>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are the stories we're following for you. vice president joe biden arrives in ukraine on the heels of a bloody attack in the east. south korea's president condemns the captain of the ferry that went down last week and the death toll continues to rise. boston marathon finishes amid a wall of security.

the geneva agreement to bring peace to ukraine is in danger. vice president joe biden is kyiv to meet with leaders of that country. this comes after a deadly attack in the east. as jacky rowland reports, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. >> the vice president arrives in the region when peace efforts are faltering. tries to deal with a rebellion in the east by pro-russian activists. the deal reached in geneva last week calls on these activists to come out from behind their barricades in the exchange for a promise of greater autonomy. a little bit more violence on sunday have heightened tensions and mistrust between the two

sides. pro-russian activists have called on moscow for help and russia is hinting it could do nothing but help to intervene. >> we are being put in a very difficult position. but those who are deliberately leading towards the start of a civil war are engaged in criminal policies. we are not just going to condemn them, we're also going to curb these policies. >> reporter: there are still many in the east that want to become part of a united campai campaign. heckled local officials. about 200 meters, down the road, there is a rival demonstration by pro-russian activists. this shows the reaction of the region at a whole. they is see the visit by vice president biden as further

interference. they want self governance and they trust only russia to help them achieve it. jacky rowland, al jazeera in eastern ukraine prospect. >> south korea's president is condemning the captain. some family members are waiting for official word about their loved ones. they remain at a local gymnasium waiting for updates. stayed media reporting 87 bodies recovered so far. harry fawcett has more from the island of jindo, south korea. >> these images from 2010 shows the captain of the sunken sewol at the helm of another ferry. >> i believe the ferry is safer than any other transportation. >> four years later that's

exactly what hundreds of young passengers on the sewal did. obeying instructions to stay put while the ferry sank while the captain was one of the first to be rescued. in seoul, south korea's president condemned the captain. >> wholly unfathomable from the viewpoint of common sense. i.t. was like an act -- it was like an act of murder that cannot and should not be tocialt ed. >> extending its operating life by adding an extra deck to the ferry. speeding up the recovery effort and trying to get as many boirdz back -- bodies back to shore as possible. the first clear morning since the ferry went down and dive teams were hoping to make the most of the credit improved conditions. among them a special forces veteran and one of south korea's

foremost rescue divers, prepared to pull 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 a knife or scissors to get the jackets off and get the bodies out. >> police at the dock side and rescue crews, a very somber statistic. harry fawcett jindo, south korea. strikes took place in a mountainous area of the avian province. three senior members of the group were killed in the operation. u.s. drones were reportedly involved in the strike. syria's parliament announced

the country will hold presidential elections on june 3rd. dozens of people were killed in air strikes in the northern syria city of aleppo over the weekend. the syrian observatory of human rights said 29 were from the same neighborhood. more than 150,000 people have died in syria since the civil war began. meanwhile the united nations is warning nearly 20,000 people in one syrian district could die. no food has been delivered there in nearly two weeks and aid supplies have run out. some people have reportedly resorted to eating leaves and animal need. the u.n. says it needs to deliver at least 700 sparm parcs aaday of food. has not given access to the district. access to hospitals and doctors are a huge problem.

millions of children are forced to go without vital health care. osama bujadid has the story. >> all three have a disorder that stunts their growth. >> translator: look at my son. he is 16 but he looks five years old. >> also needs medical care for cerebral palsy but there are no hospitals nearby and getting to hospital in aleppo has become too dangerous. >> translator: we used to take this for treatment but now we cannot because of war. >> reporter: the civil war has nearly crippled syria's health care system and what's left has become too expensive. >> translator: i used to buy one hormone injection for $20, but it now calls me $100. i have no means to pay for my

kids' treatment. >> government forces have been accused of targeting areas by rebels. denial of medical care as a weapon of war. aid agencies warned that almost half of all medical personnel have left syria. dozens of doctors have been tortured to death in government prisons because they treated injured rebels. people have built these makeshift clinics. >> we perform cesarean sections 24 hours a day and we deal with emergency situations here as well. there is a lack of medical personnel and medicines and equipment. >> reporter: but centers like this are rare. many field clinics are using old clothes as bandages. hundreds of children have died because of frequent power

outages. patients were hit on the head to knock them out because there wasn't any anesthetic. cases of measles and polio and other diseases are rampant because there are no vaccines. authorities are amazed that a teenager 16-year-old boy hopped the fence in san jose and climbed on a hawaiian airlines flight. the boy was unconscious most of the time since there isn't much oxygen at 38,000 feet. he has been turned over to child welfare officials in maui. breaking news to tell you out of utah. salt lake city police say there was a shooting there, gang trial

about to get underway there today. at least one person was wounded. we will bring you more details as they become available. 15 years ago two teens carried out a deadly school attack. few at the time could fathom. in the years since the columbine school massacre, shootings have become more common. jim hig hooley reports. >> the doors were unlocked and you could go into them during any time of the day. >> right now there are a lot of security and cops everywhere and the doors being locked. >> reporter: for students at arapaho high school near denver, security goes hand in hand with learning. >> especially after arapaho, i trust the people around me to keep me safe. >> even the schools that have been spared the violence, security is a priority.

>> parents, visitors can't walk into our schools the way they could 15, 20 years ago. you are seeing more presence from physical security staff. >> the tragedy at columbine high school in littleton colorado was the wakeup calls. frank de angeles was the principal. >> my worst nightmare became a reality. i see a gunman coming at me, i hear shots. >> that horror has been repeated at dozens of schools. virginia tech, chardon, ohio. the 20 grade school kids killed along with six adults at sandy hook elementary, the mayors

against guns documents 62 school shootings in just a year and a half since sandy hook. each shooting has led to an evolution of strategy to engage an active shooter. >> law enforcement now enters immediately. they go straight for the gunman. >> that new strategy was deployed at arapaho. >> the response from the unarmed security officer, was absolutely critical to the fact that we did not have additional injury, and or death. >> lawmakers have also attempted to make school safer. a handful of states have passed tougher gun control laws. other states like south dakota enacted laws that make it legal for teachers to carry guns on the school grounds. >> our societ society is just vt

and that's got to change. >> the day will be allowed to pass quietly. jim hooley, al jazeera, littleton, colorado. >> the winners have crossed the finish line. the marathon marks one year since two bombs exploded at the finish line killing three people and maming hundreds. our john terret has been following the marathon in boston. >> yes. >> john, first of all who are the winners? >> reporter: well, stephanie, what a difference a marathon makes. that's all i can say. extraordinary scenes here. we have had an emotional end to the elite race for the boston marathon just one year after the most emotional boston marathon ever. nobody saw this coming, nobody, not even the commentators. it is 23-year-old neb kafluske,

came here in 1987 but is an american citizen. he won the games in 2004 and he came home in the time of 2 hours 8 minutes and a little bit of change. the first time stephanie in 30 years that an american has won the boston marathon. so we've had tears of joy as the national anthem was plate. a little bit different tears than last year. although no one saw this coming. the elite women case, rita jeptu, from kenya, three times champion and that race time of hers makes her the fastest woman ever to run the boston marathon. stephanie. >> would you, what symbolism, an american man winning the boston

marathon today. john what has the atmosphere been especially given the security precautions this year? >> reporter: i should say, that symbolism is lost on nobody. everybody gets it. so now, everybody is extremely happy in the sunshine in boston. we can't be too careful of course. we know the bombings happened at 2:49. a long time after the elite crossed the line. nobody is letting up their guard. the security situation is very different than it was last year. there are more officers on the entire route, more plain clothed officers and cameras watching than ever before. refns has been talking to al jazeera and he concedes that with a million people lining the route once this is done and dusted, policing the route is a very tall order but you'll see they're ready for it.

>> 26.2 miles makes it a very soft target. we do our best to secure the areas. we believe need to be buttoned up. again, we need the public's help obviously if they see something to 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. >> reporter: and that is a man who has run more than 40 marathons. he badly wanted to run today but now he's the top man in charge so he couldn't. he's watching from a control box. he'll be delighted as everybody else is that an american has won the race, first time it happened in 30 years. stephanie. >> john terret, thank you. still to come on al jazeera: a

colombian town remembers a world renown author who became their hero. and a chicago company that brings music to life.

>> the late gabriel garcia marquez was a nobel prize winner among other awards. gabriel alizando, has the story from his home town. >> magmagdalena can still rememr gabriel garcia marquez. >> he was an envious kid. if he saw some other child had something he wanted, he would

try to get it for himself. >> marquez was born in arakataka, in this home which is now a museum. they represent the younger generation where the most curious of the famous writer from their town. marilee said she started reading parts of the author's books when she could barely walk. >> i was curious about the book, everybody said gabo was good, so i wanted to see how good he was. >> reporter: the sleepy town might not look like much at first glance but it was here that was the inspiration of macondo, the fictional village in the author's 1967 novel, 100 years of solitude. the was a push to officially

change the name to macondo, but it never happened. everyone has a story of the man everybody calls gabo. arakatako was the place he found between reality and nostalgia lie all the raw material for his work. whether it's young kids in the home town who now believe they can perhaps write about the next macondo or ms. balano who never was able to see marquez again after he left as a child, marquez effect could be measured by the town. are arakataka colombia. a new are are, coe dean warning. they say it's codeine scare.

prieshed the study authors say that is still too much. president obama and the first lady hosted a white house tradition today. the annual easter egg roll. thousands of people gathered on the south lawn to gather in the festivities. this is the 130th annual event. did you know that chicago is the warm to the oldest and largest harp manufacturing? diane eastabrook tells us why the manufacturer has been striking the right chord for 150 years. >> reporter: in the din of chicago's gritty west side, beautiful music comes to light.

lion and healy has been building harps since just after the civil war. their instruments stand the test of time. >> instruments from all over the world, an instrument that was made 60 years ago, 70 years ago, 80 years ago, their teacher's harp. >> the only instrument had some professional harpists, will play. >> for me, it's a fuller rounder richer sound. >> george lion and pric patricky opened they are factory, it doesn't take long to figure out why these harps are so special. everything is done pretty much the way it's always been done. by hand. >> all this is built by hand. all these little pieces are hand-rivetted together.

>> from the sound mechanism to building the chamber that holds it to carving the flowers on the harp's column. each lion and healy hamp is hars unique. >> each piece is individually cut, fit, and we serial-number all of them. >> the average harp costs just under $30,000. but the ones with hand laid gold leaves like this loui louis rm i number goes for more. younger musicians, this electric harp is one example. >> all these kids who are so technoinspired, and have -- they're not afraid of technology. they embrace it and want to experiment with it.

>> fritz thinks the biggest challenge facing over the next 150 years could be the company itself. these instruments sound so good for so long, many of the harpists may not need to buy another one. diane ef eastabrook, al jazeera, are chicago. making or break a film maker's career. well it's official...

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. here are today's headlines at this hour. vice president joe biden is in kyiv. set to visit leaders in ukraine. fragile agreement between the u.s., russia and ukraine. the winners have crossed the finish line at the boston marathon. an estimated 1 million people are cheering on the racers today. the race marks one year since the explosion killed 3 and jisheinjured hundreds. shooting at the salt lake city courthouse. reports that federal marshals

shot the are attacker. it can make or break you as a director. the tribeca film festival. andy wright has the story. >> it's opening night at the tribeca film festival for a movie you probably haven't heard of. but for director omar takel. it could make or break. >> everything could go wrong. >> he is the creator and star of summer of blood, a story about a 40-something with a vampire twist. the entire project was made for just $30,000. with many of the actors and crew working for free. >> i'm in new york and i made a couple of movies and it's working out and of course i

haven't had wild success but they're getting made and getting appreciated. the fact that we're in tribeca is a victory in itself. >> for aspiring film makers, getting exposure is everything. the movie business is renowned for being a tough industry for breaking into. >> it's unfortunately more of a rarity these days. i think festivals provide that platform for film makers to be having that experience they have been looking for. >> reporter: the summer of blood, for this director the ultimate goal isn't necessarily winning awards but to carry on doing the thing he loves. >> for me it's fun. i'm not motivated by money. but i do want to make some money at this, so we can make bigger better more ambitious movies i think. >> reporter: it's a sentiment many aspire to. these days it's much easier to

make movies on small affordable cameras using social media, to get some kind of audience. but without the tribeca film festival these potential stars of tomorrow may not have the chance they now have. are andy gallagher, al jazeera new york. >> thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. s rachelle oldmixon takes a test to find out what's in her dna. kyle hill is an engineer. tonight he's got the innovation