>> good evening, i'm antonio mora. this is al jazeera america. >> i will stop them from perpetuating an agenda on america that's bad for our democracy. >> i would love for trump to be the candidate. >> you're not muslim and american, you're muslim american. another round of storm damage from the deep south to upstate new york, freezing rain

stretching across a big part of the u.s. and. >> i want everybody who is responsible for this fiasco to be held accountable. i'm not protecting anybody. >> looking for answers, members of congress express their anger about flint, michigan's water crisis. we begin tonight in new hampshire where the democratic presidential candidates have faced tough questions from voters. hillary clinton and bernie sanders were at a town hall just six days before the primary. sanders said clinton was only a progressive on some days. how was that addressed flit ton? >> reporter: that was

certainly addressed tonight. these two democrats, bernie sanders an independent here they have known each other for 20 years. they are friends. so certainly this is not something particularly contentious. they definitely disagree on things but it's nothing like you see on the other side of the aisle, right? but this sticking point about progressiveness is something that came up tonight, secretary clinton recently claim she was a progressive. tonight bernie sanders coming out and saying, no way. >> i do not know any progressive who has a superpac and takes $15 million from wall street. that's not progressive. [applause] >> as i mentioned earlier, the key foreign policy vote of modern american history was the war in iraq, the progressive community was pretty united in saying don't listen to bush don't go to war. secretary clinton voted to go to

war. >> i was somewhat amused today that today senator sarn sanderss set hymnself up to be the gate keeper on who would be a progressive. joe biden would not be a progressive, gene shehe rvetionn woulheen wouldnot be a progress. i know write stand i know who stands with me i know what i've done. >> they stand by their policies which is different, one of them has to do with health care. let's take a throirch this. >> listen to this.>> deductible, we should not be paying the

highest prices in the world for prescription drugs and our medicare for all program will guarantee comprehensive care to all people and save middle class families some thousands of dollars a year. >> i want to defend the affordable care act. it is one of the greatest accomplishments not only of this president but of the democratic party going back to harry truman. [applause] >> you know, the republicans are determined to repeal it and they've tried 62 times. just to turn it back to the insurance companies. senator sanders and i share the same goal. we want to get to universal health care coverage. >> now interestingly enough, there were a couple of other things that had come up here, including bernie sanders age. he is 74 years old. and one person in the town hall had asked him look we've had a lot of two term presidents. would you still be interested in running for a second term if you do get a first term? and bernie sanders answered that

very eloquently and he said you know what? i'm healthy and yes i would. but he definitely poite pointedt like yes i may be a little bit older but i can do this. he also pointed out something where he pointed out i'm still an underdogs here, that's how he considers himself. his average contribution, $27 to his campaign. one more thing hillary clinton, trustworthiness ciem up. ontrustworthiness came up. one person in the town hall said would you promise to not expand the military abroad? she didn't skip a beat, she said no, she couldn't promise that, she would have to know what the situation was globally before she could make the decision whether or not to go ahead and

expand the military. so that did sound like a genuine answer antonio. >> erica pitzi, thanks. senator rand paul announced he is suspending his campaign today. the liberal republican placed fifth in the results of the iowa caucuses. senator ted cruz won the iowa caucuses. the lone woman in the gop campaign, there is no undercard debate, carly fiorina wants the republican national committee to take control of debate rules from television networks. in maryland today, president obama took aim at the campaign trail, he condemned what he called inexcusable political rhetoric, he made the remarks

during his first visit as president to a u.s. mosque. al jazeera's mike viqueria reports. >> president obama came to this mosque outside bloar baltimore. there was an edge to the president's remarks, a reaction to much of the anti-muslim rhetoric that's being layered from the right on the campaign trail. for many muslims listening to president obama, it was the men they had been waiting for -- it was the message they had been waiting for. >> you fit in right here, you're right where you belong, you're part of america too. you're not muslim or american, you're muslim and american. >> apart of what brought mr. obama to the location, attacks in paris and san bernardino. >> you're worried about the threat of terrorism but on top of that as muslim americans you also have another concern and

that is your entire community so often is targeted or blamed for the violent acts of the very few. >> mr. obama slammed anti-muslim rhetoric from leading republican presidential candidates. a major issue for many muslims in the audience including nayeem mohammed. >> they don't know what a politics might say from getting elections. >> this was the first time in his seven year presidency mr. obama visited a u.s. mosque. that's too long for some, like warda khalid. >> i think all of america could have benefited from hearing it a lot sooner. >> though it was a long time coming, once it happened, those who heard it were overjoyed.

mr. obama's account of muslims in history, continuing through the early days of the republic. >> thomas jefferso jefferson's contemporaries tried to stir things up by suggesting he was a muslim. i was not first. >> that guy who was speaking directly about muslims oftentimes he won, it was very needed very timely that people know that we need to come together. >> reporter: one speech from mr. obama is likely to right wrongs but it is a welcome start. >> maybe someone will think twice, i hope it's enough. >> at the israeli embassy today it was the speech at this mosque outside baltimore. and tomorrow, the national

breakfast in which the president will appear. all indicative to reach across the lines of american society. back to you. >> mike viqueria reporting. just as americans are starting to send in their 2015 tax runs, the irs says it is experiencing website failure. the irs is work to restore service, the problem has also flocked out the popular where's my refund feature on irs.com.gov. (tirsirs.gov.s a mix of freezind snow has been falling in the east. meteorologist kenji joins us, the u.s. saw heavy rain and

flash flooding. >> that's right, we saw heavy rains and winds. knew it's just the heavy rain and floodings. one particular storm all the way as it entered into california. at the end of last week, making its way into the midwest, there you see, what was left as an area of low pressure is now moving towards quebec. but the cold front is moving towards the southeast, that is going to continue as we go into tomorrow. want to show you where the areas are of flooding. the flooding is going to stay in place and as you see there the flood warnings are for all the states in the southeast. as you can see here, most of the heavy thunderstorms are ging to diminish as we go into the overnight hours. don't worry, tomorrow will still be a major problem. for charleston and wilmington, the heaviest rain showers coming

in now. boston has a little bit of rain, they're going to be seeing rain for the next hour. tomorrow, some wet spots out here towards new jersey but as i said, down to the south, that's where we expect to see most of the leaf rain. who is to blame for the water crisis in flint, michigan? as you can believe, fingers were pointed this way and that. libby casey has the story. >> john, there are concerns all over the country as to what happened to the water situation in flint? critical at all levels of government for causing this crisis. >> outside the capital, prayers. >> the damage that was done to

our children. >> inside a hearing room, outrage. >> i want everybody who is responsible for this fee as could to bfiasco, tobe held res. we are the leas line of defense and if we don't do it, nobody's requesting to do it. >> reporter: members of congress are making the decision, who decided? >> they are struggling they have come all the way from flint and i don't know how they go here. mr. chairman, they are also americans just like you and your children. >> reporter: but the hearing was notable for who was not there. >> we're calling on the u.s.

marshals to hunt him down and give him that spea subpoena. >> what's disappointing is that one of the people who is probably most culpable for the situation won't take responsibility for it. around i think he needs to appear here. >> reporter: republicans also pointed the finger at the environmental protection agency. >> the epa has failed in its responsibility. >> they want stowed hear from republican governor rick snyder. also critical of michigan republicans for instituting a emergency manager law, in the name of saving money and caught

the city council out of decisions. >> this is the consequence of putting ideology ahead of hooux beings and their needs and their welfare. the difference is political philosophy matters. political choices have consequences, and flint account most dram in our bein dramatic. >> antonio, we just learned today that the democratic candidates for president will square off in a debate in flint, michigan next month just two days before voters there go to the polls. i noaa this will giver continued question about the water crisis in flint. antonio. >> libby casey. more cases of the zika virus are spreading.

and just days after it started the united nations puts the bleak on. breaks on.

>> a new report says a record number of people were released from u.s. prisons last year after being wrongly convicted. one of them was joseph sledge who walked out of a prison in north carolina after 40 years. 149 inmates were released last year after being cleared. nearly a third of those cases came from texas. florida's governor has declared a health emergency in four counties after officials confirmed nine cases of zika virus in the state. doctors say they believe all the florida patients contracted the virus outside the u.s. the declaration allows florida to begin aggressive mosquito spraying. the virus has been linked with

severe birth defects in brazil. the red cross of asking people to avoid donating blood if they have traveled to central or caribbean. robert ray tells us, one town has been hit especially hard from the decease. >> the colorful town of fajardo has been hard hit. >> of the approximately 20 case of the zika virus, in puerto rico, one-third of them is in fahardo. >> does not take care of larvae, does not take care of the eggs.

but it does give unfortunately the community a false sense of security in the sense that now they don't do what they need to do. >> health officials monitor standing water, searching bleeding spts, they cannot catch them all. >> this is someone's pool her here in puerto rico, one of the hardest hit areas. you are see the fillth here, there is the breeding ground for these modifications that is carry the virus. the potential correlation between the zika virus and microcephaly, a condition in which the children are born

>> the closest i was in 1980 when hi vimplet ca hiv. >> dr. presaro says the confusion and lack of communication between health officials is likely to blame for the panic. for chrifor christine. >> we know that this can, maybe i.t. can affect the baby.

>> though there have been no reports about women correcting the virus, they're just beginning to wrap up their warnings here as the world health organization says there coo be up to 4 million a cases f the virus in the americas but the end of 2016. there. >> the united tonight abrup abry suspended peace talks. the siege against rebel troops there is backed up by increased russian air strikes. with russia escalating the fighting, most powers in the region want soodz out. the talks are set to roof in three weeks. airline they're force ed an

emergencforced aemergency landi. no group that is claimed responsibility, al shabaab, and al qaeda affiliate has been fighting the max mall. i case. judges decision against bill cosby and what's next for the comedian. >> working to preserve a piece of african american history.

>> a pennsylvania judge has turned down a defense request to drop felony swam sail sexual ast

charges against bill cosby. they promised to appeal today's relying. a preliminary hearing is next to determine if there's enough evidence to put cosby on trial. researchers show that former nfl quarterback ken stabler had cte. now a brain exam showed he had stage 3 cte, the second most severe. reportedly caused by repeated blows to the head. a man in florida is often a application to restore honor and dignity to the remains of people who died more than a century ago including some of his own ancestors. as ash-har quraishi reports, he is working to restore an african american cemetery that was gone but not forgotten.

>> at 70 years old the retired pastor and former vietnam vet has a new passion. his passion lies in restoring the final resting place of his ancestors. >> there was a lot of trial and error there trying to make a cross. >> at least once a week smith drives up this dirt road in volusha county florida to an abandoned cemetery. >> do you remember the first time you visited the cemetery here? >> i was roughly about maybe four or five years old. this was back in about 1950. all this was black folk, the property at one time. a lot of these folk were related to me. >> the cemetery was established in 1985 a place for the african american community here to bury their loved ones. >> they had a wooden box remember, back in the 1880s they put them away in the wooden box so the wood is gone. >> it is home to an unknown

number of people, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, even veterans. decades of neglect left the head stones toppled. >> once i located it was lard to get back to find them again. >> now with the help of volunteers smith is changing that. using met ral detectors they are on a quest. they have found more than 125, thanks to volunteer pagee callon. >> it is history, people come before us and i don't think you should forget that. it's important that we kind of just make it nice again. because i think that you should respect elders, living or dead.

>> each one of these pink flags represents where they believe they may have found potential remains. the goal is to replace these with a more permanent marker. >> head stone by head stone, smiths says it's work he's taking on because no one else has. >> my grandmother mary smith, took that pride and i took that pride right on to try to show respect for them. but before there was just no action and i don't know why it was neglected and who can you blame? there's no one to look around and blame. >> reporter: ash-har quraishi, volusha county, florida. >> former president jimmy carter says his recent scans show no signs of cancer. his brean last not been scanned. last summer doctors found cancer

there, and in his liver. the 91 yearly receives dose of anti-melanoma drug every three weeks. that's all the stories, ray suarez is up next with "inside story," have a great night. new threats arrive, and force us to take new ideas on board about risk and vulnerability. you may have long since stopped worrying about ebola, are you ready for zika. the infection is spreading quickly throughout latin america, and has u.s. officials waiting for the cases bound to arrive in bloodstreams or in the next mosquito that lands on your arm next summer.