>> read, be curious your brain is your ultimate weapon >> hope for the future >> the only thing that can transform my continent is girl's education >> talk to aljazeera only on al jazeera america . >> goo good afternoon to you and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are the stories we're following for you right now. in ukraine, petro poroshenko is sworn in as president. >> i was a bit of a novelty when i first showed up. >> plus one woman who is at the

bell moment. >> the u.s. is promising aid to three former soviet states as the new president takes the help of ukraine. in kiev president obama promised funds to ukraine, moldova and georgia. >> he may have the red carpet, but petro poroshenko has a mountain to climb if he is to save ukraine from conflict and economic ruin. at his inauguration the international community was there to show its sport. support. president poroshenko promised to take the fight to the rebellion in the east and to russia and

crimea. >> who comes with the sword will fall from the sword. >> citizens of ukraine will never enjoy the beauty of peace unless we settle down our relations with russia. russia occupies crimea which was, s and will be ukrainian as well. >> on europe they say this time there will be no turning back. >> what exactly do we have to do to live free lives, free and prosperous lives. all thi this is enshrined on the free trade zone with the european union. many of you along with myself were part of putting those documents together. now our job is to make it to reality.

>> president poroshenko speaks to economic reform. this is the parliament that stripped powers from viktor yanukovych after the revolution. this is the parliament that president poroshenko now wants dissolved so that he can have new deputies to press forward with the reform he said ukraine so desperately needs. these are the men he now commands. the solution to the violence in the east of the country may ultimately lie with russia. talks are expected. there is hope that diplomacy, but this country is virtually at war. this leader now has to choose which path to tread.

>> in iraq dozens of students and professors have been released after a group stormed the university taking them hostage. the police say that the group killed guards just to get into anbar university. those hostages were later freed after the gunmen withdrew from a gunfight with security ow official officials. egyptian officials have sentenced ten muslim brotherhood followers to death. meanwhile, tomorrow is the inauguration of egypt's president elect general al sisi. the majority of those who have died in syria's civil war are men. meanwhile the women and children they have left hyped are

struggling. al jazeera's nick schifrin reports on those who are trying to hold on what is left of their families. >> every day a window separates himself from his wife miriam who is in isolation from second-degree burns. they fled here from syria, and their rations were cut off. hopeless and humiliated she set herself on fire. >> i can only think of her getting better. >> reporter: the war has ripped families apart. that has left the mothers of syria most vulnerable. more than three-quarters of syrian refugees are women and children. she has been in this home for widows for five months. she is from homs, the city one known as the cradle of the revolution today there are

barely any signs of life. somewhere in there she lost her husband. today she keeps him alive by wearing her wedding ring, but here in lebanon she does not feel alive or safe, so she's scared to reveal her face. when they fled she and her daughter didn't even have time to put on their shoes. when they fled her son didn't make it. >> she spends her days teaching english. she contemplated suicide. her children kept her going. in this house the children and widows can play and live. and the women learn skills like hairdressing. the idea is to give them the ability to support themselves.

they have to because of all they've lost. this woman arrived here two weeks ago with her sister and her nephew. she said they can no longer hide from the war. she said the government bombed her house. >> the sounds were very loud. my little one was asleep under the bed. my children see with their own eyes. they would see the massacres with their own eyes. >> then a massacre took her own family. this shows one of her sons was jailed for life. another son disappeared. her husband went missing. and last month her brother and her other son was killed fighting. >> five young men died. all of my family gone. >> reporter: each of these families have a message to the united states. >> what would you want the

people of america to know about your situation? >> the situation of the syrian people are very bad. there are millions. millions of lives. five days after we interviewed him. five days after we filmed his wife 43-year-old miriam died from her burns. she died without the shelter or dignity that these widows today are clinging to so they can try and rebuild their families. nick schifrin, al jazeera, tripoli. >> we'll have a deeper look at syria featuring in-depth analyst that you won't find anywhere else. that's 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on al jazeera america. rio day jannero's where 5,000 police officers will

patrol those streets. the president of mexico had a private audience with pope francis today. the pope met the president at the vatican. after exchanging gifts and posing for photographers the two met behind closed doors. the vatican said that the discussion focused on ways to alleviate poverty and violence in mexico. thanks to the city's high speed internet, many are lured to the chattanooga valley. >> reporter: with the background of the appalachian mountains and rail system, now an ultra high speed internet system. >> it's fiv faster than the

national average. >> it transfers data at 1 gigabyte per second. that's 40 times faster than new york. it's on par with hong kong, which has the fastest in the world. >> we're the first city to have a gig. >> chattanooga, tennessee, became the first gig city. >> reporter: it started when the utility company was looking to upgrade its power distribution center. not only improve its power grid but with bonds and federal stimulus grants engineers created a fiberoptics network. for $70 a month customers no matter where they live have access to the super fast internet. chattanooga's chamber of

commerce say businesses have moved here creating 1,000 jobs. >> you just release how much time and money you're saving on every little transaction. that starts to add up. wow, i got an hour of my life back or four hours of my life back. >> reporter: it can be seen in movie files. it would take roughly 45 minutes to up load on most broadband connections. a few other cities now have their own fiberoptics too and google has added privately added private networks in three cities with plans for more. >> when you look at the united states in connectivity we're behind. i would say that ten years that a lot more cities will have it. >> reporter: chattanooga sees itself as having a head start on the rest of the country, and now its leaders are pushing beyond

the basics usin useing new ways to take advantage of this networking. >> with college of thousands graduates heading into the real world next month president obama has called on congress to help them get ahead. obama used his weekly address to highlight the problem of student debt right here in the united states. the president is pushing the plan that will help college graduates to refinance their loans. they'll begin to debate the plan this week. a memorial service was held for maya angelou in north carolina. she was remembered in a ceremony on the campus of wake forest university in winston-salem. coming up on al jazeera america a race to the finish line. history could be made in today's belmont stakes, and it's not

just for fans of california chrome. and there is a big change for apple's stock on monday. we'll tell you all about it next.

>> so apple stock is going plummet on monday, sort of. investors will get seven shares of apple for every one that they currently own. shares will cost $93 and lower shares and prices mean the stock will become more accessible and allows more people to invest in the company. the last time shares with apple were under $100 were back i in 2009. strapped for cash, many americans are dipping into their 401k accounts early but using those retirement savings as piggy banks is not always a good idea. why the penalties you'll pay are just only part of the problem. >> reporter: 401k accounts can be an easy source of rainy day money. but when someone taps into their

401k before turning 59.5, the irs hits them with a penalty fee on top of any taxes they owe on the money. >> that retirement savings account that supposed to be there for 30 to 40 years becomes a piggy bank for folks, and they have to crack it hope. they really don't want to do that but they don't have any other options. >> that penalty earned the irs $5.7 billion in penalty, and it's making americans less prepared for retirement. according to a recent gallop survey, prematurely $16,000 from a 401k at age 30 and not paying it back could cost $471 per month in retirement income or

monday than $50,000 over 20 years assuming a retirement age of 67. for decades americans used their homes for big packs. it was an ease way to pull cash out of the home but that all changed in thely tirement acts. they began to turn to their had is 601 k as the next best way to access their money. outstanding loans in 2013 were $734 billion down 37% from their peak in 2007. withdraws are up 37% since 2003. >> 401k plans are structurally flawed. they're really do it yourself savings plans that have failed millions of americans miserably. >> for now one thing seems

certain. with the economy running in slow motion americans are running out of piggy banks to crack open. mary snow, al jazeera. >> going for the triple crown. california chrome competes for the bel belmont title. he will be the first to win the kentucky derby, the breakness and the belmont stakes since 1978. tonight he's not alone citizen trainer linda is looking to break down more barriers. >> linda rice may be considered queen. no surprise if you know herlinage. having grown up in a family where everyone is in the industry rice was already a certified trainer by the time she was 23. and in 2013 new york bred trainer of the year feels right at home in the male-dominated

profession. >> a lot of people talk about female trainers and they think it's a novelty, but this has been second nature since day one. tell me about your history. >> yes, i've been raining horses in new york for two decades now since i moved to new york. i was a bit of a novelty when i first showed up. she has won nearly 1200 races to go along with $40 million in prize money. she even made history at saratoga in 2009 when she was the first-ever female to finish in the lead of the final trainer standing at the historic meet. one gender barrier she has not broken yet to be the first female train for win a triple crown race. >> we ran kid cruise in preakness. those are the races we're shooting for.

>> what is it that makes race such rice such a good trainer? she says she has to be a talent scout and coach. >> you have to train your players between fitness and weight training and you have to judge their abilities with what their strengths and weaknesses are. i would a horse that was one of my favorite horses. he ran all over the country. every track. he was a terrific shipper and great performer. he was not my most successful, but he was my favorite. >> at belmont park in elmont, new york, jessica taff al jazeera. >> coming up, last year over a million students all across the country were homeless. we'll speak to a student who managed to succeed despite the

odds. plus he was deployed on d-day 70 years ago, now one veteran has achieved his lifetime goal.

>> good afternoon to you and welcome back to al jazeera america. live from new york city, i'm morgan radford. here's a look at today's top stories. the u.s. is promising more than $60 million in aid to ukraine and moldova and georgia. all three former soviet states. vice president joe biden made the promise in kiev after the swearing in of petro poroshenko, ukraine's newest president. dozens of students and teachers have been freed after an attack in ramadi. it's the third attack in the province this week. and a memorial service for poet maya angelou was held today in north carolina. former president bill clinton and first lady michelle obama

were among the speak e. angelou died last week at the age of 86. many world war ii vets had to leave school when the war started. some never got to return and earn a degree, but john did just that. he left school nearly 70 years ago to work and help out his family. he said he never expected to finish high school after fighting in the war. but on friday after age of 89 he got his diploma. >> meteorologist: i'm meteorologists dave warren. we had a lot of wind damage yesterday. this was last night and this was overnight last night. all these dots are individual reports that come in from the storm prediction center. arkansas, no tornadoes but wind damage with gusting wind after

the storms move through. trees down, power lines down and no real rotation detected but there was wind damage. not much in the way of hail. now weather has pushed east. the radar shows the rain has cleared out but now the big threat is flooding. we are looking at a lot of rain coming down over the same area. the radar shows you that in arkansas just north of arkansas through missouri. here is the heavy rain, boeing out a little bit, so maybe gusting wind as this rain pushes through. over the next few hours, and mainly today and tomorrow we'll see more rain coming in to parts that already had a lot of rain. that will be the flash flooding. flash flood watch in effect from oklahoma, missouri, arkansas and it continues to push east. a lot of warnings remain in effect. these are just for flash flooding. a beautiful day around new york and new england. high pressure and control, but then you get into a stormy

weather. that one area of rain moved out, and look what happened over the next three days, more rain moved in an, and it pulls moisture from the gulf. flash flooding could happen quickly in poor drainage areas. no rain across the northeast. no rain across the northwest, unfortunately, that's just where we need it where the hot weather continues. >> thanks, dave. many students are homeless across the united states, but one student is not letting homelessness hold her back. she sees education as a ticket to a brighter future. >> reporter: for the past six months this small room shared by two families has been the closest thing to a home that jamira has known. before moving to this temporary shelter, she had moved to a

shelter on kid row. when jamira was 12 her family left peru, and she's been homeless ever since. >> i think it's my fault. oh, if my mom had never had me, none of this would have happened. >> so you're blaming myself. >> i just want to give my mom everything. because my moc mom is the only thing i have. if i lose her i'll be more than homeless, i will have nothing. >> yet by all appearances the 17-year-old has everything going for her. she gets straight a's. she volunteers after school. she dreams of becoming a doctor or maybe even a singer. [♪ singing ]

but staying in school has not been ease and she carries her burden alone. none of his friends know she's homeless. >> why is that important to keep it a secret. >> i don't want them to judge me. >> you don't want them to judge you? do you think they will? >> i don't know, i'm squared. >> j squared--i'm scare. >> there are roughly 14,000 homeless students. >> our kids come to school not knowing where they're going to sleep that night, will they'll see their family again. maybe haven't slept or eaten. >> anna quinnter row is one of seven counselors which focuses on getting students basic necessities. >> we provide backpacks, school supplies, hygiene items. we're able to provide clothing assistance.

>> those basics are a lifeline for jamira and so is this place, school on wheels. a non-profit that tutors and mentors students in southern california. >> for the most part you can see their self-esteem go up. you can see their self-confidence rise. >> i feel safe because 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 was accepted into college? we have a $1,000 scholarship for you to go to college. >> despite what life has put in front of her. despite she never knows where she'll sleep at night, she knows an education will be her ticket to getting off the street for good. >> we are certainly happy to say

that jamira graduated with a 3.8 gpa. if that's not good enough she earned several scholarships to attend college. live from new york. i'm morgan radford. >> i'm mei-ling mcnamara in canada here to discover how the great bear rainforest is being protected. >> i'm amanda burrell. i'm in london to find out how to make old houses green. >> a'm