this is al jazeera america live from new york city. let's get you caught up on the top stories this hour. at least 40 people are dead in the aftermath of fighting between soldiers and separatists in eastern ukraine. thousands dead and many homeless in the wake. devastating landslide in afghanist afghanistan. while his team fights for play-off series victories, new support for embattled clipperseen owner donald sterling. imagine living a block away from the foul mess filling this disgusting can alal and try to

guess how much it will cost to clean it up. thanks for being with us. stalemate in ukraine. minor victories for the government overshadowed by separatists pushing back. ukraine military reclaimed some government buildings in the east but lost others. meantime, european union is calling for an independent investigation into the deaths of more than 40 people in odessa yesterday. kiev blaming russian supporters from moldova on its western border. paul brennan reports. >> the burning cars and day bre were evidence of what looked like a day of heavy fighting between ukrainian soldiers and pro-russia separatists. vehicles and tires had become makeshift barricades set alight to try to keep the government troops at bay.

>> there were a lot of victims from both sides, from the civilians and fighters. people were going to work were going to injured. there were a lot of injured and a lot of dead. they were shooting from the tanks at buildings for about half an hour. >> a stockpile of petro bombs was on hand to throw at any soles that kale fear. it didn't stop the advance of armored vehicles, nor did the chants of residents. checkpoints are controlling traffic in and out. not all traffic has been halted. after eight days in captivity, a convoy carrying a team of osce observers did make it through. on a roadside north of donetsk, they embraced freedom with an overpowering sense of relief. a cable choreographed handover bringing an end to the eight-day captivity of the osce observers. >> you can't imagine. it's happiness. deep relief. on the situation, it was really tough. the last two nights, as we saw

the situation developing and every minute gets longer. and finally, with the cooperation of all of the key players, it went perfectly. thank you very much >> reporter: the men looked calm but tired. the tension of their captivity and the nerves as their freedome freedom came closer was obvious to see. they had been detained by the self-proclaimed mayor of slovyansk. the released men said he had kept his promise to protect them from harm. but diplomats who negotiated the release said any other outcome was simply unthinkable. >> taking people working for international organizations as hostages is unacceptable. so it was extremely important to get through this mission >> reporter: the next was made more intricate cat by the

military offensive ongoing against pro-russian militia around slovyansk and other towns. there has been fierce fighting near komatork. they began by attacking a pro-russian checkpoint at dawn. a t.v. tower has been recaptured. organizing a hostage handover in this environment was far from straightforward. >> it has taken days of delicate negotiations to reach this point including the final say from the self-decide mayor. the men from the osce are now free. as you can see, returning home. >> paul brennan, al jazeera, constanofka. >> joining me is nina kruscheva. good to have you with us. >> thank you >> are we on the brink of an official civil war? >> we have been on the brink of an official civil war. people are fighting. people are dying. i am sure russia is not in

control of a lot of developments that happened on the ground although they do ex asper ate those events and support those who become the ringleaders. however, i am sure the situation already has gone out of control. we are essentially in a war. >> russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops on its borders. what is the near term objective here? >> it has been for a while. so, i am actually very interested in how it's been reported every time as if -- i mean, it has been a couple of months actually since the amount of troops has been amassed on the border. it hasn't increased which i find a rather positive sign that is a negative sign. i think the story is that they are going to stay there until pe putin gets his objective, the current ukrainian government, whether elected or another new government that is elected is not going to be the government that is fully in support of the western develop -- >> the election will take place may 25th. do you think that election will make any difference between the

election between russia and ukraine? >> it could. it depends upon who is elected and also depends upon how much situation is destabilized or stabilized before that so putin gets his three things that he wants, which i think is very important. so ukraine is not aligned officially with european union. so, it becomes -- it becomes -- stays a buffer zone between the west and russia. his relationship with the west continues because if he doesn't invade ukraine formally, then the west is going to forgive him for all of this havoc that he has created. so that's one thing or two. >> sure? >> the second thing is that ukraine is not going to become part of nato once again, remaining the buffer but, also, ukraine becomes a federation so russia would have much greater influence on european politics than it really even had in the past. >> but will putin see this as a legitimate government post the election, post the presidential election? >> we don't know what the government is going to be. but it also depends upon what

kind of government is elected and what kind -- and how much the current kiev government is there elected, how much they are going to give up to please putin in all of these objectives. >> let's talk about the russian proceed russian separatists. do you think they will make difference? stronger ties with russia? >> first of all, let's look at the referendum, which is under the gunpoint because it is going to be with all of the tanks on the ground, all of the separatists on the ground, even if ukrainian troops now have been successful in eliminating some of it. so that's already a referendum that is not a free referendum. so far it has been probably only 25% of people who want to either secede from russia, become independent. >> that's not enough to sway the e elections in kiev. however, the destabilization is entirely possible. >> has western powers made any difference, any influence in the situation?

>> i think when angela merkel gets involved, ocd observers were released after angela merkel talked to putin personally and he showed his hand. >> you don't feel the same way about u.s.? >> i absolutely don't feel the same way. >> always good to see you. >> thank you. at least three people are dead after twin explosions hilt the kenyan city of mumbas a: local media says three were killed when a bomb was planted on a mini-bus. a second bomb at a holts. no group has claimed responsibility. mumbasa is frequently hit with violence blamed on al shabaab. in afghanistan, the sgluven is trying to assist around 4,000 people displaced by a landslide yesterday. a mountainside collapsed on a town in the north of the country. afghan officials say over 2000 people are dead and pour equipment is making it less likely they will find more

survivors. gerald tan has the latest >> reporter: they spent the night in the open and during ne near freezing temperatures looking over what used to be their homes and praying for any sign of life. ? >> seven members of my family were here when the landslide happened. four or five of them were killed here i am half alive. what can i do? >> i urged the government to come and help people take the bodies out. we managed to take only 10 to 15. the rest of the villagers are trapped here. >> days of rain caused the side of this mountain to collapse. a wall of mud and rocks swept into the village below, destroying all in its way, hundreds of homes buried, many with people inside. >> until now, we have only managed to find one woman's body and we took that away. with regard to the aid operation, we have used all of our resources in the province and sent them to the area. >> volunteers from nearby villages have come to this remote area of northeastern

afghanistan with crude tools and shovels to help rescuers but the focus has quickly shifted from trying to find survivors to keeping those who did alive. >> what we are doing now is helping facilitate the needs of around 700 families, more than 4,000 people who have been displaced either directly or indirectly by what's happened up in barakshan. needs frank food and water to medical help as well as shelter needs >> reporter: it's been hard for teams to reach the site. the narrow roads have been damaged by rain and can't take the heavy machinery typically used in such recovery efforts and the hillside remains unstable adding to fears that another part may cave in. gerald tan, al jazeera. secretary of state john kerry wants syria to accelerate the removal of chemical weapons. he spoke to sergeyl lavrov.

stressing the release of the 8% of the asad government storing near damascus. syria missed numerous deadline since agreeing to remove its arsenal last year. today is world press freedom day. people all around the globe are honoring journalists for their commitment to the freedom of expression. al jazeera is urging the egyptian government to release our colleagues. they have been inprisoned for 126 days now. stefanie dekker has more >> reporter: their seventh appearance in court ended just like all of the others: bail denied. mohammed fatni was allowed out of the cage to address the judge. he tried to explain journalists need to explore all sides of a story. >> for me, communication with the muslim brotherhood, the nora part or anyone else is routine. i work hard to get an interview with an officer.

i work hard to reach my sources. >> that's what journalists do. >> saturday is also world press freedom day. our three colleagues how the out "happy press freedom day" as they were led back to their jail cell. >> it's ironic that we are here in court with the trial on world press freedom day. we have seen another adjournment. it's getting increasingly difficult for us, the family and all of the guys inside, you know, to endure this process. >> a fourth al jazeera journalist, abdullah alshami will remain in detex another 45 days. he has been held without charge since last august and on hunger strike for over 100 days. he lost 35 kilos and says he has not received any medical attention. >> this is unprecedented case. we have never seen this globa y globally, any government go after an international news network for more thnothing more doing their work and also using

terrorists related charges to keep them in custody without evidence >> reporter: journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to work in egypt. >> personally as a reporter, it's been harder to go down and cover street protests, to cover acts of disse in. t. you are at greater risk of being swept up inen masse arrests and being lost in the prison system. >> there are many journalists, activists and protesters who are being held without charge in egyptian jails. the prosecution rested its case on saturday in the and the defense will have a chance to have its say when the trial resumes on the 15ths of may. the network continues to deny all of the charges against its staff and demands their unconditionable release. stefanie dekker, al jazeera, doha. >> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, our segment: a deeper look will feature international press freedom day on al jazeera america. the nba playoffs have reached a fever pitch with five series

heading to a game 7 this weekend. the action on the court is still being overshadowed by the donaldstering saga. jessica taff has more. >> the spotlight should be on the excitement of play-off basketball. saturday mark the first time ever in league history the three game 7s will be played on the same day. adding to the mix, the drama for the grizzlies will play their win or go home game without zac randolph suspended for a late punch to the jaw of oklahoma city steve adams. randolph becomes the first player ever to miss a game 7 for any reason after leading his team in scoring the entire series. instead, the focus shifts back to disgraced clippers owner donald sterling after v.stiviano, the woman talked on camera for the first time sincestering was released she said she was not a girlfriend but a personal assistant and that she doesn't think he is a

racist. >> you have heard him say derogatory things. >> yes. >> don't they sound racist to you? >> i think that the things he says are not what he feels. >> asked as to whether sterling should apologize, she said, absolutely. as for the owner, himself, the only remorse comes from how he handled the situation. while sterling hasn't spoken publically about the fine or banned the league handed him, he did tell an l.a. magazine, i wish i had just paid her off. it isn't the only league addressing racist. thursday's game saw brunnins fans get nasty on twitter after montreal's pk suban, a black player, scored two goals including the game winner in the canadian's over time gave-1 victory. >> the president sent out a statement from the club saying the racist classless views expressed by an ignorant group of individuals following thursday's gavia digital media e

in know with a reflex of anyone associated with the bruins organization. >> that was jessica taff reporting. we should pout out. many brewers players have said those are not true boston fans. still ahead on al jazeera america, a potentially deadly disease is detected in the united states. we will tell you what you need to know about middle east respiratory syndrome. >> i am kaelyn forde at the canal in new york where one of the most expensive environmental clean-ups in history is just getting underway.

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>> a man in indiana has become the first confirmed case of mers in the united states. mers was first reported in saudi arabia in 2012. thevirus kills about 30% of those infected. morgan radford says u.s. officials have mobilized to head off an out breaker. >> healthcare officials are scrambling to track down people

who recently traveled the same route as a man who, according to the cdc, has tested positive for the deadly mers virus. the patient is a healthcare worker who just returned from saudi arabia. he left rhiad on 'twill pro 4th, connected through heathrow airport and landed in chicago. he took a bus to indiana where he fell sick and intendended upe hospital. the virus has hit the healthcare industry in the middle east hard. experts say the risk of a widespread outbreak is low. >> there has not been a clear case of person to person transmission outside of the healthcare setting yet. so, i think we need to keep this in perspective. >> health officials say the virus originated in the middle east, first in camels and spread to several european countries. it's estimated to have infected more than 600 people resulting in some 200 deaths. right now, there is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccination.

>> also the case, the vast majority of cases are in the middle east. it can progress very fast, and it has what we call a case fatality rate, the percentage of folks who have this, this infection that die is about 30%. contrast that to a case of fault atty rate of about 1% for the season al flu and you get a good idea of how severe this respiratory infection can be. >> morgan radford, al jazeera. >> mers, joining me with a professor of epidemiology school of public health. dr. morris, good to have you with us. i remember dealing with sars in 2003 and how widespread it was. now we are dealing with mers. what is it? what are we dealing with? >> the initials stand for middle east respiratory syndrome. and although it's different from sars, it's a different virus, it's similar in many ways. the origin is probably in bats. it gets through humans perhaps through cames, perhaps through bats or perhaps through person

to person contact although that's not a very efficient means of transmission. >> we have seen this in hospital settings as well. how has it spread? >> in hospital settings, it's very much the same as sars. people who are in close contact to pashtz, and that includes healthcare workers, for example. >> that was the case of the man who contracted mers, he is a healthcare worker? >> exactly. they have to take precautions to protect themselves against physical precautions like masks, gloves and good standard precautions to prevent themselves from becoming infected through infected secretions, usually if a patient will cough, that may, if you are very close, be able to infect somebody we heard about this man traveling by air and bus. how contagion is mers? >> so far, it is not very contagious. it's slightly more contagion than sars but very, very similar. the pattern so far, you know,

has been basically most of the people who have been infected have been healthcare workers, close family members who have been taking care of a patient. most people with casual contact, most people who are just in the same room are probably going to be at very low risk. >> a great concern there. what are some of the symptoms. >> it starts out as a flu-like illness, of course. it is a respiratory disease largely. so, it starts out with flu-like symptoms, fever, chills sometimes. sometimes diarrhea, and, of course, difficulty breathing and then it gets more severe as the disease progresses. it becomes much more difficult to breathe, and usually, of course, that's when people seek medical attention. >> it can be deadly? >> the about wa1 if 4 have diedf it. >> is there a vaccine option? >> there isn't yet. there was a lot of talk during sars about making a vaccine but

it ended before a vaccine was actually produced. and this may reignite interest in making a vaccine. but right now, there isn't any. and it's rare enough that i think if people take the right precautions, avoiding contact with other infected individuals, if they are healthcare workers or close family members talking good highgenic precautions, washing your hands, covering your coughs and sneezes and in the hospital, taking all of those hospital precautions, i think you will be pretty safe. >> certainly appreciate the insight, dr. steven morris with public university school of health. >> my pleasure. >> the environmental protection agency listed more than 1300 of the most polluted parts of america to the super fund list but one of the most contaminated bodies of water is here in new york. despite centuries of pollution, a clean-up that hasn't gotten started, developers have set their sites on the guanos canal.

>> catia kelly called this part of brooklyn home for years. the neighborhood she loves and writes about has a toxic legacy. just two blocks away is some of the most contaminated water in america, the guanus canal? >> we worry about the fact that without really understanding where i chose to live my life that i might have definitely put myself at risk and certainly put my children at risk. >> since the 1870s, gas plants and factories have dumped chemicals into the waterway. joseph alexio has studied the canal's history. >> a news frarl 1922, "new york times" that says $100 million worth of goods were shipped through the canal, the shortest, dirtiest and one of the most important water waifrlthsdz in the country. >> it has been a popular place for fishing. but when heavy rains overwhelm the city's plans, raw sewage

flows into the canal. >> here comes the garbage. catia said she knew the water was dirty but not toxic. some of her neighbors thought it could be healing. >> some people in the neighborhood thought that, you know, air, the strong air in the guanus canal was good for healing croop. >> that changed when the environmental protection agency put the canal on its super fund list. scientists found pesticides, heavy metals and pcbs. ? >> it's kind of your witch's brew so to speak of contamination, from the turn of the century until now. to give you a perspective, when we measure contamination at sites, sometimes we measure it at parts per million or parts per billion even, depending upon the contaminant. in the case of the guanos, we are finding it at parts per hundred. >> the epa estimates it will

cost more than half a billion dollars and take more than a decade. coal tar will have to be dredg dredged. centuries of contamination given the canal its color and over powering smell but despite the fact that the epa clean-up plan is not yet underway, real estate developers are making plans for l luxury condos here. >> a $300 million development known as guanos green is slated to open in 2017 with 744 units of housing. but long time residents like katia want the canal cleaned up before it is built up. >> you are going to have 12-story condo glass buildings where people pay a lot of money that are in flood zones and are next to open sewers. we think it is funny if it weren't so sad. >> but in a city where housing is as in demand as new york, stemming the tide seems almost impossible. kaelyn forde, al jazeera, new york. >> they have lost their daughters and have no answers from the government. still ahead on al jazeera

america. the terrible saga playing out in nigeria where hundreds of teenage girls were kidnapped from their school. coming home from war, a former child soldier returns to the village he was kidnapped from.

. welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories remember following at this hour: in ukraine, separatists have freed the european mediators held captive for the last week. the second day of military action is underway as the government in kiev takes back some separatist strongholds. in afghanistan, a rescue operation has been abandoned after a laid slide buried an entire town. afghan officials say over 2,000 people are dead and the recovery focus has shifted to assisting the more than 4,000 people who are displaced. this is world press freedom day and the 126th day of captivity in egypt for three al jazeera journalists who are accused of falsifying news of

conspiring with the muslim brotherhood. charges both they and al jazeera deny. the men appeared in court for a 7th time today and were once again denied bail. the u.s. is offering to help locate some 300 young girls abducted from a school in nigeria by the rebel group boka haram. some were reportedly forced to marry their abductors. others were sold to fighters. as al jazeera yvonne endegi reports t relatives are criticizing authorities saying they are left with more questions than answers. >> the confusion continues over how many girls were abducted by armed men from a school in northeastern my year i can't more than two weeks ago. the police now say 276 girls are still missing out of more than 300 who were initially taken. a figure far higher than what was previously reported by the government and military. the police say it's because there were visiting students

from other schools who were initially unaccounted for. some relatives like sambino say this might be true. several of his nieces were abducted and are still mussing. he came to the capitol to try to pressure the government to find them. >> there are other girls from our neighborhoing communities a all of these are secondary schools. they came to do the same thing. as parents, we are called to come down and write down the children's name that has been lost. maybe because of distance and communication, those people were not informed. >> sambito and others have taken part in the protests of the government's failure to rescue

the girls like these. but nobody knows for certain where they are. people think the armed group, boka haram kidnapped them. they have attacked schools before like this one. boka haram is against western education. the government insists despite the uncertainty over the number of girls cities milling it's doing all it can to find them and go after boka haram? >> unfortunately, ig it is far from the truth when they say that government insurgency is a failure. >> the families of the missing girls and their supporters are worried. the girls may never be found. >> various government and security agencies are involved in trying to find the missing girls, which may be contributing to the confusion over how many are missing. nigerians are demanding a coordinated response to the ab duction from the authorities. he von, digi.

>> joining me is jon campbell. good to have you with us. >> good to be here. >> your initial thoughts on the kidnapping? >> well, the first question i have is: who did it? the chieftan or the war lord that is most often associated with boka haram, a person by the name of abubukarshakaw has been silent. >> that's against their mo. they usually claim responsibility. >> on the bus station of abuja. but they have been silent on this. boka haram is highly diffuse. it is not centralized. there is -- there are many, many different layers or factions within it so that who exactly did it is a big question.

then there is a question of: where are they? the sambiza forest is sometimes cited. one should not think, though, as the zambiza forest as like a jungle. it's not. it's more like bush or scrub. and i think it would be pretty hard to hide more than 200 people in it. so where are they? i don't know. >> it is a mystery. i know the nigerian president has come under fire. what problems, issues, does this kidnapping highlight in controlling the group, boka haram, as well? >> several. first of all, the government's response to the kidnapping has been badly coordinated, lacking in transparence. wh that undermines confidence in the government's ability to provide security there have been

demonstrations essentially designed to pressure the government to step up it's efforts and do something. what the relationship is between the federal government in nigeria and local government authoriti authorities, that doesn't seem to be very well coordinated either. so in terms of competency, the government is not looking very good right now. >> had a about u.s. involvement? >> well, there are reports that various aspects of the jonathan administration have asked for u.s. and also british awe assistance but what precisely they are asking for is extremely unclear and it's also unclear

whether those who are asking, in fact, have the authority to do so. >> you think these girls will be recovered? >> i think some of them will. whether all 230 or 240 are, i just don't know. in the nigerian media, there are horrific reports based on who knows what, but still, horrific reports that some of them have been sold essentially as wives. >> you can certainly understand the emotions that are involved here former ambassador to nigeria, jon campbell. appreciate your time today? >> thank you so much. to the story of another kidnapped african children. children years after he was forced to be a child soldier for the lord's resistance army, et cetera returning home. al jazeerats malcolm web was there for his emotional journey home. >> whefsz 10 years old, dennis

hachan was abducted from his village by rebels from the lord's resistance army. that was in 2001. he was forced to become a child soldier and to commit atrocities. it was 13 years before he could escape. >> translator: many children's we were beaten to death. you have to follow orders or they kill you. the children who tried to escape were killed. you have to follow orders until a chance comes to even ape. >> this rehib able to ustation center has been his home. at the peak of the war, hundreds came through here the murals they painted are here 10,000 are still missing. most of them will never come home. but as a trickle of former child soldiers escape, now grown adults, it's christine arama's

job. >> to counsel them. >> he has completed his counsel ling. it's time to go home. he was a boy when he saw his neighbors. since then, he was forced to march hundreds of kilometers across four different countries. he escaped in the central african republic where remaining units attack people. he says he has seen and done many things that he doesn't even want to talk about. many child soldiers were forced to kill relatives or neighbors. they are often scared to go home. they don't know how people will react. but two kilometers from his village, people come running. ez made to tread on an egg. it's a ritual of reconciliation. there a he is safe. the people from the surrounding village come to join in the celebration. people are singing and waving branches. almost every here is sthought dennis died years ago.

his parents carried out the funeral rit annual in the absence of a body. now that he is home and he is alive after 13 years in the bush, people here are delighted. >> and then he arrives. thousands of the abducted children were killed. nobody ever thought he would make it. malcolm web, al jazeera, near kitcam in northern uganda. >> remember when we told you about the boy flew to hawaii. they wi officials say he left. he traveled from san jose, california to mauwi tucked inside the plane's landing gear compartment. >> that's a 5 and a half hour flight. when airport workers discovered him, he was unconscious. thankfully, he has romped. his father believes he was trying to get to his mother >> as bisi onlie-ere reports,

one organization is working to get kids off of the streets and give them a future. >> a nearly 35,000 people in metro detroit are homeless of them, one in every three is a child. many of these children come from broken homes, young lives afflicted by drugs, violence, abuse and neglect seek refuge on the streets. >> danny pagon and stephanie tak taylor are outreach workers for covenant house. >> how old are you? 15? 15 years old. now why aren't you in school? you late, too? >> it's their job to search the city for homeless youth and show them a way out. wassup, man? >> floyd, who is 22 has lived in this old junk yard for 10 years. >> what you are doing is literally strip mining the

ground for old pieces of metal and iron and chunks of just copper or whatever they can find in the ground to recycle it to make themselves some money. >> convincing floyd to leave won't be easy but it's not always this hard. >> there was times where i was being shot at, i got stabbed, got -- i was in and out of, you know, juve. >> sexually abused and abandoned by his parents, 19-year-old ronnie reached out to covenant house since november. he has earned his ged and has a job. without help, he says, he would be dead. now, he sees a future. >> when i leave outside of these gates, i want to leave with a purpose, you know. >> covenant house has helped more than 54,000 youth since 1997. th the challenge it appeared other groups to routes childhood homelessness is great. there are over 30,000 homeless children in michigan there have been some modest successes.

the total homeless population declined in michigan from over 94,000 in 2011 to 93,600. >> if you need help, i can get you a referral. >> until that challenge is met, danny and stephanie say they won't stop searching for those who have no safe haven. >> >> reporter: bisi onlie-erebis. >> the pope has con vida commission for the protection of minors held its first meeting today at the vatican. they are developing protocols for the church to follow when a priest is accused of sex abuse. one of the commission's members is marie collins. >> i know there are many, many survivors around the world who are hoping and have great

expectations of this commission and what i could say so far is you can't make concrete promises, but as a survivor myself, i am hopeful that we are going to achieve what is hoped for. >> pope francis established the abuse commission in december. he is expected to meet with its members sometime in the next week. new york city is known for its crazy real estate market and the city's most recent players might just surprise you. churches are now taking advantage of soaring prices and are using the money to give back. mary snow has that story >> reporter: father christopher ballard is a man of prayer with an eye on property. >> yes. this was renovated in. >> he is an associate rector at this church of saint luke and saint matthew in brooklyn but a big part of his job is to develop real estate deals for the 150 churches in his episcopal diocese? >> i have learned a lot about real estate, a lot about real

estate. >> is this current market a blessing. >> this current market is a bless can. >> because the real estate market is soaring in neighborhoods like the one where saint luke and saint matthew is located. father ballard says there are about a dozen deals being considered in his diocese. one of them is at his church, which has put its parking lot and rectory on the market for an asking price of 8 to do $6 million. the church, itself, will stay intact. father bal articled says the money made will go toward ma maintainimai maintaining decaying churches and charity work like after hurricane sandy. >> we need to focus our mission to on helping other people. these buildings allow us once we start leveraging them, finding building partners, joint venturers, we can allow -- these buildings will allow us to do more and better things. >> clergy members looking to catch in on the real estate market are becoming familiar to commercial real estate brokers like dan mark. he is seeking a developer for

this 120-year-old baptist church. it's property worth $20 million. >> a lot of chufrmz want to know what their options are. rches w know what their options are. some are doing the route of selling outright. some are looking for partnerships. we are speaking with a lot of different churches that are entertaining these different ideas. >> along with churches, some charities who work along with them are also deciding it's time to sell their property. the church missions house is one of them on manhattants park avenue. home to the federation of property test welfare agencies that works with a host of non-profit groups. >> sometimes you have to strike while the iron is hot. and what we are seeing in this community is that the iron's really hot right now. >> executive director jennifer jon jones-austin says her organization bought the building 50 years ago for $900,000. now, it may fetch 50 million. she says that profit will help it fight poverty. >> i am a firm believers that

it's not about where we sit but about the work we do. >> from the pew did where father ballard sits, if churches aren't making real estate a part of their mission, they are missing the boat. >> this is real opportunity that will not come this way again. >> mary snow, al jazeera. still ahead, the you know employment numbers released yesterday sound like good news, but are they really? these ballplayers lost their jobs after being caught cheating almost a century ago. the story behind this unique long-lost video coming up on next on al jazeera america. >> on techknow... >> these are some of the amazing spider goats >> small creatures, big impact >> how strong is it? >> almost as strong as steel >> inspiring discoveries changing lives >> this could go in a human body... >> right >> this is for an achilles tendon >> techknow every saturday go where science meets humanity >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see

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the night's events, a smarter start to your day. mornings on al jazeera america >> welcome back. unemployment in the united states dropped to the lowest level in more than five years. government statistics released friday indicated that it's at 6.3%. nearly 300,000 jobs were added to the economy last month. >> may not be all good news. patricia sabga explains.

>> not all working age americans are considered part of the work force. you must have a job or be actively looking for one. that's how the bureau of labor statistics calculates the labor force participation rate. where it stands casts a dark shadow on the unemployment rate of 6.3%. economists want to see unemployment drop because more jobs are being created. in april, more than 800,000 americans left the work force bringing the labor force participation rate to 62.8%. >> that's the same level as december when it hit a 35 year low. >> labor force participation has tanked in the wake of the great recession, falling more than 2 percentage points between october, 2009, and december of last year. >> economists at the federal reserve bank of philadelphia attribute 30% of that drop until 2012 to discouraged job seekers

giving up the hunt. from 2012 onward, 80% of the drop was down to baby boomer's retiring. april's decline was drain by a sharp fall, both in the number of unemployed new entrants to the work force and people reentering after an absence. >> that suggests that congress cutting off emergency unemployme unemployment compensation has driven hundreds of thousands of people out of the labor market and they may be lost to us for good. >> but if the economy keeps adding jobs at the pace it did in april, they could entice the long time unemployed to try to find work again. >> we have had tepid job growth this year and at the end of this year. this jobs report that shows that almost 300,000 jobs have been created may lur people back into the labor market. >> patricia sabga, al jazeera, new york. >> rare footage of one of the darkest moments in baseball has come to light. film of the 1919 world series between the white sox and the cincinnati reds. eight members of the white sox

were banned for life for accepting bribes and throwing the series. the film was found in a remote town in canada. >> more than 5500 migrants have died trying to cross the border since 2000. al jazeera "border land" follows six americans from all walks of life who are retracing the strips of three deceased migrants. on sunday, they come face to face with the dangers of the journey. camouflage it clothing is sought after as will other items that they hope prevent detection. >> these are sheep covers, and so like with my shoes, if you walk through the sdeth, it's going to -- you are going to see a distinct shoe print like right here. so you are going to be able to see that. you put these on and then you are not going to see that. >> if the desert track is an

angst-ridden pursuit and dangerous for males, it is even more for females. >> father presliano takes the group to a nearby pharmacy. [speaking spanish.]. >> the fact the woman is putting shots because they know they are going to get rape, we have to understand the kind of sack fights people are willing to make in order to have a better life.

. >> it's sick to know that as a woman not only do you have to worry about getting sick, breaking an ankle. you also have to worry about being raped. this is an evil world. >> you see the rest of the borderland episode, we invite you to join us sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6 pacific on al jazeera america. we are coming right back.

>> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks

with the most interesting people of our time. >> i became beautiful when i became a feminist >> gloria steinem >> sexuality is about cooperation, not domination... >> and inspiration... >> i want for women whatever they want for themselves... >> and the unconventional future of the movement >> they're many faces for feminism, including beyonce' >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america just a couple of hours until america's most popular annual horse race kicks off. this track in lewisvilieu louis people have been pouring into the racetrack since this morning dressed in those crazy hats and elaborate costumes. it's all for a day of tradition and out door drinking, of course. most of them are betting on the horse. it's a california house called california chrome who is expected to win with 3 to 1 odds this year.

>> ask anyone what they think when you say, "new orleans" and they are likely to say food, fun, and a whole lot of music. ♪. >> this is the city's annual jazz and heritage festival. >> that's what it's all about. this year's festival wraps up tomorrow after two weeks, dopzs of fans and thousands of music leaders. music scene survived thanks to the efforts of the folks at threadhead records. we caught up with the founder and some of the people who benefitted ♪ and i am train they call the city, the city of new orleans. ♪. >> after katrina ♪ al and i will be gone >> new orleans were scattered around the country. i, for example, my by and i lost everything we had. >> i didn't know what i was going to do. there was no place to really play here in the city.

♪. >> it was seven years ago back in 2007, i was in a backyard party a fundraiser. playing an acoustic set. we were trading songs. a guy from california, one of the threadheads said you are wonderful together. you should make a record and sarcastically i said we can't even make rent right now, let alone make a record. he said how much do you need? and paul said, we probably would need about $10,000. and two weeks later, he called and he said, where do i send the check? ♪ was this the land of the undead? ♪. >> i was astounded. he didn't say i want to hear music. i want to own music. he said, where do i send the check? and promise me when the record comes out you will pay this money back because some of the people who put up money could only afford to put up $5 because they have been out of work for a year but they really want to

help new orleans and this is how they want to help. ♪. >> they paid the money back within a year. and the idea from that was, well, let's see if we can raise money for other artists and loan it to them. that was the start of threadhead records back in '07 ♪ the eternal life. >> we loaned the money to the musicians. they make their cd. they keep the masters. they keep everything. they are required to pay back within about a year or so. >> there have been a few that have struggled to pay back. >> i believe this, that the musicians, some of the musicians have struggled to pay back eventually will pay back. >> trying to get support through conventional, like record companies and stuff like that is very, very difficult especially in this day and age but you kind of have to do it yourself or be fortunate to come across a group like threadhead. ♪. >> eight years that they have been doing this, they have

raised over $700,000 released over 53 cds by new orleans artists affected by the flood. >> is changing the face of new orleans music for generations to come. ♪ my baby. ♪ looks like a lot of fun. the party wraps up sunday with shows by aaron neville and many other new orleans favorites. for more than 40 years, gloria steinhem has been the face for fem inism. we talked to her about advancing women's rides. >> what's a pink collar get other? >> service job, waitressing, healthcare, the jobs we can't outsource because they involve personal service and those are very, very disproportionately fem. >> watch the entire interview next on "talk to al jazeera." that will do it for this hour. i am thomas drayden. thanks for joining us. i will be back in an hour with

more more news. for more updates around the world, go to aljazeera.com. emste >> i became beautiful when i became a fenninist. up to then i was a pretty girl. i was not pretty. >> the face of filminism, gloria steinem. believes the women's battle is going on. >> a blue-colour uniform job for a man pays more. >> gloria steinem has expanded her image to add