>> hello everybody, this is aljazeera america. i'm david schuster in new york, coming up at this hour. >> crash site, what caused the plane with the 150 people to go down in the french alps. the investigators finding clues in the wreckage. about face. president obama under pressure from afghanistan's new president agrees to keep thousands of u.s. troops in the afghan conflict. they were supposed to come home this year. and a ripple effect across

silicon valley. plus, a look at the civil rights leader who organized the march on washington. and the discrimination that he reportedly facing the within the movement. >> we begin with the tragedy in france, the crash of the german airliner that had 150 people onboard. the airbus 8320 slammed into the french alps earlier today. and there were no survivors. the officials described the site in the remote and rugged region as horrific. at the airport the images only begin to tell the story. grieving loved ones comfort each other but tonight everybody wants to know what happened and why.

the plane wreckage is in small pieces and lies all over the mountainside. recovery crews report no signs of survivors. the first problem is a problem of identifying the bodies. i have sent ten forensic experts from latino hospital and three anthropologists. >> we say it's an accident. there's nothing more than we can say right now. everything else would be speculation. >> german wings night 9525 took off from spain and was headed to düsseldorf germany when it disappeared in the alps along the french riviera.

it included 16 high school students. they and their two teachers were going home after an exchange program in barcelona. >> last year, we marked the 720th anniversary. the initial discovery on tuesday, the flight data recorders known as black boxes. >> i would like to tell that you a black box has been found. we will start working on it immediately. the black box will be transferred to the officer investigating it. and it will be operated upon in the coming hours. >> this crash they appeared to lose contact with french air traffic controllers for no reason. and the last aircraft

maintenance inspection revealed nothing. >> it took place yesterday. and only those checks are okay if they are allowed to fly. we will do our utmost to also support the relatives and the friends. we are looking into options and be possibilities to bring them to the scene. >> some grief-stricken relatives, they are on their own with little hope or comfort. >> the airbus 8320, and you're looking at an image of it now it's the workhorse of the airline industry, and it was developed in 1984 for a short route for business. costing $90 million each thousands fly around the world

each day. nearly all u.s. carriers fly the 8320. jet blue and frontier airlines, it's the only plane in their fleet. in 2009, the miracle on the hudson emergency landing is an 8320. it's known for its safety. and there are only 3 crashes for every 100 million departures. the last disaster was in december and that's why airasia flight crashed into the asian sea, and everyone onboard died. with the national transportation safety board the deep descent they need to bring the aircraft down to 10,000 feet so passengers have oxygen. >> you know, i think that it's going to be very difficult to

figure out the cockpit voice recorder is going to be enormously important. if it survived and can be read out. because what was being said in that cockpit is going to be as important as anything in understanding exactly what happened. >> and we know one thing that was not said, and that's the pilots never issued any sort of distress call. and that would suggest that the pilots were either too busy dealing with the emergency or they were incapacitated in some fashion. >> well, it's hard to say. i mean, given the way it came down, it doesn't seem that they were -- unless they had put it on auto pilot and then became capacitated. but it was descending, as i

understand it, at a steady raiment of descent. so that would seem to indicate that the crew was either managing or in control of the aircraft as it descended. >> and again the reason that an aircraft at cruise altitude would suddenly make this rapid descent, what are the other scenarios that could have prompted the crew to do that? >> well, i think the most likely is some problem with the supply of oxygen in the aircraft. and they just think that they have to get down to an altitude where people will be able to breathe. and not be affected by a total loss of oxygen or severe loss of oxygen. >> and the problem there would be that the pilot is instructed to get down to 10,000 feet so

the passengers and everyone can have the oxygen, but the issue here, when you're flying over the french alps, you're looking at mountains that are between 10 and 12,000 feet high. >> that's tough. and whether the pilots understand realized exactly where they were. i mean that's again the cockpit voice recorders and the flight data recorder, they're going to be enormously important in this accident, and they usually are. but in this one they will be particularly, i think important for the investigation. >> and bob how confident are you in the european investigators, how good are they compared to the ntsb and the u.s. people? >> they're just as good. and the german and the french, and i guess the spanish in this

case but the germans and the french certainly work very closely together. i was in paris for ten years and i had a lot of exposure to these organizations, and they know what they're doing. they will do a good job. >> bob francis former ntsb chairman. and thank you for come okay the program. president obama has agreed to slow down withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. the request came from that country's president ashraf ghani, who was at the white house today. mike. >> good evening to you david. in many ways, the visit of ashraf ghani is taking on the air of a charm offensive >> reporter:offensive, and so far it appears to be working. >> everybody have a seat. >> on his second day ashraf ghani got what he came for. >> i decided that we will

continue our posture through the end of the year. >> president obama had planned to cut that number in half, and instead, he's extending his timetable. he it said it was the right decision. >> it's a guarantee that the investment of the last 14 years pay off in terms of gains. >> u.s. forces will also continue to lead counter terror operations. the announcement came after the two leaders met in the oval office. and after a somber morning visit to arlington. where he put a wreath to the unknown soldier. it's all designed to boost confidence in afghanistan's ability to eventually take care of itself. four years ago, there were 100,000 american troops in

afghanistan. and now the number is 10,000. >> it's the security gap or the collapse that was open and anticipated. >> but many doubt that afghanistan can repel the taliban and other insurgent elements once the american forces leave. and they will leave on schedule, mr. obama insisted, by early 2015. >>2015 -- 2017 >> the way it's going to be less dangerous is by the afghan police and security keeping law and order and security in the country. and that is not going to happen if foreign forces are continually relied upon.

>> and david the last stop of president ghani's visit to wash to capitol hill tomorrow before a joint meeting of congress. there's an appropriation before the congress to appropriate some $4 billion, afghan strength through 2017. >> the u.s. military is now getting involved in the iraqi battle against isil for the city of tikrit. they have been battling isis forces for weeks for the control of the town, and iraqis need help from shia militias, and that's backed by iran. the u.s.-led coalition has reportedly begun surveillance flights over tikrit. and the airstrike is imminent. a human rights group claims that isil has stepped up its recruitment for children to

fight in iraq and syria. with military style training, an observatory for human rights estimate that at least 400 child soldiers have joined isil's ranks since the start of the year and during that time, only 120 adults have signed o. the government of israel is denying reports that it spied on closed door international talks in iran's nuclear program. world tradewall street journal said that it was given information to lawmakers kept in the dark. and it blocked what it said was a bad deal. libby casey has the latest reaction from washington. >> the wall street journal cites unnamed u.s. officials that say that israel has been spying and leaking it to members of u.s. congress, but today president obama stayed above the fray and he deflected a question about that, and

instead focused on the ongoing negotiations over iran's nuclear program and he pledged transparent. >> with respect to the possibility of an agreement, of an agreement that ensures that iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon. we have not just briefed congress about the progress or lack thereof that's being made. but we also briefed the israelis and our other partners in the region and around the world. and if, in fact, we feel confident that it will prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon, it's going to be there for everybody to see. >> president obama used the forum with reporters gathered to once again criticize prime minister benjamin netanyahu and tis comments last week, casting doubt that he would not support any creation of a palestinian state during his time as prime minister.

netanyahu walked those comments back but as it became clear today, the president is not buying that. the story of spying and leaking was all over the capital today with members of congress saying, don't look at me. they didn't tell me anything. some senior republicans saying that the story came from the white house. house speaker, john boehner invited prime minister fet net to address congress this month and in controversial move, he weighed in and said that he's baffled. >> there are reports in this press article that information was being passed on by the israel's to members of congress and i'm not aware of that at all. >> just last night israel's ambassador to the united states had a cozy sit-down dinner with house democrats in an effort to repair what has become a strained relationship in recent

weeks and months, but the latest allegations of spying and leaking are certainly creating, once again more tension in what is supposed to be a close friendship. >> libby casey in washington, and thank you. and up flex, tens of thousands of american farm workers on strike demanding a better life. but their bosses say there's nothing more that can be done, and plus, we'll tell you about the sexual discrimination case that could change the way silicon valley does gins. does business.

>> arrested during the week with violate protests across baja california, where the local economy is based on tourism. calling for raises and overtime pay and better working

conditions and now the strike is threatening a harvest that provides millions of dollars in produce to the united states. >> some 250 files south of san diego, in the mexican state of baja california, the strawberries you eat are waiting to be picked. here you'll find one of the largest agricultural reasons. millions of dollars in produce are transported to the united states. but thousands of workers are protesting poor wages and working conditions. he has been a worker for 35 years, earning 100 pesos a day that's the equivalent of 8 u.s. dollars. >> we need to make enough to buy food for our kids, buy them a pair of shoes or an education. >> farmers have been begging that the government increase the minute wage, but their cries have been ignored so

they're forced to take to the streets. during the protests, there were clashes between the protesters and riot police, schools and businesses were closed and people were arrested. but today both sides say that they're eager for a swift end to the strike. >> she will have more on the often difficult lives of mexican farm workers tomorrow night. a woman who spent more than 20 years on death row is speaking out after being cleared of all charges. she was convicted in the 1999 murder of her four-year-old son, and in 2013, the federal appeals court threw out the case saying that it was based on misconduct, including lying under oath. last week, a new trial was denied. and on monday, a maricopa judge dismissed all charges against her. >> i have absolutely nothing to do with the brutal murder of my

son, christopher. and i did not give a confession to mr. soldate. i always believed this day would come. i just didn't think it would have to take 25 years three months and 14 days to rectify such a blatant miscarriage of justice. >> two men who were convicted in the fatal shooting of christopher remain on death row. james stiers, and scott refused to testify against deborah mill. classroom closing arguments today in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit in sex discrimination, and what makes it so interesting described as the boys club of silicon valley. the high-profile venture capital firm passed over the promotions again and again

because she's a woman. >> it's just something that you don't see often. employment lawyers sels that more lawsuits of this kind are settled out of court. and instead, ellen it decided to take it all the way to jurors, and in the past four weeks, we have seen the ins and out of how silicon valley venture capital firms work and how they treat women. all night parties don't reflect well on the firm, but lawyers have painted a picture of ellis, someone let go, not because she was a woman, but because she was difficult to work w this will not resolve the controversy because of its lack of diversity or lack thereof. but here's what we know. just 11% of tech executives are women. and just 20% of software engineers are women. hilliary clinton had been in town, and she had said that we're going backward in a field that's supposed to be all about moving forward. whether this case will bring

down the glass ceiling is a tough call. it's an industry that has not shown much change all of these years. >> elizabeth is a ceo of a privacy company. and she joins us in the studio. and why is the ellen powell case so signify? >> it's so signify was gender discrimination has always been illegal, but this is a moment when it's no longer accessible. >> but is there something particular in silicon valley that has people paying so much attention to it? >> of course. these companies are so important. if you look at some of the biggest ipos in the last ten years, technology is eating the world. so we care a lot about what happens in silicon valley. and we're seeing that they're absolutely a boy's club. the boy's club in silicon real is even worse in bc. we have seen the number of

female partners go from 10% in $1.990 dismal 6% in 2015. >> what about the fact that 90% of the venture capitalists are men? because they will say there are not too many qualified women out there, and the trouble of lawsuits. >> there's definitely the argument being made by big companies that there aren't enough women. and they call it the pipeline problem, and i just don't think that's the case. there are plenty of qualified women out there. and firms are not hiring or recognizing them. >> you have seen firsthand the discrimination, and describe what happens, and what it's like. is it similar to this? >> the discrimination is very insidious. it could often be difficult to know whether you're being passed up for a promotion because of sexism, or because

of any number of other issues. the ellen powell case, it's pretty clear, at least to me that it's gender discrimination. ellen powell was being hit on by married partners left and right. i'm not saying that you shouldn't date at the office, but if you're married that's risky business. >> and venture capital that provides seed money for startups but for investors you have the image of people sitting around with headphones on writing code. and is there something different in that environment that's particularly different about sexual harassment that happens? >> there's nothing about coding that necessarily facilitates sexual harassment. but the problem is the faulty pattern recognition and perkin was interesting when it comes it that. we see from kleiner perkin,

they said that white males male nerds make the best founders. >> but it breeds the lack of social skills that can i suppose, create an environment where sexual harassment becomes more pertinent. >> i wouldn't say that necessarily. i have a lot of friends who were nerdy and i'm in the cyber security industry, and there's nothing inherent about technology that means that you need to treat people in a disrespectful way. >> what about the solutions for the industry. getting training for the people who work there and more than diversity for the applicants coming in? >> well, if you look at the kleiner perkins case, ellen powell was saying there's no hr there. and without authority to bring these issues to, sometimes you're relying on the people

who are harassing you to solve the problem. >> and the hr operates very differently than the hr. but that's a story for another day. elisa, thank you for coming in. >> up next, the top story the deadly crash of a german airliner. and a texas water war. land owners in a showdown on who controls the precious water underground.

>> hello everybody. this is aljazeera america. i'm david schuster. and john seigenthaler is on assignment. just ahead. >> reporter: 150 people believed dead. what caused a mid-flight tragedy in the swiss alps? water wars, in texas a basic necessity is now a hotly contested commodity. in the silicon valley.

a lawsuit with gender bias, it could be huge. and plus, the lasting legacy of an often overlooked civil rights pioneer. >> there were 16 high school students and two babies onboard. tonight, the investigators are trying to figure out why they and 132 other people lost their lives in a mid-air crash in the french alps. it's now 1 a.m. in france, and the search has been suspended for the flight. but one ever the black boxes has been found. the aircraft was going from barcelona, spain to düsseldorf germany, and it dropped for 8 minutes. there was no distress call. the authorities have been quick to say no terrorism. and in your estimates, do you think that's a mistake. how come? >> i think that's premature

because the airplane didn't come apart in a huge explosion but you remember the underwear bomber from a few years ago? all you need is a minor compromise of that airframe of the airplane, and that could causing a minor loss of pressurization. >> and that, when it happens at cruising altitude to bring the airplane down to 10,000 feet to equal it. >> so the passengers can breathe. >> and that would be hard with the mountains you're flying over. >> and that's a gradual descent which leads me to believe that it wasn't a catastrophic loss of pressurization. it could have been a gradual loss, it could have an something with the electrical system or a fire aboard the plane. >> is there anything that sets it apart. >> the main difference, as a flyby water system.

in a boeing airplane you flip a switch and an item will turn on or off. in an airbus, you flip a switch and the computer looks at it and says, is this the correct thing to do? the computer will override the pilot. >> there are ways around that by pulling circuit breakers. >> would you be pulling the circuit breakers? an energy? >> not necessarily, that would be the last thing if things are going wrong but under normal scenarios, the breakers would be pulled. >> and the crash last december, any similarities based on what we knew about that crash and what we know about this one? >> there's talk of icing ice crystals possibly forming on the feeder tubes, and that's the only similarities, but at this point that's just speculation like it was with airasia. >> what would be the first thing when they have the flight data recorders that the

investigators in france and germany will be looking at. >> they will be looking at both the cockpit violence recorder, and those will be synced out. and the they will have the information for the cockpit and the airplane. >> when you heard the news that there was no distress call in. >> that tells me that there's a serious problem on the airplane that the pilots have to divert all of their attention to, and they didn't have time to give their attention to. the rule is aerate and navigate and communicate last. >> is there a possibility that the pilots were incapacitated? >> that's possible. if there was an air pressurization issue, they have masks but if it was a rapid loss of pressurization, that's a real possibility. >> the latest inspection was just yesterday. and anything that we can read into that? no red flags and no nicks

needed? >> no red flags and on top of that lufthansa has an excellent maintenance program. one of the best in the business, they have a superior record for safety with the aircraft. >> so your best theory, some sort of an incident, perhaps terrorism related. and perhaps not that caused a sudden pressurization problem that caused the pilot to bring it down quickly. >> again anything that goes through my mind. and it could be a possible fire. >> all right, kyle bailey, an aviation analyst. thank you for coming in. search crews in the french alps found the crash site quickly, thanks to a transponder, and it's a new technology that has already proven useful. jacob ward explains how that works.

>> crashes over water give them nowhere to work, but this took place over europe. the families and the investigators, the public in schwa general, could watch this crash take place almost in realtime. in the case of crashes like 370 and france 44 , which disappeared over open ocean, ground controllers have almost no way of tracking. over the ocean, there's no radar, and they're too far away from land based receivers. constant communication is impossible. >> the average aircraft, flying over the ocean, doesn't have the capability to do that yet, but although, the software and the procedures does exist now to make that happen. here in the united states, when a plane flies over land, the controllers know where it is at all times, even if the controller never monitors in but a new technology called adsb.

adsb monitors a satellite based position to the ground, and then feeds it to a service like flight radar 24, a commercial tracking company. in europe, 75% of planes have an adsb transponder onboard. and in the u.s., that number is closer to 35%, and it's still new enough in its technology that it's not generally used by air traffic controller. flight radar 24 have camped that the flight, though it's 24 years old, did have an adsd transponder, and that's why the company knew so much, and even more. >> the realtime awareness that the adsb technology provided in this case on what could have caused this crash is why they have the black boxes in hand already. it doesn't give us where exactly where to look for the

wreckage, this makes it a far cry from disappearances over the open ocean where they disappeared without any of this tracking technology available. >> jacob ward in san francisco. in drought-ridden texas the ownership of ground water from the people living above it, water has become a commodity. a recent $44 billion deal to pump water from the aquaphor below to the city of san antonio where it will be used for consumption. supporters call it innovative, and opponents say that it will have long-term impact. >> beneath this land is a subterranean sea. a subterranean aquifer that it goes from the border to new mexico. >> way back, in the time when dinosaurs were on the land, this was ocean here. >> by state law, hugh brown

owns part of that now underground ocean. the law says however much water a texas landowner pumps out of his wells is his to use. >> nice and cool. >> or to sell. and in drought-stricken texas water can be lucrative and controversial. brown is against the idea of selling the aquifer water. >> the dollar value of water? >> dollar value? that question right there is a lot of the problem. can you put a dollar value on the water? >> the selling price of water at 25 cents a barrel still pales to the price of $50 a barrel for oil. but it's expected to go up as the drought continues, and now blue water systems a

development firm, plans to drill wells on 80,000 acres of leased land. it will sell the water to the city of san antonio by the year 2020. a spanish company will build a 150-mile pipeline connecting burlingson county and san antonio. >> we're trying to do a deal, with the great american nation with capitalism and make as much money as you can. >> he has leased his land to blue water. >> there's no real problem with this moving water to where it's needed. to me, in my idea, i would like to move the water 150 miles instead of having the people move here and take the water. >> how come you decided to sell the water? >> i don't want to sell it. i want it here, and i don't want somebody else -- i don't need to sell it.

>> you can make a lot of money off of it. >> you can't drink money. >> without a new water source, san antonio one of the fastest growing cities in the country is at risk of running dry in the next decade. the city leaders want to share the deal with burlingson county to sustain 160,000 new families who will require gals in the aquifer. it holds two times that when full. but with little knowledge of what's underground, there are no guarantees, and brown fears that pumping will deplete the walk fir. >> if they pump what they want to, the draw down will be -- my wells will basically not have any water. this is my fear. >> the deal that the

representatives say they don't expect the aquifer to suffer. and if the pump becomes unsustainable, the local water company may intervene but they're bankrupting the companies with legal fees. >> there are people who are upset about this, and they see people deciding to lose their water as betraying the rest of the neighbors who said no to that deal. what do you think of that? >> well, i think i would be upset too if we were going to run out of water. if we were to run out of water i think we would all feel left out or taken advantage. >> but lauderdale says that he checked the water and has assurances that won't happen. and the drought that has ravished texas since 2010 is

desperate times, calling for desperate measures. >> heidi jo castro joins us in the studio, and how much of a done deal is this project? >> well, politically speaking, david, it's a done deal. the local community and also the city council of san antonio have all signed off on it. and now it's really the project moving forward with feasibility studies, and financing and with the environmental study. >> and that environmental settled would show what to the aquifer? >> you might not know until it happens, and that's the scary part of all of this. if you look at the neighboring aquifer, which san antonio currently draws from, it's in dire straits. it's very low and the endangered salamander lives there, and their habitat is being threated. with these aquaphors they're

so deep under the ground. and that's why they are hesitating to interfere with nature. >> heidi jo, thank you. it exists in many feels even in a profession dominated by women. a new study says that male nurses are better paid than for female colleagues. there are 32,000 in the united states and 92% are women. but the men make an average of $5,000 more in salary. in chapelhill, are you surprised by that figure? >> i wish i could say that i was, but actually, i wasn't really surprised that the pay difference was recognized. >> and what do you contribute that to? was it simply because men are rare, and they're seen as

somehow stronger? what is it about it that gets them the extra pay that they don't necessarily deserve? >> . >> well, i don't think that i can say for sure, but i think it's the same phenomenal that we see in society that men for whatever reasons in most professions, tend to earn more money, and as we can see from the study, the profession of nursing, which is prominently women, is not exempt from that phenomenal also. >> is there anything that is being done within the nursing community to try to rectify this? >> well, i can't say that there is, or nothing that i am aware of specifically. i think what happens now this study will bring light and the attention that the study is getting will bring life to the

issue, and it will cause employers and those who are involved in making these hiring decisions and these salary payment decisions more aware and hopefully more cautious and more interested in assuring that there's equity and salaries across genders. >> there are some of the employers, some of the hospitals who have suggested that we know nursing sometimes requires lifting things and patients out of bed. and why shouldn't we pay somebody stronger who can do this a little bit more, but it only takes one person to do it as opposed to two. is that a valid argument? >> i don't think so. we know that there are about 3 million registered nurses in the u.s. currently and the majority of them are women. and the female nurses do do that work, and they have done that same kind of work. we train our students how to do

things like lifts and turns regardless of gender. so in my mind, that is not really a valid explanation for the case, the salary difference. >> what is the most important quality to see in a nurse when you're a hospital or an employer hiring it somebody. what's the factor that's the most valuable to them? >> i would think they would be looking for someone who is highly skilled highly educated. able to display critical thinking and able to address the needs of the patients that they're caring for. and able to act in some respects independently. >> deborah bardsdale, the professor and director of the nursing practice program at the university of carolina, chapelhill. and thank you for coming on, we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> now, to a story coming up in our next hour, the future of afghanistan and the role the united states plays in it.

stephanie sy is here with that. >> reporter: dave, afghanistan has been referred to as you know, the graveyard of empires. nations from the soviet union to britain and the u.s. have always had a hard time exiting that country and now president obama said that he will slow down the timeline to withdraw some 10,000 american troops still based there. and many are again asking how much the u.s. is on the hook for. we spoke with a senior adviser to afghan president ashraf ghani. >> they will have to succumb to the needs of the people and to the desires of the people of that nation that has suffered so long and so much in wars, and there's no more room for destruction and for the destitute that the people have been through and has been imposed on them by the politicians andent political elite. >> we'll have more on what the

senior adviser has to say in the next hour, as well as historical context for comparing it to the soviet invasion in the 8 zeros. '80s. >> byron russ tin, his long-time partner who talks about the man he knew and loved.

>> bay ard rustin has been called the leader of the civil rights movement. he helped martin luther king and a phillip randolph. but according to rustin's partner, his homosexual assault forced him into the limelight. >> i was his partner for ten years. >> we have civil rights legislation. >> by addressing this most important strategist and tactician during that peak period of the civil rights movement. he was responsible for organizing the most important walks. including the one where martin luther king gave his i have a dream speech. many have said that the march on washington could not super

happened without byard's organizing. he was overlooked because he was a gay man and he was relatively open, not shamed. and very often that aspect of his personality was seized upon by enemies not just of him but of the move the in general to discredit the movement. phillip randolph seemed to be accepting of byard. byard was one of his closest aids. he didn't seem to care. and dr. king, on the other hand, bayard used to say that he didn't feel that dr. king didn't have any personal problem with hissing gay. but at the same time, he was the visible leader of the movement, a social movement. but also a political movement. and he had to be careful and aware of possible attacks on the movement.

so i think he saw bayard sometimes as a political liability if you will, so when bayard became a little bit too visible and perhaps open to attack, he was asked to kind of take a back seat and step back and go back into the shadows. i met bayard in 1977 quite by chance in time square. with me and bayard, you had a gay couple, an interracial couple and an intergenerational couple. so i think there are challenge that's we faced that not every couple faces. but at the same time, we were very comfortable with each other, and we loved each other dearly and we were relaxed together. his vision was worldwide. building the human community and the world community. 2013 was the 50th anniversary of the 1963 march on

washington. president obama announced that bayard was going to be one of the 16 recipients of the presidential medal of freedom. so on november 20th 2013, i was at the white house to receive this medal of freedom in bayard's memory. >> you can see more on bayard's life in the documentary outsider. angelina jolie has once again undergone surgery to reduce her risk of cancer. she described it as not bad in the new york it times. she elected to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after a blood test. she had a double mastectomy after blood tests showed an elevated risk. the cancer surgery, that's at 11 p.m. eastern time. at the age of 56, kate pierson is launching a new

career. the long-time b52 singer has a new album out. she spoke about flying solo after four decades in a band. ♪ >> kate pierson exploded on the music scene with the group the b52s. >> i think that the greatest legacy of the band, i realized later, people are allowed to have fun and let their freak flags fly. >> and different they are. >> hey i'm kate -- >> the b52s, kate, fred snyder cindy wilson, and keith strickland have released eight albums over the last four decades. now, after 39 years with the bs kate's going solo, with the song, guitars and microphones. ♪. one song from pierson's new

solo album and called mr. sister. ♪ but the video backed by some in the transgender community who called it stereotypical and degrading. >> were you surprised by that reaction? >> i was very surprised very taken aback because i thought it was very gender positive toward anyone, anyone who was expanding and making a transition and anyone who felt betrayed. so i wanted it to be all-inclusive. >> is there a difference for a woman in rock and roll versus a man as they age? >> there are a lot of nasty comments that can be directed online toward women. it's definitely a different standard. yeah, i'm conscience of how i look and i want to have makeup and hair and stuff, but at the end of it, i want to be myself

in my hair and makeup. ♪. >> did kate pierson make it. >> i'm happy. that's the thing. i feel content with where i am. >> and still spreading her message that it's okay to be different. adam may aljazeera woodstock new york. >> you can see and hear more of kate pierson this even on "america tonight," and that's coming up at 10 p.m. eastern time, 7 p.m. pacific. >> . >> and many finally, our picture of the day and this snap shot certainly caught our eye. white hats, yes those are white hats sprinkled across a field of green. it's a colorful photograph from china of workers harvesting tea leaves. white hats in china harvesting tea leaves. that's our news for this hour. thanks for watching. i'm david schuster, and the ne i nith anta.

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breaking it down. getting you the facts. it's the only place you'll find... the inside story. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". weeknights, 11:30 eastern. on al jazeera america. >> searching for clues. >> we are doing everything to find out what happened and what was the cause. >> the mystery surrounding the crash of germanwings flight 2995 in the french alps killing everywhere. >> maintaining posture. >> we'll maintain our troops until the end of the year. >> president obama decides to keep close 10,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan through the