received a certificate of appreciation from archeologists forever connecting a curious seven year old, to a nearly 4,000-year-old artifact. aljazeera.com for all of the headlines, and a great deal more. the supreme court hears arguments on what is being called the most important abortion case in decades. >> this has been an amazing evening. >> what a super-tuesday! [ cheers ] >> reporter: hillary clinton and donald trump gain a major edge in getting their party's presidential nominations. >> this is not a general election. it is not winner take all. >> this is a country of underdogs. but we will win! >> while the rest of the candidates hope for a seismic

change. >> this is do not a marketing issue. >> and apple versus the fbi, the tech company takes new steps to avoid unlocking an iphone. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm richelle carey. more on the fallout from super-tuesday is coming up. but first the supreme court just finished hearing arguments over a controversial texas abortion law. more than half of the state's clinics have closed since 2013. it requires doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals, and the clinics must immediate standards similar to emergency rooms. critics say it blocks access to abortions. lower courts have ruled in favor of a similar law in louisiana. legislation was blocked in alabama and mississippi.

roxana saberi was at the supreme court. so roxana, run us through what happened. >> reporter: the arguments were at times very spirited with the justices appearing to be quite divided. the arguments lasted about 90 minutes, and as you mentioned they stem from a 2013 texas law which put into play certain restrictions on abortion providers. and as you mentioned proabortion rights activists have said these restrictions have lead to the closures of several abortion providers in the state. now conservative just tigss asked the attorney for abortion a providers today what evidence is there that these restrictions lead to these closures. the attorney said there is testimony from providers that they lead that the restrictions have lead to the closure of these clinics, and also she said that these restrictions that the texas law is imposing are not medically justified. now on the other side, liberal justices challenged the attorney

for the state of texas as well, and they said what evidence is there that these restrictions are benefiting women. justice kagan asked why is there no texas law that is restricting other riskier medical procedures, such as colonoscopy and line poe suction. both sides spoke to the immediate. this is what they had to say. >> i'm proud to have spent the imagine yourty of my professional career, caring for women with passion and dignity and the respect they deserve. with the stroke of a pen the state of texas tried to take that away from us. today we called on the supreme court to help us stand up to those bullies who are trying to control our bodies and lives. >> texas cares about their women. women's health and quality of care for whatever kind of decision they choose to make.

and i am so proud that we have an attorney general who also believes that this is important. >> reporter: a decision on this case is expected by the end of june. richelle. >> so any indication which way justice kennedy is leaning? >> reporter: well, justice kennedy is the swing vote in this case. and he gave very little indication of which way he will decide. he suggested that this case send the case back to a lower court so more evidence can be introduced. so all eyes are on justice kennedy, everybody is wondering what he is going to decide. >> roxana saberi thank you. hillary clinton and donald trump are already setting their sights on november after big wins on super-tuesday. on the democratic side hillary clinton won seven states, georgia, virginia, texas, alabama, tennessee,

massachusetts, and arkansas. american samoa is also in the clinton column. bernie sanders won vermont and picked up wins in oklahoma, colorado, and minnesota. donald trump won seven states as well. but he lost the biggest prize, texas to center ted cruz. and cruz also won oklahoma and is projected to win in alaska. center marco rubio got his first win in minnesota. randall pinkston is live in west palm beach, florida where trump addressed some of his supporters last night. can trump's momentum be stopped at this point? >> reporter: well, certainly, richelle his opponents hope it can be stopped. that's why senator marco rubio and senator ted cruz and to some extend kasick and carson are staying in the race, because they point to this. while donald trump won those seven states, he did not get

more than 50% of the vote. he did not get a majority. so in the opinion of his his -- opponents, more republicans don't want him than want him. we're seeing some former supporters of governor jeb bush, and also some supporters of marco rubio apparently launching efforts to stop trump. the problem is they haven't figured out how to do it. meanwhile trump is saying he is winning, and he thinks the republican establishment should support the person who gets the most votes. this is what he had to say last night. >> i'm a unifier. believe me, i am a unifier. once we get all of this finished, i'm going to go after one person, that's hillary clinton on the assumption she is

allowed to run, which is a big assumption. i don't know that she is going to be allowed to run. and i think that's going to be an easy race. i beat hilary in many polls. i don't think marco can beat her. i think ted is going to have a very hard time. but ted at least has a shot, because at least he has won a little bit. >> now trump is making an interesting kind of calculation here. he was not too hard on ted cruz at all last night, and wasn't as caustic as he sometimes is about marco rubio, because trump knows as long as the field stays relatively crowded, as long as there are at least three candidates, chances are he will continue to get more votes than his opponents, which means his march to the nomination remains in tact. >> what is next for ted cruz and marco rubio?

>> reporter: they certainly are serious contenders, especially ted cruz. he has a long way to go to catch up with trump. but you still have some big states out there. we are looking at florida, marco rubio's home state coming up on march 15th. there is michigan, and ohio, john kasich is hoping to make some inroads in his home state. so yes there is a possibility. right now, trump has fewer than 200 delegates. so he has some work to do to get to that 1237, and his opponents are thinking that at any point they can overtake him, but of course as he gets more and more support, their chances become less and less likely. >> randall pinkston thank you. bernie sanders won four states tuesday, and even though he is far behind in the delegate count, it appears he has no

plans on leaving the race anymore soon. john tear ret has more from sander's hometown. >> reporter: richelle good morning from burlington, vermont where the sander's campaign held a briefing for journalists to talk about a strategy going forward. it seems they are going to concentrate on the midwestern states. last night when bernie was here, receiving a very warm welcome, he says the revolution, as he puts it, continues. >> secretary clinton and many of the establishment people think that i am looking and thinking too big. i don't think so. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: and they could well afford to do that. they raised 6 or $7 million just on monday alone. they have $41.6 million in the bank for the month of february. so it seems that sanders will at the very least be a thorn in the clinton side until the convention in july. his wife saying he won't even

consider giving up until that point. mrs. clinton was in florida last night, receiving her victory, after winning seven states. her message, well, i'm ignoring bernie sanders and concentrating on the republican party, in particular donald trump. she is an awkward situation. she needs to bring those sanders supporters with her at the same time of attacking the republicans. >> instead of building walls, we're going to break down barriers, and build -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- build ladders of opportunity and empowerment, so every american can live up to his or her potential. >> reporter: and today the candidates move on. mrs. clinton is in new york, her home state. bernie sanders has gone to maine

and will be in ohio tomorrow. >> it may be time for hillary clinton to pivot. but hasn't he already pushed her to talk about topics that she maybe wouldn't have before? >> yes, and no. in the primary i think she has realized the democratic party has shifted pretty far left. but if bernie sanders's goal was to actually get elected president, he has got a long way to go. maybe he went into this race thinking i just want to push the debate lever. i don't think this race is over. but if his goal is to win, he has a lot of work to do. >> how so? >> there are still about 70% of the regular delegates that haven't gone yet. hillary clinton in her speech

last night, is moving towards going after donald trump. and that's a little bit aspirational, right? if i say that long enough, people will start believing it. there are plenty of states out there where bernie sanders could still beat her. >> okay. let's pivot to the republicans now. donald trump won a significant number of states as expected. what are some -- what is some of the take away from his wins? >> the big take away from his win is not just that the republican establishment is left holding the bag, but that the entire conservative republican movement is in a bad position here. ted cruz who is might of a right-wing insurgent figure came in second. but not a particularly strong second. and that tells you that republican voters are being drawn to a candidate who is very much about his personality, but is also articulating an anger that -- with a lot of aims, and one of those targets of that

anger is the corporate establishment. not just the political establishment in washington, and that people who feel like the 21st century has not been good for them economically are not rushing to embrace these region -- reagan era policies. >> and they don't want to be told what to do by those types either. >> right. and i think a lot of people in the democratic party feel the same way, but leafing sanders aside for a minute, even people like barack obama and hillary clinton and bill clinton have been able to speak to those people a little bit more effectively over the year. >> let's talk about this anti-trump super pac that we're hearing about. would that have an impact. >> if you had a billion dollars that was in that super pac -- >> which i don't. >> if you were going to use it

to target trump, what would you say? he is not the most sensitive person? people know that. are you going to tell people he has been married several times. they know that. they know he is from new york city. they like all of those negatives. are you going to tell them don't vote for donald trump because he doesn't have the same position in iraq that ted cruz has. so don't vote for donald trump. okay. so then vote for who? and where? it's a start. it feels like a day late and a dollar short, but we'll see. >> okay. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> six new jersey newspapers have called on chris christie to resign. they are calling christie an embarrassment and utter disgrace. they pointed to his endorsement of donald trump and his absent

from the state as we ran for president. up next, a security showdown, the privacy debate on capitol hill as apple takes next steps to fight the fbi's request to unlock an iphone.

the u.n. security council has unanimously passed new security sanctions against north korea. it would ban pyongyang from exports cole, iron and other

resources. a grand jury found two bishops in pennsylvania helped cover up years of abruise by dozens of priests. as kristen saloomey reports, critics say the findings were too little too late. >> reporter: first it was this bishop, then this bishop, in leading the roman catholic diocese in pennsylvania, the two allegedly covered up the abuse of hundreds of children at the hands of dozens of priests. those were the findings of grand jury. >> this abuse lasted for four decades. four decades. and not only was it covered up, not only were priests moved around, but bishops hogan and ademmic, took actions to further endanger children as they placed their desire to avoid public scandal over the well-being of

innocent children. >> reporter: the report details the graphic testimony of former victims and priests. hogan is no longer alive, and ademmic denies the charges, but the story seems all too familiar. just this past weekend, this cardinal in australia became the highest ranking vatican official to testify in his country's investigation of sexual abuse in the church. >> i'm not here to defend the indefensible. the church has made enormous mistakes, and is working to remedy those. but the church is in many places, certainly in australia, has mapped things up. >> we need to focus on the institution not the individual are priests. >> reporter: the mishandling of sexual abuse cases first came to fight in boston. the investigation is portrayed in this film "spotlight."

since then the church has paid billions of dollars to victims. >> sometimes it can make a difference in the world, and when you can do that, it brings you closer, i think to why you wanted to do it in the first place, and -- and the more people come out, the greater chances we have of protecting more children, and i think people are making that connection now. >> reporter: in the pennsylvania case, no criminal charges will be filed. the statute of limitations has expired, some of the priests have died, and some of the victims, according to the attorney general, are just too traumatized to testify. a handful of priests have been suspended, but the report expresses concern that the, quote, purge of predators is taking too long. kristen saloomey, al jazeera. apple is taking new legal action a day of the government admitted mistakes handling the san bernardino shooter's phone.

>> reporter: apple as now files a formeral peel of a judge's order that it help the fbi unlock one of the san bernardino shooter's phones. am says it is out of an abundance of caution. the appeal came the same day both sides testified on capitol hill. james comey refrained from painting apple as more concerned about profits than national security. >> the company is not evil, the government is not evil, you have at whole lot of good people who care about things, all care about the same things, in my view. >> reporter: but he admitted the fbi and local officials made mistakes trying to get into the phone days after the shootings, putting through a pass word reset request that made it more difficult to get in. comey insisted the fbi is not looking to get a back door into all iphones. >> there is already a door on that iphone, we're asking apple to take the vicious guard dog away, and let us try to pick the

lock. >> reporter: the apple executive says what the government is asking now, would set a precedent that threatens millions of thrown useders. >> the fbi has asked the court to order us to give them something that we don't have. to create an operating system that does not exist. the reason it doesn't exist is because it would be too dangerous. >> reporter: members of congress from both parties say they understand why apple is resisting the order. some are calling for a blue ribbon panel of experts to figure out a solution. the long term impact of an invisible gas leak. some are worried that it is still not safe. and ivy league universities make a change to the way their football players practice.

only on al jazeera america. cuba has announce t it fist case of the zika virus. the health ministry says it was brought in by a venezuelan medical student on february 21st. the 28 year old has been under medic medical quarantine. cuba was one of the last countries in the western hemisphere to free of zika. and president obama will attend a baseball game in cuba later this month. it will be the first visit to cuba by an mlb team since the orioles played there in 1999.

ivy league schools are taking new steps to avoid injuries. there will no longer be tackling during regular season practice. it remains to be seen if the entire ncaa will take up the policy. residents living here a now capped gas well in los angeles are finally being allowed to go home. melissa chan reports, some fear it is still not safe to return. >> reporter: months after being forced away, joni spears has returned to organize what is left in her home. how do you explain this to your kids? >> they are going through a lot. i -- they know that we have to make the right decision for them, and i think they have been preparing themselves to -- to

leave, but i think not knowing where we're going, and what we're doing, is -- is frightening? >> reporter: she is not convinced it is safe to live here anymore. the gas company sealed the well, and residents started returning last week. >> since i have come back, the last several days in this past week, i began getting really sick again. >> reporter: it's not just joni spears other residents have reported problems as well. and county officials say they would like more time for additional air testing including inside homes. >> what is the residual, what has been trapped in the sediment rock for almost four months? >> reporter: the most damaging natural gas leak in u.s. history took place at one of the largest gas storage facilities in the country. most people had no idea there were more than 100 wells just

over the hills from their homes. sdhenth prompted protests, a demand for accountability, and lawsuits. >> you know, there are many lawsuits. i have heard up to 75. we have got our own lawsuit that we filed on behalf of the people of the state of california, working very closely with the city attorney's office. >> reporter: some residents will move past this and resume life in porter ranch, but spears says she plans to sell this house despite her love for her neighborhood. >> i think it is probably one of the most breath-taking places in l.a. county. when i saw this view, when we were ready to purchase this house, i mean, i couldn't believe i was go doggette to look at this every day. it makes me sad that this can happen in our country. >> reporter: the consolation for people who plan to move, housing prices appear to be holding steady. in fact construction continues

on million dollars homes right below the gas storage site. melissa chan, al jazeera, porter ranch, california. nasa astronaut scott kelly is back on earth after nearly a year in space. he and his russian counterpart returned overnight after saying on the station for 340 days. nasa doctors will spending the next few days studies the men to explore the long-term effects of staying that long in space. president obama tweeted kelly, loving the photos. do you ever look out the window and freak out. kelly responded this way: glad everyone is back safely. thank you for joining us. i'm richelle carey. do keep it here. the news continues next live from london. ♪

♪ >> and a very warm welcome to this al jazeera news hour. live from london from me david foster. let's take a look at some of the things we'll study in detail for the next 60 minutes. north korea facing tough u.n. sanctions after it's missiles program after an unanimous u.n. security vote. seven men killed in a raid by special forces linked to isil and were preparing a