of chile's 90 active volcanos and while there has been no lava yet, authorities are watching this reception closely. and you can watch up on that story and all of the news we're covering any time by checking out our website. that is aljazeera.com. >> on behalf of the united states government i offer our deepest apologies to the families. >> the president offers condolences after two hostages held by al-qaeda were killed in a counter terrorism operation. david petraeus is being sentenced today, but he is not expected to serve prison time. and today the united states senate votes on whether loretta

lynch should be in charge of the department of justice. ♪ welcome to al jazeera america live from new york. i'm randall pinkston. in an emotional statement at the chooits this morning, president obama offered his deepest apologies to the families of who hostages accidentally killed in a u.s. drone strike. they died in january at a suspected al-qaeda camp. the u.s. citizen, warren weinstein was held since 2011. the italian was abducted in 2012. mike viqueira is live in washington. mike this incident took place nearly four months ago. why do you this there was a delay in acknowledgment by the obama administration? >> reporter: it's a great question randall, and one of the outstanding ones we expect

to here from the white house in a daley briefing. but we know about the situation on the border there between pakistan and afghanistan, and it is ruled by outlaws, literally. the tribal areas now subject to a pakistani army push an offensive against many of the groups that make their home there, driving many of the fighters into afghanistan, this as the united states is trying to withdraw from afghanistan, relying on its afghan partners to stand up and do the job there. the question becomes what kind of assets does the united states have on the ground in that area in order to identify exactly what happened? over the coming hours and days that is surely going to be pieced together. meanwhile it was a rueful and somber president obama who appeared in an unscheduled appearance this morning, and

announced what he called the inadvertent killing of dr. warren weinstein, the american who had been held captive for about three years. the president apologized for the strike that he said was a mistake, he said all of the protocols were followed. here is a little bit of what the president had to say. >> it's a cruel and bitter truth that in the fog of war generally, and our fight against terrorists specifically mistakes sometimes deadly mistakes can occur. but one of the things that sets america apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional, is our willingness to confront scarily our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes. >> reporter: the white house mentioned in separate air

strikes two americans who were fighting with al-qaeda were also killed in u.s. counter terrorism operations. >> mike do we know anything about the response of the families of the hostage victims? >> reporter: well we do. elaine weinstein is dr. weinstein's widow, she has been very public leading for her husband's return. you recall the release of bo bergdahl when five prisoners were released to theireda third-party, and at that time the weinstein family being very vocal saying why can't we do the same for our husband, father and grandfather. those who took warren captive

over three years ago bare ultimate responsibility. i can assure you, that he would still be alive and well if they had allowed him to return home. the crowd ardly actions of those who took warren captive and ultimately to the place and time of his death are not in keeping with islam, and they will have to face their god to answer for their actions. so the family the widow not holding the administration responsible. >> thank you, mike viqueira. now to another developing story. general david petraeus learning his sentencing for his leaking of top secret information. let's go to robert ray, who is live in charlotte, north carolina. robert petraeus is expected to take a plea deal.

what could that mean for sentencing sentencing? >> reporter: good afternoon, randall. indeed here is the plea deal filed in charlotte on march 3rdrd. this means the lawyers of the united states government are not recommending prison time. they are recommending a $40,000 fine that the general would have to pay within one week of sentencing, and two years of probation. the judge could decide you know i don't want to go into this plea deal. i want to give him the maximum sentence. that would mean one year of prison time five years of probation, and a $100,000 fine. but all of the analysts think this plea deal will occur this afternoon about 2:00 when the sentencing begins. if we look at some of the charges that general petraeus is pleading guilty to many are pretty interesting.

eight of his notes that he wrote, his time in afghanistan, the highly confidential material reportedly included identities of covert intelligence officers and war strategy even notes from high-level security meetings, so these are things that clearly the government does not want anyone to see. his mistress and the biographer, did not include any information from those books in the biography, but nonetheless on principal he shared it when he shouldn't have. randall? >> what could the sentence handed down mean for other people who have been accused of leaking documents? >> reporter: that's a great question. we know the obama administration has really come down hard on whistleblowers over the course of his two terms here. and it's interesting that general petraeus the former cia

director was held in very high regard by the obama administration, still consults them and in fact some military analysts call him one of the top ten generals ever in the history of the u.s. so the fact that they are entering into a plea deal has a lot of critics saying this sets a bad example going forward for anyone else that may want to share classified documents or leak them. we look at one instance of the obama administration pursued government leaks by the cia analyst, john curico also called a whistleblower, that person is now serving a 30-month sentence in prison whereas, you know expected today general david petraeus will likely take this plea deal and have no prison time. randall? >> thank you. in washington the senate is hours away from a vote on loretta lynch's nomination for

attorney general. libby casey is live in washington. libby what is going on in the senate right now? >> reporter: randall, senators are making their final arguments for and against loretta lynch's confirmation. democrats have been pushing for this day for a long time. this has been held up for more than five months. she has waited longer than the last seven attorney general nominates put together. we're hearing from democrats eager to be part of this moment in history, to see the fist african american woman attorney general confirm this afternoon. we're also hearing from republicans who are pushing back saying less about loretta lynch herself, and more about their disapproval of the justice dp, and the obama administration, and we are likely to see a close vote

randall. >> do you think there's concern that there may not be enough votes to confirm the nomination? >> reporter: that's a great question. but not at this point, because five republicans have signaled that they do plan to join with the democrats and independents to support her. that's the magic number needed. look for it to happen this this -- afternoon. they took the last procedural hurdle to get a final vote. european leaders say they are committing new reforces to the migration crisis in the mediterranean. they are at a emergency meeting called after last week's deadly shipwreck. the united nations urged europe to take in more refugees and step up rescue operations. lawrence lee has more. >> reporter: the purpose of the meeting from the points of view of the european leadership was

to try to make it look as if they were in control of events. but in terms of getting on top of it from their point of view what they are not prepared to do is turn this crisis into an opportunity for much bigger resettlement programs even the notional idea for the united nations that rich countries could resettle runs of thousands of people but they were saying the only two countries in the meeting today that were at all interested in bigger proposals have been germany and sweden. so any ideas of redrawing immigration policies are for another day. that was a topic of discussion today. but the immediate concern for them is to try to argue that saving lives is the priority and to do that we need to stop people getting on the boats in the first place. in their terms they would say that's their major priority but

suppose you are watching any of these things un -- from africa and you think, well really is blowing boats up actually the best response that europe can do? it doesn't look like a very warm welcome. saudi arabia says an end to the violence in yemen is now in the hands of the houthis. the saudi ambassador to the u.s. says a diplomatic route is the only solution and that the rebels are aware of that. mohamed vall reports. >> reporter: street battles in the city of ta'izz a day after the saudi-lead coalition announced the end of the first phase of his air campaign in yemen. these fighters are supported by soldiers from the 35th brigade, but they are still unable to push the houthi rebels and the

solders loyal to former president saleh from the city. a similar seen is further south in the city of aden. they say fighting continued here on tuesday night, and since the early hours of wednesday. in washington, the saudi ambassador to the united states said the situation in aden required continued military action. >> we are seeing movement by the houthis that is very disturbing in the city of aden where we see movement of houthi troops into aden from three different directions. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: clashes also resumed in the areas of this province. on wednesday the saudi-lead coalition targeted fighters.

but the houthis seem far from being broken. they have marched in the capitol sana'a, which they still control. they chanted victory, denounced the saudi-lead strikes and renewed allegiance to their houthi leader. yemeny army soldiers loyal to the houthis and former president saleh joined the march. >> translator: we took to the streets to condemn the saudis. fight us like men. we will always face you as the yemenies are solid like rocks. >> reporter: say they any peace deal would be based on the agreement signed last september, the day after they took control of the capitol sana'a. meanwhile the human toll of the conflict is continuing to rise.

>> translator: they simply were blindly and randomly targeting all of us. >> translator: it's gone beyond our capabilities in this hospital. we are putting patients in the corridors and reception. at least nine patients in each room. we are short v staffed and don't have enough medical equipment or medicine. >> reporter: the underhas declared the situation as catastrophic. the saudi-lead coalition says it has launched a new operation with the aim of restoring peace in yemen. but so far there are no signs of an end to the conflict. next on al jazeera america, tensions high in baltimore. after a man died in police custody. and there's new information on how much the city has paid in lawsuits for use of excessive force by police. ♪

>> the family is seeking $75,000 in damages. the department of justice and the grand jury did not charge wilson for the shooting. protests are expected to tin in baltimore today over the controversial death of freddy grey. protesters say excessive force was used during his arrest. baltimore has faced past accusations of excessive force. >> star brown is all smiles now, but she says the day she found out she was pregnant six years ago was one of the worst in her life. >> when you are a firsthand victim of police brutality, you tend to be on edge.

>> reporter: she was standing onner this porch when a fight broke out on her street. she said for some reason officers focused on her. pulling her down the steps and slamming her into the ground. her pregnancy wasn't affected but she was bloody and bruced. she later sued. the city settled the case and paised her $125,000. a baltimore sun investigation sound the city has paid nearly $6 million since 2011, to settle a hundred claims of baltimore police using excessive force. >> it's getting out of hand. >> reporter: tensions were high here long before anger gripped the city after the unexplained death this week of freddy grey who suffered a spinal chord injury in police custody. >> this family is not in a

hurry, except they want to know right now. >> reporter: the grey's lawyer is among many demanding answers and reforms like police body cameras. >> it's going to result in people being good to each other again. >> reporter: the mayor and police chief were already making changes, and they promise full transparency. >> his family deserves answer and he community sdefshs answers, and that's what i want to provide for them. >> reporter: to this stay star brown, though remains leery of police. >> i can't teach my daughter to look at the police as a form of protection. it's pretty sad. it's pretty disheartening. it makes you not believe in -- in their system. >> reporter: baltimore's mayor has promised reform saying she fully understands more needs to be done to repair relations between the city's black community and the police. jonathan betz al jazeera, baltimore. this is day three of the

penalty phase in the trial of boston marathon bomber. juries are being shown photos of the 17 people who lost limbs in the attack. yesterday they heard from the mit campus police officer's brother. it was dormant over 40 years, but it has roared to life now. and do you live in the dirty estate? we'll take a look at the top five least green states in the country.

chili's volcano has erupted twice in just the last 24 hours, after being dormant for more than 40 years. alexi o'brien has more. >> reporter: a reminder of the earth's furry as the volcano roars into life. this time lapse video capturing

the moment it erupted. >> translator: at the beginning it was small, but later the cloud grew and then there was a huge cloud over me and i got really scared. >> reporter: chile has issued a rare alert, closing local schools and airports and ordering anyone nearby to leave quickly. >> translator: we're going to increase the evacuation zone from 10 to 20 kilometers and we're asking anyone nearby to evacuate the area. >> reporter: that sent locals scrambling and as the clouds of ash grew above them so did the queues for the petrol pumps. >> translator: it was an impressive to see. and to see the ash. at that point there was a lot of panic, chaos, traffic jams people going to supermarkets. everyone looking for water.

>> reporter: it is considered one of the most dangerous of chile's 90 active volcanos and authorities are watching this eruption closely. a new study finds more americans than ever are at risk of earthquakes. some 143 million people in the u.s. and puerto rico are living in quake zones. 28 million are in danger of strong shaking. researchers say the record numbers are thanks to a population hike in hot zones along the west coast. you probably know if you live in a quake zone but do you know if you live in one of the least green states. so what is the deal? what is the worst of the states? >> reporter: i have got the top five year. and i think a lot of people know if they are in these states. new jersey is number 5. not known for being so green. the state ranks 45 in air

particle pollution, 46th in ozone, and close to last in alternative energy. the only thing that keeps it from being worst on the list is it states well in energy policies. number 4, louisiana. and this is dead last in a lot of categories too or close to it. low in energy saving policies. horrible water pollution in some cases. and in the bottom five of states for carcinogens, total water pollution and chemicals which cause birth defects. and virginia is in the bottom ten percent in many categories. number two, indiana. now indiana's main source of power production is coal.

in fact based on generated power their gibson generating station is the largest coal power plant in north america, and the third largest in the world. and so that means very low on renewable energy resources. in fact they tie at the bottom for renewable energy with the least green state which is ohio. ohio rates fifth in energy consumption, and almost none of that alternative. again, like indiana, most of the state's energy comes from coal. they also rank among the worst for carbon footprint, and toxic exposure. and one of the highest numbers of hazardous waste violations. there are great states out there. high on the list are states like vermont. >> thank you, nicole. >> yeah. >> there is a suburb of detroit that has been dubbed the

dirtiest zip code in michigan. five power plants there causing poor air quality, and people living there are suffering the effects. bisi onile-ere reports. >> reporter: river rouge environmentalists call it the most polluted zip code in michigan. it is home to several heavy industry power plants and refineries. the area also has some of the highest asthma rates in the state. it's a story we first reported last month when hundreds of residents packed a townhall meeting with concerns about the air they breathe. we recently caught up with an asthma educator who believes she was on the front line of a health crisis. >> is there a link between the air air quality? >> absolutely. >> reporter: we traveled with

milton as she caught up with one of her clients. the state recently missed a deadline to submit a pollution reduction plan to the environmental protection agency. tonight we'll explain what that means for residents. >> you can watch bisi's full report at 8:00 pm eastern tonight. this video was taken in chai and shows the meteor shower a display that occurred every april. the action peaked overnight with 20 meteors darting around every hour. in the past as many as 90 have been recorded per hour, the display is the result of the earth running through a stream of debris left by a commit. thanks for joining us. for the latest headlines you can

go to our website, aljazeera.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ . >> funerals are held for some of the migrants victims of this week's boat sinkings. officials try to find a solution to the growing problem. i am lauren taylor, this is al jazeera live. also coming up. >> as president and as commander in chief i take full responsibility. >> president obama reveals two hostages have been killed in a u.s. operation against al quaida. as saudi jets launch new air strikes houthis rebels demand a complete halt as a pre-season for talks. from top general