hi everyone in the al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. u.s. air strikes in libya. >> we watched and we waited and we struck. >> targeting a top al qaeda linked leader. was the man known at the uncatchable really killed sf. risk factors, protesters detained in seattle. the fight to stop an oil rig headed to the arctic. testing want limits. >> home demos are not illegal. they might be controversial, but they're protected in that we're on public sidewalks and standing

in this public cul-de-sac. >> the line between free speech and harassment in a bitter battle over animal rights. plus spandau ballet. my conversation with the '80s hit makers reignited, reinvigorated and back on stage. we begin with u.s. air strikes in libya. tonight the pentagon is trying to confirm if the strikes succeeded in hitting their target. his name is muktar al muktar. he's one of the men most wanted in the world that eluded capture for years. we have the report from washington. >> reporter: over the weekend u.s. war planes carried out an

attack in eastern libya. their target was belmokhtar. on monday the white house was still cautious. if belmokhtar wasn't a household name until today, within the intelligence community he's well-known. >> he has a long history of leading terrorist activities and he's an al qaeda-associated terrorist and the operation leader of an organization in northwest africa. >> reporter: although the united states suspected him for a long time of being a leading jihadist actually pinning anything on him was a tall record. in early 2013 however, belmokhtar was blamed for leading an attack on a oil rye

feignary. though almost 700 algerian workers r freed when they raided the sight. after the attack they said they did it for al qaeda. by july of that year the u.s. had a $5 million price tag on his head charging him in federal court with terrorism. the big question remains is he really dead? it's been reported he's been killed so far, the french military calls him the uncatchable. the united states with no boots op ground and no diplomatic presence in libya either is attempting to work out who was killed when the f-15s attacked. as we head into the overnight hours here at home there's no word from the libyan authorities on progress in the identification process for belmokhtar. they tell al jazeera america it's more than just dna confirmation that they are waiting for.

in the meantime no circle terrorist organization has come forward to say that he's alive either. john. >> john in washington. thank you. the pentagon wants to store tanks, guns and other heavy weapons in eastern europe. the equipment is meant to deter russian aggression in the region. if approves it's the biggest arms buildup since the collapse of the soefrtviet union. the "new york times" calls it considerable. they would each get enough to outfit a company of about 150 u.s. soldiers. other nations would get more. a battalion'worth of equipment would be kept in poland romania, bulgaria and hungary. steven cohen is at princeton university and he's a member of the founding board of the american committee for east-west accord. steven is in our studio tonight. welcome back.

we've had a former supreme allied commander from nato who calls this a significant shift in policy. how significant do you think it is? >> he wants more. he said it would be better to have permanent forces there, not temporary forces. i think this is -- by the way, it's om only a proposal. president obama has to do what "the new york times" reported as being proposed. move all the equipment to russia's border. if president obama doesn't, it's a major military escalation of the new cold war. you and i have been talking for a year and a half. to be fair to your listeners, your viewers my view is we're in a new cold war, and that the united states is just as guilty ais russia for this new cold war. we don't debate that but what we see and people of our generation remember is a kind of tit for tat. one side does something, the other side does something. we fly airplanes in their air space. they fly airplanes in ours at

sea. we move equipment and they do. this is bad. we don't want the escalation. >> you blame it on the united states and not on russia? >> you know i think the primary responsibility for the ukrainian crisis and the new cold war, 85% is our fault. i'm tired of arguing this. >> what did the united states do to cause this in your opinion? >> you want to go back? all right. we moved nato to russia borders. we did -- we dropped out of the antiballistic missile treaty which prohibited building missile defenses on russian borders. we did two or three other things. john, if i go over there and shove you back on your chair, you'll push back at me. >> there aren't american soldiers in russia but russian soldiers in ukraine. >> careful, careful. there are american soldiers in ukraine. as we talk the united states government admits that. they say there are 300. there are candidatian and

british and about 1500 nato soldiers minding traveling now with ukrainian forces. do the russians have miners and trainers in eastern ukraine? yes. >> if we go back and do history of our conversations in the last year and a half, you talked about the united states and russia being on the verge of war six months ago. what happened, or maybe a ieryear ago? >> what i said is we're approaching a cuban missile crisis and you didn't arg would you with that and saw the potential. things looked better. this is a rhetorical statement. about three weeks ago secretary of state kerry went to russia. do you remember that? he went to sochi and met with putin for four hours. the white house's policy has been to isolated russia and yet here is secretary of state kerry with putin. then they come out and make clear in so many words there's a

change in whout policy. that we the united states are now not pursuing a military line. >> this good guy/bad guy? the president is the bad guy and kerry is the good guy? >> you just took away my punch line. >> i'm sorry. >> when he left sochi, he's been repudiated by the white house. representatives of biden say, why was he in sochi. now we get this report. we can ply this together. suddenly we learn that the american commander of nato wants to make a very dramatic escalation of the military aspect. what happened to his mission to putin when they agreed to negotiate. you won't be happy, but it works for them. there are two factions operating in washington and the white house. i'm not sure it's in the white house. one was a military showdown with russian in ukraine. >> you'd think the united states of america wants a military

showdown. why would they want it with russia? >> how else do we explain a conscious effort to provoke putin 20 move troops towards us? then we have to do that. >> because the united states feels threaten is the only answer i would have for that. i don't know. >> do you feel threatened? i don't. >> there are some in this administration that do. >> now we're on where we ought to be, analyzing why we have one side of the west and not only in washington but in brussels and by the way germany, the chance loor of germany merkel she heads the negotiating party. she's being undercut. we have a political struggle in the west about what to do about the ukrainian crisis and i will end by saying the same struggles underway in moscow. people are telling putin and i give you this 100% you're being too soft. you're being too reactive. take the whole of eastern ukraine and establish the defensive line because nato is

comes. >> if that's true -- >> that's scary. >> if that's true then the united states is in for a surprise, i think. it sounds like it. >> you're not that young. you remember this happening in the last cold war. >> i know. i'm not younger. >> you're younger than i am. you remember this, john. >> there's no question about that. this escalation, though is of concern. >> where are reagan and gorbachev to put a stop to this? >> we have to continue that in the next conversation. it's always good to see you. thank you very much for your insight. president obama is trying to salvage his badly damaged trade agenda now. on friday house democrats lead the opposition in rejecting a key component of the plan. he today the president reached out to republican house speaker john boehner. the future of the sweeping pacific trade agreement remains uncertainly. mcviqueira is in washington with that. mike. >> it is an issue splitting the democratic party in two and threatening to spill over into presidential politics and that

in turn threatens a majorish nif in the president's agenda which is trade, something that's a big boost to the american economy. >> i have said from the beginning the tpa is a process issue. the issue for many is what's in the deal? >> as the battle over trade rages within the democratic party, mon in new hampshire hillary clinton left her position unclear. she called the bitter defeat for president obama in the house on friday a chance to make a better deal. >> i hope that we can see this time as one to take advantage of and try to make it stronger on behalf of our country. >> reporter: the democratic rebellion is coming from the base. liberals and unions and bernie sanders is out front drawing bigger and bigger crowds in iowa and elsewhere. blasting the big trade deals the president wants and calling out clinton as he dhal lennings her for the democratic nomination.

>> i would hope very much that sext clinton will side with every union in this country, virtually every environment ool group, many religious groups and say that this tpp policy is a sdpaser. >> friday president obama laid part of his prestige on the line with leader nancy pelosi at his side meeting with rank and file democrats to make a last-minute plea for a streamlined proz to pass future trade deals. hours later, pelosi pulled the rug out. >> i would vote against the taa, and i just want you to know where i was coming from on that. >> now the president is struggling to find a way toward going over options with house speaker john boehner in a monday morning phone call while the white house continues to make a push. >> whatever the eagreement is it's clearly in the best interests of national security and of middle class families in this country.

john after that bitter defeat for the president and john boehner on friday the word was to have a do-over. on tuesday tomorrow after they work over the weekend and you saw the president call john boehner to strategize to round up the votes, it appears they're running dry. they don't have the votes. it may not come back up tomorrow and may be until the end of the summer says the house representative leader. today he told reporters. john. >> i want to switch gears a little bit. the white house has little to say about a big party the obamas through on saturday night. what are you hearing? >> well you're right. we know from various reports and we know from tweets from the people attending in the east room, some 500 people celebrating purportedly african-american music heritage month. we know that the entertainer there was prince. we know that because he said so at a concert the following evening in washington. something of a controversy today at the white house briefing. this was not announced.

some 500 individuals are friends of the president. the white house said that a prieft party was held, and they wouldn't give a guest list or admit prince was providing the entertainment. they said mr. and mrs. obama paid the bill themselves but weren't specific what was paid for. the white house requires a lot of security and a lot of people being checked in 500 of them. sort of a mini controversy over the weekend as the obamas held a private entertainment at the white house on saturday night. jon. >> thanks mike. jeb bush is running for president. he made it official today in miami, and he could make history as the third member of one family to reach the white house. david schuster has that story. >> reporter: in florida on monday jeb bush made it official. >> i've decided i'm a candidate for president of the united states of america. >> it came at miami-dade college at campus with the largest

hispanic student body in the nation. political diversity was a key theme. mr. bush attacked the obama administration's outreach to cuba. >> we need an american president to go to havana is solidarity with a free cuban people and i'm ready to be that president! >> he jabbed at hillary clinton. >> the presidency shouldn't be passed on from one liberal to the next. >> and he took on republican rivals serving in the u.s. senate. >> we're not going to clone clean up the mess in washington by electing people who created it or have prooiven incapable of fixing it. >> mr. bush's own legacy could prove tricky. he's the son of the 43rd president and the younger brother of the 43 george w. bush. to try and avoid a visual reminder he unveiled this on the website with his first name oenl. white barbara attended this event, his father and brother

stayed away. >> want one deserves the right by resume, seniority, family or family narrative. it's nobody's turn. it's everybody's test and it's wide open exactly for contest for president should be. >> john ellis bush nicknamed jeb was borned 62 years ago in midland, texas. he attended andover abld in massachusetts and apt 17 he travelled to mexico as a exchange program and met his future wife. he move z his faej tomy toe launch a successful real estate company. two years after his father left the white house, jeb bush ran in 1994 and lost. in 1998 he ran again and run. over ought years jeb bush slashed the state government payroll and cut taxes.

>> we made florida number one in job creation and number one in small business creation. 1.3 million new jobs 4.4% growth higher family income eight balanced budgets and tax cuts eight years in a row that safed our people and diss $19 billion. >> he also intervened in the case of terry schiavo, a state resident diagnosed in a persist ant vegetative state whose family wanted to keep her aon live. since leave the mansion, mr. bush had a lufk raifb business concern and his right to rise political action committee brought in donations totally nearly $900 million. >> i will take nothing and no one for granted. i will run with heart and i will run toe win. >> they will take responsibility for all ties advertising promoting mr. bush and attacking rivals vp it's an unusual

arrangement that is could keep it going deep into the primaries even if he stumbles early in iowa and new hampshire. >> it begins here and now, and i'm asking for your vote. thank you, and god bless you all. >> david schuster. al jazeera. o'brien murray is a republican strategist. what sort of grade would you give jeb bush today? >> i think to the energy that he had was fantastic. that was terrific. he message was great. irng the way he handled his family is goot to do. i think he addressed it hoed-on. >> his brother wasn't there. his father we won't expect to be there. what baggage does his father sxand brother bring with him sfl. >> with a name like busch, the red flag goes up. anyone that hates a bush will hate him. the iesh us they had brr as a

family they didn't like they may not like now. >> he doesn't need to disappoint himself in any way from he is spleshlly his brothers policy when he came to new york. >> he can't discipline himself. he said it was a bad idea. >> he can distance himself as what he is. people will look like him as a bush. like ronald ag said if you assistant district attorney gree 20% of the time i'm still with 80%. let's look at one issue thiz president was there for. >> what is the strongest issue for jeb busch. >> frankly immigration. >> he got a big round of applause today. how is he different from republicans on that issue? >> one of the things is he's fluent in spanish. he was talking to -- >> proouing that. >> not as we sit here right.

it's real honest to goodness mansion. he reallies wants to connect when he speaks it and carries the day. >> when comes to the policy is he really going to be able to deliver for latinos across america who feel they haven't gotten a fair check from the republican party. >> as a conversation you want-to-make them believe they can and you can lead the fight and carry the mettage. >> let's talk about the optics and you talked about diversity a lot. how well did he perform as a candidate? with this did he come across as a leader to lead the country? is that -- >> it's interesting. as a speaker today he did very well. you can talk about minor things to change at one point on the another. the one thing that surprised me the most no jacket and no tie. oftentimes you see a candidate with a jacket and no tie. >> not presidential. >> that was a question i had,

and i think it's something about connecting to voters what and what he wants to do to prevent the image. if you look at previous speeches in this couldn't rarely he's been in a time. >> i'm glad he can do that. i'm great. >> that's one of the kekdzs how do you connect and deliver the message. >> he may have today. o'brien it's great to see you. thank you very much. up next the fight against arctic oil as a huge drilling rig heads out of seattle. >> an naacp official makes announcement about her future next.

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♪ get excited for the 1989 world tour with exclusive behind the scenes footage all of taylor swift's music videos interviews, and more. xfinity is the destination for all things taylor swift. tonight an oil drilling rig at the center of an environmental fight in seattle is on its way to the arctic ocean. activists spent the last month trying to stop the rig from leaving port. several were detained by the u.s. coast guard this morning. tonya moseley is in seattle with

more. tonya. >> reporter: for the last month the protesters on kayaks were staged behind me at this barge waiting for the day to block that drill from reeving the port of the seattle. they tried and were unsuccessful. 24 were tee takened and -- were detained. ♪ we have to solve it ♪ ♪ get involved it and do it now now now ♪ >> when you're sitting there by yourself in the kayak and it's coming at you and looking at the monstrosity. it doesn't take much imagination what it will do in the arctic. >> mike o'brien knew blocking the polar pioneer rig in the kayak wouldn't stop it from leaving the port. >> fighting the oil companies is not something you go out one day and you take a swing at them and

they go away. the industry has spent decades entangles their products in our lives. >> o'brien and more than two dozen protesters set out on the water anyway watching as the oil rig slowly made its way out of elliott bay towards alaska. >> i was in tears out there. there's a mixed feeling. it's like we're in these little kayaks and we wouldn't stop this huge rig with four tugboats right? i had to come out and do something. >> shell docked it at terminal 5 exactly one month ago en route in to northwest alaska where it's parts of a larger mission to search for oil. >> the feeling that's coming up is we're here to protect theette and coast and they're there to protect the industry and their interests. it was painful. it was good to bear witness. >> reporter: the mayor and members of the council made several attempts to stop the rig

from docking including an investigation into whether shell and foss maritime had the right permits to do so. in a statement shell says we remain committed to operating in a safe environmentally responsible manner and look forward to exploring our leases in the weeks to come. councilman o'brien says while they weren't able to stop the rig, the protest effort was impactful. >> i'm someone that has always played by the rules, and i respect the rules. when i'm up against a company like shell violating our shoreline permits, perhaps violating the constitution, who pled guilty to eight felony counts the last time they were in the arctic and violating maritime and environmental laws and i have an opportunity to sit there and say, maybe i just delay it for a minute and if enough of us do that does that add up to something? i think so. >> reporter: the polar pioneer has traveled about 30 nautical miles since this morning. it's now at the northern tip of the puget sound, and kayak pro

protesters are there as well. back to you, john. >> tonya, thank you. pope francis is expected to release a document that week on the environment. a draft that the papal was leaked online it. in it he criticized climate change deniers and called for new steps to stop global warming including changes to manufacturer and energy consumption. failure, the poem says will have grave consequences for all of us. up next failing the children. the sex abuse scandal in the catholic church and an american archbishop steps down. protests against the animal testing. activity activists target lab employees at their homes. are they crossing the line?

this is al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler.

stepping down. >> a change in leadership offers us an opportunity for greater healing. >> an archbishop calls it quits in minnesota. the archdiocese facing criminal charges over child sec abuse. >> black and white. new debate over race representation and responsibility and an embattled naacp executive resigns. taking a stand. how a dispute over animal rights turned into a battle over free speech. plus, spandau ballet. >> if you want to get back together, you have to make a decision and do it. ♪ i know this much is true ♪ >> back together after a 20-year break. why they told me they're better than ever. the head of the naacp chapter in spokane, washington as resigned.

rachel dolezal is accused of misrepresenting her race on her job application and implying she's african-american in every day life. lisa stark reports. >> she was obviously, miss representing herself. we were aware of that but we did not pursue exposing here. it was only after the press came to us that we were willing to answer their questions. >> reporter: exposed and expelled. rachel dolezal resigned from her post as president of the naacp chapter in spokane, washington monday morning. she released a statement on facebook saying quote, it is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice and the naacp that i step aside from the presidency. her decision comes just a few days after a now viral video interview with a local news reporter. >> are you african-american? >> i don't understand the

question of -- i did tell you that, yes, that's my dad. he was unable to come in january. >> are your parents white? >> dolezal refuses to answer the question and hides in a store to avoid the camera. her parents had a very clear-cut answer releasing childhood photos that appear to prove their daughter is indeed white. they say her ancestry is czech, swedish and german with a trace of native-american. >> you have older white men on our currency so what does that do for us as an image? >> reporter: dolezal has been outspoken for several years, seen here on youtube talking about the founding fathers being on american currency. she has said she considers herself black and claims to be receiving hate mail during a rally back in march. >> it's not isolated just in spokane but targeting me but the

black community. >> they later scrapped their investigation into the hate mail, but those claims and story set off a fierce debate across the nation about racial identity. white staffers and activists are an integral part of the naacp, and some credit dolezal with reviving the organization's chapter in spokane. critics say it's not that she's white but ha she allegedly lied about her race to get her position. >> i don't think this would be a story at all if it was that i'm a white woman, and i am committed through my scholarship, through my community work with african-americans. >> reporter: dolezal also teaches african studies at eastern washington university. so far the school has not said whether she applied there as white or african-american. lisa stark, al jazeera. in the last few hours the naacp released a statement

saying, quote, the naacp is not concerned with the racial identity of our leadership but the institutional integrity of our advocacy. amanda seales is a comedian and culture critic. cease been on the program before and is back in the studio. thank you, john. you're laughing about this. you weren't a few minutes ago. >> i went through a range of emotions. when i hear that statement from the naacp it says we're more concerned with the integrity of your advocacy. you're not concerned with the integrity your advocates? she's been incredibly deceitful to a community of individuals and has brought in young black men to encourage her deceit her brothers. i just find it very bizarre that we're looking at this in a vacuum. >> we might not know exactly why this happened. >> i don't need to know why. >> could it be -- let's say she

has a problem. clearly, has some sort of problem here where she's saying she's somebody she's not. why does -- there are a lot of people who have got problems like that who say they're somebody and they're not. why does this matter more than others? >> well, this matters on a lot of levels. one, because race still matters on a lot of levels in this country, right? i mean she is even taking jobs from like real black women, you know, and there are jobs that her identity as a black woman would be indicative of her being better at that position. >> but a white person could be the head of the naacp? >> this is true. a white person could be the head. however, my point is when you lie on your application, you are not presenting yourself as who you are. in any other situation people have a problem with this. i think it's funny because, for instance, if we look at the pilot who unfortunately crashed the germanwings plane, right?

a lot of folks were like he was mentally ill. he's a muir errderer, right? in this situation with white people, they're mentally ill. no she's a con woman. let's keep it 100 here. >> what damage did she do? >> well the damage that she did, one, she's damaging i feel like these brothers that she has lying for her. i also feel like when you are deceitful to people and people are entrusting you with certain information and certain experiences and trusting that the information that they're receiving from you is comes from a genuine place, that can be damning. >> you told our producer we shouldn't forget a black person passing as a white person was once considered as a criminal offense. >> it was. >> the country has a history of african-americans in very difficult straits and circumstances who tried to be white in the society because of

slavery, because of our society. >> because of jim crow laws et cetera. the thing about it is that -- >> is that why this reverse -- >> that's part of it. that's part of it. it's also just privilege and the exercises of privilege in a manner that really isn't helpful to the bigger cause that she claims to be a part of it. if you're a white person you innately have privilege in this country. if you're a white person who happens to be viewed with the intelligence and understanding of how much racial injustice there is in this country, we really actually need you to use your white privilege to educate other white folks as well. >> wasn't she trying to do that? she wasn't using her privilege. >> we can also -- she is using her privilege, because guess what? our producer here can't pretend to be white. >> right, right. >> that's the beauty of fair skin. i have the privilege of if i really wanted to be ashley 8 or ashley c. i can put in the work to do that. >> i'm trying to remember a situation like that.

i can't remember anything for the last 30 40 years of a white person trying to pass as an african-american. >> because why? >> yeah. i don't think we got the answer to that one sadly. >> we don't. i want to say this though. a lot of people say she's done so much for the plaque community. what's the problem? listen are we really that downtrodden we're like anyone that can give us help we'll take it? no. >> you're always welcome, amanda. it's great to see you. thank you very much. >> thank you. in minnesota today a roman catholic archbishop and auxiliary bishop resigned their post following accusations that their archdiocese famed to protect children from a pedophile pedophile priest. >> reporter: victims of clergy abuse say these resignations were a long time coming and they say they hopes this means the vatican will crack down on

more dlar rickclerics. >> this has been a painful process. rrm the >> reporter: the resignations of the priests come ten days after minnesota prosecutors filed criminal charges against the st. paul archdiocese for failing to respond to repeated reports of child sexual abuse. >> we will continue to do all that we can to create safe environments for all children and to bring just resolution to the claims against the archdiocese. >> reporter: ramsey county district attorney john choi said his investigation is continuing despite the resignations. in a statement he said the goals of our actions are to hold the archdiocese accountable, seek justice for the victims and or community, and to take appropriate steps to ensure what we have alleged and intend to prove about the past conduct of church officials will never be repeated. during a civil deposition last

year the attorney grilled the bishop about abuse in his parishes. >> have you ever reprimands punished demoted or taken any disciplinary action against any priests or official of the archdiocese for their mishandling of child sexual abuse allegations? >> i don't believe so no. >> do you believe you should have? >> no. >> anderson says the resignations are sign the vatican is moving in the right direction. >> this action taken now by the pope in accepting the resignation is action that is real but it is a start. >> reporter: the holy see has been under intense pressure to get tough on child sexual abuse. last week a pope announced a new tribunal will hear cases of bishops accused of ignoring

sexual abuse. the vatican says the former ambassador to the dominican republic will stand trial in rome next month on sex abuse and child porn graechography charges. >> bishops and all the top officials complicit in this now are seeing that they have to be accountable. >> reporter: and some victims question whether the vatican can police itself. they say that's best left to outside law enforcement and prosecutors. john. >> diane thank you. marijuana may be legal in colorado but workers can be fired for using it. paul has been following the story and joins us with more. paul. >> this case started in 2010 when a quadriplegic man failed a

drug test for using mel marijuana. he was nifr high at work but his former employer argued that they have a zero tolerance policy. >> i'm having a spasm right now. >> reporter: brandon coats struggles with daily tasks. at 16 a car accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. now 35 he depends on his nurse jana bishop to dress him and feed him and help him smoke pot every night to ease the pain. >> i grab a pinch and put it in the bowl. he needs someone else to help him do it. he needs someone's hands. >> if i wasn't using the marijuana, i would spasm so bad that i wouldn't be able to work. >> using weed is exactly what cost him his job. in 2010 coats took and failed a random drug test and was fired as a customer service representative at dish network.

dish agrees that coats wasn't high on the job, but the company said in a statement, quote, dish is committed to its drug-free workplace policy and compliance with federal law, which does not permit the use of marijuana even for medicinal purposes. >> i've had this job for three years. that's how i was paying my bills. i just lost it. in my condition it's not easy to get a job anyway. rfrp so he sued the company arguing under colorado law employees are protected from being fired for doing legal activities on their own time. both medical and recreational marijuana are legal in colorado but here's where it gets tricky. the state supreme court ruled today that because the drug is unlawful under federal law, it is not considered a legal off-duty tift. coats said in a statement that he is very disappointed. if we're making marijuana legal

for medical purposes we need to address issues that come along with it such as employment. hopefully views on medical marijuana like the ones in my specific case will change soon. coats says he hasn't been able to find work since he lost his job at dish and colorado is not alone in deciding that employees can be fired for legal use of medical marijuana. courts in california, montana and washington have made similar decisions. john analysts say that trend is likely to continue until the federal government changes its position on marijuana. >> thanks very much. a battle over animal rights raising the question of rights of humans. it begins at the university of washington where activists pro tess plans for a new animal research lab and some have taken the protests to homes of people connected with the project. more on that. alan.

>> reporter: this is all about means and ends and bitterly opposing viewpoints that human beings need animal research and human beings shouldn't be doing animal research. any tactic is justifiable in support of a cause and they have legal limits. a clash of ideas in the pacific northwest playing out on suburban street corners and in court. animal rights protesters target a home in a portland oregon neighborhood disrupting the neighborhood with chanting talking about assassins and murderers on the sidewalk. and getting hosed down by neighbors not happy with the scene. >> they should protest at the cop r something. not in somebody's neighborhood. >> in this this case the family of a regional chief operating officer for the global construction company scansa. >> it's a great way to have a direct impact on decision-making processes in a way that lots of other forms of advocacy do not.

>> it's the latest in a series of protests about what's happening in this construction site at the university of washington. it's where a new underground animal research lab is being built. skanska won the construction contract. there have been protests here but activists have directly targeted university officials and skanska employees. the point is to make them uncomfortable. >> we have called and written to their offices. we have done petitions. we have gone to their public meetings. what. >> what do you hope to do with protests at their homes? >> it's going to their front door where they can ignore you. >> four employees sued to keep shem away and won a harassment protection order claiming in court documents anonymous callers had screamed at them over the phone. in several cases protesters came onto private property. once loitering suspiciously near a mailbox and vehicle.

all of this led them to feel intimidated and fear for our safety. the wife of a skanska employee felt scareded and trapped in her own home and worried about the safety of her sons. she's unapologetic about the tactics. >> clear first amendment protected that and the judge got it wrong here. we're appealing that. >> he said essentially you're harassing private individuals. >> effectually, yes. there's a big difference between harassment and public protest. >> one family member declared protesters yell at my children that their daddy kills bunnies and puppies. a police report says the group left chalked messages. a university administrator tells us the new 123$123 million lab is a critically important upgrade and rejects protesters'

cabbingizations animals will be tortured here. >> we can provide the best care for the animals and the very best support for the cutting edge research for advances in tomorrow. >> anderson whose home has been targeted says he fully supporting free speech but in this case pro teers have crossed the line. they're bans from surveilling the families and can't participate in or plan similar protests. as the legal case over where there is constitutional protected activity or illegal harassment winds on nobody is backing down. >> they're building an underground animal research facility where thousands of animals will r tortured and killed if this is built. >> these protests completely justified in you are yoo your mind? >> yes. >> they will continue? >> i suspect them. >> is it worth if? >> it's absolutely wore worth it. this building is on time and budget and will continue in that

way. >> no question about that? >> no question about that. it's critical for our research program. >> there were two people cited in that protest outside portland. one for disturbing the peace, a noise violation because of bull horn. the other person cited for trespassing, going on private property to turn off the hose that you saw neighbors using to hose down the protesters. police say of all the protests at that address, and there's been a string of them which was the most well-taened and the most aggressive. john, expect more of that around the northwest in comes daying and weeks. >> the question is whether we'll see it all over the country. there's a new warning out tonight about worldwide refugee crisis and now calls for action. antonio mora is here with that. antonio. >> amnesty international says it's the worst since world war ii. whether people are fleeing violence or ethnic or religious

persecution or hoping for better lives for themselves and children, there's 50 million refugees in the world today. they call the international response to the needs shameful and accuses world leaders of condemns them to death and despair. we'll talk about the findings and about who is to blame about the situation. coming up next my conversation with an '80s pop group back together and out on the road. [ music ]

just real reporting. the new al jazeera america mobile app available for your apple and android mobile device. download it now spring has brought out record flooding in texas and more than 20 have dried. now more rain could be on the way. kevin is here with that. >> that's right, john. i mentioned before it doesn't take a category 3 storm to cause major problems. we are looking at a tropical disturbance in the gulf of mexico and the national hurricane center has just gone into the storm and at the particular time it at a tropical disturbance level. it hasn't even named it but we'll get major problems out of the storm over the next 24 hours. we expect an area of low pressure to cross the coastline probably between 5:00 and 7:00 tomorrow morning. we are going to see a lot of rain coming out of this storm. we expect to see anywhere between 8 to 12 inches of rain

but locally 14 inches. in this area we have seen major floods just last month. the ground is already sat raid rated and will take 1 to 2 inches of rain falling in a three-hour period to cause flash flooding across the region. right now we see showers begin to push on the coastline. we do have the warnings and watches out in effect. as you can see, for most of the central and eastern texas, we are looking at either flood watches or warnings in effect, and this will continue the next couple of days. john. >> thanks very much. it was one of the biggest bandses of the 1980s spandau ballet turning out hit songs. they broke up over 20 years ago because of a sfut. now they're back and say they're better than ever. i caught up with gary and martin kemp and asked what caused the split? >> most bands break up because

of girls, drugs or publishing. we were no difference than anyone else. it was publishing. >> there was a sense we were at the end of the '90s and not all of us wanted to carry on doing it. we were thinking maybe there's more out there, and other people did want to break up. we went into acting. we did a movie together and we came and lived in hollywood and both acted over here for a while. >> when you say it was acrimonious acrimonious, give us an idea. >> the three other guys in the band sued my brother. i was stuck in the middle. >> i was the song writer of the group. >> i was stuck in the middle. for me it was like watching my family get divorced. it was a terrible divorce. it was terribly painful, yeah. i think it was a period that lasted about 20 years, but it was a period that we will learn from as well. >> how did you get back together? >> it took awhile. in fact, it was me trying to get him back together again. i was mixing a dvd of the band live, and i thought you know

what? we were such a great live band and this is what we should get out and prove to people. also it was a horrible experience to avoid places you couldn't go to where they didn't want to bump into people. it took five years from the time i met one of them. >> you pick up the phone and call? >> yeah yeah. i'd had a divorce in any life as well and you know there was another man involved. within -- after a while you think i have to meet this guy. we share a child. it's actually we ended up getting on. i think everybody has that similar story, and that's why the film is working for people. even people who don't like spandau ballet know about the music, they're relating to that struggle of friendship. [ music ] >> also during that 20 years we also lost big. we lost our parents within four days of each other. the other guys in the band lost their parents and people close to them. i think you realize during that 20 years that life doesn't go on

forever. if you want to get back togethering you have to make a decision and do it. >> we have an amazing set of songs people still wanted. ♪ i know this much is true ♪ >> in 20 years you're still as good as you were 20 years ago? >> oh a lot better. >> better. a lot better. >> what did you learn in the 20 years? >> how to play. >> yeah. >> it's all about -- i think it's all about life experience isn't it? you learn to live with each other a lot better. i think you give each other a lot more credibility. >> what do you get from that performance on stage? >> we're actors as well and we like performing. performing on stage is -- you look into people's eyes. did you get a chance to look around the city and go to the galleries and monuments? no. we looked into the people's eyes in that city and the way they

react internationally and globally is always different. it's a great buzz. you work out your show to draw people in over those two hours. it's a drug. >> also you know we understand as a band just those songs, some of those songs like "true" and "goad" "gold" are the poignant soundtracks. >> people remember these songs and they're etched in their brains and they remember where they were with their girlfriend or wife. >> while you're on stage, you realize that and understand that. every time you play those songs 35 years later, you play it for the first time. [ music ] >> we're glad you got back together. as i said, the documentary is called "soul boys of the western world." i'll looking forward to see it as well. it's a pleasure to meet you

both. good luck. >> thank you. >> thank you. that's our broadcast. thank you for watching. i'm john seigenthaler. i'll see you back here tomorrow night. the news continues next with antonio mora.

a triumphant return. >> our view is clear as to what their obligation was, which was to arrest basheer the international criminal court lashes out at south africa for defiance in arresting south sudan's president an allusive target. >> i'm not in a position to confirm the results of the strike the u.s. goes after a former al qaeda leader inside libya,