>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. and these are the stories we're following for you. [ crying ] >> shock at first sight, followed by courage to carry on after the devastating tornadoes that tore through the southeast. and rescue operations continue at this very area in areas where the floodwaters are still rising. in the wake of donald sterling's ban, nba owners now talking about the next move for the league.

and more pakistani schools are destroyed by the taliban. some of the hundreds since 2007. well, first those deadly tornadoes, and now the floods. families across the south and up and down the east coast, try to put their lives back together after 65 tornadoes, some of the worst flooding that anyone has seen in years. these are live pictures from northwest pennsylvania. torrential rains from the coast of alabama through the eastern seaboard. rattling nerves, and making a mess of the commute. sarah has more. >> reporter: dangerous floodwaters swallowing entire communities in the florida panhandle. the rushing water ripping apart roads, stranding drivers, and

flooding homes. >> we have been through tropical storms and hurricanes as you know. in 2014 and five, and we still did not have this much water. >> in pensacola, 20 inches of rain hit the area in just 24 hours. some people ditched their cars for canoes, and rescuers pulled people from rooftops. children saved by boat. >> my -- everything i own is gone. >> in mobile, alabama, firefighters pulled a woman to safety after her car was stuck in the rising waters, and it's a similar scene in washington d.c. where a driver got stuck on a bridge and he had to be rescued by raft. the relentless rain proved too much for an entire block of a baltimore street that collapsed, sending parked cars into a ravine. >> the sidewalks are gone, and the cars are gone p. it was like

somebody came by and ripped off the side of the road. >> firefighters in new jersey took to the streets to help more stranded drivers, and in new york city, residents of queens are drowning with flooded basements and streets. >> everything was flooded and i have no electric, everything is flooded and i had to get out. and these are live images coming to us from philadelphia right now. you can see the river overflowing its banks as well. nicole mitchell, our meteorologist, saying that some of the east coast is seeing 2 feet of rain in the last two days by perspective. and that's more rain than the state of california saw all last summer. and meanwhile, mississippi neighborhoods have reduced to rubble. more than 100 tornadoes since sunday. one family returned to find what was left.

>> for the first time, michelle bots is seeing what 124 mile-per-hour winds can do. >> michelle was set to return from a contract job in alaska this weekend, her family was planning to welcome her home with a party. instead 5 bedrooms gone, three generations, homeless. >> where am i going to stay daddy where am i going to stay " >> you are going to have a place to stay." >> officials in winston county mississippi still don't know how many homes were damaged. the destruction rolls on for miles. the result of a storm system that killed nine people in this town alone. michelle's grown son was sleeping when the tornado struck. she and her mother kay feel god saved him from becoming one of the deceased.. she's in the hospital, and he survived afghanistan, getting

hurt over there and he survived it and he has been out 2 years and then this, he survived this. >> and i have to ask, how do you pull it together to be able to say i am going to rebuild and i am going to stay in mississippi after this? >> mississippi is my home, i will be 46 years old tomorrow, happy birthday to me. >> happy birthday, happy birthday. >> and this is my home, my family is here and i'd always dreamed of having a house that had everybody in it but i lost everything i can get it back. >> a family determined not to pull up stakes - because their roots are so firmly planted here robert ray, al jazeera, louisville, mississippi.

>> we want to turn now to see if we have seen the worst of this nasty weather. say it's so. >> well, that severe weather that we were just looking at, the big day for tornadoes was sunday, and monday, and a little bit on tuesday and yesterday as well. but monday was the big day for that. some of those are being rated ef3 or 4 tornadoes, as we look at the damage. that riskazza baited for the most post. and it's all of this rain that is causing all of the problem. the boundary in the southeast that we're talking about. almost 2 feet of rain if a two-day period. it's significant in the east, northeast it was 5 or 6 inches of rain just in the last 24 hours. a thunderstorm, and the frontal boundary across the south, we're just so saturated here.

so while the northern tier starts to improve, the south, parts of the panhandle today and central florida tomorrow. and that's where we could see more of these problems in the next couple of days. we're oversaturated so there's nowhere else for this to go. >> nicole, thank you very much. and well, this week's tornadoes have a lot of people thinking about the future and finding new ways to protect themselves and their possessions. andy has that story from arkansas. >> in the face of a tornado, most homes stand little chance of staying in one piece as the people of mayflower can attest. here in arkansas and many other states, the dangers associated with powerful twisters are well-known, so how do you keep your family safe? >> i don't travel with a chandelier now. >> manufacturing has been brisk since the outbreak. his underground bunker started

at $3,000, and customers come from across the country. >> tornadoes make victims out of everybody, and i got anywhere from farmers to doctors, and everywhere in between. >> i talked to you on the phone. >> don thomas is one of those considering investing in a shelter. it's money he could use to make his home more resistent to storms, but like many residents, he thinks this is a wiser investment. >> a brick home, if it gets a direct hit, like an f4 or f5, it's going to be history, and i'm sold on the storm shelter myself. >> homes in arkansas are legally built to withstand storms up to 100 miles per hour. >> one of the other reasons that people don't build homes stronger is they know that the chances of withstanding a storm

like this are removed. but now there are cheaper and more effective ways of making homes tronger. >> a melt clip can be attached by a metal clip and the wall to tie the two together. >> jim showed us solutions to building a better home. but money is often a factor in helping people rebuild. >> often it's economics, people's expenses, anything that you add to the cost is going to knock people out of the housing industry. >> despite the heartache and loss of life, people are already getting ready to rebuild. many of these houses will not come back strongish, but residents are likely to build shelters that save lives and money. mayflower, arkansas. >> the weather may have been a factor in the deadly problem at a gym. two inmates were killed and

three others missing. they were all hurt when the building collapsed. a natural gas line that erupted around the jail has been inundated. and it's too soon to know whether the flooding led to that explosion. the nba is moving to cut its ties with disgraced clipper owner, donald sterling, two days after he got the lifetime ban from the league. and now they're forcing him to give up his team. john henry smith has more. >> i am banning mr. sterling. sterling for life. >> donald sterling may be banned for life, but for now, the billionaire still owns the clippers. now some heavy hitters may be interested in a piece of the franchise should the remaining clubs force him to sell. a trio comprised with oprah, david getten, and larry ellison

confirmed their interest in buying the organization. he said he and ellison would buy the team, something that winfrey has no interest in doing, but she has expressed one motivation for her involvement. she thinks it would be a great thing for an important black american to own another franchise. they would have a host of other bidders. >> me and my team do want to buy the clippers, and we can afford the clippers. >> another potential owner, donald sterling's wife, rochelle. detailing her own history of racist remarks and actions. reporting the nba player's union is not in favor of mrs. sterling taking over for her husband. >> this is as sweet as they come. >> the clippers, valued by forbes at $575 million, may soon be a hot commodity. but first, 75% of nba team

owners need to vote sterling out. something that the king's owner expects will happen. >> these teams really belong to the fans and to the players. the owners are simply custodians. and i fully expect that he will get the support that he seeks. >> john henry smith, aljazeera. >> flights from resumed at the five southern california airports after a computer glitch yesterday afternoon. it stranded thousands of passengers across the south and the southwest. and the faa said that they were able to fix the system after the flights were halted. and at l.a.x. alone, 50 flights were canceled. >> . >> high timeout after yesterday's parliamentary elections is a slap in the face to terrorists. the timeout was 60%.

maliki is expected to win. voters choosing from 3,000 for 128 seats. it was the first time that they pulled out. and the results are expected in a call of days. >> into ukraine, the protest, stormed the offices in donetsk today. it's the latest attempt to stabilize in kiev. >> there are about 4 or 5,000 people here, around the office, and they are extremely angry at the fascists, and there's a group who are inside of the office. coming under bombard. rocks and stones and bottles. every now and again, a riot piece man is pulled out by the crowd and his shield and helmet is taken, seized by the crowd.

and he's led away, and he's effectively abandoning his position. that's happening one-by-one, and it looks like the ukrainian state is very much on the back foot today in donetsk. and it seems that the anger of the crowd is an extraordinary replica of what we saw in kiev a couple of months ago, but of course these people are vehemently opposed to a new government in kiev. >> that's barnaby phillips in donetsk. and holding the military observers hostage, they work for the organization of security and cooperation in europe. and negotiators are bargaining for their release. >> . >> there are fears that the victims of the ferry accident in south korea may never be found. 80 people are still missing, and more than 200 bodies have been

recovered since the ferry sunk off of south korea's coast. most of those onboard were high school students. families in malaysia of the missing malaysia airlines passengers are being told that there are no new leads in the search. they have been holding frequent updates for the families, but after two months, the search will close next week. it's a hardship to the families, and they're doing what they can do to ease their pain. but they will do what we can with phonecalls and meetings face-to-face. >> john kerry, meeting with leaders from ethiopia and uganda and kenya this morning. warning the african union to employ peace-keeping troops, and they want the neighbors in sudan to issue penalties for fighters on both sides. and in washington for a

series of meetings, tonight she's going to be sitting down with the u.s. senators, and tomorrow, she'll be speaking with president obama. angela merkel will talk about the possibilities of sanctions with russia. >> in pakistan, the taliban has frequently targeted girls a schools in the north. more than 400 schools have been destroyed by that group. but since they have pushed the taliban out, more than 300 of them have been rebuilt. >> this footage captures the moment the taliban bombed the school. during the two years the armed group ruled the northern region, it destroyed more than 400 schools, many of them for girls. the reason the group said at the time was simple. the primary and secondary institutions were providing education that was too western, and non-islamic.

today, the situation is very different. after the taliban was pushed out of the area by the military in 2009, more than 350 schools have been reconstructed with the help of foreign governments and international aid agencies. she's in the tenth grade. and she's happy to be back in the classroom. >> when the taliban was in control, they made us so afraid. i didn't go to school for two years. now they are gone, and we can get an education without fear. >> reporter: but the taliban isn't entirely gone from the valley and it hasn't stopped targeting girls who want to learn. last october, an activist was shot in the head on her way home from school in the main town of an gora. they said that they attacked her because she was anti-taliban and secular. there are children prevented

from getting an education. though most of the schools have been rebuilt, there is not enough room for all of the students. >> frankly, we need more schools and classrooms. there are so many, we can't cope. >> it's clear many here are determined to learn, and though the threat of violence is very real, the fact that so many young people come to classes is a sign of just how much has changed in the suak valley since the end of taliban rule. aljazeera, northern pakistan. >> coming up on aljazeera america, mayday rallies around the world. protesters taking to the streets, demanding a better life.

>> several american cities are gearing up for may day protests,

with the ongoing minimum wage battle. allen is in downtown seattle with more on why that city has become the focus of debate. >> it was a rallying cry on the campaign trail for mayor, ed murray, and shammah of the socialist party. >> in this party, the marxist is god. and everything is sacrificed at the alter of profit. >> in the campaign last fall, it brought the $15 minimum wage to 1500 workers in seatac is behind the 15 now campaign in seattle. in both cases, the union keeping a low profile, with a grassroots image for the movement with a missed opportunity for labor, says author and professor, jake rosen felt.

>> it takes organizational support and resources to do these types of things, and there's no shame in coming out and saying, that was us. >> as workers rally all over the world on mayday, it's no surprise that here in sa seattl, the voices for 15 now will be among us. >> it makes a great slogan but doesn't necessarily make great policy once you get into the details. >> seattle policy is being questioned now, and if there's no deal, the proposed 60% minimum wage hike will go before voters this fall. seattle, with a bombing business sector, and a long history of labor battles and compromises is a city that can afford to have the debate. >> i don't think there's a consensus in seattle that capitalism is a bad thing. i don't think most people in seattle are socialists like shammah soan.

but i do think that capitalism can be a lot fairer. >> protesters around the world taking to the streets for may day labor rallies, hundreds of thousands of people demanding access to jobs and higher wages. in russia, thousands taking to red square as part of the demonstrations there. it's the first since 1991. that's the year that the soviet union was dissolved. protests breaking out in jakarta, indonesia. hundreds of thousands taking to the streets there demanding better wages and healthcare. and in thailand and mall asia, they have better living standards, and in greece, the annual protests, unions planning public strikes, and demonstrations. in turkey, istanbul, protesters say that they want to

hold their mayday rallies there, blutherebut the government banne protests. >> demonstrators and police have clashed in several neighbors. as the demonstrators try. the government is preventing unions as a mayday rally. it has provided an alternative venue, but according to the union, it's their right to demonstrate wherever and whenever they want. so this is really part of an ongoing political struggle in this country. divisions within turkish society. it is not just about a mayday rally. the government is democratically elected and it's still popular, and it won the local elections a few weeks ago, but critics say that it has been abusing its power, and those who have taken

to the streets told us that they feel they're being silenced. they want to be able to express their demands. so yes, this was supposed to be a day when workers mark labor day. but it's showing really the growing divide, the polarization in turkish society. but the security forces are out enforce, and they deploy all roads leading to the square have been sealed. and public transport has been suspended. so the government is bent on preventing any rallying here. this is symbolic for the unions, and a rallying point for the labors over many years, but really, over the protests last year, where we saw an anti-government protest movement emerge, the government doesn't want a repeat that have. and in fact, for the government, the square is a symbol. >> reporting live fro istanbul.

in venezuela, protests are compelling the president to raise the minimum wage. they already raisinged them in january four times, and they plan to increase them. $675 a month. and the president has raised prices on sugar and staples. venezuela has a widespread short am of basic goods. they're scribbled ontation earonstationary. but they could fetch millions.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters, these are the headlines at this hour. as you see, streets collapsed and trying to put recovery into

action after the worst flooding that some areas saw in 30 years, and the 65 tornadoes that cut paths of death and introduction this week, the cleanup from them continues. the nba continuing to oust the disgraced owner of the clippers. the league banning donald sterling for life. his racist remarks were caught on tape. and the league owners are deciding whether to force him to sell the team some. >> and in the ukraine, in the eastern city of donetsk, the prosecutor is aligning himself with eastern kiev. and it's the latest attempt to stabilize the grip on the east. bob dillon's groundbreaking song, rolling stone, is set to be auctioned off. he wrote the song on four sheets of hotel stationary in 1965. the bidding could go as high as $2 million. and the auction house sending

the words to his song, hard rains are going to fall. it will be auctioned off in june in new york city. thank you for watching aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. and check us out 24 hours a day by going to aljazeera.com. m is next. thanks for watching. >> you're sick. you take the medicine meant to cure your illness. that's what we do. but with increasing regular layerty the medicine won't work. the . thi it's the "inside story."