>> just because we have the best hammer does not mean every problem is a nail. >> president obama laying out his plan for u.s. foreign policy. why he believes america needs to head in a new direction. >> i know that v.a. is withholding documents relating to at least three relevant communications by claiming torn-client privilege. >> veterans affairs officials on the congressional hot seat following a new report showing delays in care were even worse than first thought.

>> the gun that killed that 14-year-old girl was bought legally. if that person had been held responsible for that gun, she might not be dead today. >> why one city trying to battle gun violence now focusing on how guns are sold. >> you may stand up on my back and face your distant destiny but seek no haven in my shadow. >> changing the world with her words, remembering the life and work of maya angelo. >> president obama now laying out his vision for the future of america's foreign policy. >> the president announcing his plans during the commencement ceremony at west point. >> he says americanationlationism not aboption as america deals with threats from around the world. the president says the u.s. needs willing partners to fight

alongside american troops. >> it was a sprawling address with one central theme, terror still the world's number one danger and the united states shouldn't go it alone. >> the most direct threat to america at home and abroad remains terrorism. a strategy that involves aiding every country that has terror networks is naive and unsustainable. >> instead, he wants to partner with countries where priests operate. in syria, where the president said extremists have found safe haven, he promotions helping train syrian rentals. >> in the post iraq and afghanistan era, the president stressed, force should be used sparingly. >> just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every

problem is a nail. >> he says cooperation with allies is the first alternative. >> we have to broaden our tools to include diplomacy and development, sanctions and isolation, appeals to international law and multi-lateral military action. >> he cites ukraine as an example. he says international pressure is isolating russia and forcing it to rethink its actions and iran, forcing iran to negotiate for its nuclear program. mr. obama pledged more openness, citing drone strikes and n.s.a. spying. >> when we cannot explain our efforts clearly and publicly, we face terrorist propaganda and international suspicion. we erode legitimacy with our partners and people and reduce accountability in our own government. >> aljazeera, washington.

>> ahead in our next hour, we'll break down the president's foreign policy speech focusing on specific countries. >> a landslide victory in egypt's presidential election for the countries former military chief. it looks likal sisi will be the next president. >> sisi ousted mohamed morsi last year. his supporters boycotted the election. >> military leaders in thailand say there will be little chance of early elections. as we report, some fear there could be more attacks in the

wake of last week's military takeover. >> filling in the required forms, she repeats her story to city officials and waits. she's injured and grieving, but tries to hide her feelings, telling us she's strong. the reason she's at city hall is because she, her husband and two of her sons were caught in a bomb attack, one of 13 last saturday. her young evident, a 6-year-old boy was killed. her husband is still in critical condition. >> i am afraid we will lose more of our children. i want this war to stop. >> this is the moment when one of the bombs exploded, two days after the military took over the government in a coup. >> this 7/11 was one target saturday night. it's the first time she has seen this multiple coordinated attacks on soft targets at a time when the bombers could expect to kill and hurt as many

people as possible. >> at the regional command base, the military explained the coup to local media. 3,000 radio stations have been surety down across the country. >> if the system is not strong enough, we need to improve it. if it is with offices, we need to fix that, also. the two must go together. >> the civilian government had already imposed martial law here when the military launched its coup. one provincial official joked the area is now under double martial law. a local politician is afraid things are going to get worse, saying people here know that a political solution is the only way out of the conflict, but that both the military and separatists have their own reasons to escalate the violence. some analysts predict the future will be bleak for thailand south under military rule. families that get caught in the

violence can only try to endure. >> more than 6,000 people have died in fighting between thai security forces since 2004. >> discussing allegation of mismanagement at v.a. hospitals, three top officials from the department of veteran affairs testified at a hearing, following the release of a report which claims some veterans waited an average of four months just to get their first appointment at the v.a. hospital in phoenix. an undersecretary at the v.a. said changes will be made. >> congressmen, i think i state the obvious when i say that v.a. needs to work hard to reestablish trust and confidence among veterans. i think we welcome help from any government agency in identifying problems and helping us come to solution. >> arizona senator john mccain

among a growing number of lawmakers now calling for the v.a. secretary shinseki to step down. the new report showing massive problems in scheduling appointments for veterans and apparent attempt to say cover it all up. how is that being received on capitol hill? >> with a lot of frustration. you hear it at that hearing that stretched well into the night with lots of questions for those officials. we're hearing it from the white house where officials say president obama was troubled by this report, and even from within the v.a., where eric shinseki calmed it reprehensible and he ordered those 1700 veterans to immediately be triaged or seen at the address. >> what did officials say they would do to fix the problems? >> well, the v.a. hearing last night really focused on what was known here in washington and the

exchange between officials and phoenix in other facilities here in washington. this was a hearing in which officials said if these three don't show up, they'd get subpoenas to testified. they did show up and testified. in terms of what they want to do, a couple of quotes from the hearing, some lawmakers said they would be over the shoulder of the v.a. every single day. one democratic, the top ranking democratic said let me be clear. i'm not happy. more than 150 pages of documents have been turned over. they think the v.a. is stonewalling, they think there's more. >> we are now counting six senators, including john mccain calling for v.a. secretary eric shinseki to step down. are we looking at the end of the shinseki years? >> actually, six democrats so far and add to that mccain and others who say that he should step down. the pressure is definitely mounting. the white house that said that

shinseki is essentially on probation now that we have this initial report and there's more to come. they have yet to go through the medical records to connect and see if the veterans died because of lack of care. >> muslim fighters are blamed for an attack on a catholic church in central african republic that left 15 dead. the church is where thousands have south refuge from the civil war. the gunmen fired weapons and threw hand grenades. christian vigilantes and muslim rebels have been fighting for control of the country since december. 1 million people have fled their homes to avoid the violence. >> flooding in south sudan threatens 100,000 refugees. the u.n. releasing this video of an over crowded camp where water is creating sanitation issues. the water is floor tents and

could become a breeding ground for disease. aid agencies are trying to move refugees to a safer location. >> flooding could be a problem here in the united states today, as well. >> for more on the morning national forecast and scenarios like this, let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. good morning. >> good morning. the video is out of texas and louisiana. a slow-moving system causing these scenes, especially near any rivers, we're watching for that again today, because this will continue to move along the gulf coast slowly, really dumping copious amounts of rain. you can see kind of the central southern united states pretty quiet. the northern tier and parts of the mid atlantic watching for rain. this is our big player here. already, places like as this moved through houston yesterday, close to seven inches of rain. it's so slow moving that it really gets a lot of chances to just sit and dump that.

it's also because this low pressure area is in a position where you've got that flow ahead of it that is really sucking in the gulf moisture and moving that over land. that's a couple of our problems. for the day today, you can still see cities like new orleans, starting to shift more into mississippi, alabama starting to get rain. over the next couple of days, this is how this progresses, a lot of places have already seen a couple already today, and then three to five in that core, but there's isolated amounts obviously that are higher than that. i mentioned, you can see this up through places like the mid atlantic. there are boundaries here causing slighter amounts of rain, but these areas that you see highlighted in the greens and then the brighter greens are where we have flooding conditions now. the rest of the area is where we have watches, so getting saturated in that potential for the flooding, you saw it earlier in our video, a car stuck, you don't want to be that person.

the other place you'll get significant rain is northern tier of the midwest. >> this has been one bizarre weather year. >> a lot of changes going on in the climate. >> makes airlines flight 370 is not in the section of the indian ocean where an compossist search of the area 1,000 miles off the northwest coast of australia has been conducted and turned up nothing. authorities say that area can be discounted as the final resting place of flight 370. search teams hoped those signals came from the black box flight recorders. the u.s. navy officials suggest it may have come from a ship. the plane damaged in early march, 239 people were onboard. >> a giant voice in american history silenced, maya angelou the poet has died. she lived a rich life with a lot of different chapters. taking a look back at the

thoughtful soul who inspired millions with her words. >> i've been very blessed. >> she was one of the leading literary voices, but more than a writer and poet. she was a civil rights activist, educator, a historian. she was born in st. louis in 1928, raised in the state of arc argue. her difficult childhood was reflected in her autobiography, i know why the caged bird sings, later turns into a movie. it detailed a life marked by racial discrimination and the violence in her own home. she was raped at the age of eight and didn't speak for five more years. >> she actually starred as a dancer, winning a scam larr ship that led to performing on broadway and a variety of t.v. shows. a more serious calling sent her overseas. she ran newspapers in egypt and learned five languages. she published 30 titles,

including award winning screen plays. she acted in the famous t.v. series, roots. among her accomplishments, pulitzer prize nominations, and the presidential medal of freedom. >> imagine it. a block girl from a little village in arkansas from this little town here, this little village. imagine it. now considered one of the most important writers. imagine i did. >> the poem she wrote for president clinton's inauguration sold more than 1 million copies. >> come, you may stand up on my back and face your distant destiny, but seek no haven in my shadow. >> she wrote life is not measured by the breaths we take but the moments that take our breath away.

>> president clinton said america lost a national treasure and hillary and i a beloved friend. he added now she sings the consist the creator gave to her when the river and the tree and the stone were one. >> in our next hour, more insight into her remarkable life. we'll talk to a filmmaker and author, both of whom knew her personally. >> you had a chance to meet her. >> the last time we talked, after we did the formal interview, we were talking about soul food and which greens were better. >> a great soul she was indeed. one thriving industrial center, the economies of both detroit and pittsburgh collapsed. >> were you ever those cities has rebounded, how the motor city could learn from the steel city about getting back up on its fit. >> i want justice for my son. i want justice. >> outrage after a toddler falls to his death. his mother wants to know how the

2-year-old got away from day care and on to a roof. >> the stadium is almost ready for the world cup, but the rest of the city is far from finished. >> our big number today is big. 2,100,000,000. >> the worldwide health crisis that number represents. resents.

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. could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. 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. >> obesity is on the rise in both rich and poor nations. >> today's big number is 1.2 billion, people obese or overweight. >> researchers analyzing data from countries over the past decades. >> 30% of the world is obese or overweight and america leading the way. >> 13% of all overweight people live here in the u.s. adult obesity shooting up around the world and child obesity up 50%. >> it affects people of all ages, incomes and regions a

understand 3.5 million people die from complications due to weight. major risk factors include heart decease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers. the u.s. spends more than $140 billion trying to treat obesity. >> trying to deal with a blight in a city that is bankrupt, meeting in an annual conference discussing how a private-public sponsor ship can turn detroit around. they can look southeast to see how it works. in pittsburgh, steel mills disappeared, causing the steel city to rust. that's where we are this morning. good morning. >> good morning. today we're making the city of pittsburgh hour star, the city and these beautiful venting stacks behind me that represent the cities past and present.

the question is can detroit learn from pittsburgh about what they've done over the last 30 or 40 years. i've been trying to find out. take a look. >> racing out of the fort pitt tunnel, a city is home for high tech industries. the mayor said it had to be flexible to survive when the steel industry left town. >> you can bomb a city, you can burn a city. you can flood a city, or you can tear the economic heart of a city out. as long as you invest back into the people who believe in that city, the city will come back. >> the mayor has talked with detroit about recovery there. motor city needs two to $3 billion to clear blight. it's ear marked just $400 million. unlike detroit, pittsburgh never accepted federal government cash

but nevertheless has taken 30 years since giant factories dominated the city. today, only these old stacks from the u.s. steel homestead works stand in honor of a once great industry that employed tens of thousands of people. the city raised $300 million to develop this shopping mall. how has pittsburgh raised the cash? five and a half billion's coming in just the past eight years. >> we've seen a real influx of funds, local businesses doubling down on downtown pittsburgh and committing to investing in this region. u.s. steel still calls downtown home. you couple that with foreign investment. >> google's making a major investment, expanding its operation here. the mayor says invest in art,

culture and people, and the big name companies will follow, and bring with them well paying jobs. >> google's example is one of many. microsoft, in tell, disney all wanting to make a home in pittsburgh and company's realize it's because of the strategic advantage we have, which is talent. >> the mayor is such a wonderful champion for his city. he told me years ago when those great entrepreneurs like melon and carnegie were here, people putting their backs into the steel industry. today, people come looking for the brains the people have in pittsburgh. >> i still have my grandfather's pen from when he used to work in those steel mills. how has education and medicine fueled the recovery there? >> about 10 years after the steel industry started leaving town, politicians were still campaigning about bringing the

steel industry back and then it dawned on the people, look, this is a regional city, there's nothing out here for miles around, if they don't adapt, they die. they turned to the medical field, high tech industry, the film industry and started welcoming and courting those businesses. that is the reason pittsburgh thrives today. the mayor said this is a lesson for today, always, always go after art and culture. look after the people, the company's will come. >> flash dance was the film they filmed. >> houston is expanding protections for gay and transgender residents. >> the ordinance passes 11 votes to six votes. [ cheers and applause ] >> a new ordinance in the city bans discrimination, imposing fines up to $5,000, applying to employers, businesses serving the public and city and government, but religious institution are exempt. the mayor of houston says this

is the most important thing she has done in office. critics say it will infringe on religious rights and petition for a referendum. it takes affect next month. or hundred hatch said legal same sex marriage is inevitable, even though against it. he said he has accepted what the courts have ruled on the matter. >> let's face it, anybody who does not believe that gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn't been observing what's going on. >> hatch went on to defend the judges who overturned utah's ban on same-sex marriage, saying you can't blame the judges for siding with the supreme court. he is concerned some religious freedoms could disappear. >> it is time to check temperatures across the nation. what we might expect to see. >> let's bring back nicole mitch jewel a lot of warm air, but also our book ends of the

country on the cooler side. as we start off this morning, 50's in the northwest and into the northeast, that's spread more into the mid atlantic as well this morning with that cold front we were talking about yesterday, now dropping temperatures in places like philadelphia and washington, d.c. d.c., yesterday, we had temperatures mid 80's to close to 90 degrees. to me, that's starting to get a little sticky. today into the 60's, but rebounds quickly over the next few days. back to you guys. >> ok, nicole mitchell, thank you. >> chicago has been told to end its ban on gun sales in city limits. >> the windy city's mayor rahm emanuel not going down without a fight. the rules he wants to put in place that some say would be among the strictest in the nation. >> we are not supporting president assad. we are supporting al-qaeda. >> a state lawmaker in verge writes a letter to syria's president, praising him and his military for their role in the

country's three year civil war. >> someone out there leaving money in u.s. cities and you can find it in a social media satisfyinger hunt. it's one of the stories making headlines around the world.

>> we are going to talk about maya angelou and her life and works in our next hour. >> breaking down president obama's major foreign policy speech and how its being received. >> the problem still plaguing brazil, edging closer to the start of the world cup. >> in our next hour, a series of deadly accidents putting the south korean government under the microscope.

>> a rare night hearing on wednesday, they talked about mismanagement in the v.a. administration. some waited for four months for an appointment in phoenix. >> egypt's former military chief, with nearly all the votes counted, al sisi will be the country's next president. he claimed victory with over 90% of the vote. many boycotted the election. >> makes airlines flight 370 is not in that section of the indian ocean. the search of the area off the coast of australia has turned up nothing. authorities now don't believe the plane is in that area. >> chicago is struggling with one of the highest murder rates in the united states, and gun control activists say it could get even worse in a few months because of federal court striking down the city's ban on selling guns. city leaders are fighting the

order with tough new gun restrictions. >> in a city where homicide is a regular headline, the chicago mayor is pushing for tougher regulation as the city prepares to allow gun sales for the first time since the 1980's. >> the city of chicago does not have a problem of too few guns. there are way too pane guns from shops in cook county, from neighboring states that come into the city of chicago. on any given weekend, our police officers take more guns off the streets than either new york or l.a. >> chicago police and mayor rahm emanuel are counting on restrictions on legal gun sales to ultimately help slow the illegal sale of guns. the decades old ban on gun sales in chicago force anyone who wants to buy a gun legally to go to the suburbs. city leaders point to a report indicate that go 20% of guns recovered from crime scenes in chicago were originally sold legally by only four dealers just outside the city. >> in fact, all of the gun dealers in cook county are just over the city line. one of them is chuck's in

riverdale, one of the biggest sources for guns used in chicago crimes. no one there wanted to talk to us. a shocking murder happened last month, a 14-year-old was shot and killed allegedly by another 14-year-old girl in a dispute over a boy. >> the gun that killed that 14-year-old girl was bought legally. if that person had been held responsible for that gun, she might not be dead today. >> police say the person who bought that gun legally turned around and sold it on the street. some of the newly proposed rules on gun shops aim to stop that practice by installing gun dealers to record sales, sell no more than one handgun to one person. as things stand now, gang members we spoke to who now works with an anti violence group say it's too easy to have guns. >> you can have a gun, like

everyone gary, indiana, you can have a gun and like most people, probably go there and get them and bring them back to chicago. >> the mayor and police hope that the city council passes the new regulations and if they hold up in court. >> last year, more than 400 people were murdered in chicago. >> more than 100 seattle police officers are suing the city and the justice department in federal court, all contending that seattle's new use of force policy vitals their constitutional rights putting police and the public at risk. the suit calls for an immediate halt to the policy which officers say limits their options in dangerous life threatening cases. >> questions are raised after a toddler fell from the roof of a day care center. it happened wednesday morning indoor chester, massachusetts. authorities aren't sure how the 2-year-old climbed four flights of stairs and pushed a heavy

door open. the boy's mother demands answers. >> he's been going to the day care for two and a half weeks. how a 2-year-old baby got out of her house, first floor and went to the roof, how? >> the cause of death is still under investigation. rivera said she got a text message from the day care center saying her son was fine just 15 minutes before police called to say he fell to his death. >> despite the on going civil war, an election has been set in syria. bashar al assad is widely expected to win. syrians in lebanon lining up for the chance to vote early. >> since early in the morning, thousands of syrian refugees filled the streets leading to the embass in beirut. brut. under the grueling sun, they waited at check points before their turn came to enter the

compound. this is the only voting station in lebanon, even though there are a million and a half syrians living in the country. this man from aleppo waited for his turn for hours, but he wouldn't leave until he voted. i will volt for president assad. >> some people here are staunch supporters of president assad and consider this presidential election a sign of his mill mily victory, that he has won after three years of intensive fighting. >> it's the syrian rebels who drove us out of our homes, not him. >> many people showed up here

also out of fear, fear for their families who are still in syria, fear that they won't be able to return to syria if they don't show up to vote. >> so many people seem to believe these days that president assad is not going away anytime soon, and they want to be able to go home once again. >> desperation here could be seen as pregnant women, old people and parents with dehydrated children refused to turn back before they could vote. that was despite the rough treatment by security men who struggled to control the crowd. neither the batons nor the heat, thirst nor exhaustion were stronger than these people's fear of the regime they now believe has survived the revolt. >> a virginia state senator confirming he is the author of a letter praising assad.

in the letter, richard black, a republican, calls assat heroic and praised the syrian government forces for their actions. he calls the opposition forces in syria terrorists, writing: last night, he totaled aljazeera why he wrote that letter to assad. >> i'm very deeply concerned that if we out of the president assad, we will install a jihadist regime associated with al-qaeda. since al-qaeda attacked the united states and murdered 3,000 americans on 9/11, it seems very tool r. foolish to me that we would align ourselves with their forces. >> black, the state senator questions whether the assad government is actually responsible for chemical weapons attacks in syria, and he praised

the assad government for protecting christians in that country. >> in his final years in office, president obama is shifting foreign policy agenda, speaking at west point's graduation saying america will be a leader in the 21 century, he said that leadership will have different goals. >> president obama called for a balance between solving the world's problems and passively retreating behind u.s. borders. >> the question we face, the question each of you will face is not weather america will lead, but how we will lead, not just to secure our peace and prosperity, but extend peace and prosperity around the globe. >> both critics and supporters are wrestling with just what a powerful america abroad looks like. mark jacobsen served in the

obama administration as a foreign policy advisor. >> the american people don't yet fully grasp what the world in the 21st century is going to look like. it's not going to be one where we entrench across the atlantic and president obama civic and sit in our continent. >> president obama tried to assure a nation weary of war that his strategy will focus on the dangerous parts of the world in a precise way. >> i believe we must shift our counter terrorism strategy, drawing on the short comings and successes in iraq and afghanistan to partner with countries where terrorists seek a food hold. >> the problem has been is that it's not clear how the president himself has tried to implement policies over the last several years. >> he points to syria's years of civil war and more than 150,000

deaths as a foreign policy failure and called the president's pledge to cells support for the syrian opposition and bordering countries an overdo course correction. >> the situation has gotten worse, not better and hard for the president to ignore the deteriorating situation. he's right to say it's a complex and difficult problem. >> the president pushed back saying the multi-national partner ships are holdovers from the cold war. >> down playing the effects of multi-lateral action, working through the u.n. or respecting international law is a sign of weakness. >> with his political elections behind him, mr. obama is trying to set the stage for his final two years in office, a period when he hopes to burn issue both his foreign policy legacy and u.s. influence abroad. >> joining us now to discuss america's role in the international arena is rebecca,

a fellow with the truman national security project and political director of the washington, d.c. chapter. thanks so much for being with us. ukraine's recent presidential elections, burma, the on going nuclear discussions with iran, do you agree that these are examples of the success of obama's foreign policy. >> i drew degree. it's important that the president outlined other issues where he hasn't made progress but where it is important for america to lead, such as climate change and the ratification of the law of the sea. there were a lot of messages not just to the cadets in the audience, but to congress, that america's leadership has to continue and it's up to congress and the president of the united states to lead together. >> one area he continues to get criticism is on syria. >> i will work with congress to ramp up support for those in the

syrian 07 significance who offer the best alternative to terrorists and brutal dictators. we will continue to coordinate with our friends and ally the in europe and the arab world to push for a resolution to this crisis and make sure those countries, not just the united states are contributing their fair share to support the syrian people. >> is a political solution really still possible? what would compel president bashar al assad to get back to the negotiating table at this point? >> you know, i think the mistake with the last round of negotiations was that we brought the syrian government to the negotiating table without them feeling there was any consequence if they walked away and that's what they did. bashar al assad feels like he's winning, because the united states hasn't made very, very clear that we have a national security interest in the outcome of this conflict in syria and that would be --

>> do we have a national security interest in the outcome there? >> we do. we've been a guarantor of the security in the middle east for decades now. the president has been very clear and he was clear yesterday that a continued conflict that destabilizes the entire region, including allies in lebanon, jordan and turkey is not acceptable and a danger to u.s. national security interests. >> in afghanistan, five years ago, the president talked about the troop surge and yesterday he is pledging to have all troops out by the time he leaves office. he is being criticized by that by senator john mccain for announcing a definitive withdrawal date. >> the president has been very clear that his legacy is to be that he ended these wars. i support that. senator mccain has criticized president obama at every turn, so it becomes less i think

poignant when you hear those criticism when you can't think of a time he supported the president here or when he traveled overseas. you saw the applause of the cadets when he talked about the dow drown in afghanistan. thanks for joining us this morning. >> china is starting what it calls its nationwide anti terrorism campaign. in a trial, 55 people found guilty of terrorism related charges, it was held in the same province that was the target of a suicide attack one week ago. we report on how the government is trying to reassure a nervous public. >> imagine beginning each working day like this, early morning commuters corralled like cattle. they are cueing to enter one of beijing's busiest subway

stations. there's a weary acceptance that this is how it now has to be. >> i don't think the effect will be great. the real attacks won't take place in a subway station. >> i was a bit worried before, but now feel better that security has been beefed up. >> in beijing, it certainly has, armed police now patrolling the streets. elsewhere, the army seems on a war footing. this show of force was in the city, capitol of the province and a response to last week's car bombings that killed 39 people. the central government blamed the attacks on separatists from the ethnic muslim community. such images are aimed at reassuring the public. >> the government wants to send the signal that they are committed to protecting lives and safety of the public in a more effective way. i think the chinese people will finally be able to understand.

>> in scenes that are an echo of china's revolutionary era rallies, state media released photos of a mass trial held in a cocker stadium. 55 people were convicted of terrorism, separatism and murder, three were sentenced to death. the trials were unrelated to last week's violence, but it's a further sign of the intense filing security crackdown. >> beijing's not seen security like this since the olympics, and the fact this operation has now been extended to cities right across the country is a measure of just how worried the government now is. aljazeera, beijing. >> as part of the beefed up security in beijing, police announced they are canceling vacations for police officers. >> a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. the world health organization is advised to ease up on a campaign against e cigarettes signed by researchers around the world,

citing a new research by the university of london showing e-cigarettes can help the success rate of people quitting by 60%. that's one study. the debate continues at the global level of whether he cigarettes are part of the problem or solution. >> the lesser of 2controversies. >> residents of san francisco,

get your wallets and running shoes out. an anonymous donor is leaving envelopes full of cash all over the bay area and causing a frenzy on social media. the twitter handle, if you want to check it out as@hiddencash. in some instances, people have paid the cash forward. it could be coming to new york next, moving on to los angeles, possibly, we'll see. follow hidden cash. >> it's like $100 you may pick up, he said give $20 of it, pay it forward to do good. one guy bought pizza for his entire staff. >> brazil preparing for next month's world cup. >> the venues will be ready, officials say. they promise that. in one town, locals say they are not and blame political corruption for leaving some project years from completion.

>> a third straight day of protestors clashing with police in barcelona. it's not about toll particulars off the economy. >> the 800-year-old equivalent of licking an envelope. it's our discovery of the day from ancient israel. rs, is wha.

>> al jazeera america. >> it's time for our discovery of the day. an 800-year-old seal used to secure letter has been uncovered at an ancient farm in jerusalem. >> experts believe it was attached to a document sent from a monastery. the men say nothing like it has been discovered before. >> it is made up of two lead disks hammered together with a string between them.

opening the letter would cause damage to the seal. >> one features a cross, the other an inscription. >> police and squatters have been clashing near a popular community center in barcelona. the crowd threw rocks and lit fires during a third night of rioting. the group has been occupying the buildings since 1997, but a court ordered their eviction monday. the building has been used to host debates and concerts. the city wants to knock it down to develop the area. more than two dozen people were arrested. >> a shootout between police and drug traffickers playing out in front of the cameras in rio. one person was killed as the residents ran for cover. the latest in a round of escalating violence in the poor areas of rio. police have swept the

neighborhoods where crime is prevalent leading up to the word cup. a city in western brazil, the stadium still needs lots of work. even if they finish the stadium, just getting there could be a problem. >> the 43,000 seat stadium is almost finished, with workers frantically applying final touches. good news for the 236789ifa inspectors. antonio said the city in a geographical center of south america has turned into a construction and traffic nightmare. >> this is a small neighborhood street, which all the traffic has to go through. residents are really angry.

it gets worse every day. >> this 22-kilometer railing was supposed to join the airport to the city center, but it's months, possibly years from completion. >> this is another blocked street. we'll have to go two streets up. imagine if during the world cup, all of this is blocked. i hope to have a magic wand. >> brazil was granted the world cup more than six years ago. >> there's been no time to complete some of the work, but the most important ones for the tourists to get around will be finished. >> plans are ambitious, not helped by heavy bureaucracy and a corruption scandal involving the arrest of the state governor. >> of all the 12 world cup venues, this is the one doing

the most work to improve the city, but brazilian law makes it difficult to move quickly. >> we're lost. we'll have to come back the way we came or we'll get even more lost. this is one of the main access roads to the stadium. >> there are no welcome banners or football posters. the stadium's almost ready. as we can see, the city authorities have not met the challenge of finishing the rest of the work on time. the football will kick off, but there's going to be a high price to pay. aljazeera, brazil. >> record droughts in brazil's largest city creating problems. residents in the poor neighborhoods there accusing the water company of lowering the pressure at night. the state government denies any rationing by economic class. >> time now for another check on

the weather. let's turn back to meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> we definitely have some very wet areas this morning and concerns for flooding once again. the big pattern, what we have going on is lower pressure off into the northwest with some scattered showers here, instability through theies and a boundary coming through the northern tier of the country. then we have that front that's moved into the mid atlantic that could cause places like d.c. not only to be much cooler today, 20-25 degrees cooler, that's a lot, but also see rain. the southern tier of the country, this is slowly moving along, picking up gulf moisture. a lot of plays have seen five, six, even a couple of isolated spots close to seven inches of rain. as this has moved through, watch for another three to five kind of consistently, but always those spots that have isolated amounts being more and because this is slow-moving, the ground is getting saturated, so it

turns quickly into some of that flash flooding concern. this is our big player. the other area, more likely to pick up larger amounts, not as much as on the gulf coast, but this moving through the northern tier of the country doesn't look too impressive now. that part of the country still on the warm side, though. >> the standoff between the hot sauce and a southern california town have come to an end. a lawsuit was dismissed against the popular hot sauce company. residents complained of health problems caused by the spicy fumes emitted from the factory, the company saying it has worked to fix the problem, installing a new filtration system. victory for hot sauce lovers everywhere. >> mobile homes and trailer parks seeing a boom in business. what's driving people there to move in. >> looking at the life and

legacy of maya angelo. we talked with two people who were close to the famed poet and activist about the lessons she left behind. we are back in two minutes with more. >> we leave you with this shot of malta. join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. rosie perez >> i had to fight back, or else my ass was gonna get kicked... >> a tough childhood... >> there was a crying, there was a lot of laughter... >> finding her voice >> i was not a ham, i was ham & cheese... >> and turning it around... >> you don't have to let your circumstance dictate who you are as a person >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

families ripped apart... >> racial profiling >> sometimes they ask questions... sometimes they just handcuff people... >> deporting dreams... destroying lives... >> this state is literally redefining what it means to be a criminal alien fault lines

al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're locking the doors... >> ground breaking... >> we have to get out of here... >> truth seeking... award winning investigative documentary series fault lines the deported only on al jazeera america >> congressmen, i think i state the obvious when i say that v.a. needs to work hard to reestablish trust amongst jeans a new report about questionable care, several top v.a. officials have their feet held to the fire on capitol hill. >> a study shedding new light on the growing problem of obesity. people around the world of losing the battle. >> a blueprint for a revival,

detroit can learn lessons from pittsburgh on how to thrive again. >> across the world of the world of rivers, sang a beautiful song. it says come, rest here by my side. >> remembering the cultural icon author and activist, maya angelou. >> good morning. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. congress reacting to a new report that has law maker calling on v secretary shinseki to resign, holding a rare late night hearing following the release of the v.a. inspector general's report. >> that claimed shveterans waited four months to get their first appointment at the v.a. hospital in phoenix and that employees tried to cover it up. committee chairman jeff miller said he has had to tough time getting v.a. officials to testify. >> at this point, given their pattern of stonewalling committee requests, i am not

convinced that they have conducted a thorough and comprehensive search for records. i know that v.a. is withholding documents relating to at least three relevant communications by claiming attorney-client privilege. >> the v.a.'s undersecretary says the agency now working to fix the problem. >> congressman, what's happened is unacceptable, but i have to go beyond that, because i have to figure out how to fix the system, and that's my goal and purpose, is to understand the problem and assure that it doesn't happen again. >> randall pinkston has more on the v.a. report that has washington buzzing this morning. >> for men and women who served in america's military and need medical care from the department of veteran affairs, the interim report by the v.a.'s own inspector general is not reassuring. a review of the phoenix medical center found 1700 veterans were

not registered properly, leaving them at risk of being forgotten or lost. earlier, phoenix health care officials showed an average wait time of 14 days. a review of a sample of patients found a significant delay in access to care with a wait time of 115 days on average. the report confirmed what whistle blowers reported, that phoenix employees kept two sets of waiting list to conceal long wait times. senator john mccain said the inspector general's report doesn't go far enough. >> i believe that this issue has reached a level that requires the justice department involvement. these allegations not just administrative problems. these are criminal problems. we need the f.b.i. and the department of justice to be involved in this investigation. i also with some reluctance

believe that it's given the lack of responsiveness of secretary shinseki to numerous inquiries that it's time for secretary shinseki to step down. >> allegations that as many as 40 veterans died while waiting care at the facility began the investigation. relatives of dead veterans held demonstrations and called on congress to look into the v.a. and fire officials responsible for manipulating records and mismanaging health care. the inspector general recommended that veterans affairs secretary shinseki take immediate action to provide care for the 1700 veterans not on any waiting list, that he should establish a system to identify veterans at greatest risk and initiate a nationwide review of all veterans on wait lists. secretary shinseki called the

findings reprehensible and promised to fully implement recommendations. >> colorado's mark udall is calling for v.a. secretary shinseki to step down. house republican jeff miller chairing the veterans affairs committee also wants the investigation and a resignation. >> sports injuries in young athletes, the president saying if he had a son who wanted to play football, he would think long and hard because of the risk of a concussion. today's event includes parents, coaches, student athletes and officials drop the nfl. nearly 250,000 children visit the emergency room each year because of brain injuries caused by sports or other recreational activities. >> president obama is shifting his foreign policy focus in his final years in office. he spoke wednesday at west point's graduation saying the

u.s. will continue to be a world leader. the president said that must be balanced with needs here at home. >> in front of the nation's newest military officers, president barack obama looked to reassure the country it still matters. >> the united states is and remains the one in dispensable nation. that has been true for the century past and will be true for the century to come. >> he says even that has its limits. if u.s. national security isn't threatened, if nato allies aren't in jeopardy, he is unlikely to use military force, describing himself as haunted by the dead he sent in to fight. building coalitions and diplomatic pressure, as is the case in ukraine or when it comes to the use of force like syria, he'll outsource the fighting, giving training to opposition fighters. they told the administration they really need surface to air missiles.

experts say that's unlikely. >> the fear that they would receive them and use them in a terrorist operation is far greater for this administration than the fear of the assad regime surviving. >> he is promising his administration will lead by example. >> we can't exempt ourselves from the rules that apply to everybody else. >> to do that, he says he will increase transparency in the use of drones, putting the u.s. military in charge of the operations, not the c.i.a. he played another pledge to close guantanamo bay prison and change the law that allows it to stay open. those are all things he said he would do exactly one year ago. so far, he hasn't. aljazeera, washington. >> president obama says he will use lessons learned from afghanistan and iraq and seek partnerships with countries where terror networks are trying to gain a foot hold. >> chicago lawmakers are fighting back against a court order forcing gun sales for the

first time since the 1980's, rahm emanuel submitting an ordinance restricting where and how guns ca can sold. the city was given until the end of july to ban its ban on gun stores, the law would require a 72 hour waiting period and allow no more than one sale per month to any individual. >> there are way too many guns from shops in cook county, from neighboring states that come into the city of chicago. on any given weekend, our police officers take more guns off the streets than either new york or l.a. >> there were six shooting deaths in chicago just last weekend. that nearly 20% of the guns used in crimes there are bought legally at stores just across the city's borders. >> under the backdrop of a civil war, a presidential election is set for next tuesday in syria. early voting was held wednesday in lebanon where more than 1.5 million syrians seek ref final from the fighting. crowds gathered outside the embass for a chance to cast a

ballot. president bashar al assad is running against two little known candidates and expected to win. >> a landslide victory in egypt. al sisi the former military chief will be the country's next president. the former general claiming victory with 90% of the vote despite a low turnout. crowds cheered him. assisi ousted mohamed morsi last year. supporters from the muslim brotherhood boycotted those elections. >> a bombing in iraq, 54 people died around the country on wednesday. it is one of the bloodiest days in iraq since elections were held last month. one of the worst attacks happened in baghdad where a bomb kid 11 people and injured 29. >> in ukraine, pro-russian separatists shooting down a military helicopter.

we have more on the attack. >> ukraine's president has confirmed that a government army helicopter has been shot down by pro-russian separatists fighters slovyansk. they are using rocket launchers, a are tilly, mortars in an assault in the area. this helicopter just made a delivery and was shot down by the accept are activity fighters. onboard were 14 people. that is the confirmed death toll. included in that were civilians and apparently a ukrainian

general. >> the united nations said flooding in saw the sudan threatens 100,000 refugees. this video shows an overcrowded camp with sanitation issues. the water is near tents where people are living and could become a breeding ground for disease. aid agencies are trying to move the refugees to a safer location. fighting in south sudan has forced 1 million to flee their homes. >> in the u.s., parts of the country dealing with flooding. that threat continues today. >> for more, let's bring in nicole mitchell. >> that's especially dangerous, people get trapped in their cars going into water. sometimes the road is washed out from under you, so that's not something you want to be doing. as we look at the broad picture, it's really this area to the south that has given problems. there is an area of low pressure just sitting and spinning and funneling in all that gulf

moisture. as this moved through yesterday, that dramatic video we were just seeing not only flooded cars, but there was actually i know at least one cemetery in louisiana getting up to seven inches of rain where some of the graves came up and started floating. they had to moor them. the heaviest water moved into mississippi, alabama, the air force base getting very wet this morning. all of it is this pattern. the area causing this pattern is losing its grip. it is funneling up the moisture, the counter clockwise flow. ahead is kind of streaming in that moisture from the gulf. over the next couple of days then, on top of what we've seen across this region, expect a widespread area getting three to five inches, isolated spots seeing even more than that. this isn't the only place, you can see moisture toward the mid

atlantic. we have a boundary, the front dropping the temperatures that will kick off showers and across the northern tier of the country, more rain with another weather system, the south our big concern areas highlighted in green. those are all flood watches, meaning we're getting saturated. we have the potential and brighter greens are places where we do have splash flood concerns. if you see the water, the little bit on the high side, don't drive into it, find a different route this morning. >> makes airlines flight 370 not in the area of the ocean where pings were detected last month. authorities now say the area can be discounted as the final resting place of the flight. search teams hoped those signals that they heard came from the plane's missing flight black box

recorders, flight recorders, but the navy suggesting the pings may have come from a ship. that plane vanished in early march with 239 people onboard. >> french police arrested a member of the family that sunk a ferry in south korea. the woman appeared in court in paris. authorities are still looking for her father and two brothers who fled south korea. the family's company overloaded the ferry and ignored safety warnings. 300 people died in the disaster. >> grieving has become a daily occurrence in south korea. it seems the country has been hilt with one tragedy after another after another. taking a look at how the country is coping. >> for a country still dealing with one of its worst disasters felt all the more keenly for the fact that so many victims were children, this has been another week of distressing images of death and grief. a fire on wednesday at a hospital in the south killed more than 20 people. this time the victims were mostly elderly, suffering from

conditions such as alzheimer's. questions are being asked about staffing levels and other safety issues. two days earlier, eight people died in an underground fire in a northern city. investigators believe we woulders may have caused the fire. there may have been more than bad luck at play. the local fire service said construction work shouldn't have begun before a preliminary safety check due to happen on monday, the day of the fire. little more than two weeks after the ferry sinking came this, two subway trains collided, injuring 200. many people feel a lack of safety has been tolerated too long. >> although there have been some concern over our hurry, hurry culture, we didn't think it would cause such widespread problems. with all these things happening after the ferry accident, it's

been a real mental shock to me. >> the media outlets have been reporting and focusing on such accidents. i think people feel our society is more insecure. >> the president promised reforms, rooting out the corruption, corner cutting and collusion that have made safety a secondary issue. >> materially, we've made our way to the doorstep of advanced countries, but when it comes to safety awareness, we're a long way from that rank. we need to develop a mentality benefiting our growth and abundance. >> many south careens feel anything less would be a further betrayal of the young lives lost needlessly last month. >> 16 passengers onboard that ferry still have yet to be recovered. >> the weight of the world tipping the scales like never before, the increase in global obesity rates that researchers

are calling startling. >> a key leader in the republican party offering a new view on same-sex marriage. why orrin hatch said those legal unions are now inevitable. >> an oil tanker bursting into flames off japan. the search for survivors and other videos captured by citizen journalists around the world. ld.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. let's get a look at videos from around the world. >> battling a blaze at the countries biggest zoo, this footage of crews dealing with the fire, no animals were hurt, but several rare palm trees and plants were destroyed. >> fire crews off japan on the high seas after an oil tanker exploded. the ship was a mile from port. seven members of the tanker had to be rescued. the captain is still missing. >> a life changing moment for several hundred african

migrants, the would-be immigrants forcing their way over razor wire barriers into spain that neighbors the north coast of africa. those who made it celebrating in the city streets and greeted by migrants that also made it. >> the heavy burden that obesity is placing on the word population. >> first, temperatures across the nation today. nicole mitchell is back. i'm gladly i didn't take out the air conditioning yet. >> i've been play that go game trying not to use it, i try to hold off as long as i could. it panned out for those in the northeast, if you just wait add couple days past that, the heat has cooled down. you need it in the south, 60's and 70's this morning and a sticky and wet day with all that rain today. cities such as washington, d.c., all right dropping about 15 degrees from yesterday at this time. instead of 70's, we've got 50's

this morning. it's going to be the rest of the day you feel changes. for the northeast, 60's have gone well southward. in the meantime, minneapolis 83 degrees. that's the core of the warm right now. just to give you a contrast. i mentioned d.c., chance of rain for that same cold front that has come through, yesterday temperatures ranging from mid 80 said to 90's, today at 60. to me, that's more comfortable than the hot, humid sticky stuff but means you need a rain jacket or sweater as you head out. other temperatures as we get into friday, starting our weekend off, warmer for seattle. instead of 60's, we get into the 70's and a lot of 70's up and down that west coast. there are places we've gotten a little temperature relief, which i like, some people like the hot stuff. >> on behalf of the hot, steamy sticky people, i say more. >> i'm with you on this. >> health officials saying that that third suspected case of

middle east respiratory system was a false alarm. after more tests, it was determined that the illinois man didn't pick up the virus from a business associate. there is no evidence the virus has been transmitted here in the u.s. there have been two confirmed cases, about the contracting the virus working in saudi hospitals. 45 people around the world have died from that virus. >> scientists urge the world health organization to ease up its campaign against he cigarettes, saying it helps people quit traditional cigarettes. some have slammed the cigarettes, saying they are dangerous to endorse. the world health organization is set to release a report later this year. >> there is now an international study finding that more people are overweight than ever. where you live, your gender or how much money you make doesn't make much difference.

>> the data collected from 188 countries included both duties and children over the period from 1980-2013. they used the most widely accepted way to classify people as overweight or obese, the b.m.i. it's not a perfect measure, but it correlates strongly with body fat levels and a high b.m.i. predicts a greater risk of chronic disease and early death. what did the team find? in 1980, they say there were 857 million people, 20% of the world who were overweight or obese. that figure balloons to 2.1 billion, just under 30% of the world in 2013. the increase was seen in both men and women in both rich and poor countries. it revealed people are becoming overweight and obese at younger and younger ages. >> we don't use the word

epidemic lightly. we use it for disease that spread. our experience in obesity is like an epidemic. nobody was immune, no country, no social class, educational level, i mean every built of the population will see an increase in the obesity. that's alarming. >> since 1980, the study recorded an increase of almost 50%. the number of overweight children and adolescents are included. in poor nations, the figure is 13%. higher rates in children were seen in the middle east and north africa. >> in high school and middle school, developing eating habit and physical habit for your life. this is the period where we need to focus and make sure everybody is behaving the right way in order to maximize their health. >> obesity is associated with diseases from cardiovascular

disease to cancer and diabetes. a study like this underlines that if continued, health systems will be cost dearly. it will cost people their lives. with these illnesses comes a decline in life expectancy. >> in the u.s. and other developed countries, increased obesity rates have slowed but there are more overweight people in the u.s. than anywhere in the world. >> detroit is mapping its plan to bounce back after hitting rock bottom. why the motor city may want to look to pittsburgh when it comes to building a revival. >> in caracas, venezuelas economic crisis is worsening by the day as major airlines suspend flights in and out of the country. >> the impact of maya angelou. two people who knew her well tell us about the life lessons she shared. >> another look at words of wisdom from the poet on the power of love.

>> saturday on tech know. >> we probably ought to put the goggles on now. >> visionary technology. >> these goggles will help surgeons detect tumors that are less than one millimeter in size. >> life changing. >> these have the potential to revolutionize the way that we approach patients with mini cancers. >> tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. >> this is some of the best

driving i've every done, even though i can't see. >> tech know. >> we're here in the vortex. >> saturday, 7:30 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> taking a live look in harlem in new york city, where maya angelou performed and lived. we'll look back at her legacy. >> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. ahead, taking a page out of pittsburgh's playbook on making a comeback, lessons detroit may learn to aid recovery. >> mobile homes and trailer parks are seeing a boom in business as housing prices rise. some people are trying to figure out a more affordable way to live. >> houston is expanding protections for gay and transgender residents. >> the ordinance passes 11 votes to six votes. [ cheers and applause ] >> a new ordinance in the city

bans discrimination by employers, businesses serving the public and city government. violators would face a $5,000 fine. the mayor of houston, who is a lesbian said this is the most important thing she has done in office. religious institutions are exempt. the new ordinance will take effect at the end of next month. >> conservative utah senator hatch saying same-sex marriage is inevitable. he has accepted the supreme court's ruling on the matter. >> let's face it, anybody who does not believe that gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn't been observing what's going on. >> hatch going on to defend those judges who overturned utah's ban on same-sex marriage, saying you can't blame them for sidion with the supreme court, but he also says he's concerned

that some religious freedoms will disappear. >> a toddler fell to his death from a day care center wednesday morning in massachusetts outside boston. authorities aren't sure how the 2-year-old climbed four flights of stairs, pushed open a heavy door to the roof and tumbled on to the pavement blow. the boy's mother demands to know how he escaped the day care unnoticed. >> he's been going to the day care for two and a half weeks. how a 2-year-old baby got out of her house first floor and reached to the roof, how? >> rivera says she got a text message from the day care center saying her son was fine just 15 minutes before police called to say he fell to his death. the case is still under investigation. >> more than 100 seattle police officers suing the city and justice department in federal court contend seattle's new use of force policy violates constitutional rights putting police and public at risk.

the suit calls for an immediate end to the policy which officers say limits their options and is dangerous in life threatens situations. >> a partnership of private and public sectors is what it will take for detroit to rebound from bankruptcy. that is the message from leaders meeting in michigan now. they remain hopeful that despite the $2 billion price tag to remove blight from the city, detroit can look to pittsburgh, finding itself in the same situation three decades ago. thousands of people fled that city after the collapse of the steel industry, how has the city managed to recover and what can detroit learn from it? >> that is the key question. we're making pittsburgh our star on the program this morning, the

city, 400,000 people who live here, these venting stacks here represent the city's past. over here, you can see the city's present, which is a shopping mall built on the site of this once giant steel mill. the question of the day, can detroit learn anything from what pittsburgh has gone through the last 30 or 40 years. i've been trying to find out. take a look. >> racing out of the fort pit tunnel, the former iron and steel capitol of the world, known for its bridges is today also a center for financial services companies, medical centers and high tech industries. the mayor said pittsburgh had to be flexible to survive when the steel industry left town. >> you can bomb the city, burn a city, you can flood a city, or you can tear the economic heart of a city out. as long as you invest back into the people who believe in the city, it will come back. >> the mayor has talked with detroit about recovery there. motor city needs $2 billion to

$3 billion to clear blight. $400 million is ear marked. pittsburgh's never accepted federal government cash. it's taken 30 years to come back from when giant factories like this now long abandoned dominated the city. today, only these old stacks from the u.s. steel homestead work stand in honor of a once great industry that employed tens of thousands of people. the city raised $300 million to develop this charming small town shopping mall on the site, carrying all the big brand names. how has pittsburgh raised the cash? 5.5 billion's coming in just the past eight years. >> we've just seen a real in flux of funds that started with our local companies, our local businesses doubling down on downtown pittsburgh and committing to investing in this region.

companies still call downtown home, you couple that with foreign investment. >> google's making a major investment in pittsburgh, expanding its operation here. the mayor said invest in arts, culture and people and the big name companies will follow and bring with them well paying jobs. >> google's example is one of many. microsoft, in tell, disney wanting to make a home in pittsburgh. it's because of the strategic advantage we have, which is talent. >> isn't that a giddying sight to see this morning? the mayor is such a great champion for his city. he said years ago when the great entrepreneurs were here, they were looking for braun for the steel industry. today they come looking for people's brains. >> having some of the best universities here in the country right there in the city has

probably also helped this reinvention, right? >> that's a great question. you've got the university of pittsburgh, which spawned the biggest employer here, the medical center, carney melon university. these bring well paid jobs to the city. all the people who work there need services, bringing other jobs in, as well, in tell, microsoft and disney looking to get into the city. the first thing the city did when the steel industries began leaving town was up their sports teams. the steelers, pirates and penguins are a major sports center, as well. people think detroit can learn from this model. >> it almost sounds too good to be true, though. >> i know. i realize that. it isn't. this is a city that has all the issues of any major american urban center has. as far as the economy is concerned, since 2004, pittsburgh and other inquire towns have been operating under a state recovery act where they

have to provide a properly balanced budget and there is a hold on collective bargaining, that sort of thing. it's not all sweetness and light, but pittsburgh is ahead of detroit at the moment. the point of this is that they can learn from it in michigan. >> it's a great city. let's hope that detroit can experience a similar renaissance. >> muslim fighters are blamed for an attack in a catholic church, that attack leaving 15 people dead. thousands have been seeking ref final from the countries civil war. witnesses say the government stormed the church, firing weapons and throwing hand grenades. christian vigilantes and muslim rebels have been fighting for control of the city since december, more than 1 million fled their homes. >> nigeria's president vows a total war against boko haram. they kidnapped 200 girls from their school last month. the penalty has told the army to

take action against terrorist threats. he is facing increasing pressure. >> during the president's speech, designed to mark 15 years of uninterrupted democracy in nigeria, he mentioned the government's efforts to try and rescue and find the more than 200 girls that were kidnapped now way back in mid april. however, as was expected by many members of the public, there was no new information about exactly what the authorities are doing to try and bring them home. on monday, nigeria's chief of defense staff gave a statement saying that the military knew where the girls were but for operational reasons and security reasons couldn't go in there and rescue them with force, which led to the prospect and the belief by many that there might be some kind of negotiation in the works to try and get them back, though the government publicly has always said it wouldn't be prepared to negotiate with boko haram.

now as things remain, there is still no detailed information about what the authorities here are intending to do to get the girls back and meanwhile international pressure to find them remains. >> it is report that had four more of the kidnapped school girls escaped their captors and reunited with their families. it is not clear when they got away. >> a shootout between police and drug traffickers playing out in rio. >> one person was killed during the exchange of gunfire as the residents ran for cover. it's the latest round of escalating violence in rio as police sweep neighborhoods where crime is prevalent in a lead up to soccer's world cup two weeks from now. >> venezuela said the u.s. ambassador to colombia has been plotting to destabilize

president maduro's rule. state department officials say the claims are baseless. >> there are fewer flights heading in and out of brazil, the house approving new sanctions against venezuela officials for crackdown on protestors. >> the officials would be barred from entering the country and freeze as sets in the u.s. a similar bill was approved last week. no word if the bill will make it to the senate floor. >> talking about flights, fewer and fewer heading out of venezuela since anti-government protests began. venezuela now feels the effects of those changes in flight schedules. >> simone airport appears to be operating at normal. in reality, the aviation industry is hurting badly. two months ago, air canada suspended all flights to the

country. al italia has done the same. many services have been cut to venezuela. >> the situation is now very serious, and it's very critical. it's so serious that many parent companies that have been funding the airlines con no longer do so. >> airlines reds statements saying their actions are due to the on going critical currency situation in venezuela, which is no longer economically sustainable. tight currency controls in venezuela mean all ticket sales have to be done going through an account controlled by the government. the national economy is crashing. the government doesn't have enough cash to exchange the money and pay the airlines back. venezuela owes 24 airlines a total of $4 billion. now the effects of the standoff between the government and airlines are spreading. >> the end run by the venezuelan

government, without the airlines, it can't deliver international mail and packages. operation have been suspended indefinitely. >> domestic services haven't been affected, but most prefer the more reliable fedex and dhl. omar is worried about losing his job as the mail piles up intended for canada and mexico and the european union. >> our office is full of mail everywhere. as well as that, we have three truckloads of international correspondence, totaling more than 47 tons. >> president maduro who says the currency controls is blaming a sporting event for all the trouble. >> some of the european airlines reprogrammed flights until the world cup is over and rerouting flights to brazil. >> if airlines choose to leave venezuela, they won't be allowed to return as long as maduro is

in power. there may not be much of an industry to come back to. >> venezuela is responding to the crisis by raising ticket prices on international flights by 350%, effective july 1. >> the standoff between siroca and one california town is over, a lawsuit dismissed against the popular hot sauce company. residents complained about health problems from fumes. the owner has installed a new filtration system to fix the problem. >> auto executives see driverless cars from google a serious threat. 100 expected to hit the market this year. it could creep into competition with automakers. g.m. is working on similar technology. >> apple required beat electronics for $3 billion, bringing founders dr. dre into

the mainstream. apple believes the service will help it catch up to other streaming services. >> mobile homes now attracting investors. millions of people priced out of the housing market are turning to affordable mobile homes. we have more on how new capitol is being parked in that industry. >> when i first moved out here, it was really hard for me to tell people i lived in a trailer park or mobile how many community. >> she lives just outside of st. louis, missouri renting a three bedroom unit for about $675 a month. >> that's more affordable for my family. we can save for the future for the kids and for our needs, too. living here, you know, we have the money that we need to get by. >> trailers, mobile homes, manufactured houses, whatever you want to call them, they often come loaded with the stigma of low class living.

as rent is increasingly out of reach and americans continue to struggle in the wake of the recession, they're becoming the only affordable housing around. >> if we're in a recovery, we're not seeing it here in the mobile park business, all right? you have a lot of people down sizing, 10,000 seniors retiring per day. you've got a lot of other households that have a good paying job at a factory, working altar by's, things like that. all the different macro trends are forcing people back into our business model. >> i like the colors on it. >> isn't it great? >> parks have 85% occupancy and bring in annual returns as high as 25%, generating more than $30 million a year in revenue. those numbers have brought mcmansion size interests to a once cottage industry. >> mobile home parks offer a stable investment.

tenants tend to stay put due to the high cost of moving their houses. maintenance costs remain low and supply remains fixed at 50,000 parks nationwide. many places banned new construction of parks, thanks to their unsavory reputations. >> it is still a very fragmented business, fairly poorly run and so those of us that have had other management experiences and that have access to capital can and are increasingly coming into this industry. >> critics say what they're doing is profiting off of poverty, making a cynical bed on the downward slide of the middle class. he says he and other owners are serving a crucial need. >> we're not the ones that are having people lose the job making from $40,000 a year to $14,000 a year. we are not making health care costs go up, or insurance costs

go up. we are the solution, not the problem. >> there are 8.6 million mobile homes across the u.s. >> the world is mourning the loss of award winning poet, writer and action visit maya angelou. >> we will talk about the power of the words she used and wisdom she trie tried to impart. >> the words that made her famous and her thoughts on people putting differences aside. aside. son

>> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> you're looking at a gorgeous shot of the chars river in

boston. it is 55 degrees, good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. straight ahead, the lasting impact maya angelou left behind. >> first, let's get a check of the weather today. if only every part of the country looked like that. >> to me, 50's overnight is perfect, have the window open overnight, temperatures in the 60's for the day, that's not bad. it's not quite so comfortable into the south. that's where we really have these copious amounts of rain with low pressure moving through. you can see that spiral where we have the low pressure. ahead of that, you get the flow. it's a counter clockwise flow funneling in the moisture from the gulf of mexico. the temperatures that have gone down in the mid atlantic, that's that other area of low pressure, a cold front that came through the region.

some place have got seven inches of rain and a couple more inches in the next days. watch for the flooded areas as this moves along. >> the world continues to mourn the death of maya angelou, the courageous civil rights activist and poet passed away yesterday at the age of 86. how she rose from tragedy to find joy. >> across the world of the world of rivers sang the beautiful song. it says come, rest here by my side. >> the world new her through her art, poems, plays performances and books, her work transcends race and class. in a year early years, when she was eight, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. she wrote that she felt responsible and stopped speaking for nearly five years. eventually, she found her voice, and her words changed america.

>> you may bury me in the bottom of manhattan. i will rise! >> she crusaded for racial quality and women's rights. early in her career in 1954, she toured the world in the cast of porgy and bess. she taught in ghana. she autobiography was the first best seller by an african-american woman. she became the first woman and first african-american to present a poem at a presidential inauguration. >> you created only a little lower than the angels have crouched too long in the bruising darkness. have lane too long face down in ignorance. >> she received the nation's highest civilian honors. the national medal of arts and the presidential medal of freedom were awarded to her. >> she must be considered an institution. she made a lasting contribution

to make the american community a better community. >> she was nominated for the pulitzer prize and tony and emmy awards and won grammys and dozens of literary honors. she embraced teaching. she spent most of the past 30 years teaching american studies at wake forest university. she spent her entire career teaching strength, love and forgiveness through her art. >> here on the pulse of this fine day, you may have the courage to look up and out and upon me, the rock, the river, the tree, your country. >> president obama also remembering his close friend saying with a kind word and strong embrace she had, the ability to remind that we are all god's children, we all have something to offer. while maya's day may be gone we take comfort knowing her song

will continue. >> you worked closely with maya angelou. she told you if you had an observation, you have an obligation. what did she mean by that and how does it affect you? >> thank you for having me on the show. you know, she was an incredible woman and so generous and gracious, and what she meant is that we must transform observation into obligations. when you see something, it's not enough to just observe it, you to have become a part of the solution, you know, and she was so generous to work with me on a project. i was just coming out of grad school and that's one of the things she taught, you know, is to be a mentor, to reach down to

the younger generations and help them and lift them up. i'm forever grateful of the opportunity. >> you are in the middle of producing a documentary on her life. you said your journey began when you realized growing up that there were very few books that were written in the african-american female tongue. has it changed? >> well, there have been more books, but hers was the trailblazer. thank you for having me and it's good to celebrate her life. yes, there are more writers, but what maya angelou did in 1969 in the middle of the civil rights movement was to give a lot of people hope, but particularly young black girls, who were reading pipi long stocking and things like that that had nothing to do with where they came from. >> she gave you an opportunity to write and voice your opinion and to understand that if your

opinion was outside what was considered to be the norm of that day, that it wasn't necessarily wrong, correct? >> correct. one of the things that we learned in -- i learned from her, from 2006 on, spending days with her each month to do work for harpo radio, which was her radio program, when we began to work on this documentary, we spent other hours with her just hearing her stories. i was able to hear stories over the years every month for three days and just to hear her stories. you're correct, she really wanted us to do things like protest, say what you mean, stand for something, and stand for truth. >> the last time i talked to her, we talked about soul food. give us one of those moments. >> we're at our house. >> i love it when a story begins

with ok. >> ok, so we're, i mean there are so many honestly with her. we're at our house and shootingment documentary. i'm directing it and i've got the camera guy and the sound guy and i say camera, are we ready? camera guy is ready. sound guy, we ready? he said hold on, i'm hearing birds outside. let me chase them away. he takes the headphones out and he goes to go outside and dr. angelou said no, you will not, she said let those birds sing. she spoke. she's always teaching, she was always teaching. that was one thing i really appreciated. >> knowing her, that is probably what she would be happiest to hear. thank you for joining us this morning.

>> a popular children's show could be making a comeback. the pbs series reading rainbow launched a kickstarter campaign to revamp for the web. donors kicked in $1.5 million. the show hosted by lavar burton aired for two decades before it was canceled in 2006. >> you may be able to post a selfie from the moon someday. high speed technology is being brought to space. future space travelers won't have to wait for their videos to load. the internet speed in space twice as fast as on earth. >> do they still have polaroids? >> yes, but nobody really uses them. >> tomorrow, could president

obama's foreign policy shift endanger u.s. lives? >> there are suggestions it could increase al-qaeda in the u.s. and abroad. that's tomorrow morning. >> thank you for joining us this morning. >> ahead in two minutes, escalating violence in ukraine and more news. have a great morning. orning.

>> hello and welcome to the news hour. it is good to have you here with us. here are the world's top news stories. >> tensions flaring in eastern ukraine, a convoy of pro-russian separatists is heading to donetsk airport. >> the former army chief al sisi in egypt elected. what to make over the low voter