[♪ music ] >> hi everyone, i'm john siegenthaler. this is al jazeera america. the transfer, bowe bergdahl first moments of freedom. what his release means for guantanamo. seeking peace, the search for a solution in ukraine. as russia's president denies his troops are involved. children in crisis. the search for syria's youngest victims. >> why this tomboy is told she's not welcome in her school in the

fall. and d day survivors making one last trim to norma normandy. we begin tonight with new images of an american's soldier's last seconds as a priz ner of war and -- prisoner of war. and a fire storm surrounding his release. randall pinkston has the story. randall. >> two issues, one, objections to releasing five senior taliban officials in exchange for bergdahl's freedom and two, rejection of the administration's claim that bergdahl's health was in jeopardy. >> he was not in that type of dire situation when he was released. >> other members said that he did look sick. did you think --

>> i've not been reassured is that the five high-risk taliban detainees will not get back and reengage in the fight against us and our allies. >> earlier today, video from a taliban website gave us our first look at sergeant bergdahl as he was handed over to the u.s. saturday morning. a pickup truck delivered sergeant bowe bergdahl to eastern afghanistan. one fighter held a rocket propelled grenade launcher was seen. the 28-year-old bergdahl appeared frail as he talked with taliban fighters in his final moments of nearly five years of captivity as a prisoner of war. as pooh blackhawk helicopter approached, one taliban reportedly told bergdahl, don't go back to afghanistan. if you do, you won't make it out

alive next time. the exchange took less than three minutes. approaching from the helicopter, shaking hands and escorting bergdahl back to the aircraft where he was frisked are prior to boarding. while one helicopter touched down, at least two dozen took part with aerial surveillance and intelligence. his rescue first praised by u.s. intelligence is now the subject of controversy, with allegations that bergdahl might have deserted his post. chawlchuck hagel says that may e investigated but not now. >> let's get the facts but first, let's focus on getting sergeant bergdahl well, getting his health back, getting him reunified with his family. let's knot forget: sergeant bergdahl is a member of the united states armed forces. he is a sergeant in the united states army.

the united states of america has an always will have responsibility for getting its soldiers back. other questions and facts regarding sergeant bergdahl will be dealt with at a later time. >> the deal that freed sergeant bergdahl, the release of five detainees from guantanamo, is gettings bipartisan criticism because the administration didn't give congress 30 days notice. and senator lindsay graham is saying that the administration used the release as a political point. >> ooh by the way i secured the only captive of that war, that was thought in their mind to be a pretty good political story for that week. it blew up in their face. >> and tonight, this

development. in hailey, idaho, bergdahl's home town, officials have cancelled plans for big celebration. the official reason is that the town doesn't have the infrastructure to than huge crowds expected when bergdahl eventually comes home. john. >> all right, randall pingston, randall, thank you. joins us tonight from washington ryan, welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> all right. is this some sort of back door attempt to close down guantanamo? >> well, it's not clear that that's what that would do, right? there are a number of detainees down there who we still have in this sort of limbo. whooms the obamwhom the obama an doesn't want to transfer to a third country. it lessens the size of the country but there is still this group of detainees whom we basically want to hold indefinitely which is what

guantanamo symbolized. closing guantanamo and just transferring them inside the u.s. wouldn't end the indefinitely tedges that way. >> there are -- tension that way. >> there are 78 that are cleared to be released. what is their status? >> cleared to be transferred to a third country not directly released. there will be a program they will enter in their home country. one of the big obstacles is the vast majority of those detainees are from yemen. and the security situation in yemen isn't ideal and the united states doesn't think it's right to release them right now. there have been some improvements and apparently the administration in place over there is making some strides to set up a situation where they may be able to come home. but that's an issue that is sort of looming over this right now. >> ryan what about the 40 detainees who have not been charged but who are in indefinitely detention? are they in limbo, permanent limbo? >> essentially now, that's one

of the issues that even though we're ending the afghan war i think it's going to be an issue, if worse comes to war, we will have to have some kind of reason for detaining them, make that case pretty directly, but guantanamo has always symbolized indefinitely detention. even if we have sofd al solved e issues, not charged back to the u.s. and close down guantanamo that indefinite detention would still be survivorrable. >> this must be a frustrating situation for the president who in the beginning of his first term said he wanted to close guantanamo but hasn't been able to do it. you have been there and seen the situation, is there any way to close it even within the second term? >> that is something the president has determined to do. the land were a few years where everything on that sort of went cold. but last year there was a major

sort of development in which congress lessened the restrictions and did allow for transfers to stay place. as long as the secretary of defense signed off on it. said it was in the national security of the u.s. and stake certain assurancest that the security was proper and that was a big development. >> will that situation change on capitol hill as a result of what's happened this week? >> that's the question. even though that was a big stride i think right now that is in jeopardy because of this new latest development. >> it's very interesting. ryan reilly good to have you on the program, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> what appears to be a hostage situation out of afghanistan. kaitlin coleman and her canadian husband, asking the united states government to help free them and are their child from their afghan captors. they decided to go public after the release of bowe bergdahl.

the air force says three b-52 bombers like these will be deployed for two weeks, taking part in training exercises. president obama will increase military presence in the region, after russian actions. in ukraine, pro-russian rebels have seized three government base in and around the eastern city of luhansk. members of the national guard were overrun, ran out of ammunition trying to hold off the rebels. the intense fighting is forcing many residents to leave. david chater is in luhansk. >> the exodus has started, women and children first. but moscow's call for humanitarianing rlg corridors to be set up. the fighters are doing the job

themselves. april another night of intense clashes within the city, some of the school boys ended up without their mothers. who's going olook after them, one woman demand he. they are being driven across the russian border, finding a safe haven in crimea. anxiety etched on their face, not knowing the dangers on the road ahead but leaving behind a city now engulfed in a war. the bright sunshine belied the somber mood. it was a day filled with funerals. the people of the city and its leaders came to pay theirs respects. to the separatist fighters who died this week defending their self-declared republic. nobody knows how many candles will have to be lit for dead here. calling it an antiterrorist operation. the people here now say the real

terrorists are the ones now in power in kyiv. the border guard behind me is still refusing to surrender. they're heavily outnumbered and are being attacked each night. this is national guard base in luhansk that was overrun overrue separatist fighters overnight. the residents were still shocked and afraid. the streets where they take their dogs for a walk now splashed with blood and spent bullet casings. we join the family funeral of a separatist fighter shot dead in the clashes around the base. as a final honor, a volley of shots was fired at his brother's grave. the bitterest war is always a civil war. this will not be the last time the bullets will fly above the pines and pop poplars ever thissing graveyard. david chater, al jazeera,

luhansk. >> vladimir putin denied separatist fighters were fighting in that country. >> why don't they show the proof? iraq's weapons of mass destruction. you know it is one thing to say things and another to have actual evidence. >> while putin is in france president obama is in belgium. putin was not invited following russia's annexation of crimea. mike viqueria is traveling with the president live in brussels. ukraine still topping the agenda right? >> you're absolutely right. the communique out this evening about foreign policy and there's no division among the g-7 leaders for who is responsible about the unrest in eastern ukraine. they lay it plainly at the doorstep of the russian

federation. they stay pat to charge russia, what the events would be to trigger tougher sanctions that president obama has been talking about ever since this began months ago. and now there are seven, as the group formerly known as g-8 gathered in brussels, vladimir putin's presence hung over the summit. meeting ukraine's president elect petro poroshenko earlier in warsaw, president obama vowed to keep the pressure on russia, for its actions in ukraine. >> a violation of international law and it's willing to back up those principles with consequences for russia. >> in his west point speech last week president obama declared his policy of sanctions is working. >> our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate russia right away.

>> reporter: but putin isn't frozen out completely. mems of u.s.'s strongest allies will meet. mr. obama also attending will not. for much at stake with the leaders and their economies, tightening sanctions will be a tough sell for president in brussels. >> particularly when europe has been economically weakened over the last four years this is really hard to do. so i think there will be european reluctance to move forward in the difficult stage of sanctions. >> before leaving saw, mr.-- leaving warsaw, mr. obama spoke in front of thousands of poles. >> we stand together because we believe people and nation have the right to -- nation have the right to determine their own destiny including the people of ukraine. >> and john in that french media

interview that president putin gave, for the commemoration that president obama and 16 other leaders were also attending, he says he's perfectly willing to meet president obama. it's president obama who is not willing to meet vladimir putin. there were several phone calls over the past weeks and months between two men. the white house announcing no plans. even though the two men will be in the same room two times, no formal meeting. john. >> is there any acknowledgment about the fire storm back in this country over bowe bergdahl? >> no, absolutely. it was one of the first questions that was presented to president obama when he was in warsaw, poland yesterday. you heard the president say there is a sacred trust with u.s. military. leave no one behind on the battle field. he said the process with congress, that 30 day notification by law had to be truncated given the opportunity they had to make that deal with the taliban and john, the

president is going to be having another breesk -- another briefing withing david cameron. we expect that issue to come up yet again as the controversy shows no signs of subsiding. john. >> mike viqueria, traveling with the president, thank you very much. and last week's resignation of eric shinseki may be the first sign of reform at the va. lklibby casey has that story. >> plenty of congressional outrage over problems at the va. >> this cause ought to be one that galvanizes the nation. >> the scandal now has reached proportions where the american people are deeply angered. >> reporter: but veterans groups say they have heard this all before. >> unfortunately it is not a new problem. >> joe violante says this is deja vu.

hundreds of thousands of vets waiting at least six months for health care. >> they also found there was a mismatch between the funding and the demand. and if that mismatch wasn't addressed that we would have access problems. and that we would have quality of care problems. >> reporter: violante says there was concern but no real action in washington. funding is part of the problem say watch dogs. >> congress constantly pushes agencies to do things without giving them adequate resources or authority to do them. >> reporter: peter shock a lawyer and political scientist, says a recent move to get veterans through the system, had another shock. >> cannot displin their employees -- discipline their employees very effectively or very quickly. >> there's a struggle on capitol hill about how.

send veterans to other doctors. >> moing is not the problem at the veteran veterans administra. it's accountability. >> the federal government they say should invest more in health care. >> in many parts of this country, primary care physicians are saying we can't do it. too many people are coming in. >> some members of congress know firsthand how the va works but some do not. down nearly 70% in decades. the va committees are not the ones most members fight to serve on. turnover is high. of 25 lawmakers on the house va panel 17 are relatively new to congress. but joe violante says he hopes they're listening and not doing politics as usual. >> then forgetting about us. hopefully, somebody will do

something to correct this situation and take the political atmosphere out of this situation. >> veterans groups say this time they won't let congress forget. libby casey, al jazeera, washington. >> coming up next: teen ann mansquare 2 -- teen tienanmen s, 25 years later.

>> 25 years ago today, protestors in china were under attack. a massacre in tienanmen square. we don't know how many were killed. still the only public demonstration was in hong kong. jonathan betz last the story.

jonathan. >> even if china is ignoring what happened there a quarter of a century, the world is focused on tienanmen square. candlelight filled the evening sky on a chapter china has tried to keep in the dark. ♪ >> reporter: more than 100,000 people crowded a hong kong park to mark 25 years since the tienanmen square crack down. >> the people in hong kong now with the freedom we have, we have the responsibility to light up the candle for them. >> it will be the only public mourning on chinese soil. while in taiwan it's still fiercely independent. at the site where so much was lost, not a mention. simply business as usual. beijing streets once filled with defiance, now casually choked with traffic. and those who were there are haunted by how much was lost for so little. >> why didn't i die? that question i probably will

answer for the rest of my life. probably leave the rest of my life with that survivor's guilt. >> reporter: 25 years ago today, china's army cracked down opening fire on protesters demanding reforms. hundreds were killed. it ushered in a new era for the world's most populace country. china's economy boomed at the expense of civil liberties. >> 25 years ago, the young people cared about having enough food and keeping warm. whereas today we want to become stylish. >> reporter: china's government refuses to acknowledge what happened. the foreign minister this week essentially told the world to mind its own business. heavy security prevented any protest and sensors have scrubbed the memory from many minds. >> they are so afraid for the people to have freedom of speech and they are really suppressing human rights.

>> reporter: even in honor congress scustles broke out over the -- scustles broke out over cialtion scufflelesscuffles broe commemoration. activists hope it's only a matter of time before the country recognizes what happened, john. >> jonathan betz, jonathan, thank you. one of the leaders@tienanmen square 25 years ago. this is a picture of her in 1989 speaking at the protests before the massacre. i talked to her about what she is fighting for and what has changed since then. >> i am the last 5,000 students 25 years ago chose to stay at tienanmen square. we were hoping for world to see what was happening in china and to come to our rescue. >> did the world come to your rescue? >> at the time they didn't. at the beginning they did protest, media outreach, but a few years later life goes on.

people want to do business and it was very disappointing. and -- >> why did you risk going to prison in order to protest? >> you know, the life we had in -- before tienanmen, 1989, it was a life without freedom. it was a life that we want -- we came to tienanmen square to want for three reform, economic reform, political reform and political reform. freedom from justice, freedom from lie and deceit and persecution and freedom from corruption. >> has any of that changed since then? >> among the three reforms china only loud economic reform. so china has the worst form of free economy that is economic dictatorship. there is no political reform. but china is taking place, undergoing unprecedented spiritual reform. and -- >> at one point you were though

on china's -- the comoins government 21 most wanted list -- the chinese government 21 most wanted list. >> i was not good, i am still on that list. i remember after the massacre we had to be put on the run. >> you escaped? >> it took me ten months in hiding inside of china until i was able to finally come into freedom. my last trip was being put inside a cargo box inside a boat and it took me four days and five nights to be inside that cargo box until i reached freedom. >> the schools don't even teach tienanmen square to the schoolchildren. how do they know what happened? >> the first thing they want to know is what happened in 1989. i also talked to some young people in china they said oh we can break through the fire wall, we can learn what's going on. >> the night before tienanmen square what did you think was going to happen? >> we never in a mill years

expected -- a million years expected a tienanmen massacre would happen. maybe a crack down. the tanks came in and the bloody shirts came in. it was disbelief. arguing leave or stay, was so intense, one time, kids dmomg with a knife and said ling if you don't order everybody to leave i'll cut you. i said look we are a democratic process, we are peace overcome hatred and violence. i remember looking into the tanks and troops. it was amazing i did not have a slight hatred or resentment, it was a flood of love and hope, i was hoping the chinese leaders and these soldiers would know what a better world we're loapg

for them. and for the next -- hoping for them, and the next generation, even though they will never know us or remember us, we're hoping for a better china for us. so today 25 years later, i called the chinese leader to go ahead expand the political reform and the spiritual reform right away. only then when china has three reforms, it can truly have lasting peace and prosperity. >> we are pleased that you have the freedom to talk about this with us tonight. chai ling it's good to talk to you. thank you very much. >> you're very welcome. >> coming up an eight-year-old girl kicked out of school for dressing like a tomboy. >> i don't wear skirts a lot, never, ever, ever. never. >> in our series flit, being eight, her -- our tonight, being eight, her family is outraged. thousands forced from their homes and schools in syria.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. coming up more violence against young girls in india. a third child found handing in a

week. -- lajed in a week. -- hanged in a week. plus, world war ii veterans, 70 years after d day. plus, the youngest girl in the world ever to climb mount everest. first, syrian president bashar al-assad has secured a third term in office. the government says he won nearly 90% of the vote. polls were only open in areas under government control but not in cities held by rebels. assad's closest challenger received about 4% of the vote. the u.s. is called assad's victory meaningless. with respect to the elections that took place, the so-called elections, the elections are nonelections. the elections are a great big zero. they're meaningless. and they're meaningless because you can't have an election where

millions of your people don't even have an ability to vote. where they don't have an ability to contest the election and they have no choice. >> secretary kerry promised an additional $290 million for syrian refugees and the countries that have taken them in. so far the u.s. has contributed $2 billion for humanitarian aid created after the syrian war. much of that aid will go to the families that have been chased out of the country after the three year civil war. john schifrin is here. >> thank you john. no one has been affected more openly than lebanon, it's kept its borders open and paid a huge price, each day, 2500 refugees pour into lebanon from syria. the number will be 1.5 million, more than a third of this country's population and all of these refugees, more than half

are children. as the war ripped their country apart, one group was most vulnerable. syrian children, a part of a lost generation. seven-year-old abdalla can't count or read. he is traumatized and doesn't speak much. when we asked what he thinks about syria -- near he whispers. -- fear he whispers. they have seen things no one and no child should ever see. more than half of the refugees are children and most are out of school. >> they lost everything out of syria. their houses land property business. >> closest thing that abdalla has to a guardian angel. he runs home of hope with 75 children who used to live on the street. >> we try to rehabilitate them. give them education. >> today syrian refugee children have flooded an overwhelmed

lebanon. they live in makeshift shelters in the country or in beirut, at least 75,000 ton street, instead of in school. -- on the street instead of in school. 15-year-old abdalla works fealg 15 hours a day -- works 15 hours a day to make $7. 11 yeerd abir sells flowers for about a dollar a strand. she feels ashamed being on the street so she looks away and longs for home. >> i hope things come down and god willing, can i go back. >> their families often sent them to sell or beg to help pay bills and they can make a lot more money at night, especially here in beirut's main shopping street but it's much more dangerous. >> believe me, these kids don't want to be on the streets. two out of three kids are sexually harassed.

>> maher has helped these children for two years, after he left what he calls a life of luxury in australia. >> it's your confident zone, you leave the good life. >> maher says he's proud he's helping these kids but he feels losing the battle. >> more people are coming, legally or illegally, it's going to be a disaster. >> reporter: when we asked abdul what he missed most about syria he whispers, his family. he didn't want to admit or couldn't admit that last summer in his home town of idlib he watched his family killed by a government air strike. they're in beirut now, they're safer now, but they've lost their childhood. we've spent several days with children on the streets and in camps and what we just shows you sadly was the tip of the iceberg. it struck me that there's a

universality, in that camp i felt i could be speaking and playing with my nephew or my niece and then you start asking these kids questions and you hear their horrific stories. i have effort in seen so much trauma experienced by so young. plls of children who have lost years of education and years ever are innocence and of course the war is not going to end tomorrow. these ratification are going to have more kids -- these refugees are going to have more children and the sad fact is, this war will probably not end for a very long time. >> powerful images, nick schifrin reporting. ali amalic joins us now. she has visited a number of the refugee camps. alia, the people of the neighboring countries how much resentment is there for these

refugees flowing into their country? >> obviously quite a lot of resentment. as nick pointed out, the vast majority are in neighboring lebanon. a quite small space, a quite large number. syrian forces occupied the country for a good many years and there were a lot of abuses committed by syrian forces when they were in lebanon. syria interfered to quite an extent in the affairs of lebanon, there are serious allegations it was the regime offing bashar al-assad that called the death of haridi. a regime that is already unstable, it is quite a burden on the country to take in 1 million and that number is only growing. >> it is a burden and yet, i

mean based on what you know, do you think these people will ever go pack to syria? >> i mean we have no choice but to do everything in our power to help them go back. syria needs its people and its people needs its country needs its home. no matter how well they can potentially integrate or survive or even thrive inside lebanon or the flaibing countries they will not be -- neighboring countries they will not be citizens. the country has to be rebuild. what is the other option? >> that's really the question. and i've got no answers to it. but completes just say the country -- but lets just say the country is deaf stated by this. they've been in some of these place he for years, months, years, they're trying to survive, i just wonder if it's a real possibility that these people will end up -- a moormingts of these people will end up -- a majority of these people will end up staying in the neighboring countries.

>> we have to do whatever we can to get them back. whether they are rich refugee or poor refugee no matter what their means are -- >> they want to go home. >> exactly. i've talking to kurds in kurdistan, home is home, home never changes. >> except that home mike look like rubble when they get back. >> that's true but rubble can -- look, the lives, it will be much harder to put the lives back together than the place back together. if the people are forced to stay outside the country, that's what bashar al-assad and his regime wants, even coming from the areas where the people disagree with them pick up arms don't come back. >> $290 million in aid announced today, is there a plan here or are we just -- does the united states and other governments continue to throw money at this?

>> well i pulled the number for you before i came on. the unhcr estimated they will need about $4 billion for the need of what's been created. they have a gap of $3 billion. they only have about $1 billion of that. >> these are pledges, not cash. >> cash is king. $290 million is an absolute number that is large but in the sense of what is needed it is a drop in the bucket. >> alia malick, thank you. >> bye-bye. >> girl discovered murdered and richelle carey is here. richelle. >> authorities haven't confirmed whether the young girl found on tuesday was raped before she was killed. this is a devastating development for a community plagued with attacks against women and children's. we are lirn more about how the

first two lost their lives. a week after their deaths candles are still lit in their lon. the alleged gang rape and hanging of two girls in the northern state of uta pradesh has shocked india. protesters are demandin demandig something be done. the father of one of the girls said the police initially refused to act because they're from what is considered a lower class or the so-called untouchables. >> if the authorities would have wanted, my daughters would have been found alive. they told me to wait for an hour and a half and my daughter would return home. but then this happened. how long can i tolerate this? >> reporter: new details are emerging on the circumstances that left the girls hanging from a mango tree. they were alone, walking to a field to go to the bathroom. in india, 600 million people,

half the population don't have access to toilets. some critics believe that makes women and girls especially vulnerable to attacks. the family says h a neighbor layered the girls screaming. but they abused him for making the complaint. >> there is no doubt the incident is very unfortunate. the government has taken steps and all the five accused have been arrested and the government has started a probe in the case. it is being directed to fast track court to ensure justice to the victims. >> reporter: people in the village remain angry at the government and the police for failing to protect women. >> these men have no fear at all. they think the government is theirs. we can catch anyone's daughter and do anything. they can get away with even shooting someone. they think who can do anything to us? >> reporter: politicians have been visiting the village and

have offered more than $8,000 to the girls' families. they having refused that number saying their daughters' dignity is not for sale. they want the perpetrators to be tried and handing. only way to protect women and girls in a country where some have little regard for the law. john. >> richelle thank you. the authorities are cracking down on people who point lasers at aerospace. offering up to $10,000 for apprehension of anyone who points lasers at aircraft. the topic of tonight's special series, the system with

joe berlinger. >> michael was an agent, he was a patient's agent. when you looked at him, you said, this is guy i want to be like. two examiners from florida said you got to stop this guy, michael malone. >> stop him from doing what? >> overinferring the hair data. we tracked 836 of his cases, he testified false, false and misleading. >> decades later, the cases are still be litigated. suni call is a ra ram rambus seven-year-old.

>> for suni kale, she has lived with her great grandparents since she was an infant. in their lynchburg home, she has thrived. but sundayi isn't your average eight-year-old girl. she enjoys target shooting with her bb gun, collecting be rocks around knives. >> this one is my exact favorite. >> suni admits she's a tomboy. although her great grandfather has to figure out what that means. >> get dirty. >> at christian school suni suni scheduled asuniexcelled as a th. but sunny cut her hair off. >> i wanted to give it to

somebody who had scairng. cancer. >> i chose the khaki pants. >> when did you choose those? >> i don't wear skirts a lot. ner, ever many every man, ever,. >> sunny's grandmother heard some concerns from the school. but she was shocked when she received a letter saying not to reenroll suni next year. >> clearly understands god has made her female and her dress must follow suit with her god ordained opportunity. the more i think about it and relive it the letter, i get angry all over again. >> doris thompson didn't wait

for next fall. she pulled suni from timberlake christian. she didn't hide the truth from this eight-year-old. >> i feel like they need to be myself. why do they make me change, change my hair, change the way i dress? it was hard for me. is to let them say that. >> the school is not commenting. its attorney did issue a statement saying this is not a, quotes, hairstyle or tomboy issue but about upholding christian standards. since the family went public with its story, letters of support have flooded in from all over the world. but sundayi's world has been turned upside down. she is now attending the public tomahawk elementary. >> what do you think about tomahawk? >> it's okay. >> doesn't sound like you love it? >> i don't. >> still at her new school suni

is pulling in straight as and it's clear she's liked. >> would you like to go back to your old school? >> i would, i would and i wouldn't. because i know they don't accept me for who i am. >> a big lesson for such a little girl. lisa stark, adges a al jazeera, lynchburg, virginia. coming coming up. he ended up in normandy. >> we train you, we drop you behind the lines about 20 miles. and if you 75, you get to go home. >> and not your average 20-year-old girl, she decided to climb mount everest.

>> i'm meteorologist dave warren. pretty active over the past 24 hours. the severe weather that came through yesterday shows exactly

where we had the winds, hail and tornado reports right through the middle of the country here. this afternoon and this evening these severe thunderstorms developed outside that area, few thunderstorms in wyoming and montana, and even kentucky, tennessee and southern ohio. certainly not severe like it was last night, you can see by tomorrow that rain is just off the coast so things are drying off here. weather's a little calmer and quite a bit cooler. cooler air is coming in from the great lakes. this is what you'll be wake up tomorrow morning, low temperatures in the 40s and 50s. highs still pretty holt across texas and oklahoma, warmer air across the southeastern parts of the country. phoenix still over 100°. severe heat warnings and advisor is remain. rainfall, lack ever it, we should say, still the drought continues. a new drought monitor comes out

on thursday most likely showing that drought area expanding a bit in the southwest, very little rain over the past week. news is coming up next.

>> a new record was set on mount everest today. the 13-year-old daughter of poor farmers, she and the anyon anyoe guides. >> sponsored the climb as part of the support of underpristle underprivileged students.

vincent van gogh, his ear cut off almost 100 years ago. the last of the and a hal ne talkers has come up. came one a code based on the navajo language based to stop the japanese. it was never broken. the code-talkers are credited with being crucial in the battle for iwo jima. nez was 93. hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected in normandy france to mark the 70th anniversary of d-day. calling the last journey the last reunion. paul beban has their story. >> hey good morning bill, paul beban. >> bill caldwell is 86. but the united states army

thinks he's 88 or maybe even 89. >> that's you when you enlisted? >> that's because on august, 1943, when he was only 15 years old, caldwell lied to a united states army recruiter. >> what's a pai paratrooper? i didn't know what that was. >> we train you and we drop you behind enemy lines and if you survive you get to come home. i said i'll take it. >> at the tender age of 16 caldwell leaped into the area over normandy, 156,000 allied troops would land in france on d day. 73,000 of those troops were american. many wouldn't live to see the end of the day, much less the end of the war, and time has

further thinned the ranks of the survivors. it is estimated that more than a thousand world war ii vets die every day. combat engineer alfonso villa is 92. he was one of the first to hit omaha beach, returned to combat and made it all the way to the outskirts of berlin. >> they would shoot back and shoot rockets at us. >> elmer mcgee, known as lucky, since he flew 29 combat missions over europe. he was on the ground in england training the men who would fly that fateful day. a few days ago, elmer alfonso and del met up at the airport. ing desert storm vet trina got

choked up meeting them. >> their grateful fellow travelers honored the bravery and sacrifice of the greatest generation. they're calling this d-day the last reunion and while what they accomplished 70 years ago will endure forever in the history books it will soon save from living memory. as those that survived the longest day say their last goings. >> thank you for your service. have a good trip. >> paul beban, al jazeera, denver. >> the subject of tonight's freeze frame, jack schlagel parachuted onto the normandy coast june 6th, 1944. he's among 3,000 veterans attending events across the french coastline this d-day anniversary. we'll see you at 11:00 eastern

time. richelle has the headlines, next.

>> welcome to al jazeera america

i'm richelle carey. here are tonight's top stories. the taliban has released this video of sergeant bowe bergdahl's release. and senators behind closed doors trying to ease the controversy over the terms of his release. some say the administration might have broken the law by not consulting congress. president obama attended the g-7 summit in brussels where the issue the ukraine dominated the discussions. president obama prompt -- promps to keep the pressure o on russi.

president obama was talking to,ing being, the system with joe berlinger is up next. check out our website at aljazeera.com. m. >> this is joe berlinger calling, i'm the director of that documentary about the manning case and i know you had told my team not to call anymore-i just wanted to introduce myself, just to tell you a little bit about what we're hoping to do. can i just say one thing-which is, we're not here to talk about the guilt or innocence of mr. in