overnment has been unable to. well you can read much more about that story as well as the day's other top stories by going to our website at aljazeera.com. there it is on your screen. aljazeera.com. ♪ ferguson residents head to the polls today in hopes of changes the balance of power. rand paul makes it official. he announces he is running for president, but does he have the support of the republican base? and no way out, thousands of refugees trapped in a camp in syria, while isil and the government battle. ♪

this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. for the first time since the death of michael brown last summer voters in ferguson, missouri are getting a stay in their government. three seats are up for grabs. currently only one of the six city council members is african american. randall -- tell us what is at stake. >> reporter: this comes after a scathing report by the department of justice, finding widespread bias. today's vote could have a major impact on the damage. there are 3 ward streets that are open. in ward 1, ward 2, and then the third. both candidates are black. there is one member who is not running for reelection.

so no matter what happens today, the council is guarantee to get at least one more african american. >> how much has racial tension been a part of the election conversation. >> well the race relations in ferguson took a spotlight after the unarmed black man was killed by a police officer. that lead to months of protests a riot and allegations that ferguson's political leadership has done nothing about years of harassment of african americans. two-thirds of the police force are african american. >> despite the demographics, one of the questions in past elections has been voter turnout, and that has been low. >> it has been low, while the roughly 50/50 split in terms of the voting age population of

whites and african americans about equal, but only 6% of african americans cast ballots back in 2012, 16% for white. not great there either but enough to maintain control of the city council. >> randall pinkston thanks. voters in chicago are choosing their next major today. the incumbent, rom emmanuel running for a second term. he didn't win an outright majority in february. he is running against the cook country commissioner. usher, so these are two democrats with two distinct political visions. let's talk about the key issue in chicago, gun violence. how do they plan to tackle that? >> reporter: well good morning stephanie. that's something that the mayor says he has been going after in

the last two years, and after a spoke in 2012 there has been a decline in the past few years. but he said he would put a thousand more police officers on the streets of chicago. he has not been able to do that in the wake of a budget crisis here in the city. that's something his challenge ger ger -- challenger says he will do. no one is clear how he will do that. the city in a very dire financial crisis and as you mentioned they differ on a variety of issues including how they handle the schools. the mayor faced off with the chicago's teachers union, and faced the first strike in more than 20 years. the closed around 50 schools, consolidating them with what he city said were underperforming schools. that it are operating at a

budget shortfall for 2016, and that's another issue that both of these candidates differ on how they will fill that gap. >> usher what has the voter turnout been so far? >> reporter: well it has been slow and ste -- steady. what we do hear from the election commission is that we have had a large number of early voters submitting their ballots ahead of time. more than 142,000 have been processed already. and the polling opened here about 6:00 am and closes at 7:00 pm, when we expect to see the returns coming in. both candidates are at and about, they are doing that last run to push their supporters to the polls here in chicago. >> chicago politics are in a league of their own, but why does this matter? >> reporter: well there's a

couple of questions both of these candidates chicago hasn't had a republican mayor in more than 80 years. these two candidates differ on the issues. garcia is seen as a progressive democrat, and he is campaigning that he is the every man. he lived and grew up in the west side of chicago, an area that has been plagued by violence. he has criticized his candidate as somebody who is for big business. so it's really on how they stand on the issues on the skekpectrum. so it's an important race here in chicago because it gets get -- gives a good sense of how people view these candidates as a whole. rand paul announced his

presidential candidacy about a half hour ago on his website. he posted: paul has famously clashed with fellow republicans. >> a message, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. we have come to take our government back! [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: rand paul faces a fractured republican party with competing idealogical wings, something that will make it all the more difficult for any candidate. >> rand paul enters the race with a giant bullseye on the back. he is not a popular figure within the republican party. he really is bringing a libertarian tea party flavor to this campaign and it's a question of whether that will resinate with the

establish-minded republicans who not only pick the nominees but also fund them. >> reporter: but there are already signs that paul is moving away from his libertarian roots. he wants to find himself as an anti abortion rights conservative. now he says doctors should use discretion in cases where the life of the mother is at jebdy. he opposed gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana, but says those decisions should be made by state not the federal government. he has also come out in favor of immigration reform but also finding a place for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the u.s. he advocates a strong national defense, but he supported making extensive cuts do the department of homeland security. >> it should not and cannot be tolerated in our country --

>> reporter: his 13-hour filibuster shows he was willing to go against the grain. members of his own party, including john mccain, called the move to block a vote on president obama's choice to head the cia ill informed. he penned an op-ed. >> it's time for a new way, a new set of ideas, a new leader one you can trust, one who works for you, and above all, it's time for a new president. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: paul hopes to tap into an outside washington sentiment. a move that will make him attractive to many tea party conservatives, but may not stand up to a more establishment candidate. he will be able to draw on his resources that his father built

in key states. senator rand paul is set to make a speech at 12:00 eastern, 9:00 pacific right here on al jazeera america. jurors have begun their deliberations in the case of the boston bombing suspect. the defense has been trying to taint dzhokher as a victim of his older brother. police have five suspects under arrest associated with the attack in kenya that killed 148 people. international officials warn that thousands of palestinian refugees are starving to death at a camp near damascus. the u.n. describes the situation as beyond inhumane.

isil fighters stormed the camp near damascus last week. thousands of refugees are trapped, only a few have escaped. stephanie decker has more. >> reporter: the palestinian president said the people of the camp are being victimized. there is a representative of the palestine liberation organization. he is trying to resolve this. by it is complicated. there are factions against the government and factions for the government and then you throw isil into the mix. so we're have this battle at the moment. we do know isil did hold 90% of the camp and they now hold 60%. it has been a very fluid

situation. add on to that the syrian government using barrel bombs and the people inside say it is an incredibly difficult situation. snipers are on the roof. people cannot move around. aid is not reaching the camp. and it is an absolutely terrible situation. and i spoke earlier with a representative from the humanitarian group, and she described the conditions. >> those trucks that people rely on for trucking water into the camp because the mainline was cut last year by government forces. the hospital in the camp was seized by fighters. so there have been some local volunteers humanitarian volunteers trying to provide medical assistance to people of another location but it is incredibly limited. >> reporter: the camp has helped

palestinian refugees since 1948. the death toll is quickly rising in yemen, the u.n. says more than 5 40 people have been killed 1700 injured in just the last two weeks. the u.n. says many civilians are desperately in need of aid, but violence and the air strikes have made delivery difficult. >> translator: we coordinated the arrival of a passenger plane to sana'a. it landed and left safely. russia says it is working with the u.n. to get all sides to work on a ceasefire. china is also calling for a ceasefire. turkey's president is in iran today despite growing tensions between the president.

he met with president rouhani to talk about economic allianceings. later today we'll sit down be we ayatollah. last week they criticized erdogan for trying to dominate the region. chrysler responds to a fatal car crash. and an offer to help california farmers suffering through years of drought, but it may come with serious, long-term consequences. ♪

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america. taking a look at today's top stories. a second day in court for a cleveland police officer accused of killing two unarmed men in 2012. he said he crossed the line when he jumped on the hood of a car and shot directly at the men in

the front seat. the defense say he feared for his life. an atlantic city casino is said to close today. a florida investor is buying the casino. a fourth man is facing charges of help training isil fighters oversees. he is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow. since the september 11th attacks the fbi has focused 40% of his budget on counter terrorism operations but the need lead to phony plots? david arreowes ta reports. the united states is unmatched in funding on rooting out terrorism. they spent $16.6 billion on

counter terrorism efforts in 2016. that is according to figures revealed by the "washington post." on the home front the fbi spends roughly $4 billion a year on counter terrorism, using 4200 agents across the country. and since the september 11th attacks, the u.s. has doubled down on security. spending more than half a trillion dollars on intelligence. with monitoring and disrupting violent extremist among its top priorities. in 2002, brooklyn born jose padilla was arrested and later convicted after returning from pakistan with plans for a so-called dirty bomb attack on u.s. soil. in 2004 two men were arrested and convicted for planning to bomb the new york subway system. and two so-called printer bombs

were presented from being loaded on to planes bound for the u.s. but in 2009 a nigerian man tried to detonate plastic explosives in his underwear. and in 2010 two street vendered discovered an suv rigged to explode in time square. but in 2013, one attack got through. [ explosion ] >> reporter: three people were killed and 264 others were injured when two pressure-cocker bombs ripped through the boston marathon. the two men responsible had been flagged by the fbi at least two years prior, which underscored a need for tighter security screenings. >> there is going to be a larger presence of police officers. >> reporter: but when does it go

too far. in 2011, the associated press found the u.s. arrested and convicted more than 2500 people on terer ror-related cases since 9/11. and at times undercover agents have appeared to have blurred the line between string operations and entrapment. human rights watch went so far as to describe some of these springs as quote, government-created terror plots. the report says strings are at times focused on quote: the question then becomes one of protection and the illusion of protection when prosecuting terror-related cases. it's a fine balance that policy makers can't afford to get wrong. chrysler says it may appeal a jury's verdict over a deadly

scar crash. the jury in georgia ordered the company to pay $150 million to the family of the four-year-old whoed when the jeep he was riding in exploded after being rear ended. >> the jury reached a common sense conclusion that it was not a safe place to put the gas tank. this was the first case arising out of a fuel-fed fire in one of these jeeps that has ever gone all the way to trial. chrysler settle every other one confidentially before it could get to the courtroom. >> chrysler says the jeep met all safety standards. ♪ all of this month we're looking at the issues facing our fragile planet. one agency in los angeles says

it will buy their water in some cases for more than farmers can make selling crops, but there are long-term consequences. >> reporter: just to give you an idea of how bad the drought is we're at one of the major reservoirs in the states. the brown band is a water mark and the top of the brown band is where the water level used to be. it is precisely situations like this that california governor jerry brown passed the drought release bill just a few weeks ago. different water districts are battling for the same amount of limited water. >> our agency is making bids. other agencies are making bids so we're having to compete for a very limited resource so we're seeing prices unprecedented this year and it's reflective of bad

the situation is. >> reporter: some rice farmers in the area have actually done the math. they get a water allotment, and they realize producing rice doesn't make as much sense as selling off the water directly and not doing anything for this season. los angeles is eyeing the water that these rice farmers have. these are definitely strange days and you can watch melissa's full report tonight on al jazeera america. the secrets of an iconic song may soon be revealed. what this piece of musical history sold for. ♪

the duke blue devils are celebrating a men's college basketball title today. this was duke's youngest-ever championship team. and that has created some postgame controversy. >> all hail the duke university basketball team they wake up this morning as kings of the

college hardwood the blue devils rallied from a 9-point deficit early in the second half monday, to defeat the wisconsin badgers to take the 2015, ncaa men's basketball championship. >> this has been our one goal that we were working for, no matter if it was getting up extra shots or extra running, trying to get in better shape, or tough practices, just believing in one another, believing in coach. >> wisconsin is also deserving of it being a champion. and it was a game -- it was a heck of a game. >> but throwing a little cold water on the celebration are comments from wisconsin's coach. he said quote, every player that has played through our

program -- okay we don't do rent-a player. that was followed by a tweet from missouri senator who wrote: freshman scored 60 of duke's 68 points in the championship game that is a ncaa championship game record. tonight is the women's division i final. it is a song that has inspired theories about its meaning for decades. don mcclain's original manuscript for "american pie" sold for more than $1.2 million. and the singer song writer has hinted he may now reveal all of the secrets behind the tune.

i love this song but why does it attract so much attention. >> well first thing is it has so many odd lyrics. and people have put their own interpretation of the lyrics. he said it was about the death of buddy holly. i picked three lyrics this morning. while the king was looking down the gesture sold his thorny crown, and jack be nimble jack be quick that is supposed to be about president kennedy. we see optimism turning to despair at the end of it. there were estimates that the manuscript -- that bit was crossed out, it could have gone for $1.5 billion.

but in the end it sold for 1.2. and don mcclain said his family is not mercantile which is why he had to sell. >> so are we going to find out what it all means? >> he said that he will. but it could be -- and this has happened before that he actually only does to the buyer of the song. and it's kind of in his interest because this is a song that has been talked about since 1972 when it was a hit. >> is there a confident sheety agreement? >> no, no no. but he has said he will so we'll have to see. >> john ter rit thank you. i'm stephanie sy the news

continues next live from doha. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour. i'm in doha. here is what is coming up in the next 60 minutes. >> we know they are close. and they are watching us. and we have watching them. >> saudi arabia's forces train their eyes on the border as air strikes expand in yemen. in kenya students call for more security at universities after the garissa massacre last