gap is closing. al jazeera southern china. >> the latest global news headlines are up next for international viewers for those of you watching on the u.s., the latest news where you are. wherever you are there's lots more on our website as always, aljazeera.com. >> calls for protests in south carolina today after a white police officer is charged with murder for killing an apparently unarmed black man. >> change in ferguson, the city that sparked a national outcry over race and the police elects two new african-american city council members. >> a cyber attack on one of the nation's most secure networks. what may have been exposed and wipe the government blames russia.

>> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. i'm steph as i. this morning a white south carolina police officer is in jail charged with murder for shooting and killing a black man. the officer said he felt thread understand but a video appears to contradict that, showing the moment the officer shot the man trying to run away. we have more details. a lot of people waking up and watching this video. >> the surfacing of that video is a bombshell development that the officer had originally reported as justified. it all started over a minor traffic infraction. >> saturday, what started as a routine traffic stop for a broken tail light ended with officer michael slager shooting and killing walter scott the

driver. at the time, local citizens in south carolina called for calm. >> i don't want this to become another ferguson. i don't want more lives to be taken. >> newly released video seems to indicate otherwise, eight shots fired at a fleeing scott. he falls to the ground. though he is motionless, the officer places him in handcuffs. the officer immediately claims he felt threatened. >> shots fired subject is down. he grabbed my taser. >> he would later state in his report scott tried to gain control of his taser. the officer appears in the video to drop an object of some kind near scott's body. the official report on the incident said officer administered c.p.r. to scott but the video does not show

that. an attorney for the grieving family says what the voted does show is clear. >> this officer gunned down an unarmed man who was not a threat. >> shaken authorities in north charleston agreed. >> i can tell you that as the result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder. >> you know, i think that all these police officers on this force, men and women are like my children so you tell me how a father would react. >> scott's family is gratified the truth came out. >> i don't think that all police officers are bad cops, but there are some bad ones out there and i don't want to see anyone get shot down the way that my brother got shot down. >> what if there was no video? what if there was no witness or

hero as i call them to come forward? then this wouldn't have happened because as you can see, the initial report stated something totally different. >> the f.b.i. and the u.s. justice department are the civil rights division will join in this investigation. an attorney for scott's family said their intention is to file a civil last. there are protests planned today in front of north charleston's city hall. >> we have breaking news from afghanistan. nato troops were shot and an afghan soldier dead in jalalabad. there are reports that three u.s. soldiers are wounded. al jazeera's jennifer glasse is live in kabul. >> we don't know anything about the casualties, we do know what happened was inside the governor's compound.

the u.s. special representative was meeting with afghan governors. he had already left the compound by helicopter when an afghan soldier opened fire on u.s. soldiers and then that afghan soldier was shot dead. two other afghan soldiers were wounded in that incident. this happened in jalalabad inside the governor's compound, a very secure area and just after the u.s. mission had left. >> al jazeera's jennifer glasse, thank you. >> two out of three city council seats up for grabs in ferguson, missouri went to african-americans, the first time that has ever happened in the community. as diane he is at her brook reports, voters want a leadership change at the top. >> barbara said she wishes she

could elect a new mayor. >> i'm not happy with him. if someone comes to my door, i will sign a petition. >> she could get her wish. >> this is the petition that we're passing. >> nick and a group of ferguson residents are collecting names in a petition drive to recall mayor james knolls. >> what i am is a an advocate for good government in ferguson and in order to get the government in ferguson, some things are going to have to change. the mayor is one of those things. >> the mayor angered residents last summer when he said there wasn't a racial divide in his community after a white ferguson police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teen. he's come under fire for a federal report citing widespread racial bias in ferguson's police department and municipal court. that report led to the resignations of other city officials. at a recent forum city council candidates were divided on whether knolls should stay or

go. >> he's done a job that anyone in this room could have done much better with everyone attackerring him on a constant base. >> he had to know about the discriminatory culture or else he is incompetent. >> ferguson voters seemed equally divided. >> he's been the voice and sometimes i just vice president thought he had a good voice. >> the council including the mayor have worked be so hard and have been under so much pressure i just -- i think it's an insult to the community to be honest with you. >> knoll said he has no intention of stepping down and said he does not take this recall effort seriously. al jazeera ferguson, missouri. >> coming up in hour next hour, we'll speak with we seely bell, one of the newly elected members of the ferguson city council. >> chicago mayor rahm emanuel stepped off a challenge in a runoff election to win another

term. he won nearly 56% of the vote, topping cook county commissioner jesus garcia. he may have to close a $2 billion budget deficit at city hall as the city deals with pension costs. >> i have had the good fortune to serve two presidents. i've had the fortune are being elected to congress. being mayor of the city of chicago is the greatest job i've ever had and the greatest job in the world. you just saw an election between both a grandson of an immigrant and an immigrant which is my we are the greatest city in america. >> an exit poll showed chicago voters were divided about the issues facing the city. about a quarter said the city's budget was the most important topic. almost the same number said chicago's public schools and education was the top issue and another quarter mentioned crime. we have more now from chicago.

>> for both these capped dates voter turnout was essential. that was something both campaigns focused on in the last days and weeks getting out to talk to supporters. the numbers were higher than february 24 by the time all the ballots are counted according to the election commission, over 40% expected as the turnout. we saw a high number of early voters with over 142,000 voters casting their ballots early despite the easter holiday passover holiday and this weekend being the chicago public school spring break. in the end mayor rahm emanuel was able to hang on to the lead and take the election with a lead of double digits. >> a second day of deliberations today for the jury in the boston marathon bombing trial. dzhokar tsarnaev faces the death penalty. his lawyer said he was under the influence of his older brother and hope to avoid the death

penalty. >> in yemen sawed coalition war planes are hitting an air base in the south today targeting houthi rebels. the u.s. is stepping up sending weapons to the alliance. more are calling for a ceasefire. jordan is pushing a draft resolution to the u.n. today to try to stop the war from escalating. advocates in the u.s. say the obama administration needs to do more to get u.s. citizens out. the obama administration is optimistic that developing an agreement with iran will prevent it from having nuclear weapons. what happens if the talks fall through or the calculations on iran's nuclear capabilities are wrong. we have a report on the pentagon's plan b. >> if either international inspections or u.s. intelligence detects that iran is cheating on its promise to keep its nuclear program peaceful, that would trigger so-called snap back sanctions. if the economic pressure fails and iran gets the bomb, the u.s. would be left with two unappeal

options, go to war or rely on its unproven missile defenses. >> underlying the deal to curb iran's nuclear ambitions is the obama's administration insistence that under no circumstances can the u.s. allow iran to acquire nuclear weapons. the admiral in charge of defending the u.s. against foreign threats says he could live with a nuclear armed iran if he had to. >> in the case of iran, though don't have the capability today but if they moved it today, we could defend the nation with what we have today. >> the admiral said he has faith with the missile shield based in alaska and california designed to knock down incoming warheads before they can destroy american cities. the system was designed to defend against north korea which the u.s. believes already has the ability to arm its latest long-range missile with a nuclear warhead and lob it

toward the u.s. >> should one get airborne and come at us, i'm confident we will be able to knock it down. >> critics argue the anti missile technology is not ready for prime time. this you tube video produced by the union of concerned scientists depicts the basic concept as cartoonish, an expensive boondoggle that could be confused and defeat by as i am my larr balloons. >> i don't think a missile shield for the united states is something that will ultimately be workable, something that you would have enough reliability in to think that it was actually going to defend you. i think without that confidence, it puts very big limits on how useful such a system would be. >> an investigation by the los angeles times calmed the program a $10 billion bet gone bad. among the expensive failures cited by the newspaper, the sea based radar, which was designed to tell incoming warheads from

decase but has a field of vision so narrow, it's virtually useless. moth balled in 2013 with a price tag of $2.2 billion. the airborne laser a chemical laser mound on a 747 which would incinerate missiles shortly after launch. its short range requires it to fly too close to enemy air defenses. the program was deemed impractical and killed in 2012, costing $5.3 billion. admiral gordon is living with what he calls deficiencies, referring to flawed technology that was rushed into service without adequate testing. he insists those mistakes are not being repeated now as the u.s. spends tens of billions of dollars for better radar and more effective kill vehicles to destroy warheads in-transit. >> a hack on the white house.

what hackers gained access to. >> the cold winter in the northeast means a tough spring for allergy sufferers. how bad is it going to get and why climate change plays a role.

>> defense secretary ash carter kicked off his first tour of asia today. he's in japan to emphasize the alliance between the u.s. and tokyo. he's working to set up a plan for japan to play a bigger role in security in the region. he travels to south korea later this week. >> a federal judge in texas refuses to lift a temporary hold on the action on immigration saying he doesn't feel the president's order needs to be implemented immediately. >> air traffic controllers in france are on strike. 40% of flights have been canceled as a result. workers want better job and retirement conditions. long haul flights including to the u.s. are not affected. >> reports that russian hackers penetrated a white house computer network are raising concerns about the security of government servers this morning. national security officials insist the breach did not

compromise classified data. randall pinkston is here. good morning. this actually began at another department. >> the attack happened last october at the u.s. department of state. officials confirmed it at the time but the hackers apparently worked their way into a non-secure white house system. that is significant because the system in question is the executive office network and it stores president obama's private schedule. >> what about national security data? is that at risk? >> administration officials insist there is no risk to the national security data, because it is stored in a secure network where the government keeps top secret national security items. >> who are the hackers? >> according to unnamed officials, court according to the report, the hackerrion are russians. based on an analysis of malware software used in the attack, we are told it was russians. however, the white house is not confirming that conclusion, but

remember last year, c.i.a. director james clapper said that russia is a bigger cyber threat to the u.s. than china. >> thank you. >> you may notice your allergies are acting up. this spring may be an especially rough one. let's bring in nicole mitchell for today's environmental impact. i'm already feeling it. >> and you're not in the south where we really have it now. you hear people sniffling and sneezing. 20% of americans have some sort of seasonal allergy it might be higher this year. this spring is especially brutal. we had really that cold air for the eastern half of the country all the way through the south that lasted so long, so now all of a sudden that it warmed up, things are really exploding quickly. you can see especially through the deep south, we have high levels. this time of year is when the

trees are causing the most problems. later it's the grass and late summer the rag we'd. the varying temperatures can use a other impacts. when it goes from 30 to 60 or spend, it rev. up your immune system. later in the season, you'll become more hyper sensitive. there was a study last fall that said climate plays a role. with warmer air temperatures and higher number of frost-free days that starts plant growth earlier, leading to a longer pollen season. also pollution in the atmosphere helps some of those things grow bigger and faster and produce more pollens. the season could continue to be worse. >> in this morning's healthbeat, it's a new way of treating conditions like cancer, aids and arthritis. so-called bio similars are similar to expensive drugs at a

fraction of the cost. peru is a nation debating whether they should be legal. we report from lima. >> carlos's life is on a countdown. his colon cancer has expanded to his live. doctors tell him the only chance to live longer than two years may be with a biologic medicine treatment. >> the problem is i'm being treated in a public hospital and they are telling me that they can't give me the treatment because it's too expensei. >> the 50 dozes of medicine he needs costs more than $20,000. the bio similars may be produced in india china or south korea cost at least 30% less. thousands of concern patients like him can't get them, either, because many bio similars can't be sold in peru. a group from a pharmaceutical company has produced medicine has joined in to restrict sales

and ban the rental station of new ones. >> we don't want the state to give a green light to products that have no proven safety and effectiveness. >> critics say many of those drugs have already been certified by the u.s. food and drug administration. they say the pharmaceuticals here are only protecting their patents at the state's agency tribunal. >> if we were absolutely sure that this agency was reliable, not allowing itself to be pressured by lobbyists then we will feel comfortable, but that is not the case. it's been proven that their decisions are biased. >> the health care system is hard-hit. it buys 75% of all medicine and treats 93% have all cancer patients in the country. the high costs of biologic

treatments have pushed the system to the brink of collapse. >> for the first time here a health care policy is in the hands are judges and not medical experts. the state is prevented from buying medicine at low cost in order to treat more patients. >> a verdict that may law bio similar sales is months away. carlos is now into his second year with san r. cancer. he says whether it's biologic or bio similar he needs the medicine sooner rather than later to have a fighting chance at life. >> al jazeera lima, peru. >> coming up, some of the country's largest rivers are under threat because of our demand for cheap power.

a report said 10 rivers across the u.s. are at risk, pollution mining and dams among the

biggest threats. we look at one river that may be in trouble. >> the columbia river drains water from seven states and one canadian province, which brings drinking water to millions and helps irrigate 600,000-acres of crop land. 19 dams in oregon, washington and british columbia, many generating cheap electricity and helping power the region's economy. >> the river basin has been a benefit for this region, no question about it. a wild river should remain a wild river. >> it's been a long time since this was truly wild. the conservation group american rivers calls a string of dams a threat. it's number two on their list have endangered rivers. the group charges the way the dams have operated have changed the natural flows and rhythms of the river destroying legendary salmon runs wiping out a way of life. >> our villages have been flood said inundated by the dams and

the salmon runs nearly destroyed. we're making great progress bringing the fish back, but there's still a lot more to be done. there's been great damage dandy the dams. >> paul heads the intertribal fish commission made up of four major northwest tribes, lobbying hard for changes to the current international treaty which governs how the river is managed. the river treaty signed half a century ago by the u.s. and canada deals only with hydroelectric power and flood control. the group wants the ecosystem written into the treaty, which is currently under review in washington d.c. and ottawa. for the tribes, it's all about the fish. >> no what ther the decision, the tribes aren't going away. we're still focusing strongly on fish passage restoration to get fish into canada into the hands of tribes who have lost the salmon for decades. >> as of last september either

country can ask for renegotiation of the treaty. >> this will be a multiple year effort. we'll have to work through our state department on how we approach canada. >> uncertainty whether about river management will change is another reason american rivers rank the columbia so high. >> with modern laws that protect the environment and fish and wildlife and even the tribes right to fish, they have to come forward and pay for mitigation. there's no question about it. >> the army corps of engineers spends an estimated $80 million to $100 million a year on improving the chances for survival on the fish stocks. >> we're doing pretty good. we can always do better. >> while millions of people in the u.s. and canada have benefited from what is now a concrete and steel reality the modern colombia still needs managing. al jazeera portland, oregon.

>> for the third year in a row the university of connecticut is the champion in women's basketball. the husk skis knocked or notre dame for the title. his teams have never lost in a title game. he ties john wooden for the most championships by a coach in college basketball history congratulations to the huskies. >> tony harris is back in two minutes with more aljazeera america morning news. you can always get the latest original enterprise reporting on our website aljazeera.com. have a great day.

>> shootings between afghan and nato security forces moments after a u.n. ambassador leaves a meeting. we are live in kabul with the latest. >> a south carolina police officer facing murder charges for shooting a black man that was running away. >> in ferguson, missouri, votes of a more diversity council. we will talk with wesley bell,

one of the big winners. >> this is aljazeera america live from new york city. breaking news from afghanistan an afghan soldier has been shot dead after opening fire on u.s. troops. it happened in jalalabad after a meeting between a u.n. ambassador and afghan leaders. we are receiving reports of another casualty. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right tony, nato confirmed one of its soldiers were killed. the afghan police tell us the soldiers inside the governor's compound were american soldiers, nato and the american embassy not confirming that this morning, but it was the u.s. special representative meeting at that governor's mansion along with four afghan governors.

the special representative had just left in his helicopters when this afghan soldier opened fire on the international troops. we now know one of those international troops has been killed. the afghan soldier who opened fire was killed and two other afghans wounded. we're not sure any other casualties nato tends to keep these things under wraps until they can notify next of kin and notify also the host countries. >> remind us if you would how large i guess the nato presence in afghanistan at this point? >> 12,000 troops. half of those are americans. there's another 4,000 u.s. troops who aren't part of the nato mission who are part of a count at her terrorism mission that can operate outside of the nato structure here in the country. these kind of attacks are called green on blue, because the

afghan army color is gene and nato blue. there were four people killed last year. this death today brings that number to four. three u.s. contractors were killed in january. there are for fewer traps than in 2012 when nato had about 100,000 seal injuries here. >> jennifer, appreciate it. >> a south carolina police officer is under arrest after the fatal shooting of a black man this weekend. a witness recorded the moment when officer michael slager opened fire on the fleeing suspect. john siegenthaler has the disturbing details. >> the details of saturday's incident according to the report were straightforward. he felt threatened by a suspect and fired his weapon to end the threat. it didn't jive with newly released vote. some of you may find this video disturbing. >> saturday, what started as a routine traffic stop for a broken tail light ended with

officer michael slager shooting and killing the driver, 50-year-old walter scott. at the time, local citizens in north charleston, south carolina called for calm. >> i don't want this to become another ferguson. i don't want more lives to be taken. >> hopefully it was done for the right reasons, you know. >> newly released video seems to indicate otherwise. [ gunfire ] >> eight shots fired at the back of a fleeing scott who reportedly had already been hit with a taser. he falls to the ground. though scott is motionless, slater places him in handcuffs anyway. the officer immediately claims he felt threatened. >> dispatch, shots fired subject is down. he grabbed my taser. >> slager would later state in his report scott tried to gain control of his taser. while no weapon was found on scott, slager appears in the video to drop an object of some kind near scott's body. the official report on the

incident said officers administered c.p.r., but the video did not show that. an attorney for the grieving family said what the video shows is clear. >> this officer gunned down an unarmed man who was not a threat. >> shaken authorities agreed. >> i can tell you that as the result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder. >> i think that all of these police officers on the force men and women are like my children so you tell me how you a father would react. >> scott's family is gratified the truth came out. >> we can't get my brother back and my family is in deep mourning for that, but through the process of justice has been

served. >> what if there was no video? what if there was no witness or hero as i call them, to come forward? then this wouldn't have happened because as you can see, the initial reports stated something totally different. >> slager joined the department in 2009. he was denied bond tuesday. the attorney who put out a statement defending slager a day earlier has dropped slager as a client. >> the f.b.i. and u.s. justice department civil rights division have also joined into the investigation. an attorney for scott's family said their intention is to file a civil lawsuit and there are protests planned for today right in front of north charleston's city hall. tony. >> amazing. john henry smith thanks. >> the shooting is trending on line this morning under the hash tag walter scott. here's a sampling. ben writes that it takes a video to make justice possible should

enrage us. another user asks, how many more black people have to be turned into a hash tag? dante barry executive director of the million hoodies movement wrote this with the hash tag black lives matter, this movement is getting stronger by the day. the more y'all keep killing us, the more organized we become. >> walter scott's family spoke just moments ago his mother and brother say police first told them walter was killed after being tased by officer slager. they say the video clearly showed a different story. >> when i looked at that tape, that was the most horrible thing i've ever seen. i am very, very upset concerning it. i almost couldn't look at it, to see my son running

defenselessly. they shot and it just tore my heart to pieces. i pray that this never happens to another person. this has got to stop. >> walter scott had been arrested 10 times mostly for failing to pay child support. according to the post and courier, two of those arrests were an assault charges. >> voters in ferguson, missouri are wake i go up to major changes in the city's leadership after adding two african-americans to the city council. little the first time that's ever happened in the majority black community. ferguson has been gripped by protests over race and excessive use of force by police. for many voters, this is just a start. >> voters in ferguson, missouri cast ballots for three new city council members. barbara bristol said she wished she could also elect a new mayor. >> i am not happy with him and i haven't had a chance to sign a

petition but if someone comes to my door, i will sign a petition. >> bristol could get her wish. >> this is the actual petition we're passing. >> nick and a group of residents are collecting names in a drive to recall mayor james neal. >> what i am is an advocate for good government in ferguson and in order to get good government in ferguson, some things are going to have to change. the mayor is one of those things. >> knolls in his second term angered some residents last summer when he said there wasn't a racial divide in his community after an officer shot an unarmed black teen. he's come under fire in a federal report for issue citing racial bias in the police department and municipal court. city council candidates were divided over whether knolls should stay or go. >> he's done a job that i don't think anyone in this room could have done much better with

everyone attacking him on a constant base. >> he had to know about the discriminatory culture or else he is in competent. there's no way around this. >> ferguson voters seem equally divided. >> he's been the voice and sometimes i just haven't thought every had a good voice. >> the council and including the mayor have worked be so hard and have been under so much pressure i just think of it's an insult to the community to be honest with you. >> knolls said he has no intention of stepping down and does not take this recall effort seriously. al jazeera ferguson, missouri. >> wesley bell won one of those city council seats in the election and joins us live from st. louis. wesley councilman elect bell,

congratulations. >> thank you. i am honored and humbled and so appreciative. >> what does your election signify for the city of ferguson and put that aside for a second. what does it signify for you and your family, what does it mean for you personally? >> for me, personally, it's more about my supporters, my staff my volunteers, who worked their tails off to make this happen. it was all about community engagement. it was all about public service. everything we did had those goals in mind, and the fact that we got a record number of people has have come out to the polls and our ward is indicative of the positive response of that message. >> community engagement. what did you say? what did you run on? >> that's it. our entire campaign, as we like to calm it, our entire movement

was about public service and oftentimes our public servants forget that part of the title. they forget the service part. as a result, everything that we did was about getting people involved making them feel valid, making them feel a part of the pros. as barack obama showed, when people feel that way they come out in support. now, we're far from the in connection that president obama was able to pull, but hey for ward three this was a record turnout. >> there you go. mr. bell i wonder if you forgive the long winded question here but i'm driving at something here. i wonder if you had a moment to reflect on selma alabama in the aftermath of your election. here's what i mean by it. it took the nation watching blacks being beaten at the foot of the bridge in selma for president johnson to get the voting rights act passed. did it take the police shooting of an unarmed black teen and a

real convulsion of protest in that city, some violent to get people in ferguson, particularly african-americans to vote for this coffee change? >> i'm hesitant, i'm hesitant to compare to selma. what people had today those who were during that movement, the civil rights movement, it was different. it was a lot different. there's some comparisons no question but the people who were out there, they have to be concerned with life or death. i mean the people out there who just wanted to peacefully protest. now, there are some issues that particularly young blacks and young minorities have to deal with and people in poor communities have to deal with, but in selma we saw the picture. we saw what happened to just a

person who just wanted to simply express their right to be heard. i'm hesitant to compare them, but there are some, there are some comparisons. >> mr. bell, the justice department in its report, i know you've had a chance to look at it found discrimination against african-americans in that city on an industrial scale. i think you'd agree with me on that. do you feel a personal responsibility moving forward to do something about it and what is that something? >> that implies that i haven't or we haven't done anything about it prior and i can say that we have. those are reforms those are ideas that we've been pushing for years as teachers at st. louis community college. we have a lot of active colleagues starting with lee ron dewill con terry freeman wendell covington these people

get out do community outreach. that's something we've been doing for years. now we have a larger forum to do it. >> exactly. you've got your hands on the gears of power now, you can impact more change, i would think. you've got to agree with that. >> politics is supposed to be about helping people and that's what we intend to do. >> i'm curious as to what day one looks like for you on the job. what do you see as your top priorities? i'm thinking as i ask this question the city is trying to reach an agreement with the justice democratic on reforming that department. history tells us that those reforms traditionally can be expensive for communities. how badr ferguson's finances and how much worse could they become now that the city is no longer attempt to go balance its books through fines particularly on the backs of black people? >> well, let me get sworn in, then i'll have a little bit

better idea of where we are financially. from what i do know, we'll be ok. we'll be ok. with respect to some of of the things that i want to do first is that i want and i've been and i ran on this, and it was about community oriented policing and police reform. we have two openings that i intend to be very active in filling, and i think with my background i'm someone who can enhance that process, you know, community oriented -- whatever chief we bring in in ferguson, they need to be about the community. i don't think a police department should be judged by how many tickets, i would have him be judged by how many people he knows in his community. it's about information going two ways not just implementing policy but getting the

community's input on that policies so that the public are the police and the police are the public, as we're referring back to nine principles of policing who cradled the first police department. >> one more question, you just mention the the new police chief will be coming in. there are a number of people who people the mayor should go and you should be soon looking for a new mayor. in the piece that ran just before you there was a line about the discrimination culture in ferguson and that the mayor should have known about it. do you have a view of whether the mayor should stay or go? >> my position is that i'm going to work with whoever's on the council and whoever's filling that seat. if we're going to talk about community building and bringing people together, we can't do it only when it's easy. even during the difficult times we have to hold back our arrows, hold bag the daggers. i need the support of my fellow council members and so, whatever the mayor decides to

do as long as it's in the best interest of ferguson, we're going to work together toward driving the city forward. we're not going to get into the back and forth and the negative. that's what my constituents said to me, and not just me. when my supporters came to vote, so often i heard we appreciate the positive message. we appreciate that you're trying to bring people together, so i'm not going to stop that now. that's what i ran on and that's what a record number of people came out and supported us. >> wesley bell, congratulations. talk to you again soon. >> thank you very much. >> it's another four years in office for chicago mayor rahm emanuel. he won last night's runoff election against cook county commissioner jesus garcia, hoping to become the first latino mayor. emmanuel thanked his supporters. >> i have had the good fortune to serve two presidents.

i've had the fortune of being elected to congress. being mayor of the city of chicago is the greatest job i've ever had and the greatest job in the world. you just saw an election between both a grandson of an immigrant and an immigrant which is why we are the greatest city in america. >> an exit poll shows chicago residents were divided over the most important issues facing their city. about a quarter said the state of the city's finances was the most important. almost the same number said chicago's public schools and education was the top issue. another quarter mentioned crime. al jazeera reports now from chicago. >> for both candidates, voter turnout was essential something that both campaigns focused on in the last days and weeks getting out to talk to supporters pushing them to the polls. the numbers were higher than february 24. by the time all the ballots were

counted, over 40% is expected as the turnout. we saw a high number of early voters with over 142,000 voters casting their ballots early despite challenges with the pass overholiday, easter holiday and this week being the chicago public schools spring break. in the end mayor rahm emanuel was able to hang on to that lead and able to take this election with a lead of double digits. >> national security officials insist government computers are secure after hackers breached state department and then white house servers last fall. we have more on this. >> the analysis is based on the hacker reports based on an analysis of the malware used in the attack. the breach which lasted for days has officials defending how the government protects sensitive data. >> the hacking attack originated at the state department last october, forcing computers to shut down. >> we've spoken to the fact that

there was an event last year. >> what was not revealed was that the hackers apparently then worked their way to the white house, penetrating one of two computers systems. the hack system called the executive office network i guess used by the white house advance and press offices, as well as the general counsel's office. it's used to exchange sensitive information about white house activities including the penalty's private schedule. deputy national security advisor ben rose took pains to appointment out that the classified network home to national security data, was not breached. >> we have classified systems that are secure and we take regular precautions to secure our unclassified networks, as well. >> the attack raises questions about just how secure the nation's computer infrastructure is. >> there's always vulnerability. there's less risk on the classified system.

on the unclassified system, we take action to prevent vulnerability. >> the white house won't confirm the attack was carried out tabi russians. according to reports the breach was difficult to detect and they cannot rule out that the hackers may still be inside the system. >> president obama recently order add new sanctions program to could block a sets of u.s. and foreign hackers and companies that seek to profit from cyber attacks. >> up next, more countries calling for a ceasefire in yemen as civilians are doing everything they can to try to escape the fighting. of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. weeknights, on al jazeera america .

>> welcome to al jazeera america. here's a look at today's top stories. defense secretary ash carter kicked off his tour of asia in japan to emphasize the alliance between the u.s. and tokyo and set up a plan for japan to play a bigger role in security in the region. >> kansas is now the first state in the country to ban a common second trimester abortion. the new law takes effect july 1. two abortion rights groups are

considering a challenge. >> it is the oil and gas industry's biggest deal in a decade shell agreed to buy b.g. group for $70 billion. that company does oil and gas exploration. analysts say the deal is an attempt to close the gap on the world's largest oil company exxon mobil. >> in yemen saudi coalition are targeting houthi rebels in the south as the u.s. steps up sending weapons to the alliance. more countries are calling for a ceasefire. jordan is pushing a draft resolution today to try to stop the war from escalating. >> bombs from the sky light the night over yemen. airstrikes by the saudi arabian led coalition have entered a third week. they haven't defeated houthi

rebels with forces loyal to the former president ali abdullah saleh took control of the country in a coup earlier this year. they engage in street to street battles. the fiercest fighting is in aden a stronghold for hadi supporters that was also his time safe haven before he was forced to leave for saudi arabia. civilians are suffering the most. it's difficult to get an independent figure of how many have been killed, but there are pictures of people injured and killed by that the airstrikes, as well as by the houthis. on the border crossing with saudi arabia are people trying to escape. >> actually, the situation is getting worse. the company advised us to leave. >> i live in the center of sanna, close to military bases. i had to flee. there were several air strikes. it was terrifying.

>> despite calls by several governments for aid to be allowed into yemen and assurances by saudi arabia that it will facilitate the arrival of aid and workers, very little has been able to enter the country. the fighting on the ground coupled with the bombardment from the air means for now the one thing in constant supply is violence. >> taking a look now at today's agenda, president obama heads to jamaica to meet with leaders of caribbean countries. he is the first american president to visit the island in nearly 30 years. a former bosnian certain general learns his fate today from the international criminal tribunal. he was sentenced to life for war crimes in the 1995 massacre. >> hundreds of flights con cred in france, air traffic controllers on strike fighting for better working and retirement conditions. >> up next on this program this morning, greece's prime minister

visits recognition president vladimir putin one day before greece has to pay off its bailout. russia insists it is not offering cash to help out. >> i'm in california's central valley, taking a closer look at how precious a commodity water has become because of the drought. drought.

>> a white police officer in south carolina who shot and killed a white man is held without bond on murder charges. a video shows him shooting walter scott several times. scott runs away and falls down. he was unarmed. >> a second day of deliberation in the boston marathon bombing trial. dzhokar tsarnaev's lawyer painted him as an accomplice in the attack and his brother as

the mastermind. >> in chicago, rahm emanuel won a second term, taking nearly 60% of the vote to win against jesus garcia. >> in today's money beat, greece's prime minister is in a meeting today with vladimir putin. russia said it's willing to help. what does that mean? how have the conversations gone so far? >> with he don't know yet. we know that alexis tsipras and vladimir putin disappeared into start their meeting over an hour ago. they haven't emerged yet they haven't held a press conference yet. we'll have to wait and see what comes out of that, was. speculation flying around before this meeting is about what might

be being talked about. one of the things the russians were mentioning was that possibly there could be some kind of gesture to boost greek-russian trade relations. probably that's a shorthand for lifting the sanctions basically the embargo russian placed on all european fruits and vegetables and fresh produce greece might be given an exemption to that, possibly given an energy package to make costs more affordable. >> tsipras has his beg beggar's bowl out, he's looking for money and courting all comers, the chinese, the russians, whoever may have dollars to help him isn't he? >> the greeks insist that isn't

the case, that yes, they have many many financial economic debt problems, but they want to resolve those problems within the euro zone, so yes, there is a kind of doomsday scenario to the european union sees where greece basically defaults on its loans, leaves the euro zone, runs to russia for help, russia bails it out and greece is beholden to russia and greece has to use its veto to benefit russia within the european union. the greeks insist they are not coming to russia for money specifically that they are doing it for trade relations and that kind of thing not any kind of bare faced bailout is not what they say. >> how are european leaders reacting to what some describe

as this bit of grandstanding by tsipras? >> well, they don't like it, and certainly alexis tsipras got a bit of a warning from the european parliament president martin schultz before he made this trip, basically awarding to tsipras did not break the e.u. line the party line, really, on russian sanctions. bear in mind, he can go there and negotiate bilateral trade relations and all that sort of thing, but remember, that you are a member of the euro zone, a member of the european union and we have a common foreign policy particularly when it comes to russia and particularly when it comes to sanctions. the european union is worried there might go discord on that front. >> let's bring in greek

political analyst and director of the think tank bridging europe. what is tsipras doing in russia, what is his real agenda and please don't tell me this is about embargoes and fruit. >> actually, hello thanks for the invitation, actually from the very first day, it was tsipras top priority in foreign policy to grow the relations outside the european union. they have already been met in china, the foreign minister has met the chinese delegate there. actually it's an effort of the government after seven years of strict austerity to broaden some trade and economical issues with countries outside the european union. >> what does he want to

demonstrate with these relationships that he can operate outside of the e.u.? >> not at all. greece is committed to stay in the european union and euro zone. it's actually an effort to create some partnership in the energy field with russia, and also to develop trade relations with kremlin. as you know, there's the sanction going on between the -- against the agricultural groups of the e.u., and what -- they have been hit by these sanctions and already the minister of foreign affairs have been objecting to further sanctions against russia. it's an effort to broaden possibilities of income for the weak economy. >> we both know that greece is

in a very difficult spot here. greece needs money is greece going to make this loan repayment to the i.m.f. tomorrow or not? >> tomorrow, you are talking about tomorrow, the payment on the i.m.f. >> absolutely. is it going to make the payment or not? >> yeah. i think -- i'm definitely positive that it will do so. today was a successful auction of government bonds, six months bonds that were sold on 1,200,000,000 euro. he i believe that there is a capacity from the economy to make the repayments on the i.m.f. from a broader perspective it's very difficult for greece to be consistent on paying its debt, because it's huge. it's immense and actually, it's putting the economy more deep

into recession. i think that in the coming weeks, there might be a discussion also, in the group about how to restructure or deal with the greece's public debt. >> that conversation i believe is set to take place beginning april 24. the director of the athens based think tank in europe. good to talk to you appreciate your time. >> a federal judge in texas is refusing to lift a temporary hold on president obama's executive action on immigration saying the justice department has not shown any reason why the president's order needs to be implemented immediately. it would prevent millions of immigrants from being deported. >> the penalty has said he's in the fourth quarter of his term. there's one word the white house

is reluctant to use the legacy. one issue the environment, the white house has not been shy about saying this presidency has been historic. some environmentalists do not agree. >> it's not just the direct cost to the environment but a danger to human health. >> there are a whole host of public health impacts that are going to hit home. >> mr. obama says climate change contradict to say asthma, allergies and heat related deaths. it's the latest in a campaign to build support for his environmental poses. a coordinated effort by a president who has invested political and financial capitol in building a green legacy. new restrictions on coal fired plant emissions increased fuel efficiency standards. environmentalists see two sides of president obama the one who

sets lofty girls as in a 2013 speech. >> the question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it's too late. >> and another president obama who health fulfilled the promise. >> then he opens up new lands for leasing and encouraging more fossil fuel exports. he has been a real disappointment unfortunately. we would have liked to have seen more. >> critics site new export licenses for natural gas apartment for the first time in years, increases in crude oil exports. in response to the critics the whites house said the president's record speaks for itself. >> has the president been a green president? has he done all that he can to address climate change? >> i think that is an indication of the president's conviction only issue but it's also why the president is going to go down in history as the greenest president we've ever had. >> new administration rules on fracking have angered advocates

on both sides. polls suggest alternative energy i guess viewed as a more important priority, and expanding the exploration of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. american manufacturers spay the new rules makes it harder to compete. >> imposing very, verge cost with correspondingly not so large benefits. the balance is off and it makes it harder for us to do our jobs on the international stage. >> not all environmentalists are down on mr. obama and his report. on the question of fracking, some of realists. >> we do think goes drilling is not something that's going to end today or tomorrow and something we should do responsible. that means action, there are thousands of operators out there drilling for oil and gas in the united states. they need standards to make sure that everyone is playing by the same set of rules. >> others see an administration that began with promise but the results have been a mixed bag.

>> done a lot of great things, but it's not only not nearly enough but he's done some really bad things for the environment, as well. >> the next controversial issue the amount of ozone in the atmosphere the administration is in the process of putting out new rules to limit those emissions, a major cause of health problems. >> new data on california's drought shows the state is doing a pretty bad job cutting back on water. residentsresidents saved less water than at any time since last summer. some places, there is increased water usage. the governor has called on resident to say cut consumption by 25%. >> the drought in california's one example of the issues affecting our fragile planet, as melissa chan tells us now many farmers face the choice of grow crops or sell their water.

>> chances are you've eaten produce grown with water from the reservoir in california. that's one way california's drought touches all americans. >> the last 18 months have been extraordinarily difficult. the situation now is desperate truly desperate. >> another dry season means farmers have tough choice to make let more land lie follow or try buying water. >> we're having to compete for what is very limited resource. we're seeing price unprecedented this year, and it's really just rive of how often bad the situation is. >> rural california's purchasing power might lose out to los angeles. the water district of southern california said it's the world's largest provider of drinking water, serving 19 million people. >> they authorized me to buy $7 million worth of water from

rice farmers in northern california. we're hopeful that will turn out. it's unclear. if this weather stays this dry they probably won't have water to sell. >> steve is one of the rice farmers who might have water to sell. planting starts in a few weeks. the sale dependency on water allocation which he's waiting to hear back on. >> if we don't get full allocation from lake orville in our case, we won't sell anything. if we do get full allocation, which doesn't look like it will happen right now, we would sell, we would create the opportunity as a district to sell up 220%. >> it would mean the transfer of water from one drought plagued part of the state to another. here's what's holding up a deal. it's where the rice farmers draw their water. >> we're at lake orville, one of the major reservoirs in the state. look at the brown band behind

me. that is actually a water mark. the top of that band is where the water level used to be. take a look at the house boats and how low they're sitting in the water. lake orville is half empty because of the drought. >> with levels so low bidders may bid for water but the drought means farmers who usually have that extra water might not have anymore to spare and the cost of water continues to climb. >> we used to pay $200 to buy water from familiarers. this year, it cost us $700 and there was very little for sale. >> that's for each acre foot or half an olympic sized swimming sized swim pool. such price might tempt rice farmers from planting, but most water districts limit how much water they may sell. most come from multi general reactional farm families who care about the long term success of the industry. >> we've got a whole

infrastructure that only survives if we keep farming plus that's just what we do. we farm. >> with farmers across the state changing their calculus on how much water to buy and sell and how much or little to plant the drought may soon show its impact beyond the farm to the table. central valley, colorado. >> violent storms are moving across the country in the midwest and west coast. let's bring in nicole mitchell. you're tracking this for us. >> you mentioned the west coast. this was part of what moved through california. the rain was den official, but then we saw sights like this, an actual funnel cloud seen near the sacramento area, which for california this isn't really the place we typically see this, does not appear this made it to the ground, but now this is moving interior. getting back to the map this i also today's outlook the most enhanced risk anywhere from oklahoma up through about

missouri. we are seeing that, we'll get to that in a sect and tomorrow as the front moves along moves a little more centered, at least the enhanced risk around illinois but anywhere in the yellow, we could see spots of the severe weather. hail is the primary risk, but can't rule out a few tornadoes. we had a couple yesterday not causing too much damage, in kansas. blue pings are mostly hail reports, over 100 yesterday of severe weather and then the risk goes up today and into tomorrow. here's the radar and where we have activity right now, all right looking at some of that severe weather. we get indiana and missouri, the primary risks this morning are hail and some possible winds bub as i said, as the day goes on and everything continues to fire up, more of the tornado risks. this morning, if you have the car outside you might want to move it back in the garage. >> get a move on, too. nicole appreciate it, thank

you. >> huge numbers of sea lions converged on an oregon river to feast on salmon. they are a great draw for tourists. it is a different story entirely for salmon and the people who fish them. >> record numbers of california sea lions canning degree gating in oregon. they are showing up all up and down the coast malnourished and dying, but here are fat and happy. they've been chasing and eating a record smelt run. that has faded out now and fishery experts war we that these see loy i don't knows are going to stick around and feed on the spring chinook. >> to me, they seem very well. these animals are looking between 600 to 800 pounds, so most have doubled their weight. >> there are survey teams like the crew in this boat here in

the lower columbia river trying to see the population of the sea lions now. there are twice as many as last year, 10 times as five years ago. one of the big questions now is how many of those sea lions are going to move upstream. >> 145 miles inland, this is the first big barrier that salmon and seal hit coming up river. they congregate along the finish ladders and easy meals for hungry sea lions who could damage fish populations. federal permits have been received in years to euthanize the worst offenders the sea lions that keep coming back and eating and 60 have been killed in the last couple of years. there may be more of that this summer too with the huge concentration of sea lions we're seeing at the mouth of the

river. critics say these animals are scape goaded, blamed for something they shouldn't be blamed for that the dams and development human beings are really much more of a threat to fish populations. >> why do you think we're making the sea lions the fall guy? >> it's easier to blame them than to blame humanles for what humans are doing. >> it's a balancing act here, a familiar one and there may be a lot more at stake this year with the numbers of sea lions settling in on the colombia to feed. al jazeera along the clem bei can't river. >> you can watch his entire report tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. >> a daily show correspondent on fighting prejudice. we talk to him about his new show about muslim americans and how he plans on dealing with surveillance and racial profiling one punch line at a time.

>> welcome to al jazeera america. fire crews this morning investigating a huge fire in los angeles on the fifth floor of this office building. two people were briefly trapped.

the building did not have sprinklers installed. >> russian hackers are blamed for a breach of the white house computer network. the system stores president obama's private schedule. >> investors keeping a close eye on twitter. its stock soared tuesday on rumors google may be looking to buy the social media company. >> using humor to fight racism. the daily show's commentator sat down with us. >> we've done a version of this five years ago on the daily show. i was approached to do something in the space of, you know, something i cared about an issue-based sort of thing.

i thought the thing i've been dealing with a lot in terms of all the crazy people i've been talking to on the daily show is the fear of muslims in america since 9/11. so i thought it would be great to take that, you know, sort of little sketch that we did on the daily show and turn it into a web series where we actually focus on some of these issues, you know, cyber bullying, you know in filtration of mosques and community centers by the f.b.i. and, you know, protesting the building of mosques, things like this in a humorous way and take on the american sitcom and present the all american family, but they were muslim. >> when you talk about this issue on the daily show, what kind of reaction do you get? >> there are many american muslims who feel there's an underrepresentation of this voice out there in the american media. there isn't -- when i got on the

daily show, i was one of the few muslim americans on national television in the media dealing with these issues. >> that was a big deal. >> it was a big deal. for many muslim americans, it was a big deal that there was somebody speaking about these issues from a point of view that was not the fox news point of view. >> you were making fun of many people in america. >> yeah. >> i believe you described them as crazier earlier. >> there are definitely people who get their information and it's not their fault the media and politicians have highjacked this issue and taken it and used it for their own purposes. it's not the average american's fault sitting at home watching. if all your information about muslims comes from fox news, of course you're scared. that's your reaction, a logical reaction but that's not the only version of who american muslims are and what islam is

about. we are satirizing the absurdity of racism and bigotry. it goes into the idea of because look if it's -- whether it's islamaphobia or anti-semitism it's the same thing. >> big changes at the daily show. >> i know, yes. >> how does that impact, what's it going to mean for the show? >> i mean who knows? i mean, it's very exciting, you know i mean, it's sad i mean nobody wants to see john leave but he's decided to leave and trevor's going to come in, and i think it's going to be interesting. it's going to be interesting to see what trevor does with the show. he's much more of a global sort of personality in terms of like he's been a known standup comedian for a long time. i think it will be a more global perspective to the show. >> tony, back to you. >> a three-peat for the

university of connecticut women's basketball team, earning their third ncaa title in a row. it was a rematch of last year's national title game, also a milestone or the you con coach his 10th championship >> we have to work really, really hard to make it look easy. sometimes people watch us play and they think that it just comes easy. every day this team just kept working and working. they deserve everything they have. they really do. >> his teams have never loft in a championship game. he is tied with john wooden for the most coaching tights in basketball history. coming up, the latest on an afghan soldier opening fire on u.s. troops in jalalabad. one u.s. soldier is reported to be among the dead. thanks for watching.

>> no nonsense new york city police commissioner william bratton >> they just respected this department >> restoring trust... >> it's going to be difficult... >> modernizing the force... >> this is going to be a revolutionary year >> protecting lives... >> the technologies we have available to us are phenomenal >> every sunday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping. inspiring. entertaining. talk to al jazeera. only on al jazeera america.

>> welcome relief, aid arrives for those caught in the middle of the war in yemen. >> a white u.s. police officer is charged with murder after shooting a black man in the back. plus seeking new friends to avoid economic collapse. we look at why the greek prime minister has traveled to moscow. >> find out later why it's all smiles at this ebola treatment center in liberia.