donetsk this morning. pro-russian troops setting up barricades and seizing even more buildings. kim vannel is there with the latest. >> reporter: these helicopters behind me are just taking off. we believe they may be on the to

[ inaudible ] about 70 kilometers there. there an operation is under way -- what they call an anti terrorism operation. there we're told that pro-russian groups are in control of the airfields, and that these military personnel are trying to regain control of that airfield. these choppers have been loaded up in the past half hour. at least one of them is weaponized, and you can see -- just closing the doors and very literally taking off right now. and the third one just arriving. we will be heading to the area to bring you the latest as it happens. obviously a developing situation, very fluid, and the anti-terrorism operation continues. >> russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov speaking out about

the decision to send the troops in to the east. warning military deployments would derail the talks planned in geneva. >> translator: we are sure the attempt to resolve the situation through force is unacceptable, and the key to settling the crisis is to begin working as soon as possible on real constitutional reform. >> lavrov criticizing the deployment, but he says the dialogue is a step in the right direction. now prosecutors have finished their cross-examination of oscar pistorius. he was asked to recount every last detail of his moments with his girlfriend before he shot and killed her on valentine's day last year. >> once again we shouldn't blame

you for the fact that you shot her? >> [ inaudible ]. >> who should we blame then? we should blame somebody or something. who should be blamed? >> i'm not sure my lady. >> pistorius saying he believed she was an intruder when he shot and killed her. he faces life in prison if convicted >> the 73-year-old man accused in the shooting of three people in kansas city could be charged today. he is a former member of the ku klux klan. detroit is close to announcing a deal on pension cuts. a settlement could help bring a speedy resolution to the city's bankruptcy filing. detroit filed for bankruptcy last july, saying it was

$18 billion in debt. the plan calls for slashing the pensions by 5%. and today we're focusing on the issue of crime in detroit. the murder rate is ten times the national average. and bisi onile-ere reports the new chief is trying to change things. >> reporter: four out of every ten blocks in detroit looks like this. a war zone. businesses died. homes abandoned. jobs fled, and crime, gangs, and drugs, and death took over. last year the city endured 334 murders. new york had one less, 333 murders. >> this historic distinction of being the murder capital, murder city, i knew we could do better. >> reporter: the new police chief is literally on the streets leading the way to take

back the city. cops called this night depreciation march madness. a huge blitzes of raids. this woman lives here and has helplessly watched the downward spiral. >> safety is a concern. you hear gunfire a lot, so to have some of that out of the streets and out of the mix is great. >> reporter: off of the street, tonight the cops took in cocaine, heroin, marijuana, guns. and 44 arrests. the chief has been on the job since july. he came here from cincinnati where he is chief. but detroit is his hometown. a city where not long ago a call to 911 often got no response from police, none. you were on your own. so far the chief has eliminated

12-hour shifts and put more officers on the streets. >> the message is we will not tolerate this lawless behavior. the message is you are not welcome here in detroit. >> reporter: the criminals are feeling it. in february a gang member used social media to issue a death threat against the chief. five people were eventually arrested. these officers are veterans. they have seen it all. >> it's kind of slow, but at anytime something could jump up. >> reporter: some crimes are still unthinkable. but officer kenneth downer says the people are starting to fight back. he thinks fear of the criminals created a look the other way mentality. he calls it a no snitch mentality, but now he thinks people have hit bottom with crime, and are more confident that the police can protect

them. and that's bisi onile-ere reporting. coming up on al jazeera america, country music seeing an economic boom. we'll talk to the people behind the music to see why country is striking a chord. ♪ every time it rains

it's a tax day. you have until midnight to file your taxes with the u.s. about 100 million have already done so, the irs say 12 million of you are procrastinators you need more time and are filing for extensions. on this day, back in 1947 jackie robinson broke the color barrier, batting second. all of the players will be

wearing his number 42 today. baseball retired the number back in 1997. and also nelson mandela is going to be honored a plaque will be unveiled before tonight's yankees game. it is in honor to his trip to the old stadium back in 1990. his grandson will be on hand to unveil the plaque. country music is hot and advertisers are lining up. and their -- dominance is growing more and more main stream. jonathan i never pegged you for country, but that's what this story is all about. times have changed. >> reporter: that's right. i have been in nashville for a number of years. country music gets bigger and bugger every year. the country music hall of fame which is where we are this morning is unveiling its big expansion. they put $100 million into this place, just another example of

how country music is growing so rapidly. ♪ if only you were here right now ♪ >> reporter: a successful country song writer in the '90s james house is now seeing a resurgence and interest in his music, with several top 10 records in europe. >> i thought we would do a little promotion tour, and it sold out 16 shows, so that's a resurgence. ♪ >> reporter: lead by stars like jason aldean, taylor swift, and hunter hey , the country music landscape is changing. >> all of these acts are anywhere from one year to five or six years old, ascending to that star and super star status, and people are flooding their concerts and buying their music. >> reporter: the younger

enthusiasts joining the older group of coup try fans. country is now attracting new younger fans in the key demographic. >> advertisers and marketers go where the people are. and right now the places they are selling tons of concert tickets are country cop certs. >> reporter: and the stars are becoming advertising icons themselves. >> just as these people are now the hot commodities to be on all of the network tv shows, corporate sponsors are engaging country artists in ways we haven't seen in the past. >> reporter: country music accounts for 14% of all u.s. music sales. the highest percentage in at least five years. all across the country you'll find country radio stations that are now number 1. new york launched its first radio station in country in more

than 15 years. bill maine is head of the country radio broadcasters and he says it comes down to loyalty. >> they engage their fans in ways that artists of other ge e genres just don't do. >> reporter: while the popularity of music genres often comes in waves, artists like john house believe with a format that has always been centered around lyrics, country music will always have staying power. and one of the things you often hear about the country music hall of fame is it's a multi-generational place where grandparents, parents, and kids can come. and that's one of those genres where the parents and kids are sometimes into the same songs,

same artists. del? >> jonathan, that is the largest guitar i have ever seen. can you play that thing? [ laughter ] >> actually i was just playing around with it before the live shot. it moves a little bit, but it doesn't make any noise, so i think it's just more for props, but no, can't play a guitar at all. >> jonathan martin, always willing to give it a try for us. joining us live from nashville, tennessee. coming up on al jazeera america, it is called the blood moon. we'll explain when we come back. >> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines at this hour. in about a half hour a memorial service gets underway in boston, the ceremony to pay tribute to past year's victims of the

boston marathon. detroit may be one step closer to announcing a deal to cut the pensions for city workers. a settlement could help bring a resolution to the bankruptcy filing. detroit was $18 billion in debt. a 73-year-old man accused of the deaths of three people in kansas city will be charged later today. frazier glenn cross faces hate crime charges. he was a former member of the ku klux klan. good morning to you all. the first question i was asked this morning was what happened to all of the beautiful weather we had during the weekend. we have a cold front swinging through. it has pushed across the plains, and look at the temperatures right now.

fargo will climb to a high of 39 while minneapolis will reach a high of 41. very cold air pushing on through behind this cold front you can see snow coming down across portions of eastern michigan, making their way across the great lakes. we have a ton of rainfall right now, raining heavily as we speak. going into pennsylvania and also across the i-95 corridor, if you are travelling keep in mind the roadways will be wet. in addition to the rain we have quite a bit of wind out there, and that is also contributing to the conditions. >> thank you very much. finally lots of you seeing red a bright red lunar eclipse that happens when the moon moves into the sun's shadow. but not everyone was lucky

enough to see it. cloud cover stopped a lot of sky watchers from seeing red, from seeing the blood moon. we want to thank each and every one of you for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. >> can you find the newly proclaimed people's republic of donesk on a map? neither can the ukrainian government, and they would like to keep it that way. russia versus ukraine in the east. it's the "inside story." hello, i'm ray suarez. it didn't end with crimea. as rush consolidates its power