hi, everyone, this is al jazerra ami am john siegenthaler in new york. nowhere is safe. tank shells hit a u.n. school sheltering palestinian children. israeli soldiers open fire on demonstrators in the west bank. crisis in ukraine, the new prime minister suddenly resigns. what it means for the divided country. funding gap, the money still needed to get nasa's next generation rocket off the ground and where it could take astronauts in the next 10 years.

and a fish story, a teenage girl in the middle of the lion fish controversy. ♪ ♪ tonight the violence in gaza has spread to the west bank on the opposite side of israel. thousands of palestinians there protested near an israeli checkpoint. they threw rocks, set off fireworks, at least two protesters were killed. mst reports. >> reporter: scenes of anger and chaos here at the checkpoint as palestinian protesters continue to clash with israeli forces, forces that have used tear gas canisters, runner coated steel bullets and from what we understand live ammunition as well, live rounds. in fact, in one of the satellite vans which is not a meet briefs where i am standing right now is a bullet hole which is clearly

visible right through the windshield. again, it is a very chaotic scene here, but these protesters are determined to stay here. they are determined to continue to show their anger at the ongoing offensive in gaza. but, of course, this evening is a very important evening for muslims this evening. known as the flyer of power. it's an evening when muslims believe their prayers would be answered and that's why so many have come out. they want to see an end to the violence in gaza. but also want to see an end to the occupation here in the west bank as well. in gaza tonight, there is outrage over the shelling of a united nations school. 15 civilians were killed, more than 200 wounded, children were in the school courtyard ready to run to safety when the shells began to fall. stefanie deckestephanopoulos anr reports. >> reporter: that should have been safe, everyone here had left their homes to the supposed

safety of a makeshift u.n. shelter. >> translator: all our children are in the school and us too, go and see they she would us with rockets, there are children's body parts, there is no safety, we have no security anywhere. >> reporter: it's close to the border with israel and in an area that was hit hard. when we drove here there was heavy shelling in the area. >> translator: they told us we should evac wat evacuate the sc. every family eight, nine, 10 children, they see they will bring us buses we waited and got our bug bug i think and sat on the playground waiting and then the shells fell on us. >> reporter: these girls have just about brought in to the hospital. there is a steady stream of pima driving here, and scenes of chaos and devastation and the people here are asking the question, why does israel target a u.n. school as they know civilians have already had to

flee their homes, you can see people are extremely upset because they say israel knew this is a shelter. for those who already had to flee the area because of israel's military campaign. israel says it may have been a rocket fired from one of the armed groups here that fell short. but no one believed that here. >> translator: before the buses came, the israelis shelled the school. >> reporter: the u.n. spokesman told us the u.n. had given the israeli army the exact location of the schools, all of their schools and yet four have been hit in the last four days. >> translator: most of the injuries are critical injuries. they are being operated on. others we had to send to another hospital. this is a crime. what can we do? this is a crime against humanity. >> reporter: there is a desperate fear here. no one can make them feel safe

anymore. stefanie decker, al jazerra. here is the response from both sides. a spokesman from the you were said they had been in contact with the forces. >> we gave them the exact locations of this school in northern gaza as the fighting through in throughout the day. we were trying to car made and organize with the israeli army a window so he that civilians, well, children, men who were not involved in the fighting being the elderly, the sick could leave. and that window was never granted. >> israel said the evacuation window had been granted. the israeli army did not confirm or deny it hit the shelter instead blamed hamas for the deaths and accused hamas as

being civilians as human shields. our nick schifrin was at another u.n. school around the same time. nick, what did you did you see? >> reporter: yeah, john, good evening. we have been to three u.n. schools turned shelters in the last couple of weeks and even before thi this incident the any and tension was increasing at the schools because they didn't feel safe thousands because they are living on top of each other. in one room we saw 29 people sharing 200 square feet. in these conditions everyone is desperate for a little home. when schools become shelters, children have no teachers to move desks. they have no classrooms to sit in. and they have no greater desire than peace. they have seen too much war. hundreds of classrooms are now

bedrooms, when we arrive this family didn't know that a u.n. school just like this one had been struck. but they do know far too much about conflict. this boy lost his father in the last gaza i-raiseisrael war. and four days ago she fled the most violent area. on sunday, israeli air strike on palestinian fighters leveled the area. her son, and his wife, and wife, feared they wouldn't make it. >> translator: there was heavy shelling and artillery, we saw people running. my husband and i did he into i had today run with them. >> translator: when i left my house i saw the dead. i was wound odd my leg -- lip during the strike when it hit my face. >> reporter: how many days have you been here? >> fear, about five days. >> reporter: he was also there when the shelling started, he

fled and was so worried that u.n. schools might be targeted, he moved his family to what he believes is a secure place. a concrete empty store front, no running water no, bathroom, no privacy. >> they won't runaway from the rockets and i keep them like this and my mother says come on, come on, come in and i say to here my kids, my kids, my kids. >> reporter: we drove toward the home he fled. the closer we got to the front lines the emptier the streets. the israeli military still warns residents to stay away. did you try to return to your home a few days ago? >> i tried. i tried to go back the situation was very dangerous. so i didn't go. >> reporter: we couldn't reach his home, this is as close as we could safely get. we could still hear rockets flying. a sound seared in his children's memories. >> while they are sleeping they are crying. when he sleep he get up, ahhh

rockets, rockets. like that. nightmares. >> reporter: the they heard the same rockets and have the same nightmares. >> i was afraid for my chandler he grandchildren when the shell started. i cannot keep them at home. equipment them to get kidder. >> reporter: for the moment that fear of death has been forget be. as they ran for her life, her water broke, she now has the title she has always longed for, to a two day old. >> this baby is my blessing, thank god for giving her to me. >> reporter: calls her daughter a peace sign, she, everyone needed on another day when another school was she would. peace seemed very far away. the family told me they hope their new daughter grows up in a much more peaceful world than they had today.

john. >> nick, what are you hearing on the ground about a possible temporary ceasefire there? >> reporter: john, we were talking about it last night, u.s. officials hoping in 24 to 48 hours hoping for some kind of temporary ceasefire, they did not think that they could get a permanent ceasefire, u.s. secretary of state john kerry put together a proposal for a temporary ceasefire, according to a u.s. official, who has just been e-mailing me about it. that proposal includes things for both sides, really. it would include a level of israeli presence along the border with gaza, it would allow them to stay there, it would also include assurance to his hamas that in the future, things like borders would be more open and that the is really siege would be lifted. but we are not anywhere close to both sides actually agree to go that according to this u.s. official. both sides are still very much hard in their positions, hamas demanding things that israel will not give. and israel demanding more time for their military operation. so it does seem like as of now,

the diplomacy is is not working and the violence will continues. >> nick schifrin who continues report from gaza. nick, thank you very much. now, gideon lichfield is the global news editor of quarts magazine and spent several years working in the jerusalem bureau of the economist. welcome. >> thank you. >> in some ways there is a war going on between the two sides and then there is the p.r. war. can you assess who might be winning that war? >> you know, i am sure that the israelis feel like they are losing the war. but i think that what's been going on as in the past is that the sentiment against is reeling outside the u.s. has been hardening and there is a lot of negative publicity for israel. in the u.s. it seems that public opinion is more or less where it has been. there was in pull out today suggesting that the opinion hasn't changed much despite everything going on in gaza. >> you were there between 2005 and 2008, it almost seems like

there is a cycle of violence and then a calm, and then violence. i mean, is that what we are experiencing this time? or is this different? >> it feels very much like previous incursions in to gaza, which have happened half a dozen times since the is really pulled their settlements out in 2005. so something happens that escalates the tensions. it rapidly spins out of control for leaders on both sides feel obliged to react and goes and then eventually after enough people have been killed, it end. >> you have seen it up close, but i guess the sense that this time the world is seeing it up close more than they have before. is that true or not? >> you know, it's very hard to assess. i know there is a feeling here in the u.s. and particularly in the u.s. media that there is more coverage of what's going on in gaza. whether it's actually different from previous times or not, i don't know. and i don't think it ultimately makes a difference to the balance of power. >> what about the shelling of the u.n. school today? how does that figure in to this war of words we have talked

about? >> look, this is the, i think third or fourth time that the u.n. facility in gaza has been she would just during this conflict. >> accidents? >> maybe accidents. it's really, really hard to tell. the israelis have rules of engagement for trying to minimize casualties. those rulings of engagement could definitely be more strict. and they are sometimes -- there are sometimes mistakes. of course the israelis just accuse hamas as using civilians as human shields you can't tell what's going on on the grounds. >> secretary of state john kerry trying to broker ideal. many have tried before. what are the chances that he can make something happen? >> look, i think that israel is going to hold onto this, keep on fighting until it is destroyed most of the hamas tums, the supply tunnels. >> how long could that be? >> they are saying three or four days, the israelis. once they do that they are in a stronger position because then they and the egyptians between them control all of the exits

and entrances from gaza. so hamas is now demanding that there be more open borders, more access, once israel has destroyed the tunnels. >> they want the israelis to stop the blockade. >> right. and what will really happen is some agreement will be reached where there is a partial lifting of the blockade. because israel will have destroyed all of hamas' tunnelss it will be in a stronger position to negotiate. >> then we go through one of these cycles. >> again. >> yes, exactly. >> relative calm against the violence explores. >> yes. >> gideon, lichfield cooled to talk with you, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. there has been violent disagreement over the crisis in gaza within israel. it is lead to go violent confrontations between the left and right wing protesters in israel. activists who disagree with israel's military campaign are increasingly being seen as traitors and it's becoming more dangerous for some people to speak out. kim vinnel reports from jerusalem. >> reporter: she is an israeli

student activists who is no stranger to pro palestinian antiwar previous tests. she says in recent weeks the abuse coming from fellow israelis, it has taken a sinister turn. >> we are called things that we were used but also people saying they hope a rocket hits our house, they are hoping that we -- that there is a holocaust against us specifically. >> reporter: she was at this protest in tel aviv last week when things turned ugly. you are a traitor, you are a killer this man shouts. directed at the is really left wing protesters calling for an end to the is really occupation. dozened were arrested that nig night. tensions have always existed between the left and right in israel. left wing say right wing activists appear more organized now and that they seem to have an increasing sense of legitimacy among israelis. pictures like these released by the military that add to the

israeli support for the campaign in gaza. tunnels are destroyed and soldiers walk through the rubble. many israelis feel that those who were against military action don't understand the threat. >> translator: i say to the israelis if they want they can go to gaza hear in this country it's not possible to live in peace, they are killing soldiers, killing us dig tunnel to his reach the same houses of those that support them. >> reporter: she says she will continue to protest, even if her neighbors don't understand. >> the idea of israeli israelis protesting this i think is confusing for a lot of israelis and easier to category are gorize us as traders. people for another side listen to us. >> reporter: being able as an outsider is a small prize to pay in the face of so much suffering. the federal aviation administration has lifted its ba be on flights in and out of tel aviv after immediate push back from israel and american big

business. the faa ban began after a rocket hit near the airport on tuesday, mayor michael broom berg issued a statement saying travel to israel was still safe. many european carriers, including air france have canceled flights to tel aviv until further notice. an at year vinnie passenger jet that disappeared this morning has been found 116 people on board the plane left the airport just left after 1:00 a.m. the wreck i believe was spotted in mallee, more now from dominick kane. >> reporter: the flight left the airport in the early hours of thursday moment. with 106 passenger and crew a botched the weather conditions were so bad that the crew asked position to change the flight plan to avoid them. but from then on, contact was

lost. for hours search efforts were focused on the border area with mali think but then the worst possible news. >> translator: we have found the or year vinnie plane, thal jeff. the wreck has been located. phonily we do not have anymore details on what they have found there, but i can guarantee that we have found the plane. >> reporter: the majority of passengers aboard flight ah5017 were french citizens, france has a long history in this part of africa, both as the former colonial power and more recently with its military intervention in mali. >> translator: we cannot yet establish the cause of what happened but we will have to. what with he do know is the crew signaled it was changing room because of difficult weather conditions, we'll find out the truth of everything that happened. >> reporter: the area where the plane came down has been fought over by rival groups in recent

years. the group al qaeda in the islamic has been prominent. but no suggestion that they had any involvement in this incident. flight ah5017 should have finished its journey at algiers international airport. officials there suggest the most likely reason why the plane came down seems to be the adverse weather conditions it encountered. dominick kane, al jazerra. today russian government officials said pro-russian separatistnot have the right weapons or train to go shoot down ma layer be fligh malaysian the kremlin agreed in to an investigation led by the netherlands instead of ukraine. nearly 300 people were killed last week when the commercial airliner fl flew over eastern ukraine and a battle began. coming up the new york

police once again accused of using a banned choke hold. with and what the city plans to do about it. a woman once sentenced to death for being a christian meets the pope.

they are are there are new accusations tonight of new york city police officers using a choke hold in an arrest. the tactic has been banned since the 199s but officers have been recorded twice in three days apparently using that controversial grip. jonathan betz is back with that story. jonathan. >> yeah, john, the follow-up appears to be growing on this one. it's now the second name a week new york officers were caught on camera apparently using a banned choke hold. as a family buried one man who died after begging officers to let him breathe.

revelations of another incidents. >> there ain't no need for no punching. >> video posted on line by an activist apparently shows new york officers using a choke hold on a 22-year-old man accused of stick a fair at a subway station. that man is identifiesing charges and due in court in september. the other, eric garner died after pleading for help as officers tried to arrest him for selling illegal cigarettes. the city is investigating both of course but the nypd banned the use of choke holds more than 20 years ago. >> what are they supposed to do? >> well, they have other tools, they have mace, taser, and the baton. >> get on the ground! get on the ground! >> many departments rely on stun guns but only a select number of new york city officers have them. and they, too, can be dangerous, but adding more stun guns is one of several ideas reportedly being considered by the city as the nypd conduct a top to bottom

review. >> there will be retraining of every member of the new york city department in weeks, months and po potentially years ahead. >> in san jose california 23-year-old man says the police through him to the sidewalk just for questioning an officer's behavior. an illinois woman was hurt after being thrown in to her cell she sued and the officer was forced out. police in albuquerque, new mexico were using ex-tess i have force and violating rights. other police departments have federal monitors watching their police departments. >> i don't think it's a growing problem it's an issue all long. except now everybody carries a phone and video and it's being captured more often than not.

>> one officer is already on desk duty and stripped another of his badge and gun. >> it's never acceptable to use a choke hold. policing -- the reason very few people do it it's a contact sport. it's a very rough business. and sometimes these sorts of situations happen. >> in the past five years, there have been a thousand complaints of new york officers using choke holds. but very few are proven true. which is why these accusations in new york and so many others across the country, are troubling so many. as we mentioned new york city police can use batons or mace on a resistance suspect. mace gets back on the officer from bystander, both can be seen as excessive. and so, john, a lot of officers hesitate to use them. >> all right, jonathan betz, jonathan, thank you. arizona governor january brewer is ordering a full review of yesterday's mishandled execution. it took nearly two howard for a convicted double murderer joseph wood to die by lethal injection. should have taken about 10 minutes. tonight at 11:00 eastern time,

i'll talk to woods' attorney about what happened in the execution chamber. she made headlines after being sentence today death in sudan for refuse to go give up her christian faith. and she was released from prison a few weeks ago. today miriam ibrahim and her family got to spend some time with pope francis, bell upton reports. >> reporter: miriam ibrahim is welcomed as she touched down on italian soil was fit for a dig to you i. >> reporter: frank lied the italian foreign affairs ministry and greeted by the prime minister himself. he waved away journalists emphasizing it was a time for celebration. ibrahim's faith saw her impressed in her country of birth. but here celebrate the along with her freedom. the head of the catholic church welcomed her and her family in to his residents for what the vatican called a very affectionate meeting. pope francis thanked her for her courage and maintaining her faith. he offered a blessing for her

baby mia born in a prison two months ago, her husband unable to hold back the tears. ibrahim's case sparked interim international condemnation when it first came to light in may. she was impressed for abandoning islam and sentence today death. the daughter of a muslim father and i christian mother. married a christian. protests turned in to international pressure, sudan's high court threw out her death sentence in june, but when they tried to leave the country for the u.s. where her husband has citizenship she was blocked by authorities. >> the government of it's are you worked with the government in sudan for her did h departure had worked on the travel documents for sometime and hoped to resaffle this as quickly as possible. ibrahim and her family are expected to spend a few days in rome before leaving for the u.s. her journey to freedom almost complete. bell upton, al jazerra. coming up next, palestinian

anger boils over in the west bank tonight. thousands of protesters clash with israeli security forces. and 24 hours on the u.s.-mexico border. what it's like to live there plus the daily struggle between migrants and border patrol agents. @jvé

this is al jazerra america park i am john siegenthaler in new york. coming up, violent clashes in the west bank. we'll hear from our reporter who is right in the middle of it. new political turmoil in ukraine, the angry and frustrated prime minister suddenly quits. and nasa's rockets of the future. what they will do if the agency gets the big money needed to build them. ♪ ♪ tonight is one of the holiest nights in the muslim year and thousands of palestinians in the west bank have gathered at as israeli

checkpoint in support of gaza. at least two people have been killed as palestinian and israeli army forces clash. mts is at that demonstration. >> reporter: it's very loud here as you can probably hear. there is a lot of banging and explosions going on from the rockets and various projectiles that are being fired. but, again, the protesters here are determined. this is one of the holiest nights of the month of random, it's a night where muslims believe their prayers will be answered. and the prayers here of many of these palestinian is his to bring peace to gaza, but really what we are seeing here is anger, anger in its priorest form. in gaza, hospitals are struggle to go cope with the number of injured. more than 5,000 people have been wounded. and charles stratford joined one family waiting for the news of their loved one.

>> reporter: abdullah searches in the crowd for his family. he's been here at the hospital since wednesday when the bombing started in the near guy village. he's desperate for news of his 80-year-old mother. >> translator: there is no one who can help the elderly out of their homes, they are trapped. there are so many dead people in the street. >> reporter: a car carrying an injured man arrives. who is this? asks abdullah. it's his brotherly, examine medical worker roll him to a stretcher and take him inside. abdullah's sister has no idea whether her husband has survived the attacks. >> translator: my children are crying for news of their father. >> translator: whether they are martyrs or survive it's in god's hands now.

>> reporter: outside hufrpbz pima wade for news of family and friends, the injured wait in the shade for doctors to arrive. scenes of chaos here at the hospital, we have spoken to the manager of the hospital he says they are treating up to 150 people a day with a range of injuries, as we speak there is a constant barrage of artillery fire and jet fighters overhead. the israeli military has already hit a number of hospitals since this conflict began. the doctor says he's afraid his hospital will also be hit and there are no beds left for patients. >> translator: more and more people are coming needing treatment day and night. we have never been under pressure like this. >> reporter: the dead are lifted to ambulance t to be taken to te

cemetery. abdullah calls again for news of his mother and praise she's still alive. israel's new president says palestinians should become is really citizens. ♪ >> israel's parliament swore in ruben today replacing a veteran politician and nobel lohr yet shimone perez, he also supports' israel's controversial settlement activity. the job of israel's president is mostly symbolic. the executive power still held by prime minister benjamin net an cnetanyahu. known as a moderate iraqi leaders are eager to put up a unified front for the fighters of the islamic state. the government's next step is to choose high rack's mime minister. nouri al-maliki is expected to go after a third term but many plame his policies for the

country's crisis. in ukraine the prime minister and his cabinet resigned today he says he doesn't have the support to tackle the issues including the battling with pro-russia separatists in the east, peter sharp reports. >> reporter: he was a new breed of ukrainian politicians forged in the fires of the revolution. a useful 40-year-old foreign banker fluent in russian and english i filled a key rolen lifting governments across europe and america. on thursday after just 147 days in office, the prime minister resigned. frustrated at the failure of passing a crucial amendment to the budget that would have provided urgently needed funds to the hard-pressed ukrainian army fighting pro-russian separatists in the east. >> translator: how am i going to pay the army's salary tomorrow

he asked parliament? how can i find fuel for our armored vehicles and how do i competent the families of fallen? >> reporter: the mood on the streets of kiev has been criminal since the downing of the malaysian airliner a week ago. now real shock at the loss of a much-admired political leader. >> translator: i wasn't a big fan at first but i have seen how he works and i would back him again. >> translator: i was really shocked. and i hope he reconsiders his decision. because he is good for this country. >> translator: he shouldn't have done this. who will we have now to take his place in this very tough time in our country? >> reporter: he served a turbulent four months in government as kiev came to terms with the loss of crimea an he canned by putin in what is seen as moscow's continued intimidation of ukraine fermenting unrest in the east. make no mistake this is a political crisis this country simply cannot afford. the government all but paralyzed as it's engaged in an

increasingly bitter conflict with pro russian separatists in the east and a battered economy tilting towards recession. peter sharp, al jazerra, in kiev. lincoln mitchell a research scholar at columbia university who focuses on democracy and governance in eastern europe and joins us in our studio. welcome, lincoln. >> thanks for having me. >> what does this resignation mean? >> this is not good for ukraine. he has been seen as a leader that's done a good job putting ukraine together and holding it together at a very difficult time. if you listen to what he said what you see is a couple of things, one great frustration, but this is the hard part of governing. it sounds like thing are tough, i can't get what i want through. so i am going to resign and we will call for new elections. some of the spin that you are getting out of kiev now, is this, well, this was part of what we were going to do anyway because we were going to have new elects, which is true. you always need new parliamentary i lexes but right now particularly in week they need governance. >> how many times can a country

go through this sort of upheaval in its government system and survive? >> that's a very good question. this is a cycle that we have seen in lightly differently but never this intensity. the ukrainian apartment is 400 members, they back ships that in the past could be bought off. holding it together is very difficult. in a country with a pretty broad variety of views. >> paporoshenko praised the brek up as good. >> that's good spin from a politician. >> but not accurate? >> those, the shooting down of mh17 say huge deal. right? this week, in the last 72 hours, we have seen it even less, what in plain english is russia making war on ukraine, shooting in to ukraine from russia. at this moment for the prime minister to resign, that's not just normal politics as usual. time to reboot. >> what signal does that sends to russia? >> well, i think it globally sends a signal that there are

problems internally in ukraine more than welds like to think. >> that they are weak and not willing to stand up to the russians? >> no, that they are having problems governing. >> but would russia perceive this move as weakness. >> i don't think any part of the are kremlin is shedding a tear because of this. >> of course. in some ways vladimir putin has been pushed because of the shooting down of this airplane. was under fire from international leaders to back off. but then when he sees this resignation, does that make him -- >> mr. putin was under pressure to back off because of the shooting of mh17. but he didn't. he redulled hits support and redoubled his rhetoric. >> so it doesn't matter. >> he -- but i think this makes him think that he might be able to really achieve his longer term goal, which is really meaningfully and enduringly destabilizing ukraine.

before this we saw the ukrainian military with the new president poroshenko pushing and winning battles against the russian military. now russia has to feel more con fit dent. not good foe ukraine or the u.s. either. >> what about elections? >> there were always going to be the elections. the election of poroshenko was a victory lab for the only candidate in the race. in this election we'll see strong parties from the east that are not pro west, from eastern ukraine, that are not pro west. the strong he was of those places is crimea, those people won't be voting in this election. we'll also see real problems about how to get people to vote, who votes, what happens in places like donetsk, this will be a very difficult election. >> lincoln mitchell, goods to see you, thanks very much. >> my flesh. you are in syria government forces have been hit hard this week. and according to syria's observatory for human rights, syrian forces have suffered more than 800 casualties over the

past several days, the group says they were part of more than 1700 people killed since president assad began his third term last week. the conflict in neighboring iraq is also having an impact on syria. nearly 3,000 iraqi refugees have crossed in to syria in the past month. a thousand syrians who originally fled to iraq have now returned to syria. security officials in norway are on high alert tonight. they say they have new intelligence about what they call an imminent terror theft from leam with links to syria. train stations around the capital. some government buildings have been closed and moore way is monitoring its border very closely. u.s. owe finals would say that they too believe the threat is credible. let's turn to washington, d.c. now. joie chen stand buying to tell us what's coming up on "america tonight." joie. >> good evening, john, we'll learn about the prisoners jailed for their illnesses inside the

facility that houses more mentally ill than any other in this country. the los angeles county jail. thousands of mentally ill inmates are behind bars there. one recent study find u.s. prisons are homes to 10 times as many mentally ill pimas state psychiatric hospitals. and there is every indication that prisons are ill equipped to deal with the mentally ill with reports of physical abuse, poor mental health care and desperate overcrowding. >> these officers don't know what they are doing, they don't know how to operate. with little helpful i am on 800 milligrams of air quell. i am diagnosed with tear notice schizophrenia. i need helpful and they don't offer me help. >> tonight we'll hear from inside the los angeles county jail for a look at life for the mentally ill on the inside. and he introduces to us a surprising crusader for change. that's coming up at the top of the hour. we hope you join us then. we'll see you then, joie.

thank you. tomorrow president obama meeting with the presidents of honduras, el salvador and guatemala those countries have been home to most of the children who have been illegally crossing in to the united states from mexico. heidi jo castro spent 24 hours along the border on the front lines of the immigration debate. >> reporter: the border at midnight. quiet, dark, and full of travelers. border patrol agents arrest an average of more than 600 people a day here along the rio grande. that's two for every mile of river. on this night, though, it's quiet. the migrants remain hidden from our cameras. the light of day reveals just how porous this border is. that is the rio grande. nothing except a waste hyphens stands between us and mexico. >> we are heading out to the back roads up along the rio grande river. >> reporter: the border is where

frank rodriguez grew up. he takes us on a tour. >> groups of 30, i have seen 40. >> reporter: and within five minutes. we see running. we spot two young men sprinting across the path. we have the same problem as border patrol. the land is too vast. these migrants are fast. we lose them. the brush surrounding the river is so defense, the perfect hiding place for migrants trying to escape border patrol. in fact, it's so defense in here, that you can barely see the daylight. and a person could be hiding five feet away from you and you wouldn't realize it. >> and i understand they are trying to survive. that's why they are out here. i would do the same thing, you know, if i was starving out there and hungry i would want to go somewhere where i could eat and someone could help me. >> reporter: not everyone is as understanding. a handful of local tea party members held this protest outside the guatemalan consolate in texas. voicing their opposition to the wave of undocumented immigrants in their backyard.

how do you reconcile these thoughts with america be a nation of immigrants? >> there was a right why to become an immigrant. you came through ellis island. you became a citizen. you learned the language. you got a job. these people we are not sure they want to do that. they definitely do not want to speak english. it seems like they still want to assimilate and identify themselves with mexico or guatemala or honduras. >> everyone morning, 6:00 in the morning, 8:00 mount morning the chopper will be up here, six choppers. >> reporter: back in the car with rodriguez, we see a stash house where according to locals immigrants are kept in squalor as they wait for smugglers to take them further north. >> the thing is we are blessed and they are not. >> reporter: and as night descends on the border again, it's those wished for blissings

of a new life in the united states that will lure many more to cross. heidi jo castro, al jazerra, mission, texas. coming up neck, we hear from a teenage girl in the middle of a scientific controversy overlie unfish. and nasa's plan for the post space shuttle era. a look at a very big, expensive rocket that it wants to build.

>> meteorologist: good evening. we are looking at the storms that we saw this morning pushing across the del marva peninsula they were led i for cherry stone campground. i want to take you through the

video as the storm system pushed through. this morning the winds were very gusty. large hail, a couple dies as well as their son is in critical condition at the hospital rights now. dozens of people were injured in this area. and they were killed unfortunately as a tree fell on their campsite. now, we are seeing that area, like i is said, there was hail size being reported up to about softball size in that area. come back to the weather and i'll show you what we can see here. this is the area that was affected. this little storm that you see made its way across the chesapeake bay very quickly and then out of the area. we are looking at more activity right now across parts of north carolina as thunderstorms are pushing through as well as for norfolk, virginia they continue to move down here towards parts of the southeast over the next couple of hours, we have a few watches and warnings in effect they have been did minute inning over the last couple of hours, notice we don't have a lot of activity going on right here in terms of clouds or rain.

but what we are seeing are temperatures tomorrow really spiking in to the single -- excuse me, to the triple digits. oklahoma city is going to be 100 degrees on saturday. 102 and on sunday dropping down to about 99. that is a look at your national weather, your news is next.

noose a's goal to send astronauts to mars could be sidelined by a lack of funding. the agency plan to his build the biggest rocket system ever on a $12 billion budget. but the government accountability office says nasa is about $400 million short. our science and technology correspondent jake ward is here to tell us more about it. what is this rocket? and what's it for, jake? >> well, john, the space launch system is intended to carry humans and cargo out to mars or beyond. to asteroids we might capture some day and carry 143 tons in theory. and based on the same engines that propelled the space shuttle. this time they have sort of

upgraded them from being able to put out 491,000 pounds of thrust to a little over 500,000 pounds of thrust. making them the most powerful rockets in the world. and the thing is just really cool. it's a monster, it's like a drag racer, essentially combining a cold liquefied form of oxygen and hydrogen in the engine, injects one in to the other and ignites them and pr propels all that violence out the end and can do incredible things. if it were a power plant it would be a i believe to light all of the city lights in new york city or los angeles or chicago. now, this gao report, though, is a tremendous disappointment. basically it suggests that the project is going to need more time or more money, it was supposed to have a test flight in 2017 but now probably looking at it being pushed out far beyond that. it's a big disappointment at a time when privatization is revolutionizing space travel. some ways we know the budget has been cut for nasa massively over

a number of years. and the question a lot of people and, does the united states need this project compared to other things that need to be done? >> well, i mean, that is exactly the right question here. many are asking why do we even need to be putting public money in to this at all. there is no particular reason to be building this particular space launch vehicle. there is no military purpose that's asked for this kind of incredible, you know, power. but, you know, in addition companies like space-"x" are receiving private contracts from nas to service the international space station and. and space -x is working on its own kind of rocket like this which could lift a tremendous amount out beyond the movement thermoon.the question is do we y need this? the way that nasa seems to have compromised they are keeping the idea of human spate flight for themselves through this kind of rocket and privatizing unmanned and delivery trips and this

seems to be sort of the plan to do it. unfortunately nasa's plan seems to be a lot more expensive and over its deadline already. >> so it's got the budget shortfall and the deadline, does that mean the project is dead? >> well, it's just going to keep going. right now, you know, it's worth noting that the ranking republican on the senate appropriations committee, is the representative -- is the senator from alabama, where the martial flight center will be developing so many forces are at work here, it's a very complicated sort of game within nasa. it's unlikely this will get killed off. it is going to cost more money, it takes more time. and, again, it's at a time when private companies are showing that you can get to space a lot more cheaply and a lot more quickly than this. >> jake ward, it's good to see you, jake, thanks very much. >> thanks, john. controversy surrounds a florida teenager's science project tonight. one marine biologist says the young girl is taking credit for his work. the sixth grade project is about the invasive lion fish, it's

been widely praised in the scientific community. natasha had a chance to talk and ask the young researcher about her work. >> reporter: these fancy stripes make lion fish a favorite in a aquariums, but it's the main of venomous spines that make it a deadly predator. 13-year-old lauren arrington has spared her fair share of them in the waters of florida. >> they are not super fast. >> reporter: think of them as a vacuum cleaning sucking almost all the life on coral reefs, they swim towards mall fishing, release a jet of water to distract them and quickly swallow their pray hole. they first appeared in florida in the '80s, probably after someone dumped an unwanted pet lion fish in the ocean. now they have spread across the waters of the gulf of mexico and the east coast. when they invade a coral reef, scientists say they kill 90% of native fish. >> we don't know what extent the damage that this lion fish has

been causing, but eventually we will know exactly what kind of damage they have been causing. >> reporter: and now they know the damage could be much worse than they thought. per fascination with the fish led her to conduct a project on them for science fair when she was in sixth grade. >> it's really cool to me to be able do something about science, about lion fish that i love and that will affect the florida waters that i love to swim in. >> reporter: for years scientists thought lion fish could only survive in saltwater, arrington showed lion fish can also survive in water with low levels of salt. such as bays and the mounts of rivers. researchers duplicated her work and she was sited in a scientific journal this year. >> i was sure of my results because of the agonizing hours that i spent confirming them. >> reporter: arrington's results surprised and chagrined officials. who are battling the lion fish invasion in creative ways, from tournaments to kill them to eye smart phone app. one of the ways the state is

hoping to kill off the lion fish population is by convincing people this is a delicacy and getting them to eat it. but unless people start eating lion fish as much as they do tuna, it may be too late. a scientist at the university of hawaii says, once an invasive species like the lion fish gets a foot hold on an ecosystem it's almost impossible to wipeout. natasha, al jazerra, miami. this week lauren action work is being questioned by scientist zach judd. he used to work with arrington's father and judd says her project is based on his research which he published three years ago. arrington's father told a washington post that he and his daughter have mentioned judd's contributions often, he says he's shocked by his former colleague's complaints. coming up later tonight, 11:00 eastern on our newscast, balance ago awareness and self-esteem. we'll take a closer look ato bees at this and what it means for america's youngest

generation and plus they are known as china's little emperors how families are trying to bring discipline to the one-child generation, those stories and much more tonight 11:00 eastern and 8:00 pacific. we end tonight with a royal version of the selfie. it's tonight's freeze frame. a member of the australias women's national field hockey team tweeted this selfie. look carefully, that's the grinning queen of england over her shoulder. yes, queeny liz beth photo bombed the teammates during the 2014 commonwealth games. i don't know if i would call that a photo bomb. it's a nice picture anyway. the games were in glasgow, scotland. ill see yoi'll see you backt 11:00 eastern, paul has the headlines right after this.

america mobile app, available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now welcome to al jazerra america, i am paul beban, here are tonight's top stories. it's still unclear who is behind the shelling of a united nations school being used as a shelter in northern gaza, 15 palestinians killed and more than 200 wounded. children and u.n. staff members were among the dead. the u.n. says it had given israel's army the school's exact coordinates. israel said it warned the school

of combat in the area. and in ukraine the prime minister suddenly resigned today after two parties quit the governing coalition, he criticized parliament saying it wasn't doing their jo be and passing necessary laws, those are the headlines, "america tonight" is next. >> on america tonight, a prolonged death and new questions about lethal injections. >> you could hear a deep snoring, sucking air sound for more than an hour and a half. >> an arizona execution, the third to go wrong in six months. is it time to reconsider the method of deadly justice? also tonight, no safe place. gazan children and their mothers who thought they had u.n. protection find no safe