>> south korea's president calls a ferry captain's actions tantamount to murder, the captain and crew under arrest as victims are pulled from the boat. >> vice president joe biden shows support for ukraine after violence threatens an international deal to end the crisis. >> we have more police officers, more uniformed police officers, more plain clothes police officers. more surveillance cameras.

>> tight security is in place as thousands of runners and a million spectators get ready for this morning's boston marathon one year after the race was attacked. ♪ >> 150 years of making beautiful music, inside the world's oldest and harming effort harp maker. >> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. the death toll is mounting in south korea as the grim work of recovering bodies from a capsized ferry continues. the number of confirmed dead at 64 with 239 still missing, at boats come ashore with the bodies, devastating family members are keeping judge r. vigil, some crying out "wake up" to their dead children, others not speaking. some have condemned the captain and his crew, calling their actions murder. >> while telling passenger to say stay where they were, the

captain and his crew escaped first, this is legally and ethically unimaginable. >> four crew members were arrested today. relatives are demanding answers. >> the man in the cross hairs of public anger like no one else in south korea, these images from 2010 show the captain of the sunken ship at the helm of another ferry on the same route. >> just as long as you follow the directions given by crew attendants, i believe the ferry is safer than any other transportation. >> four years later, that's exactly what hundreds of young passengers did, obeying instructions to stay put as the ferry sank, while the captain was among the first to be rescued. south korea's president gave a personal condemnation of the captain. >> above all, the conduct of the captain and crew members is

unfathomable, it was like an act of murder that cannot and should not be tolerated. >> she demanded a full investigation into how they won approval to add an extra deck to the ferry and extend it's operating life 10 years. >> the emergency crews speeding up the recovery effort, trying to get as many bodies back to shore as possible. the first clear morning since the ferry went down and dive teams hope to make the most of the improved conditions, among them, a special forces veteran and one of south korea's foremost rescue divers, prepared for the grim, difficult task of pulling days old bodies from the sunken wreck. >> right now, they're wearing life jackets, so it's very difficult to bring the bodies out of the ship. we need to cut the life jackets and just get the bodies out. >> all aimed at speeding the recovery of the bodies, a somber and increasingly familiar process for the rescue crews and

police at the dock site. each brings with it a grief that is shared and deeply personal. >> south korea. >> of the 476 passengers and crew onboard the ferry, 339 were children and teachers on a high school trip. >> just about two hours from now, more than 36,000 runners will begin one of the most closely boston marathon's ever, cheered on by a million spectators. last year had a deadly bomb attack. many say crossing the finish line today will help the city heal. >> all about renewal, reclaiming our rifle place at the finish. >> bad guys were aren't going to take this race away from us and all the people that got involved in it, it's good to be back doing it again. >> three died and 264 injured when two bombs exploded last year near the finish line. the start of the race is just about two hours away.

aljazeera's john is along the route this morning. good morning. after last year, authorities have clearly celled security there. what's the also mere like, though? >> the atmosphere is terrific. i mean, this city really wants to put behind it what happened at last year's race. they began the process last tuesday when they had the one year anniversary, lots of tears, speeches from the governor and vice president. now today, if they can pull off a clean race, then the city will truly feel it can move on. of course they'll never forget the four who died, or the more than 260 people injured in the attacks, but if they can get it right today, it will be a great start and the city will try to move on. this race is a huge area to be pleased. we've been finding from two

people who are decision makers in that process, the commissioner of the police, the head of the emergency management agency in massachusetts. first, a man running last year is determined to come back again this year. >> ray doesn't remember exactly how many marathon's he's run, around 25 web thinks, including last year's, but he said the moment the bombs went off a year ago, he knew he'd be back. >> i'm not going to not run when something bad happens. if i was concerned and if i was worried and wanted to work through this, running is how i would do it. >> his book, the 27-mile tells individual tales from last year's race. >> the 27th mile is when everybody celebrating. >> spring is in the air and the director of the massachusetts emergency management agency's on hand to inspect race preparations. >> this is where the first bomb

was actually placed. >> months of planning and risk assessment has led the city and state to tighten security. >> what is different this year? >> i think the answer is it's more. we have more police officers, more uniformed police officers, more plain clothes police officers, more surveillance cameras, we have more bicycle racks and rope separating the crowds from the spectators. >> there are new rules. the 36,000 runners will be given clear plastic bags for their gear and bags are not forbidden, but likely to be searched. >> this is the start of the marathon, just over 26 miles to the city of boston and that's a long way for law enforcement to keep safe and secure. >> protecting the last five miles in boston falls to the city's new police

commissioner william evans. >> as long as i get my run in in the morning, there's nothing i can't tackle. >> he's run 46 marathons, including new york, chicago and several overand hes. the commissioner wanted to run in solidarity with the city, but when you're the top man, duty calls, so he'll be keeping an eye on everything from a command post. >> we want to come back to what it always was, a great day, a great family day. people are not going to come and see an armed camp here at the finish line. we want to play as low key as possible, but people got to realize, there's going to be stricter precaution. >> back in the suburbs, ray is seeking an improved time this year. he knows if that's all he has to worry about, he'll be a happy man and so will the city he runs through. >> ray one of many runners with a million stories emanating from last year's race, determined to be back this year. 36 runners, by the way, 9,000 or

10,000 more, some didn't finish last year and have a chance to finish this year. it's freezing cold morning here. we were told it was going to be warm. later it will be warmer. take a look at these aerial shots, showing the finishing line and the area immediately around the square. that's where the race will end. the elite runners of course coming home in just over two hours, the vast majority of the runners taking more like four or even seven. of course, let me leave you with this thought, stephanie, this is a big day in boston and massachusetts for three reasons. first of all, it is patriots day. it's a public holiday for everybody, celebrating the battles of lexington and concorde. the other thing that happens is the boston red sox always play an patriots day at 11:00 in the morning. everybody turns out for that exciting game.

they will be in beautiful sunshine and everybody is hoping and operating for a safe 118t 118th marathon. >> all right, live from the boston marathon for us, thank you. stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of the boston marathon. we'll ask a security expert just how difficult it is to keep a race that's 26 miles long safe. at 7:30, the people of watertown talk to us about the tense hours when their small town was shut down as authorities hunted for the bombing suspects last year. >> vice president joe biden lants in ukraine after a violent easter sunday, expected to arrive in kiev in about an hour, meeting with u.s. embassy staff today. tomorrow he'll talk to ukraine's top leadership about the upcoming elections next month, efforts to strengthen the economy and unrest continuing.

the visit comes one day after a shootout leaves three people dead. russia's foreign minister is blaming ukraine, who in turn said it was orchestrated by outside agitators backed by moscow. that threat thats an agreement to deescalate the violence. peter sharp is in moscow for us, where russia's foreign minister spoke this morning. >> the conference was held in geneva, the four party talks. no one thought they would go anywhere, but they did result in this geneva accord signed by the parties on thursday. it called for the pro russian separatist forces to move out from the buildings it occupied and streets to be cleared. it asked in kiev for the independence square there to be abandoned by demonstrators. all these points made by lavrov this morning at a news

conference, holding kiev responsible for the state of the talks at the moment. we had on sunday night an attack which left three russian-speaking demonstrators killed at this checkpoint. he lavrov and the foreign ministry say this is another example of kiev's failure to reign in its nationalist right wing armed supporters. he also said that it's time that the united states recognized the responsibility it had after it was involved in the formation of the government in kiev, but he did mention about pending sanctions, which have been threatened by the white house, saying don't put those into effect yet, just have a look and see what is happening in this country before you go and do that. >> peter shortstop for us in moscow. we have more in department coverage of the crisis.

how much a threat the latest violence poses to the agreement struck in geneva last week and who benefits most from it. >> it was a violent easter sunday in venezuela, protestors lighting fires in the streets as president marked his first year in office opposition protestors sent fire to pictures of nicolas maduro. there is high inflation, crimes and shortages of basic goods. >> expeditions to mount every rest may not take place this year. 13 guides were killed friday. the group is asking the government to increase medical, dental and other benefits. they earn an average of $3,000 to $5,000 each climbing season. the government has offered $400

to family members of the dead. nepal earned $4 million in fees from revenues last year. >> from snow to sunshine and warm temperatures, getting a bit of all the seasons today. >> that can certainly happen in spring. we've seen that a couple of times already this april. looking across the country, it's easy to see very unsettled in the midsection of the country. this is our chance for thunderstorms through the day today. let's hone in on that first. this is where especially into texas, we have that slight risk for stronger storms, so watch for wind, hail, isolated tornado moving threw with this. thunderstorms through the plains and midwest. tomorrow, the thunderstorm risk shifts, not as likely we would see any strong storms, out wednesday, the next system into

the plains for widespread. you can also see we've become more active getting into the northwest. that could even be some decent snow for the olympic mountain ranges as that moisture moves in, the cold air that some of those mountain passes, you might be dealing with snow driving through that. watch for the areas of rain through the forecast today, making it into northern california. this region needs the moisture because of drought conditions. some of the fire forecasts are starting earlier than normal this year because of the drought conditions. i know some of the places in oregon are starting to product today, that weather product, but watch for that. speaking of the fire danger, as we have that system moving through the midwest, we're going to have enough low humidities and higher winds kicking up in places like south dakota. ground fires are a risk. there's a lot of warm air. i'll talk about that coming up in just a few minutes.

back to you. >> security has been doubled along the boston marathon route this year, with a record number of spectators expected. how technology could play a bigger role in keeping people safe during the race. >> we missed it twice. by a long shot. >> researchers say 12 million patients are miss diagnosed each year. one family said those errors cost a young mother her life. >> today's big number is 1 million. the record and recovery it represents.

>> so thailand is probably 20-30

times ahead of competitors. for years, thailand's governor has been aggressively solar industry. that's solar will accept devaluize be notice's power grid. that means smaller communities can generate their own power. the cost of p.v. solar cells is half of what it was just two years ago. the majority in the global market are manufactured in asia, adding to the rapid expansion here. next year, thailand's solar power output will double, but the next step for the industry, the government is thinking small. >> instead of having these large scale, they want to see how to promote and adopt solar technology smaller scale.

whether it's urban situation on top of rooftop, or industrial park. >> aljazeera, thailand. >> germany is the world's largest consumer of solar power. deadly confrontations continue in eastern ukraine, despite an international deal to end the crisis, a look at the failure scenario, who benefits the most if the agreement collapses and clashes continue. >> i'd say the next 20 hours were just the most surreal day of our lives. >> a boston suburb became ground zero during the hunt for the bombers. we'll talk to residents about what it was like living under lockdown. >> every slide that they passed through that microscope, it's somebody's mother, sister, wife.

>> a family push forego reform after they say a lab error cost the life of a mother and a wife.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. southee's president compared the actions of a ferry captain to the act of murder. four crew members were arrested today, dive terms are accelerating efforts to search for the sunken ferry. 64 are dead and more than 230 remain missing. we're about an hour and a half away from the start of the boston marathon. you're taking a live look there. nearly 36,000 runners are taking part and more than a million spectators are expected. tighter security is in place after the bombings at last year's race. thousands of runners who didn't

finish last year were invited back this year, vice president joe biden is set to arrive in kiev to meet with ukraine's top leadership after a deadly clash over of the weekend threatened to derail the international agreement to end the conflict. >> russia and ukraine are blaming each other for violence that left three dead. sergey lavrov accused kiev of violating the accord they signed last week. we he look at russian's foreign strategy when it comes to ukraine. >> foreign policy experts say there's something very simple that washington needs to keep in mind as events unfold in ukraine. >> putin is not crazy here. russia has a very different set of interests than the united states. they would like a ukraine that is pro russia, russia benefits from an unstable ukraine and that's what's driving russia and putin at this moment.

>> we will see how much further russia will go. >> i don't think given part performance that we can count on them and we have to be prepared to to president obama 10 shelly respond to what continue to be efforts of interference by the russians in eastern and southern ukraine. >> defense secretary chuck hagel called russia's actions dangerously irresponsible. he warned that the u.s. and its nate owe allies have to consider the possibility that this is a broader campaign by vladimir putin to retake former soviet territories. >> while washington is clearly reassessing its currently relationship with putin's russia, the two countries grapple with other issues. the u.s. is moving its military through russian territory in and out of afghanistan. russia and the u.s. are engaged and working together to disarm syria's chemical weapons as well as occur tailing iran's nuclear

program. >> the mission unchanged since the cold war, putin will continue to try to destabilize it. >> part of the policy is to stop a world that is dominated by rules and mores created by the united states and its allies. >> for now, the relationship cannot really be stablized unless the ukraine crisis is resolved. aljazeera, new york. >> an executive board member of the ukrainian congress committee of america joins us to dig deeper into what's happening especially in eastern ukraine. those events on sunday, three people killed on both sides, did this violence signal to you a new phase in what is happening in eastern ukraine? >> i think that's what russia would like, that's the coordinated we're getting not only on the russian television,

the russian foreign minister tweeting about it, saying he is getting calls that ukraine would like an invasion by russia. easter sunday morning, the loss of life, but the fact that they were so well coordinated, the first people on the scene russian television crews and journalists, the packages on the air, some prerecorded the night before. >> what does that say to you? >> that what they're trying to do is use violence in a way that is horrible, the fact that they can us loss of life to motivate people in a way for their own better interests. >> are you suggest that go russian forces orchestrated the deaths? >> i'm suggest russia was behind coordinating as a media event. it doesn't have to be that there's somebody there telling them what to do, but the raised anxiety that these kind of events can happen and then being on scene to make sure they spread a message of propaganda

across the world. >> that declaration was signed between the u.s., e.u., ukraine and russia didn't seem to have any effect on the ground at all. >> i don't understand the point that have agreement. it was a diplomat's way of trying to deal with an active revolution in ukraine and a special operation black ops operation. >> which is denied. >> the citizen journalism has pictures of rocking up special op forces, obama administration saying these are the people we saw in crimea and other areas of approximately by russia. >> putin admitted that they were special forces in crimea that we saw. vice president joe biden is going to kiev to meet with the top leadership today. he's arriving there sortly, in

fact. he is the highest level u.s. official to visit since the crisis began. >> vice president biden has met with representatives in ukraine over here in the united states, so he has a very good grasp of the situation. however, what the ukrainian people are asking him to do is to ever the united states push this up to a different level. from the russian side is a non-stop assault, we've seen it not stop after george. >> or crimea, no diplomatic agreements seem to curb their enthusiasm from grabbing -- >> what about an agreement by kiev to federalize, to give more autonomy to eastern ukraine, would that address the conflict? >> if ukraine wants to do that, that's something for ukraine to decide, not something that a try

party talk with russia, russia should ever no say on what happens inside ukraine. in terms of federalization, there's never been a great yarning for that, poll has shown people like the way it is set up. if that is something ukraine should develop and it should take a couple of years to do that, not something done at the behest of another country, that's fine for ukraine to decide. >> thanks for coming in this morning, appreciate your insights. >> the united states nations warns 20,000 people in one as herian district could starve. the camp houses palestinian refugees. no food has been delivered there in two weeks and aid supplies have run out. some people have resorted to eating weeds and animal feed. 700 parcels of food need to be delivered a day to that camp.

since the start of the year, it has only delivered 100 parcels a day. the organization is not being given access to the district. >> syria's president made a rare public appearance showing this footage of bashar al assad inspecting damage from fighting. government troops recaptured the town from opposition fighters a week ago. assad is trying to persuade minorities that his government is their best protection against rebels. presidential elections are now scheduled for june. >> iran's president is calling for women to have equal rights in his country. in a speech, he criticized those who consider women's presence in society a threat. rouhani said iran has a long way to go to ensure gender equality. he came into power last year. women in iran are not allowed to run in presidential elections but serve as lawmakers in

parliament. >> in boston, last year's marathon attack is not far from the minds of runners getting set for this year's race. 1 million people are expected to cheer on the 36,000 runners. some of those runners were prevented from crossing the finish line last year. as hard as marathon monday was last year, the panic and terror did not end in boston until four days later in watertown. erika, you spoke with residents in watertown about the incredible ordeal they went through. >> that's right, stephanie, the manhunt for the boston beamers really locked down this entire city. we are talking about millions affected, including the area here around the boston commons. public transit was shut down, taxis ordered off the streets and again, really, this was something that affected the entire city, surrounding suburbs but no one more than watertown,

a 15 minute ride from here. >> the new york diner has been a fixture here for 70 years. in the heart of watertown, residents grab a bite and gab, mostly about boston sports. >> you guys watch the sox the other night? papi3-run homer. >> the diner is open every day, but on the friday after the marathon bombings last year, the diner was ordered to close as an army of law enforcement stormed into town on the hunt for the people responsible. after the suspects shot and killed m.i.t. officer sean calendarery, people chased the brothers into water town. >> i don't have words for it. >> the waitress thinks back to the day. she was getting ready for work

when the phone rang, a reverse 911 call from watertown police. >> don't leave your house, stay inside. if you hear any noises, or someone trying to get in, calm the police. >> i have two kids, i have a wife and i was scared for my family. we locked the doors. you know, it's scary. >> stuck inside his water town apartment, dan didn't have time to be scared for himself. he was thinking about his son working as a paramedic that day. >> wondering where's my son, is he going to get caught in the middle in this thing. >> up the street from the diner. >> you want to go on the bike? you want to lounge in the chair, you want to just throw things away. >> kyle was at home with his wife and young son. >> the next 20 hours were the most surreal day of our lives. >> i heard the first gunfight with police that killed the older brother. >> it was a giant shootout happening within feet of our door with people blown up, one

of the biggest events in the city. we were afraid. >> that fear was fueled by the unknown sings the younger brother was on the run. kyle took this video of his own back yard. >> the guy could be hiding in your dumpster. you didn't knew anything and seeing them sweep your house outside was a relief and coming to your front door and sweeping your neighbor's house. authorities lifted the lockdown and within minutes, the manhunt ended on this residential watertown street when the owner of this very home stepped outside and saw the suspect inside his boat in the back yard. he called authorities and they quickly closed in and captured him. >> as police and military made their way out of watertown, people cheered for them. >> everyone was lining the streets clapping, you know, that

they got the guy who, you know, had terrorized the city. >> for these people, the threat lingered for days. >> there were fears that there were bombs on the side of the road. >> that hadn't detonated. >> people were going down the streets very carefully for a couple of days. >> the diner reopened the next day. >> still hard for people to go through the whole thing. >> the whole thing transformed this town a bit. the new yorker now bears this physical reminder, an american flag hand painted bay new york artist shortly after the tragic week came to an end. >> the whole watertown strong definitely brought the community together. >> the manhunt and capture put watertown on the map. residents tell me when people say where are you from, they say watertown and people get it. coming up in the next hour, i'll introduce to you a really inspiring survivor story, two

brothers who each lost a leg in the attack. why they say this past year has been the best year of their lives. >> how are the people of watertown watching today? >> some folks are going to have -- some are not far away -- this is a huge state holiday here in the state of massachusetts and boston. >> erika, thank you. stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of the boston marathon. coming up at 8:00, we'll focus on the extra security and there is a lot of it in place for today's race. one family's long road to recovery and why it was so important for them to return to the race this year.

>> malaysia airlines had a flight head to go india making an emergency landing when a tire burst during takeoff. the plane arrived safely back to the airport. >> the search continues for flight 370 and officials say the underwater drone scan should finish up this week. the area was narrowed down to a six-mile radius based on sonar pings the crews heard. so far, more than half of that area has been searched and nothing found. >> a teenaged stowaway survived a harrowing flight from california to hawaii. the 16-year-old hid in the plane's wheel well during the flight. the boy hopped the fence and climbed on to the flight. the f.b.i. said he's lucky to be alive after the trip across the pacific ocean. there's not as much oxygen when the plane is 30,000 feet above ground and temperature very cold.

officials belief the boy was unconscious for most of the flight. he has been turned over to officials in maui. >> many who seek medical care get the wrong diagnosis. patients were severely harmed in half of the cases. one woman lost her battle with cervical cancer. her family hopes others learn from her experience. >> she died from cervical cancer in 2007. the mother of two died because a routine. a smear was misdiagnosed twice. >> they missed it twice. by a long shot. >> unfortunately, they are not alone. a recent study by the doctor, a patient safety researcher at houston's veteran's hospital found it is common. >> diagnostic errors happening quite frequently in terms of at

least 1-20 u.s. adults in the out patient setting. that translates to almost 12 million patients per year. >> according to his research, nearly half of these misdiagnose can be harmful. >> 2% to 36% of abnormal lab or abnormal radiology test are not communicated back to the patients if they are abnormal. this is quite a serious problem. >> experts say a misdiagnose can delay necessary treatment and sometimes be the difference between life or death. darien went to the doctor 40 times between 2008-2010. her health continued to deteriorate. test results showed nothing was wrong. >> she was a beautiful individual and i can never replace that for my daughters. i can't even replace that for myself. there will never be another one. >> they won a $21.5 million

judgment against lab corps. a tumor developed in her cervix. >> the jury told the world that it is not ok for laboratories to put profits over people. >> he believes. a smear tests are not looked at carefully and that an emphasis on efficiency cost his wife her life. >> every slide that they passed through on that table or through that microscope, it's somebodies mother, somebody's sister, somebody's wife and they're passing it through in the amount of time that we found out is less than five minutes. >> the doctor said although human error is inevitable, we can build a better system to prevent errors from occurring. >> when there is doubt, and in your head about anything, i would say follow and explore all options, because we have to be asking questions, be skeptical of the patient's situation. >> lab corps will appeal the

jury's decision, stating that they acted properly. >> the study also found that for many patients, the proper diagnosis could have been made during the first doctor's visit. >> a hotdog mix up has craft pulling oscar meyer wieners off shelves. classic cheese dogs may have been packaged with regular hot dogs. it affects 96,000 pounds of wiener. milk isn't on the hotdog label. this was discovered by a consumer who then told craft. the hotdogs were made in a plant in missouri and have the serial number 537h. >> the fruit fly could have secrets to fighting cancer. >> the heavenly sounds of a chicago company that's been making beautiful music for 150 years. >> taking a live look at

massachusetts, the starting line for the boston marathon, which starts in about an hour and a half, a big day in boston. >> in new york city, a live look at the morning runs going on around the central park reservoir, beautiful day here, as well.

>> it's time now for our discovery of the day. this one coming from -- researchers from johns hopkins found when they destroyed the cell, it regenerated. research could help unlock secrets of how the stem cells

behave. >> >> why yo fuels made from harvested corn better in the long run. in the short term, it is found they were worse than gasoline when it comes to global warming. -- let's get a check of our weather now. >> we are starting off with showers, isolated storms from texas, southern minnesota this morning. unstable through the day. chance of storms and that adds to the severe risk. here's the closer look at all of that. hit and miss as we go through the rest of the day.

the moisture coming in, places to are warmer going through heavy snow by this morning. >> the cubs can be deep dish pizza come to mind. chicago is home to a harp manufacturer. why the company has been striking the right chokes for 150 years. >> in the din of chicago's -- ♪ >> music comes to life. what they know is we made 60

years ago, 70 years ago. >> the only instrument -- professional harpists will play. >> fuller, richer sound. >> they opened the shop in 1864, first music then switching to harp years later -- >> on a tour of the 90-year-old factory it doesn't take long to figure out -- >> is done pretty much the way it's always been done, by hand. >> built by hand, all these pieces are put together. >> this piece will not fit this harp, this piece won't fit on that harp.

each piece is individually fit. >> average costs under $30,000. >> this will go for how much? >> this is about $39,000. >> wow. >> the company is looking for ways to attract younger -- >> all these kids who are techno inspired have -- they're not afraid of technology, they want to experiment with it. ♪ >> these instruments sound so good, most harpists never need to buy another one.

>> a full sized -- >> the crew of

>> al jazeera america presents a breakthrough television event. >> borderland long held beliefs... >> im really pissed off at the mexican government... >> give way to compassion... >> if you feel tired, would you turn around and come back? >> our teams find out first hand how treacherous the migrants journey can be. >> we make them take a trip of death >> it is heartbreaking when you see the families on top of the rail car borderland continues only on al jazeera america

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>> on the next talk to al jazeera >> oscar winner sean penn shares his views on privacy rights, press freedom and his controversial relationship with hugo chavez >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> boston reclaims its streets as thousands prepare for the marathon one year after the deadly bombing. we talk with boston's police commissioner about precautions in place. >> south korea's president calls the ferry captain's actions taint mount to murder as the death toll continues to mount. >> vice president joe biden said to arrive in ukraine to show

support for the new government in kiev. a fatal shooting over the weekend is threatening a fragile agreement in the country. >> this whole leg was ripped open and i was on fire. >> i definitely was in shock and i wanted to reach my leg, but for some reason, my body wouldn't let me. >> boston strong, one year after the boston marathon bombings, two brothers refuse to give up after having their lives forever changed. >> good morning and welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. boston marathon runners are stretching out, lacing up for the race which will start in an hour. 36,000 runners will make their way around the course. some runners who were unable to cross the finish line last year are back to finish what they started. many runners carb loaded last night at the annual pasta dinner and said the entire community that come together around the race. >> we are a big, happy family

and everybody will go out of their way to help each other. i think that's what we are trying to show, the terrorism won't stop the running community and it won't stop boston. >> last night, before the red sox game, players at fenway played tribute to victims and first responders. more than 1 million people will cheer the runners on today, double the number of spectators last year. we are in boston this morning where security is tight. john, good morning, so do you see the security? is it visibly different? >> good morning. yeah, it is different. we spent the last two weeks in the city and you notice security personnel, you don't really normally see them in boston. that's one thing we certainly notice, everybody is very concerned about security today, the streets locked down early. it's the number one priority. i should just say the day has

dawned beautifully, sunny, clear skies, very cold, much colder than we were led to believe, but we are told it's going to warm as the day goes on and by the time the runners come through the finish line, we should be around 50, if not 60 and possibly even 70 degrees, so we're set for a good day. it all depends what happens during the course of the race. boston wants to put behind it what happened last year, began the process last tuesday with the one year anniversary commemoration, lots of very tearful speeches from people who were injured in the race, the governor spoke, so did the vice president. now today, if they can have a clean race, then the city truly can move forward. they'll never forget the dead, they'll never stop helping the injured, but the city can begin the pros of rebuilding. how do you keep a race completely safe that is 26 miles long? you can't, really.

we've been talk to the commissioner of police and the head of the emergency management department here in the state of massachusetts. first of all, meet someone who ran last year and is determined to run again this year. >> ray doesn't remember exactly how many marathon's he's run, around 25 web thinks, including last year's, but he said the moment the bombs went off a year ago, he knew he'd be back. >> i'm not going to not run when something bad happens. if i was concerned and if i was worried and wanted to work through this, running is how i would do it. >> his book, the 27-mile tells individual tales from last year's race. >> the 27th mile is when everybody is celebrating. >> spring is in the air and the director of the massachusetts emergency management agency's on hand to inspect race preparations.

>> this is where the first bomb was actually placed. >> months of planning and risk assessment has led the city and state to tighten security. >> what is different this year? >> i think the answer is it's more. we have more police officers, more uniformed police officers, more plain clothes police officers, more surveillance cameras, we have more bicycle racks and rope separating the crowds from the spectators. >> there are new rules. the 36,000 runners will be given clear plastic bags for their gear and bags are not forbidden, but likely to be searched. >> this is the start of the marathon, just over 26 miles to the city of boston and that's a long way for law enforcement to keep safe and secure.

>> protecting the last five miles in boston falls to the city's new police commissioner william evans. >> as long as i get my run in in the morning, there's nothing i can't tackle. >> he's run 46 marathons, including new york, chicago and several overand hes. the commissioner wanted to run in solidarity with the city, but when you're the top man, duty calls, so he'll be keeping an eye on everything from a command post. >> we want to come back to what it always was, a great day, a great family day. people are not going to come and see an armed camp here at the finish line. we want to play as low key as possible, but people got to realize, there's going to be stricter precaution. >> back in the suburbs, ray is seeking an improved time this year. he knows if that's all he has to worry about, he'll be a happy man and so will the city he runs through. >> last year, he was leading a blind runner across the course and they just finished when that first bomb went off. that made him doubly determined

to come back this year. 30,000 have registered, about nine to 10,000 than normal. several have been invited back. final thoughts, it is patriots day. it may not be a holiday where you are, but in massachusetts, it's a major public holiday. everybody's off. there is the marathon, but it's patriots day, commemorating the battles of concorde and lexington. the other thing is that the boston red sox play. they always play on patriots day at 11:00. everyone is looking forward that are that came. they come down to the finish line and watch the stragglers come home at the end. we have good weather, we hope to talk to the police commissioner live before you go off the air. i can't promise it, because he said very busy, but he has promised to tie to see us. >> we are planning for that. john, thank you. we'll check back in with you later.

>> coming up in about 30 minutes, we are talking live with boston police commissioner, william evans about the security that's been put in place for this year's race, a marathon he has personally run more than a dozen times. >> this hour, we'll have the story of twins that share a passion for running and how the marathon bombings nearly took them down. >> south korea's president condemning the action of a captain and crew of a ferry that sank last week. divers have been able to recover. >> >> the man in the cross hairs of public anger like no one else in south korea, these images from 2010 show the captain of the

sunken ship at the helm of another ferry on the same route. >> just as long as you follow the directions given by crew attendants, i believe the ferry is safer than any other transportation. >> four years later, that's exactly what hundreds of young passengers did, obeying instructions to stay put as the ferry sank, while the captain was among the first to be rescued. south korea's president gave a personal condemnation of the captain. >> above all, the conduct of the captain and crew members is unfathomable, it was like an act of murder that cannot and should not be tolerated. >> she demanded a full investigation into how they won approval to add an extra deck to the ferry and extend its operating life 10 years. >> the emergency crews speeding up the recovery effort, trying to get as many bodies back to shore as possible. the first clear morning since the ferry went down and dive teams hope to make the most of the improved conditions, among them, a special forces veteran

and one of south korea's foremost rescue divers, prepared for the grim, difficult task of pulling days old bodies from the sunken wreck. >> right now, they're wearing life jackets, so it's very difficult to bring the bodies out of the ship. we need to cut the life jackets and just get the bodies out. >> all aimed at speeding the recovery of the bodies, a somber and increasingly familiar process for the rescue crews and police at the dock site. each brings with it a grief that is shared and deeply personal. >> of the 476 passengers and crew onboard the ferry, 339 were children and teachers on a high school trip.

>> here in the u.s., we make our way -- let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> we take a closer look at all of this, we do have risk for severe storm, wind, hail, isolated tornado. this is a slight risk for any of those, but mostly confined to texas, wider spread area through the midwest, some more general thunderstorms. as this front moves along, warm

air ahead of this, boston today for the marathon. >> vice president is set to land

in kiev. >> this follows from the geneva agreement, which was on thursday against all -- it listed a whole series -- that had to be met by both sides, including the surrender of these buildings and -- russians have occupied in east ukraine.

amnesty -- in the press conference, sergey lavrov recover, foreign minister said -- basically he said -- kiev is simply not meeting the demands that were called on by the meeting in geneva. he said the united states has to recognize its responsibility, the responsibility it has with the kiev government, which is of the west.

well it's official...

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>> welcome back to aljazeera america. up next, the changes that ever been placed, put in place in america's schools in the 15 years since the columbine shooting. first let's look at temperatures across the nation today. nicole mitchell is back.

>> starting out mild in portions of the midwest, fueled in part by a warm southerly flow he, contributing with the system moving through. >> you can see these temperatures stay warm for the day. >> houston, 42, risk for stronger storms. temperatures remain mild, wednesday, a southerly flow keeps temperatures mild, and fuel our next round of potential severe weather into the middle of the week. back to you. >> ok, nicole, thank you. >> dozens killed in a bus accident in southern pakistan, the bus bound for karachi.

pakistan has one of the worst records for fatal traffic accidents. road conditions and lax driving conditions are to blame. >> half the votes are counted from -- >> an army ranger can't shake the fact that he might be responsible. in an espn interview, steven elliot described the firefight which ended in the death of tillman and two others. >> there was somebody on that ridge line who was firing.

it appeared that they were firing at us. we believe that to be an enemy position. had no idea that there was the possibility of friendlies on the ridge line, so i fired two to three bursts from my weapon and that was ultimately what we discovered later was pat and bries position. >> elliot said even if forensics proved he didn't fire the fatal shot, he still feels responsible for firing on a friendly position. he left the army in 2007. >> 16 years ago today, two teens carried out a deadly school attack few at the time could fathom. in the years since, school shootings ever become more common. as jim reports, that attack and those that followed have changed how we protect our children at school. >> there used to be a the doors scheduled, a lot of the doors were unlocked and you could go into them at any time during the day. >> right now, there are a lot of security and cops everywhere and

the doors locked. >> for students at arapho high school, there is security. >> i trust the people around me to keep me safe. >> even schools that have been spared the violence, security is there. >> parents can't walk in like you could 15-20 years ago. you're seeing more presence from physical security uniform staff in schools. you're seeing more law enforcement, police officers. >> the tragedy at columbine high school in littleton, colorado was the wake up call. >> i'll never forget the 13 that lost their lives. >> the principal on april 20, 1999. >> my worst nightmare became a reality, to see a gunman coming towards me. i hear shots. >> that horror has been repeated at scores of schools and

colleges around the country, virginia tech, ohio, three students dead. perhaps most heart wrenching, the 20 grade school kids killed with six adults at sandy hook elementary in connecticut. the list goes on. the group mayors against guns documents 62 school shootings in just a year and a half since sandy hook. each shooting has led to an evolution in strategies to engage an active shooter. >> law enforcement now enters immediately, they go straight for the gunman. >> that new protocol was employed at arapaho. >> the response from the school resource officer, from the unarmed school security officer was absolutely critical to the fact that we did not have additional injury and or --

>> a handful of states passed other gun control laws. south dakota enacted laws that make it legal for teachers to carry guns. >> this is your life. >> this is my life. >> frank i go not certain if any of the new protocols or laws will stop shootings in schools. >> our society is violent. that has to change. >> aljazeera. >> there have been at least 44 school shootings since the deadly 2012 attack at sandy hook elementary school in new town, connecticut. >> stepping up security as runners prepare to take to the streets of boston. for the city's marathon, one year after the deadly bombings there. police commissioner joins us to discuss the measures their taking for protection. >> vice president biden arriving in ukraine today as deadly

violence in the eastern part of the country threatens an agreement to end the crisis there. the message to leaders in kiev and neighboring moscow. >> reuben hurricane carter, wrongly convicted of murder has died. we'll look back at the 20 year fight he waged for his freedom. >> head to go break, a look now at our images of the day. permissions for today's boston marathon and the memorials in place in honor of those lost in last year's attack. we'll have more on the race in just two minutes.

>> you're looking at vice president joe biden's plane taxiing on the runway in kiev, ukraine. he is kicking off a two day visit, including talks with the acting president, prime minister, there are continued tensions in the eastern part of the country. mr. biden is the highest-ranking

u.s. official to visit ukraine since the crisis began in december. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. ahead in this half hour, asia will be the focus for president obama this week as he prepares to head to the region tomorrow. how the ukraine crisis will factor into meetings there. >> reuben hurricane carter has died. >> this year's boston marathon is set to kick off about 30 minutes from now. 36,000 runners are expected to participate this year, and at least a million people are going to line the streets to cheer them on. nearly 260 people were injured when the bombs went off at the finish line last year. for the survivors and families, their lives have been changed forever. we are joined from boston. we have been speaking with two brothers bonded by this tragedy.

good morning. >> good morning. these brothers are part of the big close-knit family of six who have stuck together since the brothers each lost a leg in the marathon attack last year. recovery for them seems to be all about attitude. it's truly inspiring. both brothers say that this past year has been the best year of their lives. >> the crowd had gone from cheers and applause for the runners to screams and cries. the noises, first the explosion and then the chaos from the crowd, both menu it was a bad sign. >> these brothers of stoneham massachusetts were standing along boylston street in boston, waiting for a friend to finish the marathon when they heard the first explosion closer to the finish line. >> i thought it was probably a gas explosion, like a manhole cover blew off. i saw the flames go up the side of the building. >> they tried to get over the

crowds climbing over the barricades. 12 seconds later, another erupted right next to them. >> this whole leg was ripped open and i was on fire. >> i was in shock and i wanted to reach for my leg, but my body wouldn't let me. >> nearby medic and ordinary people rushed to help them. they are working on j.p. here and paul over here. >> in that moment, both men lost their right legs, bonding the brothers in a new way. they were already close, they ate meals together and played basketball nearly every day. >> we don't do some of the stuff we used to do, not yet, anyways, we don't play basketball. i'll go and play pool in the pool room. we still eat, of course, you know, we were just getting back to our new normal. >> to document their journey, the brothers wrote a book

entitled twice as strong, the marathon that changed their lives. >> we definitely see life different now than we did then. >> since then, the brothers endured 50 surgeries, suffering burns on half of their bodies. paul spent eight days in a coma. >> i cried every day he was in a coma. >> his long time girlfriend he thought might not want to be in an amputee. she was seriously injured in the attack. it brought them closer. they took a big step in their relationship, involving a wedding themed christmas tree. >> he asked me to marry him. >> i didn't drop to one knee. >> he had a good excuse. >> sorry, i can't do it, i only got one knee. you know i'm just kidding. >> humor helps them heal. >> is that pretty good? >> no. [ laughter ] >> it was their family and friends who truly gave them

strength, none more than their mom. >> when paul got out of his coma, i thought everything was going to be ok and it was quite a few turning around for him and then j.p. started to take a turn and infection started setting in for him. it was like you get good news from one hospital and bat news from another. >> one year later, liz is grateful her sons alive, but marathon monday changed her, too. >> even though they're fine with it and accepted it with that it's sad. those simple little things they used to do now becomes a challenge and i'm talking every aspect of their lives, so it's a little sad. >> in the past year, the brothers have only been back to the bombs site here once, that was for a fundraiser to raise money for their prosthetic legs. otherwise, they have no somebody being here. they say they don't want to look back at the past. they have they are sights set on the future. >> physically, recovery is far

from over, j.p. is still in pain when he walks. he has to ever at least two more surgeries. emotionally. >> i think i'm happier now than i was a year ago. >> i'd almost say it was the best year in my life, because we got engaged. >> it's that realization that propelled these brothers to share their stories about living life for the fullest. >> don't wait for a tragedy to change your lives. it took a tragedy to open our eyes and find out how good life is and what you take for granted in a day. >> the next step for the brothers is to run. they say they haven't tried that yet, but that's something they really want to do this year, because they want to get back to playing basketball. >> the story of those brothers really gets at the heart of the mixed emotions people feel there. you are from boston. i know how much that town means to you. speaking to the people there, is there a sense that there has been closure in the last year?

>> yeah, i definitely think so. i think you can see that in the sense that there are 10,000 more runners, and people who ran last year that are absolutely, you know, front in line ready to go this year. i thought coming to town, maybe there would be a sense of anxiety, but it's just excitement, and that is really what's running behind so much of what's driving these runners. i definitely could feel that walking around, talking to people who are in these hotels, getting ready for marathon, even just this morning getting ready to come down to the commons here, talk to the folks in the coffee shops getting ready for their big day, and they just seem totally excited. very proud to be from this city here, boston strong, stephanie. >> that's great. they're literally back on their feet. thank you. >> coming up later in our program, we'll introduce to you two more brothers whose lives were also changed by the boston

marathon bombing. >> we feel it's important for him to be back at boston, have a great race and experience it the way he should have last year. >> how these autistic twins fought to once again hit the pavement and get back into the sport that brought them closer with their family. >> more than 20 people, including several children are recovering from a serious easter accident, a car slammed into a packed church last night in fort myers, florida. more than 200 people were at the second haitian baptist church for an annual easter concert when the car crashed through a brick wall and into several rose of pews. the driver said the car took off and the brakes failed. >> a teenaged stowaway surviving a flight from california to hawaii, he hid in the wheel well during the flight. he hopped the fence at the

airport, climbed into the flight. the f.b.i. said he's lucky to be alive after the trip across the pacific oxygen. there's not as much oxygen and the temperature can get very cold. officials believe the boy was unconscious for most of the flight. he has been turned over to child welfare officials in maui. >> a close call for a u.s. senator nearly clipped by a speeding train. there you see it, that's senator richard blumenthal, holding a news conference about consumer rail safety. he clearly laughed it off. he did reach to save the poster and came inches from the edge of the platform. he is calling for better safety accountability for the metro north rail line. a new report find the rail line has nearly 140 violations over the last 10 years. >> a grand jury in texas debating whether governor rick perry abused his power vetoes

funding for a democratic led by a political foe. at issue, perry's veto of state funding for public corruption prosecutors. critics say the move specifically targeted a democratic district attorney who he sought to unseat after a drunken driving conviction. her office was looking into governor perry's office at the time. if she resigned, he would ever appointed her replacement. >> the white house has a lot on the agenda today. good morning, hard to take you completely seriously with those chickens behind you. let's get to the serious part first. obama is taking part in an annual easter tradition, the egg roll. let's talk about the fact first that vice president biden has just landed in ukraine this morning. he arrives in the middle of a very fro fragile agreement.

what does he hope to achieve during the visit? >> this is a very strong show of support with the government of ukraine. he will assure them they have the support of the u.s. and nato allies and be looking with them towards the may election where they will elect a new government and he will talk with them about insuring those he legs are fair and open and that they go smoothly, so a key visit, a really -- the top administrative visit to ukraine since the crisis began there. >> ok, also president obama has his big trip to asia planned. he heads to asia tomorrow. this comes as the tension is increasing over those territorial disputes in the region. what does president obama have planned for this trip? will that be on the agenda? >> the white house has made it very clear it wants to pivot toward asia, hoped to go back in october when the trip was planned but that was during the

government shutdown. the white house had to delay the trip. the president is going to japan malaysia, south korea, and philippines. don't expect any big announcements, but all of the issues will be on the table. it's a show of support, a show that the u.s. is interested in asia, sort of as a counter balance to china and that is the point the president will be making there. >> now, lisa, to the reason why there are big chicken behind you, the annual easter egg roll. how's it going so far? >> first of all, it's a gorgeous day out here and it is truly organized chaos. 30,000 people expected here on the south lawn. we will hear later from the president and first lady. the theme this year is hop into healthy, swing spue shape. of course that dovetails with michelle obama's let's get moving campaign. there are exercise areas here as well as the traditional egg roll. it is a fabulous event. when one of the kids out here

this morning saw all these cartoon characters who were here, he said there's everybody here! so a lot of energy and a beautiful day for it here at the white house. >> all right. >> lisa ending on a high note. thank you. >> boxer reuben hurricane carter passed away at his home sunday with prostate cancer complications. he was refeared for his decade long fight against racial injustice. >> in 1966, reuben carter was one of the world's best boxers. he took up the sport serving with the u.s. army and turned pro in 1961. his speed and power in the ring earning him the nickname hurricane. he was the top contender for the world title. all that changed in june of

1966. convicted by an all white jury on the base of questionable testimony, carter always proclaimed his innocence. ♪ >> what you are seeing is a person who has been raped of his freedom for nine and a half years. what you're seeing is a person who has become blind in this penitentiary for lack of the proper medical attention. what you're seeing is a person who has been without his wife and daughter for nine and a half years for crimes that he did not, would not and could not commit. >> carter finally won a second trial, but he was convicted a second time. most of the celebrity supporters

went away. he continued to fight to clear his name. eventually, his cause was adopted by a group of canadian activists. they uncovered proof that evidence was suppressed. after 19 years in prison, a federal court cleared his name, ruling that carter, had been convicted based on an people to racism rather than reason. carter moved to canada and spent the revert of his life to clear the names of other wrongly convicted men and women. >> sometimes in order for society to move forward, sometimes we have to go back and clean up those regurgitating mistakes that keep appearing in our prison. >> in february, he wrote an article for the new york daily news asking the brooklyn district attorney to reopen a case since 1985, the year carter was set free. he wrote this he was on his dealt bed and added if i find a heaven after this life, i'll be surprised. i've lived in hell for the first

49 years and have been in heaven for the past 28 years. ro>> i inspired a half dozen bos and the oscar nominated film, "the hurricane." >> twin artistic brothers left shattered after the boston marathon bombing, hitting the pavement again.

>> a private cargo ship has successfully docked at the international space station. it had several delays last week but launched saturday. it's delivering fueling supplies and science experiments. the transfer company was founded

by tesla c.e.o. it has a contract to send supplies to the international space station. >> just ahead, one families determination to overcome the personal toll of last year's boston marathon bombing. first, a look at where the wet weather will be today, thankfully not boston. >> the boston forecast is lovely, a lot of temperatures will be in the 50's, highs in the low 60's, lots of sunshine, so nice to have a cooperative forecast. >> in the midsection of the country, very mild, and that's going to fuel thunderstorms. a lot of this will be regular, scattered thunderstorm activity and you can see some of the showers already this morning, but southern parts of texas or central parts of texas slight risk for strong storms. all this shifts east tomorrow. back to you. >> nicole, thank you. we want to turn back to the boston marathon, set to kick off at the top of the next hour. william evans was appointed

boston's police commissioner this year in charge of protecting runners and spectators. he has run the boston marathon 18 times. 18 times himself. he joins us now on aljazeera. commissioner, thank you so much for being with us on what must be a very busy day for you. let me first start by asking about security. i know it's beefed up this year. should visitors expect things to be vastly different at the marathon today? >> you know, obviously, you know, the security for us, you know, we have a great plan. we've been working on it, you know, i think anyone coming here should feel it's going to be a great day, like it's always been, so, you know, it's, you know, it's going to be a great day in the city of bass to know. i don't have any security plans, everybody should come, enjoy the day. we have 36,000 runners. i think they're all going to have great weather to run in. i think we're going to have some great memories of what happens

today. >> i certainly hope that's the case, commissioner. the area around the marathon where it has been described by some as a ring of steel, how do you secure a 26-mile marathon route? has it entirely been cordoned off? >> well, you know, 26.2 miles makes it a very soft target. we do our best, obviously to secure up the areas we need, we believe need to be buttoned up. you know, again, you know, we need the public's help. obviously if they say something, say something. we can't do it alone. it's a lot of mileage to cover, but we have plenty of officers out there and, you know, i think we're going to have nothing to worry about. you know, we've had this race 116 times without incident and there's nothing to lead us to believe, we have no intelligence to believe this race is under any type of threat, so i think we're going to have a great day

and the runners again are going to have perfect weather and over a million spectators, i think it's going to be what boston has always seen, a great marathon, a great patriots day in the city. >> the entire nation is watching and celebrating boston today. you brought up intelligence. when we talk about intelligence learned last year, the intelligence failures are the focus. do you feel those issues of miscommunication with intelligence last year have been sorted out this year? >> yeah, i mean, you know, there was a lot of criticism about sharing info from the f.b.i., but we've really, you know, made that partnership that much stronger, we put new procedures in place, so we have greater sharing of info with the f.b.i., with all our partners, daily communications right up to this morning. i got briefed this morning, so the information sharing hasn't been an issue. we have great relationships and

i think it's really improved from last year. >> i know that you go for a run motor mornings. i assume you got your run in this morning. what was going through your mind during your morning jog? >> well, i got out at 4:15 this morning, and, you know, focusing on the day's activities. you know, i was adderall calendar with my supervisors at 6:00 a.m. this morning, just make sure we have the plan down pat, that everyone's doing their assignments, you know, that our officers are on their posts. i have all the faith in our officers. i think everyone the world has seen the capabilities of the boston police department last year, and after that tragedy, and our guys are going to be on their toes. i think it's going to be a super day. i think everyone's going to enjoy it. i hope all the runners achieve any goal they want. there's a lot of great charities out there. it's going to be a great day in the city. >> we wish all of you and the

city of boston the very best marathon ever. >> 23-year-old autistic twins developed passion for running and that passion erupted at the boston marathon last year. one stopped running. >> parenthood is never a sprint, it's a marathon. for the parents of two autistic boys, there are plenty of unchartered inclines, twists and turns. >> neither alex or jami are able to speak, any, you know, they can't have a conversation, they can't say really what they like and what they don't like, and in addition to that, both have very significant and sometimes very severe behaviors. >> a lot of these autistic kids and duties ever enormous amounts

of energy. there's no outlet for it. you ever to find that outlet and whether it's piano playing or singing or if it's experiencing some type of traveling with your son or daughter, but we found running. >> running is really the focus of our lives right now. we really resolve everything around running. >> the path hit alan and robert schneider as they ran on the beach with their boys. >> they started running faster than we were, so we just thought gee. >> they'll do this forever, let's try to find some kind of organized running club. >> they got the wins to a club coached by kevin mcdermott. he found his new runners gifted and passionate. >> i think they like to complete paths. they like to start and finish something. they're both real good at puzzles and they don't like to quit until they finish. there's something about a finish line that they like. >> nothing excited them more than this endeavor, just

translated into positive behavior all day long. >> it also translated into more than 150 races over eight years. the now 23-year-olds, especially alex have won enough awards and accolades to fill their house. >> alex is an incredibly gifted athlete. he loves running so much, he would keep running for hours and hours and hours without stopping. jami is much slower thannal level. speed was never a thing for jami. he likes the social aspect. we are stopping at the water stops, and, you know, grabbing the water, and shaking people's hands along the way. >> in 2011, alex and jail mean started competing in the biggest race of them all. >> we had a nice experience in boston the first time, so going into boston last year, we had high expectations and as everyone else, we were very excited to go to boston the

second time. everything went fine until all hell broke loose. [ explosion ] >> when the bombs went off, alex, who had already finished was with mom back in the family hotel room, but jami and dad were still on the course. >> there was people crying, and they're waving their hands and they're shouting, and he's drinking it all in. that's part of his issue with his autism, he hates to see people in distress or upset, so this was an overdose for him. >> everything was just -- we were just all in shock, so for alex, it was really difficult. he didn't understand, obviously, has no idea what a bomb is, no idea what smoke is, couldn't relate to any of it. >> while alex showed no lasting effects, jami was traumatized.

as always, mom and dad found ways to help. >> walking, you know, positive walking, as a family, then maybe a little running in the woods with quiet. i mean, it took months for him to get back to being in a crowd in a race. we had to be quiet around him for maybe a month or two after boston. in slow doses, we gave him the race experience back and he slowly came back. >> they took a big chance on another big race in november, the new york city marathon and the twins finished in typical fashion, alex ahead of dad and jami, victory, and now boston. >> since it's been a year and he's made tremendous progress, thank god, through this past year, and that's one of the reasons why we feel it's so important for him to be back at boston, to have a great race, and to experience it the way that he should ever experienced it last year. >> jami will get that chance,

the family set to return again this year for a third boston marathon. john henry smith, aljazeera. >> i'm stephanie sy in new york. you're watching aljazeera america. have a great morning. >> we pray for the children in the womb >> a divisive issue >> god is life , so it's his to take >> see a 10 year old girl who's pregnant, and you tell me that's what god wants... >> a controversial law >> where were you when the babies lives were being saved? >> are women in texas paying the price? >> who's benefiting from restricting access to safe abortions? >> fault lines... al jazeera america's hard hitting... ground breaking... truth seeking... breakthrough investigative documentary series access restricted only on al jazeera america

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