>> sometimes witnesses get it right >> when you have an eyewitness to say i saw him do it, that is the best evidence. >> and sometimes sometimes they don't >> no one is listening to us... george is innocent... >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america >> >> this is al jazeera america. live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at the top stories. amid a civil war and refugee crisis, syria goes to vote for the president. the outcome is guaranteed. president obama announces a $1 billion plan to beef up forces in europe. the army not ruling out desertion charges for bowe bergdahl. and eight states voting and it could mean a big change for

the senate. polls are about to close in syria's presidential election, which the opposition and the west call a parody of a vote. syria's television says voting was extended until 5:00 pm eastern time because of a massive influx of voters. it comms amidst of a civil war killing more than 100,000 people. nick schifrin is in beirut. does the voting turn out matter? isn't bashar al-assad's victory guaranteed. >> reporter: let's go over the reason why bashar al-assad's victory is guaranteed. the only people that can vote are people in areas controlled by the government. the only position leader said it would be an honour to come in second. and it's amidst the deadliest

conflict of the 20th century. it's neither free nor fair. >> reporter: when syria votes, the only campaigner is bashar al-assad. the only way to declare allegiance is to cast in blood. they duetfuly selected the photo on the right. there were other positions. but before the election the opposition called bashar al-assad a strong leader deserving respect. he's described as a character in a political theatre, whose director is this man, and the family and aides that surround him. >> translation: today syria is returning to peace and security. rebuilding the country, including reconciliation. today the political solution shall begin. >> critics say it's stage managed to give bashar al-assad cover, to consider crushing the rebellion. for those not voting - had is the punishment.

the opposition says they bombed this area outside of damascus. more than half this country is not voting and is at war. one out of three syrians no longer live in their own homes. every month 100,000 flee their countries. in jordan they are voting with what they called an insulting ballot - their shoes. the ballot box is a garbage win. as day turns to night in lebanon syrians are voting with their feet, not waiting for the ballot to be counted. out of the pitch-black only their horses can see the way. they rode for eight hours. it's 1am. this woman leads four terrified children. her 12-year-old tells us he heard shelling. we asked how loud. "very", he whispers. can you tell me what you saw in syria? her 13-year-old son is

too traumatised to answer. she holds her 3-year-old daughter. their father stayed behind. >> i wasn't afraid of the trip. i'm not afraid of anything, but the impression of bashar al-assad. >> reporter: the family says they've been trying to leave for three days, but government planes bomb the track that leaves here. during a lull in the fighting they made a run for it. planes bomb behind them. the shrapnel tore a hole in the jacket of their guide. are people targeted as you try to flee? >> translation: the tracks we bring people on are targeted. whoever escapes, escapes, whoever dies remains where they fell. >> reporter: they head to the closest town, to an uncertain future. they are the refugees, more interested in escaping the violence instead of voting in what the west and opposition

calls a first. russia echoed what you heard the foreign minister say, today is the first step towards a political solution. a senior member of the opposition called the elections a black comedy. >> nick, were there any international monitors. we want to know that, if there were monitors on the ground overseeing the vote. what was the case in syria? >> reporter: i'll go through the list of monitors. one is brazil, the other is zimbabwe - not exactly a stellar election-voting record. iran and russia, the two main backers of syria, and the last north korea, a country less tolerant with dissent than the syrian government. >> i guess that says it all. nick schifrin in beirut. millons of syrians left the homeland before the election was called. the u.n. refugee agency says 3 million fled syria since the civil war began. half are in lebanon.

hundreds of thousands fled to turkey. zeina khodr is in turkey. >> reporter: this is what the government wants the world to see - syrians showing support by casting a vote for the president. the credibility has been questioned. there are international observers on the ground - but from countries like russia and north korea - allies of the government. the poll was held in regime controlled regions. the opposition believes then there were not given a choice much. >> at work, the national id was taken last week. all of them. they said this week there are no vacations or sick leave. you have to go there. if you need to get the id back, you need to vote for the president. in fact, they are being coerced. >> reporter: there are three candidates. many say the winner is known.

bashar al-assad is expected to stay in office for another seven years. the opposition says his competitors were handpicked by the regime to give the election legitimacy. many of the syrians in rebel-controlled territories are not taking the election seriously. they continue to arrive in turkey to escape the war. millions of syrians live in exile. they don't think it will end the conflict or restore security. this is what the election was like in in southern area. it is contested territory, and like many areas not under the control of the state, there were no ballots. it's called a blood election. syrians used garbage bins as ballot boxes. officials are defiant. >> translation: today syria is returning to peace and security. starting to rebuild the country and conclude comprehensive

reconciliation. today the political solution to the syrian crisis should begin. >> reporter: the government may think the war is coming to an end. for the armed opposition the election will not change anything. >> a former egyptian military chief abdul fatah al-sisi will be the new president. egypt's electoral commission said that abdul fatah al-sisi received 97% of the vote. it is over 47%, 1% higher than in 2012 than when mohamed mursi was elected. abdul fatah al-sisi is expected to be sworn in on sunday. president obama is in poland. today he announced a $1 billion to bolster the security of america's allies. >> under this effort and with the support of congress, the united states will position more equipment in europe. we'll expand exercises and training with allies to increase the readiness with forces. >> the focus will center around

the ongoing situation between ukraine and russia. >> reporter: no sooner was air force one wheels down and president obama in poland, he got to the point of his visit. polling with the polish present. there was no smoking president obama's message to russia. >> i'm starting to visit here because our commitment to poland's security, as well as the security of our allies, and central and eastern europe is a cornerstone of our own security and assist sacrosanct. >> reporter: president obama propose a $1 billion programme to bolster security, to reassure anxious regions, where many hear the echo of history, a fear described by the polish leader. >> translation: poland is interested in the continuation of this uneasy process of the

reconciliation beyond difficult and painful history. >> the leaders of nations gathered, all once under the thumb of moscow and the soviet union, all now members of n.a.t.o. president obama vowed to stand by them and uphold the treaty. >> we are here today because as allies, we have to stand absolutely united as a collective. we stand together. always. >> reporter: before president obama leaves poland, he'll meet with ukranian president-elect petero poroshenko. the nation's top military officer is responding to the criticism surrounding the release of bowe bergdahl and his actions in afghanistan. joints chief of staff martin dempsey entered a statement saying:

dempsey's comment come as republicans continue to crit sirs president obama over bowe bergdahl's release. randall pinkston joins us with more. >> reporter: president obama says whatever the circumstances. bowe bergdahl's captivity, the bottom line is america does not leave any prisoner of war behind and that's why the deal was made to free him. the release of a prisoner of war calls for celebration, and it was for sergeant bowe bergdahl and his family. celebration morphed to criticism aimed at president barack obama for changing five high-level taliban officials for his freedom. the republican senator wants the president to declassify the files on the five released detainees. some are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, it is claimed. >> the president needs to look the american people in the eye and explain to the american people why he was justified in releasing the five individuals,

and why their background didn't demand and mandate that they be detained at guantanamo bay for an indefinite period of time. >> the deal that freed bowe bergdahl was negotiated by qatar. it restricts movements for the next year. president obama defended the arrangement. >> the release of the taliban who were held in guantanamo bay was conditioned on the qataris keeping eyes on them. and creating a structure in which we can monitor their activities. we'll keep eyes on them. i wouldn't do if if i thought it was contrary to american national security. we have confidence that we will be in a position to go after them if, in fact, they are engaging in activities that threat our defenses. >> reporter: republicans accuse the president of violating the law because they didn't provide

30 day advance notice before moving the detainees out of guantanamo. house speaker john boehner joined the call for a congressional investigation of the administration's actions. >> randall pinkston for us. a group of republican senators took a step forward to fix issues with the veterans health care, entering the veterans choice act allowing them to seek medical appointments outside the v.a. system. it will provide greater flexibility in choice in math care providers. >> it's about honouring the sacrifice of veterans that served the country. when they have a need, to get it addressed. not to have to be wait, not to be a manipulated number, but have access to the care that not only do they need, but deserve more than any of us. >> the president made the initial proposal two weeks ago. the v.a. has been under fire of veterans waiting months to receive care at hospitals,

covering up the delays. in the politics, it's a primary day in eight states, and some races could have an impact on the november fight for control of thest senate. david shuster is here with more politicsism. >> republicans need a net pick up of six seats to take the senate away from the president and bury president obama's agenda area, his final two years in office the the maths requires republicans to keep the mississippi seat held by cochrane. he's been in office since 1978 and seeking a 7th term. he surveys a challenge from talk radio shest and tea party darling mc-daniel. he is associated with confed rate groups and may be unelected. he's been helped bia barrage of tea party ads slamming cochrane's ties to washington. >> he voted to fund obamacare. cochrane is serving special interests in washington and left

mississippi with the bill. 41 years is enough. >> reporter: if cochrane loses the ads go way up in november for democratic senate nom knee childers, the first democrat to win a republican seat in 34 years. a seat is up for grabs thanks to a retirement. the nominee could be vulnerable. joanie ernst is leading the republican field in iowa. she's a military vet rap, bragging about cast rating pigs as a child. mark is a top rival, hurt that he made $35 million as an energy executive while his company lost money. in california there's a race for governor. neil caskar. >> spent $5 million on this campaign. a republican tea party darling

tim donavan attacked him, criticising his hindu religion. donnelly carried a loaded firearm into an airport, creating headlines. whoever wins takes on jerry brown, a porular democratic governor. the journal of the medicine report claims that u.s. doctors shifted a majority of campaign contributions from republicans to democrats. in 1996, 75% of physicianses gave to republicans, in 2012 les than 50% went to the g.o.p. total contributions increased 7 fold by doctors. for everyone that wants to drink adult beverages in south carolina. the senate voted to repeal banning liquor sales on election days. good for them. south carolina voters haven't always been helped by sobriety.

finally in arizona, a failed 2012 congressional candidate scott fittler is running for congress in 2014. this time he's campaigning as a democrat. and with the name caesar sharvez. that's reported by "the daily beast." he petitioned to change his legal name. he became a democrat before filing to run for an open congressional seat. his campaign website features people tearing signs for support for him and hugo chavez - see that. it's hugo chavez, deceased president. whatever you want to call him, he refuses to take our phone calls. no surprise. that's the power poll tickets. we want more snark in power politics. in alabama's politics, core standards have emerged as an issue, incumbents face tea party

challengers, pushing to repeal standards. >> reporter: from racist to the state school board to the legislature. education is a divisive campaign issue across alabama, spawning websites and online ads. >> open your ipads carefully. >> 48 states helped to develop a maths and reading standard for kindergarten and 12th grade students, designed to better prepare them for college and the workforce. alabama adopted the standards in 2010. 44 other states did the same. common core pushes children outside comfort zones. >> this is third or fourth grade we would ask students to add three digit numbers and come up with a correct sum. in the new standard it requires the same function of arithmetic, but asks groups of children to come together, take a real-world problem, take the earth metrics,

determine it to solve the real world problem. >> some conservative candidates call it a power grab by the federal government. tea party candidates try to upseat gop candidates who support common core. a long-time republican leader added her voice to the tea party opposition. >> it dig tats what children will -- dictates what children learn in classrooms. the obama administration and progressives have found a way to take away choices from parents and get rid of competition in education. >> reporter: a group called the alabama foundation for limited government pumped $700 thous into a stop common core pack. >> i have yet to hear an alternative or solution in place of it. to me that appears to be against this.

i'm not sure what i'm for. that concerns me. >> brett leads the political science department. he says tea party candidates succeeded in gaining support in a state where president obama is unpopular. >> you get conservative republicans linking president obama to an issue. you get tremendous energy and mobilization of people. >> partisan education and business groups have thrown their support behind common core. the might by anti-core activists triggers a debate may be more serious than ever. coming up on al jazeera america - despite the fact it recalled millions of cars, general motors reports higher than expected sales. we are keeping an eye on a track of severe weather moving through the midwest. look at this.

dave warren in the forecast dave warren in the forecast next.

the performance review. dave warren in the forecast next. 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.

let's look at the numbers on wall street. stocks fell. a day after the dow and s&p reached record highs, checking the record: listen to this - u.s. new car sales are out and the numbers are better than expected. 1.6 million for the month of may. that's a record number of recalls, in spite of a number of recalls, general motors so far this year seems not to have affected demand for their cars. joining me now from "wall street journal" is detroit bureau treat neil. thank you for your time. the sales are up for everyone, apparently. is it the spring thaw? >> yes, it is. in winter we had tough weather, and we had down months, and people were wondering is it the weather or is there a slack demand. >> right. >> this proves that, no, it was the weather, and people are

streaming back into the dealerships to buy cars. >> g.m. sales up 13% in may - how did that happen given all the recall headlines? >> well, one thing g.m. has in its favour is that the vehicles that have been recalled, the chevy cobalt, the pontiac g 5, saturn, ireland, they are dealers they don't make. they are not in dealerships much when people shop for cars, they are not looking at vehicles in the negative headlines. americans are forgiving. remember toyota had an acceleration problem and they have put that behind them. americans are forgiving about the companies they buy from. >> i need a little more on this. are the car companies get the people in the doors. i get the thaw, i buy it. are they getting them into the doors to purchase through rebates or other incident ifs?

>> -- incentives. >> that is a good question. the answer is it looks like not really. they use incentives and rebates, but the prices for new cars in may were up last year. that's an indication that they are cutting back on rebates. one thing they do is giving more and more rebates to the dealer which are harder to track. that puts it on the dealer to get people into the showrooms. it's not so much people getting cash on the hood, $4,000 or $5,000 back there. >> let me understand the numbers a little better. clearly the numbers are up in may, that's great. up over april. up over - you know, january, february. year to year are the numbers up. are we getting - are we at a place where we think that the american auto industry can rebound to the numbers, pre-2008 numbers when the country was selling 50, 60 million cars a

year? >> right. that's what we should see this year. the year before the downturn started, 2007, was considered the last year that was normalized. this year we are on track to sell 16 million new cars, and that would be considered a normal year. until now we have been shy. 2013 was 15,8. we were shy. this year, with the result in may, we had strong sales, we should exceed 16 million and be back it a normal state. >> the wall street general detroit bureau chief. from the dakotas to illinois millions watch or weather, and a new tropical storm is developing. meteorologist dave warren is tracking the weather for us. >> every so often there's a

severe weather outbreak. a high risk has been issued for severe weather. they don't issue it often. it's warranted in this case. this storm is holding together and pushing east, becoming organised, causing problems over the next few hours, overnight tonight and tomorrow. tornado watch, severe thunderstorm warning, winds 50 to 100 mile gusts, occurred. and baseball size hail and flooding problems as the storm dumps rain. it's boeing out a little -- bowing out. you see a radar pattern. that's the wind damage, it pushes east moving through iowa, and illinois, dumping 4-5 inches of rain. another problem tropical storm boris will flood in the south-west. >> what is going on? might need

to have you back later for us. bashar al-assad is said to win another term as president of syria. some hope he will bring stability. we look at his rise to power and time in office and an argument in court between a lawyer and a judge - watch this. it becomes a fist fight.

today's national election in syria is expected to give bashar al-assad another term as president. many voters hope bashar al-assad's election will bring stability. history shows he's failed to deliver on change since taking office 14 years ago. mike hanna has more on bashar

al-assad's rise for power. >> reporter: on the face of it bashar al-assad has support. a mass of refugees gather to vote. for the first time in decades an illusion of competition with others contesting. to those seeking favour with the besieged government in damascus, bashar al-assad may as well stand unopposed. gungun. >> reporter: the illusion that there is a state to govern. the reality that after three years of civil war syria is carved up into vast swathes into which rival groups contest power with no vestige of presidential for government control. yet when bashar al-assad succeeded his father, there was a promise of better things. the 34-year-old pledged to take his country into a new millennium of reform.

one in which they were to be healed. he was elected unopposed in 2000 and seven years later. the image of a reformer was tarnished in the eyes of a people waiting for real change. >> those reforms slowed. in particular the economic growth that bashar al-assad promised slowed. that alienated particularly the rural sunni population in the north of the country. by the time the arab spring came around, syria had all the conditions necessary for a revolution to occur in syria. that's what happened. >> the uprisings began and spread through the syrian country side. as the dictators of the arab region tumbled, bashar al-assad stood firm. even as the uprising reached the capital damascus, he continued to defend his regime with force and words. the violence was the work of

isolated saboteurs with assistance from outside forces, a refrain that would be repeated in the months and years to come while the country continued to burn. towns taken by rebels were retain by forces. bashar al-assad travelled to secure zones with what had become his mantra. we will be victorious. initially the soldiers defected in force, destroying id cards and destroying the free syrian ar army, as months passed defections slowed. >> there were many defections. those stopped. what has remained is a core idea logically driven cohesive regime that seeks to stand together or fall together. it's been a hugely beneficial for bashar al-assad. >> beneficial too was the conditioned support of iran, china and russia, which used its

veto to nullify attempts at action in the u.n. security council. this helped bashar al-assad to cling to power. defying those who would wish him away, and laying waste to the land he promised to heal. joining us now is james galvin, a professor at u.c.l.a. good to see you. thanks for the time. bashar al-assad is expected to win. tell me what a victory means for bashar al-assad in an election that is thought to be a sham? >> the election, of course, is a sham. he's running against two unknowns, who are parliamentarians, chosen by the government to run against him. what it means is that it's likely that the process, negotiating process, the geneva process is over. that now he can say that there is no need for a transition, no need for negotiations that the people have spoken and will give him an overwhelm k majority. these are a narrow range of

people. there's 9 million people who at the present time were it's placed. large numbers of people are in territories of control by the rebels and cannot vote. there's a boycott by various factions, opposition factions to the election as well. it will be a situation which is a sham. but it will be used diplomatically. >> so the civil war continues, the stalemate, misery and heartache and hardship continues into the future? >> yes, that is exactly what will happen. what you have is a situation in which there's a bit of momentum with the regime. they will not recapture every part of the country, there's a large part of the country in the north and east under control of opposition forces. they are not going to retake those things for a while. if ever. the future of syria will be the future of somalia, which is

you'll have on paper a state. but in reality you'll have a fragmented situation in which the government is not going to be able to rule. >> is that because everyone is vested in the idea that "i'm right, they're wrong and i must win, which means they must lose." >> yes, that's it. i don't think it's ideological at all. it's a question now of if they win, we're dead. both the regime realises that and the opposition. they are locked in a conflict that is not ideological. they are locked in a conflict that is more gangland. >> if these two sides, the various sides are camped out in their positions and like like not to move here, one area where the world could have impact inside the country and the various countries where the refugees are streaming - what do you think of the ref any relief

effort by the countries around the world. they've been pathetic. the united nations asked for 6.5 billion. the united states has been a large donor of 1.3 billion. we can't blame the world for what is going on. first of all inside syria it's virtually impossible to get humanitarian aid inside various areas. . >> you can get to lebanon, turkey, jordan, more for the people stream... >> lebanon has 4.4 million, 1.1 million refugees. the equivalent as 73 million refugees in the united states. they have 0.04 the economic power of the united states. >> is it not shameful that of the 6 billion that the u.n. is asking for in 2013, what, a billion was pledged by the vars

countries and 70% of that has been donated. doesn't that - doesn't that say that nations around the world don't care or do enough to help the syrian refugee crisis. >> absolutely. during the muslim brotherhood administration in egypt. qatar gave $8 billion. as soon as that regime was overthrown, the saudi arabias, kuwaities and united arab emirates game them $12 billion. there is money out there. lebanon's losses will be $7.5 billion. it's a huge amount for a country teetering on the brink of sectarian warfare. professor james gealedon, joining us from u.c.l.a. thank you for your time. libya's newly elected prime minister held his first cabinet meeting the hard-line fighters

and a rogue general are battling in the east, and the old prime minister refuses to step down. >> even though the new prime minister is installed in the office the reality is that there are technically two prime ministers. the caretaker prime minister hasn't issued any statement in reaction to this move. we know that he hasn't handle over the government and we know it is inflaming tensions. without a legal ruling, this is what they are waiting for. this is set to happen on thursday, the supreme court set to rule. certainly, a bold move to take office in the official office of the prime minister, and make a statement to the country saying that they'll fight terrorism and work to unite the country in a

troubled time. >> stefanie dekker reporting from tripoli. >> the new palestine unity government is at the center of disagreement between long-time allies, united states and israel. israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu is troubled by washington's decision to work with the palestinian cabinet. the plo and hamas formed a government. the israelis will not continue peace talks as long as hamas is part of the equation. in spain, there has been emergency legislation to allow king juan carlos to hand over the throne. parliament has to approve the transfer to his son. protesters rallied upon hearing the announcement, calling for spain to become a republic. in ukraine they have launched an offensive to drive out pro-russian militia. it began in slovyansk. fighters claim to have shut down a helicopter and fighter jet. kiev denies it.

those in the east are hiding in makeshift bomb shelter, trying to stay out of the fire. david chater has more. >> reporter: russia condemns the attack in luhansk. coming at the height of the fighting in the city. a jet fighter attacked the building with rockets. this footage shows how the tree-lined square was transferred by a deadly cloud of ship rap nel. reason shrapnel. the evidence on the ground contradicts some versions. on the street outside the headquarters you can see where some of the rockets landed. five people were killed in an attack. more injured. the crowds at the scene were angry and wanted their voices heard. >> translation: ukraine should stop the war. there should be round-table negotiations. stop destroying the citizens of

ukraine. we'll never forget this. >> the local council opened up air raid shelters in the city, housing 400,000 people. instructions have been handed out, telling the population what to do when the sirens go off. >> it's an american tactic. they used it in the middle east and other countries. moscow accused the ukranian government of committing war crimes. more civilians are getting caught in the conflict. >> ukranian attacks on the fighters are getting closer to heavily populated areas. the russian sponsored idea of creating humanitarian corridors to allow families to flee could be the only way to stop a toll of casualties. new details in the case of a man arrested for having explosives. other headlines now from across america. >> the fbi says the items found in ryan timberlain's home could

have caused harm to the public. after a nation-wide manhunt he was arrested south of the golden gate bridge of the the fbi said he was armed and dangerous. they have not specified what they found at chamberlain's apartment or if he had plans to use ex-please ifth. >> in -- explosives. >> in new jersey a port official testified, part of the investigation into the george washington bridge scandal. pat shoouber said he had no prior knowledge of a plan to block traffic the the commissioner said he would not condone lane closures as political retaliation. >> in iowa, an egg industry titan and his son pleaded guilty to charges linked to a salmonella outbreak. both facing sentences of up to a year in gaol. the company they ran was accused of selling tainted eghts and bribe rock -- eggs and bribing a food inspector. thousands of people were sickened. >> the mayor of seattle is set

to sign an ordnance into law, making the minimum wage $15 per hourment the city council -- hour. the city council approved the hike, making seattle's minimum wage the highest in the country. it will be phased in over 3-7 years depending on the size of the business. >> in florida a circuit court judge is decided what to do about a court brawl. a judge is accused of pumping an assistant public defender. >> if you want to fight let's go out back. >> wow. really. >> the lawyer says the judge punched him in the head while they were in the hallway. it started when the defendant's lawyer refused to waive the right to a speedy trial and the judge came into the chamber after the brawl. so far no charges, but it's made its round on youtube. >> yes. justice may be blind but it's got a good left hook.

a unique primary election in california. the top two will go to the general election regardless of party affiliation. the story behind this piece of video. have you seen it? a plane nearly lands on a sunbather. back in a moment. >> how much would you remember? >> dark complected... medium height... you described most of the majority of the men in america >> sometimes witnesses get it right >> when you have an eyewitness to say i saw him do it, that is the best evidence. >> and sometimes sometimes they don't >> no one is listening to us... george is innocent... >> the system with joe burlinger only on al jazeera america

fault lines the school to prison pipeline only on al jazeera america in california, voters are heading to the polls. it's not the average primary election. the state implemented a top two. the top two vote getters move on to the general election. lisa bernard joins us. this is interesting, different, not typical - tell us more. >> that's right. the top two primaries is known as a jungle primary. that gives you an idea of what some political observers think of this.

this is a primary where we will see two democrats go through to the general election against each other in many races. where one race has 18 candidates or where we have heard anecdotally that there are some democrats voting for the right wing republican to try to get him through to the general election, because they believe incumbent democratic governor jerry brown will have a better chaps against him. this is -- chance against him. it's not your usual election day. >> reporter: david carlos is a republican candidate who knows he'll lose in the primary election, but campaigns any anyway. >> i'm frustrated i'll not go past the primary unless lightening starts. >> reporter: california has done away with the normal system. the top two will face each

other. in democratic san francisco, he knows that it will end up being two democrats, vying for the seat he wants. voters made the change four years ago. a democratic polster says californians were fed up with gridlock in the state capital. >> voters reacted out of feelings of frustration and anger. >> reporter: supporters thought the system would make the assembly less polarized, forcing candidates to reach across party lines. a study by the shwars negger institute concluded there is a shift to the center since changes and other revisions like redistricting were implemented. >> i'm a republican, but not the typical republican. >> reporter: this is the first test for state-wide officers. gavin knew some, with seven opponents says he is not doing anything different this time around. >> it has not changed the campaign. i'm not more moderate as a consequence of an open primary

verses being progressive or liberal. i'm myself. >> yet many democratics candidates are positioning themselves to attract the money and votes that would have gone to republican candidates. the intend of the primary system was to make california elections more inclusive, but political analysts say the unintended consequence is that third party parties, like the green party, could be wiped out. >> reporter: the biggest winners under the new rules are political consultants. >> there's a lot more uncertainty, chaos in the elections. and quite frankly more money spent to figure it out. the beauty of democracy is it's ongoing. >> i'm running. >> david says if not for the top two voting change, he'd have until the general election in november to get the message out. now he knows realistically he has until the polls close at the end of the day. >> former republican governor

arnold schwarz negger raised millions to get the top two primary through. he wants it to be part of his legacy. current governor jerry brown, a democrat, also supported this legislation. so ultimately the voters decide this is what they wanted, and this is what we got. >> yes. okay. >> lisa bernard in san francisco. good to see you the u.s. calls the election a farce - next, inside the voting in syria, where the winner is set before a vote is counted. >> first, president obama defends a decision to trade for army sergeant bowe bergdahl. ray suarez explores what the move means in "inside story." >> thanks. an army sergeant is free after five years of captivity. cause for celebration - obviously for him and his family. there's an undertoe of

controversy. do you negotiate with the enemy at the end of the war? what about the precedent? then there's guantanamo. the released priners and ones -- prisoners, and the once still being held. there's a lot to cover at the top of the hour. stay with us.

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from ads to images of people voting. the elections are playing out on social media. maria is back with that story. >> we want to show you images coming out of syria. let's look at what the government and bashar al-assad supports tweet out. images like this? you see a bunch of voters, and this image of bashar al-assad, taking a selfie there. now, sam is a reporter with "the wall street journal," and has been chronicling these elections, sending out this image saying:

voting extended for five hours. you are seeing a lot of these images. several of these have been making the rounds, showing folks reportedly voting via what's that. a cell phone application. a friend or family can show a picture of your id. you can vote that way. opposition and activists call these blood elections and cartoons are circulating, mocking this. like this one. this shows a deadman, and this is bashar al-assad, and he's putting in the ballot into the ballot box. and this one, showing that people are feeling forced in these elections the dead can vote in the syrian elections. okay. appreciate it. a more than one million students are homeless. a los angeles teenager is not letting homelessness hold her back. as jennifer london reports, she is acing her class asks sees

education as a ticket to her future. >> reporter: for the past six months this small room shared by two families is the closest thing to a home sp-year-old gemira has known. before moving to this shelter in south los angeles, she spent a few months in a homeless shelter on skid row. >> sometimes you can't stand and you feel you want to keep going. she had no choice. when 12 her family left peru and illegally crossed to the border in arizona, and has been homeless since. >> after everything that happened i think is my fault. sometimes i say if my mum never had me, nothing of this would happen. >> reporter: you're blaming yourself? >> i just want to give mum everything she gives me, because - i don't know. my mum is, like, she's the only thing i have. if something happiness to her, i have -- happens to her, i have

nothing. i will be like more than homeless, i'll have nothing. >> reporter: yet by all appearances she has everything going for her. she gets straight as, volunteers after school. she dreams of becoming a doctor, or maybe a singer. ♪ do you believe you can fly >> reporter: staying in school is not easy. gem. >> ra carries her burden alone. none of her friends know she's homeless. why is it important to keep it a secret? >> i don't want them to judge he. >> reporter: do you think they would? >> i don't know. i'm scared of failing and being judged. >> reporter: her secret is shared by thousands. throughout l.a. unified there are 14,000 homeless students. >> our kids come to school not

knowing where they'll sleep, where they'll see their family, maybe haven't slept or eaten. >> reporter: this is a counsellor focus on on getting students basic necessities. >> we can provide back packs, school supplies, hi gene, clothing assistance. >> reporter: they are a live line for gemira and this place, school on wheels, a nonprofit schooling and mentoring 56,000 homeless students throughout southern california. >> you can see the self-esteem go up, self-confidence rise. >> i feel safe. they protect the kids. they protect us. they take care of us, and then they treat us like a real family. >> on this day a surprise. >> who signed up for college? who got accepted into college - do you know who that is? . all: yes. >> reporter: and as a reward

from school on wheels we have $1,000 scholarship for you to go to college. >> reporter: despite what life put in front of her, and not knowing where she'll sleep, she knows an education will be her ticket to getting off the streets for good. cool. one more piece of video we have to show you. a sunbather had a close call with a landing airplane. did you see it. show it again. slow it down. there. okay. the video was reportedly taken at a german island destination, the pilot telling the media he did not see the sunbather until he landed. ou. do we have time to show it. the plane is going to need some work. after this moment the plane got a plough through a possess fence. the pilot apologised - you think - and said he didn't see the man sunbathing. he said it wasn't one of his

greatest achievements as a pilot in the cockpit. there you have it. that's all we have for this newshour. i'm tony harris in new york city. "inside story" is next on al jazeera america. >> in europe, the president has been explaining and defending the decision to release five taliban prisoners from guantanamo bay in return. that's the "inside story."