welcome to al jazerra, i am michael eaves, here are the story that his we are following for you at this hour. president obama announces plans to bolster the u.s. presence in europe and answers questions about that controversial prisoner swap. syria's war rages as voters in parts of the country go to the polls. >> you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. [cheering and applause] and all across the country graduates are hearing words to live by. we'll show you some of the best commencement speeches this year.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ in a show of support for his allies, president obama announced a plan today to boost u.s. military presence in europe. he made the announce think while in polled address, meeting with the polish president. he creted u.s. trips in warsaw. earlier this morning he met with polish prime minister dawned tusk the focus will center on ukraine and rauch a the president is in warsaw to commemorate the 25th anniversaries of free elections in poland. mike viqueira is traveling with the president on his european tour, what's behind the request for the billion dollars security fund? >> reporter: you know, michael, it's fascinating. the president has taken three

extended ove overseas trips andh time the issue you of ukraine and russia's aggression has dominated agenda, no mistake why president obama is here in warsaw poland on this occasion. you mentioned the 25th anniversary of the free elects led by the solidarity movement back in the '80s, there was no any mistake, president obama wheels down air force one the first thing he does is meets the polish president, go to a nearby airport hanger where f-16s, nato f-16s are there for patrol the skies over the new nato countries in eastern and central europe, including the baltic stakes, all anxious about russia's aggression on ukraine. firmly you were the thumb of moscow in the form of the old soviet union, that has dominated the agenda here, no question about it. the president came, with a $1 billion proposal. the to send to some of these country to his boost their militaries with training and joint exercises, later in the often here in warsaw, it's already happened we are ahead of

you in terms of the time zones but he met with 10 leaders of nations from around the region, the subject how to react to what russia is doing in ukraine. how to did he it they remember if they ever any ambition to his moving in to the baltics using the same tactics, many russian speak nurse that region as well, michael. >> as you mentioned the president trying to focus on the crisis in ukraine during this four-day trip in europe. but the controversy surrounding bowe bergdahl's release followed him wall at toy poland today. what did the president some vanvleet to say about the criticism he's receiving for negotiating with release? >> reporter: yeah, in a sense it's a surprise to hear this issue come up with a joint press conference with the polish president. but this was the first time the press had an opportunity to talk to mr. obama. since the events over the weekend that elation, celebratory appearance with bowe bergdahl's parent in the rose garden late saturday has given away to a lot of consternation, not only from republicans and others, who feel as though the president did not follow the

law, they were suppose to be given 30 days motorcycle indication if prisoners were to be transferred out of guantanmo the controversy over bowe bergdahl's brothers in arms in afghanistan some consider him a deserter. the president responded saying it's a sacred rule we don't leave anybody behind on the battlefield. he said he consulted with congress earlier to let them know it was a pose bill. this window of opportunity opened up, they truncated the congressional process. the president admitted these five taliban commanders sent to qutar they said they will keep eye on his them. but he allowed for the possibility that they could, in fact, return to the battlefield or return to terrorist activities. here a little bit more of what the president had to say. >> but let me just make a very simple point here, and that is regardless of whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an american soldier back that was held. period.

full stop. we don't condition that. and that's whatever mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent over in to war theater should expect from not just their commander-in-chief, but the united states of america. >> reporter: now the national security council spokes woman katlyn hayden traveling with the president released a statement earlier today in tonight into the criticism that congress wasn't notified many accused the administration of not following the law, of violating the law. hayden says in part the 30-day notification rule races constitutional concerns because as commander-in-chief the president is duty bound to protect the lives of american citizens and soldiers while they are overseas. michael. >> mike viqueira reporting live in poland. some soldiers from bergdahl's unit as mike reported claim he's a deserting and are calling for his punishment.

chairman of the joint chiefs of staff jeanmar tin. >> dempsey released a statement regarding the recent criticism. here is part of what he had to say, quote: >> for those who new him before he went to afghanistan the care for bergdahl and his family is top priority now. residents of his hometown of hailey, idaho have been anticipate his release for five years remaining the case everybody in the wake of the controversy surrounding his capture. jam hooley has more. >> reporter: there are still no word as to when bergdahl will be back here in his hometown, people here still waiting for that. and questions are growing about his release. here? sergeant bowe bergdahl's home of hailey, idaho it's hard to find a tree without a yellow ribbon around it. >> the ribbons, signs, bumper stickers that the bracelets that i wear, we are he w we have nevd

and able to breathe once he's home here in idaho, we can breathe again. >> reporter: at jane's artifacts on main street, they are giving the balloon as way. >> we want yellow balloons, plastering this town. >> reporter: for all the excitement over sergeant bergdahl's eventual return the controversy surrounding his freedom continues to grow. >> we have our boy back and we are going to let everyone else deal with the politics of it all. >> reporter: for some, those politics, whether securing sergeant bergdahl's release in exchange for five taliban leaders came at too high of a price. >> we gave the taliban their fighting team back, the five guys that led this organization and allegedly killed thousands of people and responsible for that back in to home confinement which could lead to them being back on the battlefield. >> reporter: as the debate over the swap comes under increased scrutiny. so are the events surrounding bergdahl's capture in afghanistan. some of his fellow soldiers are now saying he's a traitor who turned his back on them. >> he deserted, not only the

army, but he also left myself and my platoon and my company to clean up his mess. >> more importantly, it's a spit in the face to the soldiers who died as a direct result to him leaving. >> reporter: former army sergeant evan describes bergdahl as a good soldier that quickly became disillusioned about the u.s. role in the war. within hours of being in the hands of the taliban a massive search for sergeant bergdahl was underway a search that he and others say resulted in deaths of american soldiers after he did he certificatedeserted them. >> reporter: like second lieutenant aaron andrews says his twin brother jarrett. >> i have frustration that he could still ab life if during call had not left his post. we lost somebody that we love very much and we'll never see him again. >> reporter: but here in hailey, the spirits remain high. and city officials have released a statement asking everyone not to judge bergdahl before all of the details of his capture and his captivity are released. jim hooley, al jazerra, hailey,

idaho. the five taliban businessers released this weekend have been moved to residential compound in qatar. they are with their families and will be allowed to move freely within the country. u.s. officials say their activities will be monitored under agreement made the u.s. the men will stay in qatar for a year before they are allowed to leave the country. some polling stations in syria are saying open for several more hours due to what syrian tv says is high voter turn out in the election. bashar al-assad is widely expect today win a third term in office extending his rule for another seven years, the opposition, many western countries and critics of the syrian government say the election is a as far as. ballots can only be cast in government controlled areas leaving many people in rebel-held areas unable to vote. nick schifrin is in making lebanon. the polls are staying open later because of high voter opportunity out. was this expected?

how is the voting going? >> reporter: well, we have had 13 hours of voting, we have seen long lines all day, people very publicly and openly declaring their allegiance to president bashar al-assad and what the opposition says is all these images of flag waving and people showing off their fingers that they voted are all stage managed and that so many people herer fearful and feel that they have to vote, declare their allegiance publicly to assad otherwise their fate will be the same as the 160,000 people who have been killed in the last three years of this war. and you know, when you walk in to a voting polling booth in the u.s. you might see a jar of pencils here in damascus one polling station there is a jar of pins so people can pin prick their fingers and vote in blood. and the opposition calls these the blood elections. they say that you cannot hold this vote while there is so much violence and they say that the punishment for those not voting is being bombed by government war planes, we have seen this extraordinary video just outside

the damascus just this morning while the voting was going on inside damascus all the war planes were bombing a rebel-held area and those areas that you talked about, michael where the voting wasn't possible, that's actually over half of the country. and so we are seeing long lines in damascus, but, again, that doesn't really reveal the full picture of what's happening in all of syria. >> you know, nate, in the lead up to this election we had reports that there would be some escalation of violence on both sides of this conflict. and they thought it would maybe disrupt the elections and have other effects. what effects are the presidential elections in syria having on maining countries? >> reporter: what we have seen is an exodus of people who are simply scared for their lives. and that's why you have seen 1.1 million people go to lebanon. 600,000, perhaps double that unofficially going in to jordan. there is 100,000 people leaving syria out of fear for their lives every month. as the population of green bay

leaving syria every month. and they are completely inundating lebanon and in jordan. and if you ask those people about the election and they call this election a as far as. in jordan, in the world's largest refugees camp which is now full of syrians they are vote buying throwing shoes in nba to a garbage can that's the most offensive way they can vote. in lebanon i was with a family the other night before the election that climbs nine hours over a mountain to get out of syria, they are voting with their feet, michael, they do not want to wait for this election, they think it's a fore don foree conclusion they felt that they needed to get out to save their lives that's what they aring talking. the people in damascus, the west is calling this stage managed not the reality in the rest of syria. >> nick schifrin reporting live from beirut. well, the number of people infected by the m.e.r.s. virus in saudi arabia is rising after a have you sraouft minister of f

health, 100 cases have been confirmed being 688 infections and 282 dead since the virus was guide in 2012. country is grappling to con train mers. saudi arabia has been the epicenter, it's spread to other parts of middle eats, asia europe and here in the united states. speak. speaking of the u.s., eight states will pick governors, and representatives. elect to his determine whether republicans can regain the senate. several senates for the house in california and govern i have jerry brown seeking a fourth term. coming up on al jazerra, some big names have given very memorable commencement speeches overtime. this year isn't any different. we'll share with you some of the best.

nearly 2 million students will graduate way bachelor's degree in year and part of the graduation process involves receiving words of wisdom from commencement speakers. some are more memorable than others. here is a look at some of the best commencement speeches of 2014. >> as i make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. it will giver you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. and by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned in to many tasks completed making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. if you can't do the little things right, you'll never be able to do the big things right. >> now i am talking to anyone who has been dumped. [laughter] >> you bet. not gotten the job you really

want or received those horrible ejection letters from grad school. you know the sting of losing or not getting something that you badly want. when that happens, show what you are made of. >> you will never make it. last will have. >> that's probably not what you guys want to her that morning, that sounds like bad news, but i invite to you see it as fabulous, ou outstanding news, r i don't believe there is actually an it. i don't think it exists for an artist. one of the greatest gifts that you can give yourself right know, right here in this very single, solitary monumental moment of your lives is to decide without apology to commit to the journey and not the destination. >> my father could have been a great comedian but he didn't believe that that was possible for him. and so he made a conservative choice, instead he got a safe job as an accountants and when i

was 12 years old he was let go from that safe job and our family had to do whatever we could to survive. i learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. [cheering and applause] for more on the influence and impact of commencement speech west bring in tony bayless, the executive director of the humanity initiative which recently rated the top commencement speeches of all time. tony, we appreciate the time. i would assume going through all of those speeches was quite the task. which speech, though, ended up topping your list and why? >> easy answer, david foster wallace. the reason is that he struck a cord of what it truly is to be human like no other speaker that i have come across. and i have read probably 5,000 speeches since 1989. >> was there a particular portion of that speech that

stood out to you above others? >> yes. i actually have a quote i want to read to you that talks about specifically about his understanding of what it is to be aware as a human being and it plays in to what education is really all about. so if i can i'll just read you that quick quote. >> sure, go ahead. >> the really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline and being able to truly care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in a myriad, petty, unsexy ways every day. that is real freedom. that is being educated. and understanding how to think. the alternative is unconsciousness. the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense

of having had and lost some infinite thing. >> and we have all had and lost something that we all seem to be -- or felt very valuable to us. it's interesting that the number two speech on your list almost didn't make the list at all. let's hear a snippet from that speech and we'll talk about it afterwards. >> failure meant a stripping way of the inning essential. i stopped pretend to go myself that i was anything other than what i was. and began to direct all my energy in to finishing the only work that mattered to me. had riley suck sided at anything else i might never have found the determination to succeeds in the one arena where i believed i truly belonged. i was set free because my greatest fear had been realized and i was still alive, and i still had a daughter whom i adored and i had an old typewriter and a big idea.

>> of course that was j.k. recalling from ther harvard. >> why did she local not make it and then go to number two. >> the speech about failure and imagination was a excellent speech in and of itself reading it. but we all know it's the context and the moment and the honoring of the graduates that really makes the difference in the power of a commencement speech. and j.k. recalling, managed to say a few things that were ones -6r8wonderfully selfie phase fag and the whole speech was without arrogance and without and grace of that truly connected with the harvard audience as well as the message about and thousand we deal with failure and the power of imagination. >> what does it take, tony to make a really good commendment

speech. is there a formula? >> i think there is no formula but we can pay attention to things as we try to construct a speech that will live longer than the afternoon or week or year. and those and those things are to understand that you really are honoring the graduates. the occasion, it's not about you the speaker. it's about them. that's rule number one. rule number two, if you want to call them rules, is that you should be as emotionally honest and aware as possible. they are challenged in listening, many of them are hungover, they are thinking about many other things than what you might be saying. and if you can show them that you are a real person and that you really want to reveal yourself to them in those few moments, they are much more likely to pay attention to you. along those lines, what you want to do as well is to startle

them, to really use a sense of hume he should use an anecdote, use something that is a powerful representation of who you are and how you think about the world. the other two suggestions are more practical than anything which are to keep it down to within 18, 17 minutes, because you are not going to keep anyone's attention longer than that. and the last one is to speak in a clear voice, to give them the chance to really hear you. way too many speakers are -- speak too quickly for my mon. >> i tit can be an intimidating situation there, tony thanks for going through some of the best commencement speeches of automatic time. coming up next year here al jazerra. if you like bacon, you might want to pay attorneys farmers are dealing with a piglet virus and it's causing pork prices to surge.

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egypt's election commission just announced the final result of its presidential election a former egyptian army chief won by a lan slide. the commission says the turn out was 47% of egypt's 50 million voters, sisi won with nearly 97% of the vote. pig farmers in the u.s. are struggle to go cope with a virus that's killed millions of animals over the years, for consumers it means paying more as pork prices surge, john has the store free iowa. >> reporter: here on the rolling landscape of america's pork belt lurks a quiet killer. in december, craig rolls, like most of his neighbors, lost thousands of young piglets to poor sign epidemic diarrhea vie us, economists say the disease wiped out seven to 10% of the pigs in the united states. adult pigs tend to survive. but the death rate among piglets is nearly 100 percent.

>> i received a call from the manager while i was driving there that said, hey, something is wrong. it's like being hit with a punch in the gut when you first realize what is going to happen. we had already known across the united states how devastating it was going to be. and it was just as devastating for us. even though we knew what was coming. >> reporter: the latest threat to the u.s. park supply originated in the 1970s in the brit but the current strain is believe today come from china. this year in the united states, it's wiped out an effort mated seven to 8 million pigs. the hardest hit are not farmers, who are earning more on their remaining pigs, but consumers, pork prices have jumped from an average of $3.64 sent a pound last year, and could hit a record 3.90 this year. >> it is new. we have never experienced it in the united states, so we have to learn about the virus, how to handle it. what it does, and number two is it's had a significant impact, we think and it's going to have a bigger impact in the future on

supplies. >> reporter: researchers say pork remain says safer to eat. the virus has no direct impact on humans. but many farmers are waiting months to insure the virus is gone before they bring in new piglets. for years pig farms have had tight bio security her us, these hazmat like suits, the plastic booties are meant to keep di disease out and now the pressures are tighter than ever. >> it was economically devastating, but it was emotionally disturbing as well. we don't want to go to work thinking that we have to youth nice piglets. >> reporter: in recent weeks, farmers in indiana and elsewhere have seen the virus return. less devastating but still lethal the second time around, suggesting the immunity pigs develop has its limits that has many wondering when and if the latest deadly virus will end. john hendry, al jazerra, iowa. ♪ ♪

>> meteorologist: i am meteorologist dave warp en, we are looking at a potential for severe weather and it's happening across parts of the country. north and south dakota. severe and warnings are in effect and contain large hail. that is the biggest threat with the storms. close-up view shows there is one storm eight right on the border there of south dakota and nebraska pushing east quarter-sized hail that last today a brief period of time. coating the ground with a layer of the hail. eight watch is in effect. potential there for the storms to continues, pushing east, flooding could occur in parts of iowa as the storm continues to push east. a line of severe storms could potentially develop as it moves through penn, that will be followed by some cooler air, but just a brief period of rain, they do have the potential to be severe, michael. dave, thank you. and thank you for watching this edition of al jazerra america, i am michael eaves, we'll have more news updates throughout the

day right here and also on our website aljazerra.com. but up next, earth rise. thanks for watching al jazerra america.