the kingdom of saudi arabia lane offed military actions in yemen. >> saudi arabia launches an air offensive in yemen trying to stop advancing rebels and keep the government in power. locked out? new reports tonight that one of the pilots was locked outside the cockpit when german wings flight 9525 went down. charged with did he percent. army certainly bowe bergdahl formerly accused of abandoning

his post in afghanistan. good evening, i am antonia mora, this is al jazerra america. tonight saudi arabia and its gulf allies is launch ago offense enough yemen and the u.s. is lending sport. mike viqueira joins us now from washington. >> miming, how much of a role do we know the u.s. is playing? >> reporter: well, there is late-breaking news on that front. it's certainly a dramatic escalation and a volatile part of the world. and though, antonio the u.s. isn't joining in these strikes strikes that are led by saudi arabia and 10 other gulf nations, the united states is lending its full support. the sound of bombs filling the night skies over the yemeni capital of sanaa that evening. the announced attacks coming a few hours earlier in the washington. the message delivered by is saudi arabia's ambassador said

the use of the force was a last resort but a necessary one. >> the objective is to defend the legitimate government of president hadi from the take over attempts by the houthi militias in yemen. >> reporter: just days after a bloody attack on two separate mosques in sanaa left scores dead. saudi arabia is entering a rapidly did he tear your situation in a country many fear is teetering on the brink of a civil war. >> we have a coalition of over 10 country that his will participate in these operation to his prevent yemen from falling at the hands of the houthis. >> reporter: in a statement late wednesday night from washington, a white house spokeswoman said in part: while u.s. force not taking direct nil terry action in yemen. in support of the effort we are establishing a joint planning cell with saudi arabia to coordinate u.s. military and inning testimony generals support. the military operation coming on the same day that houthi rebels attacked the southern port sheet of aden. reportedly forcing yemen's pred

hadi to flee the country. it was only in january that the rebels ejected a government-proposed constitution. they fought with troops in the capital. leading hadi and his government for resign in protest. the next month hadi fled sanaa for his native city of aden in the south. and withdraw his resignation. houthi rebels announced they were seizing power and would where he place hadi with a transitional council. that much garnering worldwide condemnation includes the u.s. which has closed it's em bass i in yemen and removed all military personnel. that statement from the national security council spokeswomen goes through the usual litany, they are hoping for a political dialogue for a transition of power as a result of that dialogue. those goals seem quite unrealistic given the events of the past 24 to 48 hours. >> and given that, mike and with the u.s. already stretched thin with conflicts from iraq and syria to afghanistan could yemen be next?

>> reporter: it's doubtful the united states will enter in war in any meaningful way. it's virtually out of question for that matter. when they talk about logistical support. there is a drone bay an american base in africa. many of the drone strikes launched by the united states not against the houthis but against al qaeda on the arabian peninsula, and it's worth remember, and reminding folks that the president has called his policy there in yemen a success, he didn't so just last september. the white house doubling down on that today. as did the state department but they are talking about the air campaign going on for the len of the owe got a administration against a leagual aqap. that can attack american interests worldwide. this houthi advance now that has swept the american-backed government from power is another thing altogether. it is a dicey situation antonio no question about it.

>> mike viqueira in washington, thank you. and for more, we are joined also from washington by ali a saudi scott orscholar and director for gulf affairs. given the chaos and yemen and the promises that saudi arabia made to president hadi. did the saudis and other gulf nation have his to i intervene? >> no, they didn't have to intervene. this is a yemeni conflict. which did not have any direct affect on the saudi arabia or other gulf countries. the problem in yemen has been that yemen has been dominated by its neighbors, especially by the saudis. any development the saudis feel that they must be the one who run the show in yemen and what you saw in the past four, five years, an and increasing independence movement in yep end, the yemenis want to run theirtheir affairs. and to decide their future, the

saudi government does not like that. and that's why they installed hadi in this basically one-man show election, to continue their policy. that policy failed and now they are resorting to others. >> but it was a bit of a unity government. and it was working with the west and with other nations. so what should the world do as rebels throw out a government, a legitimate government. that was trying to help the world fight al qaeda and possibly isil? >> right now in fact, the most effective force against al qaeda and isil are those people that the media call houthis. because i think it's unfair labeling because, you know, houthis were in 2009, right now you have the movement, they call themselves, there is the popular committees there, there is large parts of the yemeni army that that are involved in them this is not

an isolated movement, it's not a militia, it's a wide popular movement that's why they have succeeded in taking large territories from the hadi government. hadi was he they elect you through a process that had only one candidate which is hadi that's not a legitimate election. >> he talked about wide. how concerned are you that this will become wider. gulf nations supporting one side, iran the other. tensions across those two sides across the middle east, do you think this could become a regional war? >> absolutely. in 2009, there were houthi fighters, hundreds of them, and they were fighting two wars, one against the yemeni army and the saudi army. they took saudi territories and handed them a huge defeat and took saudi soldiers captive. >> and do you think that can happen now? >> now the saudis -- now these

forces the saudi army and the fighting is larger, better equipped and has the support of the yemeni army and the popular committee. so absolutely. this is a war between saudi arabia and its allies with yemen. it's not with houthis. i think this is -- this must be clear. this is with yemen and yemenis are going to fight back. and i think you might be surprised or not surprised that yemenis will be able to take saudi territories, larger territories and then -- >> you really think that will happen the yemenis will react by fighting back and going in to saudi arabia? >> that -- what they have done in thousand nine, when they were armed. right now they have more. if iran gets involved, and supports them just like it supported hamas against israel, i think this war will be long and will end up costing saudi arabia a lot territorially and

even, you know, in larger losses in saudi arabia. >> despite how well armed saudis are with all the american weapons they have bought over the years? >> they did they'd th*ed that in 2009 and the americans provided them. and the americans helped them with information like just today and it doesn't help them with a small houthi rebels fighting against two wars at the same time. against the yemenis and saudi armies. they are in a better position today. >> there is a significant port saudi interests that could be threaten first degree that were to happen. the u.s. as late as today was saying it was still coordinating anti-terrorist activities with elements in the yemeni government. what yemeni government is there to coordinate with? >> i think that's really shows the american impotence in yemen.

they have been, you know, talking, the yemen success, like i said, if you want to fight al qaeda, you should support what's happening today in em request en, because they are the best in taking territory from al qaeda and handing al qaeda a good defeat. if that was the goal. i don't know if this is the real goal of the united states anymore. and the -- there is no yemeni government that is -- the hadi government, there is the yemeni government but there is no hadi government. because hadi left with the saudi delegation on a boat, so even his officers did not leave with him. >> it's a difficult situation there and it's good to have your insight on what's going on. in washington, thank you. and the last several years have been a tumultuous time in yemen. roxanne i is berra takes a look back at what happens there since the arab spring up rising. >> reporter: when president hadi stepped down in january, it was justify the latest in a series

of events in yemen set in motion by the arab spring. in early 2011. demonstrators rallied against then president and strong man calling for reforms. in june that year a rocket attack on a mosque in the presidential compound killed four body guards and badly injured the president who was praying there. >> translator: i have had more than one surgery. i have had about eight successful surgeries. they were for burns because of the attack. >> reporter: in november, he stepped down. waving the way for his deputy hadi to take his place the to following february. the turmoil allowed al qaeda and the arabian peninsula to strengthen its hold in the south. in the meantime, houthi rebels in the north gained ground and took over the capital of sanaa last year. then this january the rebels rejected a government-proposed constitution, they fought with

troops in the capital leading hadi and his government to resign in protest. the next month hadi fled to aden in the south and withdrew his resignation, houthi rebels announced they were taking power and would replace hadi. ban ki-moon called on hadi to be extraordinary as president and made a plea to the international community. >> yemen is collapsing. before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. >> reporter: and the u.s. temporarily closed its embassy in yemen siting the violence in sauna. roxana saberi, al jazerra. >> the u.s. is stepping up attacks against isil and iraq. the pentagon say they have launched air strikes over tikrit. the u.s. official had had no role in the offensive but military officials say the iraqi

government requested help. the u.s.-led coalition had been flying surveillance missions over at that tikrit. now to france where there are new developments tonight in the investigation in the crash i've german airliner. rescue crews are work to go recover the bodies of 150 people on board including three americans. now they may have a major clue about what caused that plane to crash in to the french alps. john terrett is here with more. john, it's a major clue that raises more question. >> yeah, it does indeed raise more questions than it answers. as often is the case, because french investigators say that they have recovered audio from the cockpit voice recorder of flight 9525. the new york times reporting this evening quoting a senior military official saying that audio indicates one of the pilots actually left the cockpit and couldn't get back in. the report says he can be heard knocking on the cockpit door. and then trying to smash the door down. tonight voice recordings from the cockpit of flight 9525 are shedding new light on what

happened in the minutes before the plane crashed in the french alps. >> translator: there has been some difficulty reading the data but it's great that we have found it. we have been able to extract some tpr-fgs information from it. >> the new york times reporting that one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit before the crash. the big question is why. it may take weeks for the investigators to examine the entire crash site before a clearer picture of what happened comes in to focus. >> translator: we need to understand what happened. we must do so. we owe this to the families of the victims. >> victims that we now know include three americans, two of them a mother and daughter from virginia, yvonne and emily selke. >> we are in contact with family members and extends ore deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the 150 people on board. >> a scene that under scores the international element of the tragedy, the leaders of france, germany and spain came together in the alps to pay their

respects to the citizens who died from their countries. the recovery effort is a massive operation, involving hundreds of police and emergency workers. the wreckage is scattered over an area the equivalent in size of eight football fields. and involves some pieces of metal that are so small and twisted they aren't recognizable as parts of a plane. in the small town in germany show being is giving way to grief. 16 students and two teachers from the local high school were on the flight. tears and a sea of candles flowers and tributes are filling the streets in front of the school. >> translator: everybody is disturbed. the atmosphere in the town is ghostly. >> well, antonio, if the new york times report turns out to be true, and a pilot was in fact locked out of the cock pick, that still doesn't fro free throws described any firm answers to the question what was going on inside the cockpit at the time of the crash. it does, of course, mean one of two things though, either whoever was in there didn't want the other pilot to get back in

or couldn't open the door. >> all right, thank you john. john is a former long-time member of the national transportation safety board. he joins us from newton, massachusetts, john, it's good to have you with us. the main question this raises is whether the pilot intentionally crashed the plane. >> that's correct. you know, let's not forget that we don't have solid evidence that this is an accurate statement. but assuming that it is accurate it doesn't shed any real new light on the possibilities that we have to explore. the investigators will treat this just like they treat all of the other evidence that they uncover. and run it to ground. i mean, run it right down until they can prove it or disproven. i think it's encouraging. >> right, assuming these reports are right. if the pilot didn't do this intentionally, could this have been a health problem? is it likely to have been that? the plane had a fairly even did

descents, didn't go off course could it happen accidentally if the pilot had a heart attack and slummed over? >> there is a slight possibility that it could have been a massive heart attack while he had his hand on the panel adjusting the rate of climb or the direction the airplane is taking. but that is such a remote possibility. i don't think anybody would seriously believe that without some evidence. and the flight data recorder will provide that evidence when we finally get it. >> it also raises question as to why the other pilot was outside the cockpit. because it's not a long flight. about the same distance as new york to chicago. so obviously could have wanted to go to the bathroom s it unusual to short flights for pilots to leave the cabin these days? >> no. you have to look at what happened before the flight f these are the same pilot that his came down from germany earlier in the the day with that airplane, that means they probably went in to the

terminal. probably got something to eat. and probably had coffees or sodas. so, you know, you know what happens after you eat on an airplane or before you get on an airplane that you are going to use the restroom at some point in time. >> but whatever hand it seems that the pilot who left the cabin may have tried desperately to breakdown the door. does this change the thinking at all about the fortification of the cockpit door? should a pilot have a way to get back in? >> well, there is a way to get back in. and nobody is really wanting to talk about it, including myself. but there are ways to get back in to the cockpit. but they are not easy. it's not something that you are going to do very quickly. and if the person inside the cockpit wants to keep you out it makes it even more difficult. so it's a trade off. with 9/11, we had too easy access to the airplane and look what we've got. now we have hardened doors to make it very, very difficult. and i don't know how much -- >> there simply may not have been enough time here.

really the descent decent descent was fairly quick. likely whereby the time the pilot on the outside realized there was a problem it might have been too late. >> we have to look at it again our pilots under go a lot of psychological testing. make it's not enough. maybe it's too much. i don't know the answer to that yet. we need to explore all of those issues, who is in the cockpit. why they are in the cockpit. you know, was there a three-person rule in germany that lets, like we have in the united states, that requires one of the flight attendants to come in the cockpit whenever one of the pilots leave. i am not clear that that -- >> that could certainly have helped in this case. >> right. >> john, in newton, massachusetts, good of you to join us and give us your perspective. thank you. severe weathers here in the unitedu.s. has led to one detective. a suspected tornado hit tulsa a

few years ago and also damage in oklahoma in the same town where a tornado destroyed two kills and killed two dozen people in 2013. meteorologist cove inning is joining us with more. it's the beginning of tornado season. >> meteorologist: it is. normally we see it earlier in march but these are the first tornadoes that we have seen, deadly and destructive. i want to show you how this played out today. as you take a look at the radar you can notice how these popped up quickly this afternoon. across oklahoma, arkansas as well missouri. you can see this very distinction five line of thunderstorms pushing through. now we have an estimated eight tornadoes that were reported in the area. we are still looking at severe thunderstorm watch boxes out for oklahoma, for parts of arkansas as well as now going in to the southern part of illinois. and we are looking at that severe weather continuing. now they have dropped the tornado warnings but we are still looking at a lot of potential hail as well as windy conditions across this particular area.

now, i want to show you where the tornadoes were located. here is the one in moore ao*erbgs just located to the south of oklahoma city. we have three in parts of arkansas as well as a total of five that we know of reported in parts of oklahoma. for the rest of the evening though, all of these areas that you see here, we are talking about wind, we are talking about hail damage, that is continuing all the way up here towards parts, we think going in to indiana as we go in to the overnight hours so we'll be watching this carefully. it's going to be major storm system. >> and this is happening because of different weather systems -- >> meteorologist: temperature, humidity as well as a frontal system there. >> kevin, thank you. after five years in taliban captivity sergeant bowe bergdahl faces the possibility of life in prison, the charges being leveled against him by the u.s. military. also. >> i am so sorry for all of the pain i have caused and i want you all to know that directly from me. >> an apology from the former university of oklahoma student who led a racist chant.

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♪ army sergeant bo bowe bergdahl is facing charges that could lands him in to a military prison, he was captured by the taliban in afghanistan in 20009. he was freed last year nay controversial prisoner swap that released five taliban officials who had been held at guantanmo. today the army announced it have charming bergdahl with did desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. >> misbehavior before the enemy by endangering a command safety ube are off his max medical penalty of dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of e1. total fore fitch a of all payment allowances and possible confinement for life. >> the next step in the case will be a military hearing similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding. it will determine if bergdahl should be court marshaled. after the charges were announced, berg calling bergdahl's

attorney repleased a statement. berg dale said: >> bergdahl's lawyer said he sent the statement to army investigators. a congressional review says the f bench i urgently needs to improve its information gathering and analysis capabilities. the recommendations come from a report released today it says that since 2004, the bureau has changed dramatically and prevented catastrophic attacks but says the bureau not prepared to handle the most complex national security threats. a former universal of oklahoma student apologize today leading a racist rant. -ylevi pettitte and others.

he met with the state senator clerk and i other black community leaders before saying he was sorry. >> i never thought of myself as a racist. i never considered it a possibility. but the bottom line is that the words that were said in that chandlers were mean, hateful and racist. i will be deeply soar and i deeply a shamed of what i have done for the rest of my life. >> he did not answer questions about where he learned the chant. he and another student have been expelled. and the sigma alpha epsilon chapter at the university of oklahoma has been shutdown. the supreme court is giving a former u.p.s. driver another chance to prove the company discriminated against her because she was pregnant. peggy young had sued the company for refuse to go give her light duty during her pregnancy. lower courts had previously blocked the lawsuit. but in a sick-3 ruling today the justices sent the case back for a possible trial. new video tonight from brittany maynard.

she's the young woman with brain cancer who proved from california to oregon so she could take her own life. but before she died she recorded a message to california lawmakers. >> but i am dieing. and i refuse to lose my dignity. i refuse to subject myself and my family to purples prolonged pain and suffering at the hands of an incurable disease. death with dig any laws authorize the medical practice to aid in dieing. the laws in california and 45 other states must change to prevent prolonged involuntary suffering. >> a bill legalizing assisted suicide in california has now advanced in the california state senate. new pressure today on indiana's governor over a controversial law, the so-called religious freedom bill. the measure would allow businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples governor mike spence has promised to sign it but several national groups are pledge to go move conventions

elsewhere if he does, that includes the disciples of christchurch. kraft and heinz are merging. the combined firm will be worth upwards of $36 billion. and their products would range from the iconic heinz catch up to craft macaroni and cheese to jello, and/or and french fries. the agreement creates the third largest food and beverage firm in north america. radioshack is trying to sell off its customer data. they have made ideal on auction off the names e-mail addresses phone numbers and shopping habits of more than 60 million customers. attorneys general in separate states object to that plan of they say it would violate the company's own privacy policy. tomorrow a bankruptcy court will decide whether to approve the sale of radioshack. more now on our top story. the white house now says it will provide lodge logistical support to

saudi arabia in yemen. they began bombing houthi targets in yemen tonight. the rebel group mount aid major a being it on the southern port city of aden today. targeting the country's president. there are reports that he has fled from yemen his government denies that. i am antonio mora, thanks for joining us. for the latest on the offensive in yemen we are now going to join the coverage of our sister network al jazerra english which is already in progress. have a good night that might prove to be wrong in the end, i don't think we'll see that now. however, as the situation on the ground has deteriorated as the hadi government has been forced to flee, put in a position where it really cannot mount any kind of a counter attack against its antagonists either those lawyer to former president or the houthis. the saudis felt that needed to take some sort of action apparently in order to get the attention of houthis and try to

drive some sort of negotiation. >> they certainly have gotten the attention. we know now that at least three houthi commanders have been killed in those air strikes. what is the goal of these air strikes? will the houthis be forced back to the negotiating stable in or will they continue to fight this coalition? >> well, you know, this is not just a struggle between the saudis and the houthis. remember what the houthis are doing right now really needs to be understood in the context of a very, very complicated political equation inside yemen. and the houthis for their current reach depend very much on the support of the military, which means that they are depending very much on this alliance of convenience with former president salah. it's not clear just how long this is going to continues. i spus text sp*ebgt huh some of their aims are divergent at this point. so