welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. >> okay. >> yeah, let's go. >> we have got to go right now. >> tornados strike again, and once gin the results in the south are deadly. should the police be able to search your cell phone without a war rent? the supreme court now taking up that issue. and in just a few hours the nba expected to hold a news conference about that l.a. clippers scandal.

♪ another series of tornados tearing through the south, killing 12 people. this is video that shows the power of those storms hitting the area. this is a massive twister that touched down near tupelo, mississippi. erika pitzi reports. >> i just remember hearing my dad yell, please god just save my family. and he did. >> he did. >> reporter: the deep south took a big hit from the slow moving tomorrow system that has already assaulted several states. a powerful tornado claimed lives in lime stone, county, alabama where the twister ripped apart homes. 12,000 people lost power. outside of birmingham, lightning lit up the sky just before another tornado touched down and

took out this small town church. in mississippi multiple funnel clouds like this one formed. a county hospital got hit, with cars in the parking lots toed around like toys. >> we heard the train coming, we got our employees and what patients we had in the clinic in the safest place we would get. we honestly felt god's hand of protection around us. the clinic was destroyed but we're all safe. >> reporter: tennessee also received a tornado with wind speeds up to 120 miles an hour. it leveled a school, but no one was in the school when it hit. in kansas a massive tornado decimated more than a hundred homes and businesses. despite the despair -- >> this is my life that i work sod hard for, and it's

just . . . laying there in pieces. >> mom! >> reporter: there are moments of hope. this woman found an old jewel ri box a gift from her mother. erika pitzi, al jazeera. both the speed and power of this latest batch of tornados has everyone scratching their heads. ebony there is concern that more storms are on their way? >> that's right. in the heating of the day that destabilizes the atmosphere and more danger can occur. atlanta is now included in the risk as well. the highest risk remains over some of the same areas that were hit hard yesterday. we had video to show you out of athens alabama. you can see a lot of damage left behind, unfortunately this area not out of the woods just yet.

our storm system is slow moving, and it's going to continue to make its way eastward. and yes, northern, alabama, certainly one of those areas where we could see more storms. we saw the clouds, plenty of moisture, so we are going to see more storms erupting through the afternoon and evening. right now it's the tail end of this line where we do have tornado warnings in place right between app latch cha and pensacola that's when we'll see that threat of tornados in the next 30 minutes. you do need to take shelter, del? >> thank you very much. the supreme court set to weigh in on a controversial police tactic. they say it's about solving crimes, but privacy advocates say it's about your pry vaty. >> if police stop you for any offense, can they then search

the contents of your cell phone without a warrant? there are two cases before the court. and in the lower courts they disagreed on whether it was legal or not legal. if police officers pull someone over they have the right to pat them down or check their immediate surroundings to look for weapons or evidence of a crime that the suspect could quickly destroy, but does that right to conduct a search without a warrant extend to your cell phone, which these days can be on encyclopedia of your life. elizabeth says police should not have that right. >> the vast troves of information that we store on our cell phones make it different than simply going through a suspect's wallet or something that they might find in the person's pocket. we store our personal correspondents, sensitive

records, medical information, financial information, our picture, so the level of intrusion that is at issue in these cases is much more substantial than we have seen before. >> reporter: in the two cases before the court one involving a gang member, the other a suspected drugs dealer both had information in their cell phones that lead to additional charges. in the gang member's case the appeals court ruled the cell phone search was legal, in the drug offense the appeals court through out the conviction. she believes both searches were a violation of the fourth amendment. >> the framers of our constitution specifically wrote that into the constitution to protect against the police going on fishing expedestrian dishes like they did really in these cases when they searched through these individuals phones to find something that they hoped would be incriminating. >> reporter: the justice

department disagrees, saying cell phones are critical tools for criminals, used to pass messages and store child pornography. police they say need quick access to that information. and that's the question before the court, is it critical for police to nab that cell phone information immediately, or must they way for a warrant? this court decision could have very brood implications perhaps even beyond cell phones, could they search your computer for example, if it was sitting next to you in the car? we are expecting a decision from the justices on this critical case by june. one person is dead, six others injured after a workplace shooting? georgia. it hand at a fedex facility outside of atlanta. local media reporting that the man recently worked at the center. the fedex spokesperson said it

is cooperating with authorities. in just a few hours the nba is set to address the racist comments made by the l.a. clipper's owner donald sterning. what should we expect when we hear from them later today? >> reporter: it is a big test. adam silver took over as commissioner just three months ago, and this is proving to be his biggest test on the job yet. the nba has first been tasked with authenticating the recording. now after that, we do expect the nba to come down hard on sterling, and that could mean a number of things, a lengthy suspension, and huge fine, and essentially barring sterling from any clippers' games.

the intent is to pressure him to sell the team. >> i don't know if a fine really works that much. he is worth $1.9 billion, what are you going to do give him a $1 million fine? i don't know if that is a enough here. maybe a lifetime suspension from coming to games. as far as him really giving up the team that seems like a legal long shot to me. so i wonder what the nba will do, will they seize ownership in some sense? but sterling has not seized the ownership of this team in many years, so i don't know if he'll do much. >> reporter: clippers coach doc rivers and the players have maintained that their focus is on beating the golden state warriors later today. that could be a difficult task because we are expecting protesters to show up before the game later today. >> and already the sponsors are lining up and heading out.

what type of message does this send to the owners? >> well, it certainly sends a message that this kind of language won't be tolerated, but we should mention the nba is a multi-billion dollars brand, and if sterling remains the owner of the clippers, this could really start to alienate the team and impact business overall. state farm and kia both have partnerships with clippers stars blake griffin and chris paul. they have maintained that partnership, but are pulling out from sponsorship of the team. >> thank you very much. al jazeera will carry that flus conference by adam silver live our coverage beginning at 2:00 pm eastern time. overseas the standoff in eastern

ukraine continues today. hundreds of pro-russian separatists storming the building today. meanwhile russia is criticizing the sanctions imposed by the u.s. and eu, but the west says those sanctions are needed because russia is destabilizing ukraine. the white house contains to maintain there will be no military involvement on the part of the u.s. >> typically criticism of our foreign policy has been directed at the failure to use military force. and the question i think i would have is why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we have just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and

to our budget. >> meanwhile the mayor of kharkiv now being treated at a hospital in high fa, israel. he was shot in the back. officials say he is currently in a medically induced coma. secretary of state john kerry saying he has hoped for a deal in peace talks today, but both sides remain bitterly divided. nick schifrin is in jers lem, and the u.s. is saying this is just a pause, but are we actually seeing the end of any line? >> well, as you know, it's never really the end of the line for mideast peace talks, and both sides say they will go back to the table, but only if the other side gives in to rather large demands. the palestinians say they will resume talks if israel releases

palestinian prisoners they already agreed to release, must agree to discuss the future borders, and also have a complete settlement freeze for those three months. we heard from the palestinian chief negotiator, he said the prime minister of israel has left talks; that he was never really interested in to begin with. >> the government of netenyahu gave us no chance, gave secretary kerry no chance. they were determined from day one to undermiep these talks and efforts, and finally they used the pretext of con sill lags as a pretext to suspend negotiations in the most short-sided decision i have ever seen. >> israel said it left talks because of that attempt of

reconciliation. fattah controls the west bank, hamas controls gaza. the problem is that hamas does not recognize israel's right to exist and in fact promises to destroy israel. until the reconciliation attempts between fattah and hamas end, there can be no talks. >> we suspended talks because of the unity pact when hamas and fattah. hamas denies my country's very right to exist. this is an organization that says that israel should be liquidated and every israeli civilian, man, woman, and child is a legitimate target for terror attacks. so we said clearly, you can have peace with hamas or peace with israel, but you can't have them both. >> and remember, del, kerry put his personal prestige on these

talks. he met with both sides more than 40 times. this is very much a foreign policy disappointment or failure for the u.s. >> and he said that israel could become an apartheid state. what is the latest on that? >> yeah, these are comments that he made to diplomats in a closed door meeting. audio of those comments were obtained by "the daily beast," and he said if there is no two-state solution, he said, israel could quote become an apartheid state with second-class citizens referring to the palestinians. released a statement last night, released in his own name, saying no one should question my commitment to israel. and he didn't appreciate what he called partisan questioning. but then he said, quote . . .

in that same meeting, dell, kerry said he might need to release his own peace plan, imposing it on the two sides. that may be the only way for this round of peace talks to continue. >> thank you very much. it is a big day in iraq. the first national elections are happening there since u.s. troops left the country in 2011. more than 9,000 candidates now vying for seats in parliament, but for those who live in the slums of bagdad, this week's elections don't carry much significance. and imran khan reports. >> reporter: bagdad throws away, these people used to build. they call this tin city, a sprawling slum in the northeast

where at least 25 thousand people live. from all over tradesmen bump their trash here. and the locals use what get dumped to build their homes. this man worries about the future. he looks after his own daughters and provides a home for five orphans who's parents have died in the violence that blights this city. >> translator: this is an oil-rich country, but i have been living like this for 15 years. i don't have anything. the politicians come and make empty promises. we are fed up. we can't handle living like this anymore. this place isn't even fit for animals. >> reporter: the government in 2010 promised people in this slum it would tear it down and rehouse them, since then, this slum has grown, and is rarely visited by government officials. one of the first things you

notice is the overpowering smell. we are surrounded by open suers, and that means mosquitos. for the residents that's a nightmare. there is a lot of anger over the way that they live. in recent weeks parlry candidates have tried to canvas here for votes. the localed chased them away. >> translator: some people through stones others through empty bottles, just like their empty promises. >> reporter: imran khan, al jazeera, bagdad. for more on those elections in iraq, go to our website for details. there you'll find in-depth coverage about the violence and the issues voters face as they

head to the polls. the white house releasing a new report about sexual assaults on college campuses. the white house will launch a website called notalone.gov and calling on colleges to survey the students to determine the extent of the incidents. coming up on al jazeera america in our series dirty power, we take a look at boom town usa. there is an economic boom in one north dakota city, but the price is high.

♪ in washington state officials are now ending that active search for bodies five weeks after that mud slide near oso. more than 40 bodies were recovered, two, though, are still missing. hundreds of people combing through the mud and debris for

victims. officials say it could take up to three months to clear the mud from the highway. there was a small town in north dakota that was going broke, and then oil boom happened. christof putzel takes a look. >> reporter: the sign says it all . . . over the past five years the mayor has seen his town come back from the brink of death. >> now it's growing faster than any other place in the country. >> but not everyone likes what black gold has done here. dui arrests are up 15 fold, and there has been a spike in domestic violence. how much has domestic violence

increased? >> another one point i would have said tripled, but now i'm going to say quadruples. >> reporter: the mix of men and money is bringing another playing to willston. this undercoverage footage reveals the under belly of the oil boom. >> wherever you have lots of men and lots of money, you are going to find prostitution and trafficking. >> reporter: wendy says there has been massive boom in prostitution and trafficking. why are you so passionate about this work? >> i have also experienced some things in my life. i was trafficked as a young child. started running away at a very young age. and wound upturning to a friend for help who was under pimp

control. she introduced me to her pimp and i was under control that night. >> reporter: how often do you drive around at night? >> quite often, actually. >> reporter: she regularly visits prostitution hot spots to build relationships and help in any way she can. shelter, sympathy, even a ticket home. >> reporter: some of these hotels have floors bought out by pimps and girls are in those rooms. >> reporter: north dakota officials admit that women and children are being caught up in trafficking, but the chances of escape are slim. only one agent is assigned to the problem. >> i'm going to trust in time with raising awareness and law enforcement doing their part, that we'll be able to help. >> reporter: north dakota's black gold will continue to flow for decades to come, but life

here may never be the same. christof putzel, al jazeera, willston, north dakota. and dirty power on "america tonight" continues at 9:00 pm eastern time. you can learn more by going to our website, aljazeera.com. there you'll find out how we plan to explain the risk and rewards of the engive boom. helping reindeer even though it looks like they are being hurt. the reason behind it in just a moment.

the performance review. that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization.

i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. women comb back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters these are your headlines at this hour. the supreme court weighing in on the issue of cell phone privacy. the justices looking at two cases. authorities say information from cell phones help save crimes. in just a few hours the nba is scheduled to hold a news conference on the l.a. clipper's

scandal. we'll cover that conference and bring it to you live at 2:00 pm eastern. at least 12 people are dead from the string of deadly storms. and ebony you were saying on the backside of the storm lots of cold air. >> cold enough to support snow in some instances. you can seay head of it we have the rain and stormy weather but on the backside we have a mixed bag of precipitation. but then we're also dealing with very windy conditions that is helping to draw down the cold air mass. we could be dealing with temperatures down into the low 30s in spots. and the wind advisories, because winds have been gusting on the order of about 45 miles an hour

at denver and southward. we could see temperatures close to 80 around seattle. here is the warm side of the system, it is mainly across the southeast and up into the mid-atlantic states. right now i am happy to say no -- at least no warnings in place. we still have a few watches right around app la cha cola. it will bring us a lot of heavy rainfall, and and a small area where we still have an tornado watch up until noon. reindeer in siberia is being watched. russian scientists say they are being thinned. they are tracking the reindeer with check tri-- electric colla. there has been a 20-year gap in

the research because the collars cost so much, and the reindeer are probably celebrating. thank you for watching. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. and a reminder we'll carry that news conference on the nba live at 2:00. >> are values different when you're in the entertainment business. dirty laundry, public opinion and the business of sports is the inside story.