suarez thanks for watching. good night. >> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city, i'm tony harris. below the belt. the republican candidates are being criticized for the tone and tenor of the debate. breaking ground, the city of flint begins the process of replacing thousands of lead pipes. the murder weapon? the knife reportedly found in o.j. simpson's former brentwood home. and americans and now enjoy cuban cigars at the single festival in havana.

and we begin with the republican race for president the day after what has been described as a vulgar debate. voters in five states get to tell the candidates what they thought of their performance when they cast their ballots in primaries and caucuses tomorrow. aljazeera's schuster with more. >> donald, learn not to interrupt. >> reporter: according to conservatives, the latest debate was a disaster, overwhelming policy discussions. >> breathe, breathe, you can do it. i know it's hard. but just -- >> when they're done with the yoga, can i answer a question? >> you can not, i hope that we don't see yo yoga on this stage.

>> you never know. >> reporter: and just when it seemed that donald trump might try to sound presidential, the celebrity billionaire referred to the size of his genitalia. >> he referred to my handing small, something else must be 13458, and i guarantee you there's no problem. >> reporter: conservative media out let's, accelerating in motor city wreck. the christian broadcast network, all that was missing was jerry springer. the editor of the free beacon, the spectacle made me ill. republican pollster, frank luns, tweeted 22 out of my 25 focus group members said that tonight's gop debate will hurricane republicans in the general election. this has to stop, seriously. but stopping the ten or an tenoe tone in the gop contest may be impossible. >> this little guy has lied so

much about my record. >> here we go! >> reporter: this week before the debate, donald trump vowed that he will not unilaterally disarm. >> i'm going to hit them back harder, right? >> reporter: and now in florida another upcoming primary contest, gop establishment groups are intensifying their ads against trump. >> he even tried to kick an elderly widow out of her home. the gop establishment goal is to keep trump from winning delegates, so enormous risks. >> the delegates, a dramatic change of events, but that's not the case. so let's call it 40%, you have

40% of trump delegates, and they don't care about the people in the republican party. >> reporter: the republican turmoil only helps democrats, hillary clinton and bernie sanders. their jabs have been tame. wall street. >.>> if you were going to get paid $200,000 for a speech, must be a pretty damned good speech. and if it's such a good speech, you have to release the transcript and let everybody see it. >> reporter: republican strategists say that the democratic odds of winning in november are increase as the republican contest gets uglier. >> the democrats have the right to know. >> you're the one. >> reporter: david schuster, aljazeera. >> louisiana is one of the states holding primaries tomorrow holding primaries. and with the voters, jonathan

martimartin. >> the fact that he's here louisiana, in the lead of every opponent, donald trump hoping to continue his winning streak in the deep south, and winning louisiana tomorrow like he did in alabama and georgia. tomorrow, louisiana has the biggest prize with 46 delegates at stake on the gop side. but there's a new poll out from the university of new orleans that shows donald trump with a pretty sizeable lead, polling at 38% right now, but the poll, released in the last 48 hours, shows that a lot of republican voters are undecided and that's why they're here and across

town. what the polls are saying, again, you have a lot of people showing up to support donald trump. and of course he has a strong base here louisiana. a lot of folks, evangelical voters, conservatives, and this is a very red state. so donald trump, again on the stage here, starting off on touting how far ahead he is here louisiana. >> okay, jonathan, i'm going to try one more question for you. and i don't know if you can hear me clearly, but if you get a sense at the trump rally, the democrats have their rally tomorrow, and hillary clinton has a pretty strong lead there. >> reporter: yes, she does, not so much of a lead that bernie sanders hasn't done much campaigning here at all. but tomorrow, louisiana, on the republican side, 46 delegates but even more on the democratic side. 59 delegates at stake. hillary clinton, while she was not in the state today, she sent her husband, bill clinton

today, and he was spoke at a rally today. jobs is the big thing. the economy, while the rest of the country is doing well, louisiana is in a recession right now, a lot of oil workers are losing their jobs, the price of oil is down, and that's what you hear a lot of the candidates talking about. today, bill clinton talked about the economy is here's what he said. >> louisiana counties alone, 75,000 we wouldors, and i said that can't be right. and he said it is. because we can't match our unemployed people with the openings because we have not provided the skills. and that's a big part of her program. >> so again, tony, it's kind of hard at the rally when you see how many people have shown up to the rally.

waiting to get in. but obviously, donald trump really getting a lot of support here in louisiana, and expected to do well here in the deep south on super tuesday. >> okay, jonathan martin in new orleans for us. ben carson, after hinting for days that he's dropping out of the presidential, a he made the announce: it's ecorches that donald trump has decide to skip, which could intensify questions about his conservative credentials. adam may is live in washington for us. >> reporter: well, tony, even with the prizes, this is a shocker. donald trump made more than $100,000 in donations t -- but we're seeing such a decide this an appearance by trump could have turned off this critical voting law. >> god bless ctap.

>> ted cruz gets the rock star treatment at the politician action conference after donald trump unexpectedly dropped out of the cpac 24 hours before speaking. >> i think that someone told him that megyn kelly was going to be here, or even worse, that conservatives would be here. >> cpac attracts 100 conservative organizes, and candidates seeking the nomination, like donald trump, who spoke here in 2014. >> thank you very much, it's an honor to be here. i love you people, and you're my people. you're conservative, and you work and you love the country. it's very simple. >> the trump campaign explained their about face in a statement. it read that the donald trump

for president campaign announced that it will be in wichita, kansas for a major rally on saturday. because of this, he last name be able to speak at cpac, as he has done for many years. the misspelling of wichita, kansas was irrelevant, it may have been the possibility of an embarrassing walk out during his speech. he used the withdrawal to reinforce his main campaign message, that he is the only true conservative running for the white house. >> 65% of republicans recognize that donald trump is not the best candidate to go head-to-head with hillary clinton. that if donald is our nominee, in all likelihood hillary wins, and we logs the supreme court for a generation, the bill of rights is lost and we're buried in debt.

>> reporter: the american conservative union, organizers of cpac, also attacked trump. stating, we're very disappointed that donald trump has decided at the last minute to drop out of cpac. this comes at a critical time in our movement's history. he sends a clear message to grassroots conservatives. senator marco rubio felt the fire from them a few weeks ago, when it was unclear, and various media rose to the commitments. rubio is speaking on saturday. john kasich steered clear of the sideshow, instead predicting internal fighting and a lack of consensus among the gop will go all the way to the convention. >> let's go through a scenario. do you think that it's going to be an appropriate convention? >> i do. it has to be done fairly. >> but cruz says a fair, brokered convention is not

possible. >> any time you hear somebody talking about a brokered convention, it's the washington establishment in a fevered frenzy. they're really frustrated because all of their chosen candidates, all of golden children, the voters keep rejecting. >> a darling of the conservative movement, retired neuro surgeon, ben carson, announced that he's suspending his campaign, after falling from first to nearly last in the latest polls. >> now that i'm leaving the campaign trail -- >> so the conference ends with a straw poll. sometimes it's an indicator of who goes on to win the gop nomination, but not always. georgmitt romney, george w. bus, and john mccain got the endorsement of cpac. and some didn't.

some think that that's the fear that donald trump had going into tomorrow, and maybe that's why he dropped out. >> is the president of mexico is lashing out at donald trump again. what vicente fox says. and finally premising flint's lead pipes, addressing the ongoing problem. [ chanting ] >> challenges the conscience -- >> house minority leader, nancy pelosi, was joined on friday by 250 members o25members of congr. the federal lawmakers with the

water crisis, which has been plagued for nearly two years. >> we know that we have to act. we come here to listen, to learn, to act on what we have put together as activists to see if we can hope. >> outside a home on the city's south side, the first sign of action. >> my mission is to totally get the lead out of flint. >> flint mayor, karen weaver on friday, kicked off her fast start initiative, the goal, to replace all service lines and restore safe drinking water in the city. as weaver pleads for more funding, thousands in the city are doing what they can to get by. >> ready? >> jaden sawyer is three years old. today, he's among dozens of children in flint who will be tested for lead poisoning.

for more than a year, flint's tap water was tainted with lead. sawyer is among thousands who were exposed. yolanda stewart learns of her grandson's test results within minutes. >> he's being tested. 4.3. that means he has a very local level. >> but others haven't been as fortunate. after the city began pulling tap water from the flint river in 2014, the percentage of children with lead levels in the city increased. >> we're seeing certain areas in the community that have a higher level more so than other areas. >> reporter: university of flint michigan nurse said that long-term lead exposure lowers a child's iq and behavioral problems. the contamination of flint's water is now at the center of a

criminal investigation. >> children are still growing, so their brain is still growing, so they might be a little slower than the usual to learning certain things. >> reporter: residents in the prominently black and poor city have depended on bottled water and filters for months. michigan governor, rick snyder, has been criticized for his slow response. >> we didn't connect all the dots that i wish we would have. >> reporter: newly released emails from his office show that concerns over the quality of flint's water were raised early on. >> that's where i'm kicking myself every day. i wish i would have asked more questions. >> reporter: in a few weeks, he'll face questions from lawmakers on capitol hill. iol arounda stewart hopes that a resolution to flint's water crisis comes soon. >> i'm hoping and praying that pipes are fixed. and it's going to be all right. >> reporter: bisi onile-ere, alaljazeera, flint, michigan.

>> the unemployment rate remains under 5%, with 241,000 jobs added, but as trisha explains, these new jobs, in food services and healthcare, are on the low end of the pay scale. >> reporter: the monthly jobs report had a blockbuster headliner, but there's a sting in the tail. the economy added 240,000 jobs last morning and that blew away expectations while the economy was at 4.9%. but many of the jobs were low wage and part-time, a double whammy that dragged down the hourly average earnings down. quality is lacking and there's a lot of slack in the labor force. more than 2 million people have been out of work for six months or more, and that level of long-term unemployment has barely budged since last year.

add to that, the 6 million americans working part-time who would rather have full-time jobs, and you have a recipe for paychecks that continue to disappoint. up next on the program, could it be the knife that killed nicole brown simpson and ron goldman? the knife that was reportedly found on o.j. simpson's property. and el chapo on the run. why there's reason to believe that the drug kingpin spent some of that time in the united states.

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>> it has been more than 20 years since o.j. simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, nicole brown simpson and ronal ron goldman. but today, the lmpd is investigating a knife reportedly found on simpson's former property. aljazeera's melissa chan reports. >> we're taking him to trial. >> the new fx miniseries recounts what unfolded in the so-called trial of the century. simpson, the former nfl football star, had been accused of the 1994 murder of his ex-wife, nicole and her friend, ron goldman. >> we, the jury, find the defendant, o.j. simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder. >> in 1995, simpson was found not guilty of the murders, but friday, the state took center stage again. during the police investigation

years ago, an exhaustive search for the murder weapon on such son's rockingham property, turned up empty. but now it has been confirmed that a knife reportedly found on the brentwood property almost 20 years ago is being examined by the lmpd. >lapd. >> this is what we know. in the last month, the lapd came aware of an item that was allegedly recovered by a citizen at the rockingham property, possibly during the demolition of the site. the actual item is described as a knife. and i'm not going to go into the description of the knife. >> reporter: that knife was originally found by a construction worker in 1998. he gave it to an off-duty police officer, working security on a movie set across the street. the police are baffled why it took that now retired officer almost 20 years to give them the knife. >> i was really surprised. i would think that an lapd

officer, if this story is accurate, as we're being told, would know that any time you come into contact with evidence that you should and shall submit that to investigators. >> reporter: the lapd is currently running forensic tests on the knife. the such son-goldman murders is an open case since o.j. simpson was acquitted. such son is in prison for an unrelated 2008 robbery and kidnapping conviction, and he can not be convicted again if the knife is in fact the murder weapon. >> it's my understanding as an attorney, that double jeopardy would be in place here, so we could not charge mr. simpson with homicide since he has already been acquitted. >> the daughter of mexican drug lord, joaquin guzman, also known as el chapo, said that he

slipped into california twice last year to visit relatives after escaping from president, and her father bankrolled by senior intelligence officials, and el chapo was to be extradited to the united states. >> reporter: it has been almost two months since joaquin guguz mon or el chapo was recharged. his extradition has been long sought. additionally, they have been fighting extradition, and now begging for t. >> he's emaciated. i see a fatal end.

>> they filed a complaint. the 61-year-old is in the same maximum security prison that he escaped from through a tunnel under his cell last summer. he believes that he would be treated better in an american prison. he's prepared to cut a deal. his hope is a reduced sentence in change for providing information, and his attorney would like to see protection finish his wife and four-year-old twin daughters. he's looking for an attorney in the united states. analysts tell us that the extradition process could take about a year. >> if convicted, the refugee smugglers connected to the death of curdy, found guilty, and what the u.n. is saying about its aid workers and alleged sexual assaults.

>> in september, the body of a young syrian refugee washed ashore in turkey. the little boy was named curdy. the three-year-old drown with his brother and mother as they tried to make it to greece. today in a turkish court, two men were sentenced to jail, convicted of human trafficking, acquitted of deliberately causing their passenger's details. each was sentenced to four years behind bars. thousands of asylum seekers are still making their way and the

european governments is trying to help all of them. they will seek more ue help to patrol the borders. it's an entry point, and the policy of the german government is to accommodate and integrate those seeking asylum. but the public sentiment appears to have turned against the refugees. >> reporter: this is the hotel, it should be housing up to 300 asylum seekers, but instead, it's now a wreck. when the fire was raging. the emergency reported that some people could be heard cheering the burning, and a few people deliberately hindered their efforts. those people have since had charges brought against them. the mayor said that such incidents will not deter him from providing a welcome to refugees. >> we're not going to let

arsonists decide who is going to come here, what number of people, and under which circumstances. we're not going to give away to these arsonists. >> in saxony, such incidents do not happen in isolation. more than 20% of all of attacks on asylum seekers are in this state. but there are fewer in saxony than anywhere else in germany. just one refugee for every 238 people. there are other sentiments of anti-refugees in this state. in this house, refugees are being given shelter. but just a few weeks ago, a crowd gathered outside, shouting insults and verbably intimidating the refugees trying goat off a bus. this video went viral, and in the aftermath, they announced

what happened. given that fewer refugees have come to saxony, why is there such refugee sentiment? i put that to a local academic. >> people are getting more anxious about the people coming in the country, and so they feel justified to some kind of resistance. and that's why some of them even take refuge to violent attacks. >> reporter: back in bautzen, the market is underway. this is a picturesque town that might be called cozy. the mayor says that the refugees are welcome, but local people disagree. >> it has now been one week since the cessations began in syria, and the regime is

mobilizing it's forces. all sides of the conflict have reportedly broken the truce, putting next week's u.n.-backed peace talks in real jeopardy. >> a moment of peace. for many people in syria, these scenes are unusual. life seems normal in this marketplace in the city of aleppo. >> people are out and buying, and women are even stopping to bargain about the price. before the truce, they didn't. they used to be scared. >> but no one is under any illusions. temporary stop in fighting could be easily shattered any minute. the opposition has recorded over 150 of violations by government forces on russian air force. while russia accuses the rebels of more than 130 of violations. >> they are using the truce as a mean to regain its strength after the big campaign it launched and suffered in daily. >> reporter: in some areas,

the war never stops. government forces are trying to advance in different areas. in southern country sights, in the prove ins. the government is fighting an al nusra front and isil. neither group is included in the cease-fire. opposition fighters fear the government should make a plan to besiege the city of aleppo. the government force were targeting rebel forces on the highway. not far from the rebel held town, which is the government's target. on the humanitarian front, the truce hasn't made any huge difference. the u.n. has access to half a million people in besieged areas. so far eight convoys have reached the area, and the plan agreed on before the truce

started. the world health organization said that it delivered a truck of medicine to the towns o north of aleppo, the government said that it's too early to tell what the truce has had on the delivery of urgent aid. the syrian army and it's allies are continuing with the ministry campaigns, while rebel groups are accusing government forces of be mobilizing troupes to seize more opposition-held territories. the success is not guaranteed, but so far, it has led to a drop-in violence, and that is good news for many syrians. aljazeera. >> thousands of iraqis took to the streets of baghdad today, rallying against corruption. it was led by prominent shia cleric, al sadr. >> reporter: it was a challenge and a warning. iraqi security forces had

banned this demonstration, just a few metres from the so-called green joan, where iraqi soldiers and diplomats work. but the rally went ahead. and the security watched. these are followers of the shia clerk, al sadr, part of iraq's layup, and he's influential. and his supporters are perhaps the last people that iraqi security forces want to battle. he said in the video, he was giving the government one last chance. >> in the final attempts, i call on all political parties, especially parliament, to begin talks with the people and remove this nightmare from a corrupt government. >> sadder set a deadline this won for the prime minister to implement reforms that he promised last year, and if that doesn't happen, he said that the political block will draw followers, and they will not be

just demonstrating at the gates. >> we must obey his esteemed words. >> sadr, be aware of the hungry and poor, the sign reads. >> this is revolution of the hungry, like the one that hit russia and europe. >> a lot of the younger men are unemployed. some say that they're victims of a corrupt system where you have to pay to get a good job. the prime minister has pledged to end corruption, and instead of party ties, but i doesn't seem to have enough support to do t political parties now are leaving to see if they can come to a decision on a way forward, perhaps to implement some of these reforms. but with so much at stake here and political parties losing

power as they do that, there's no guarantee of change. sadr's followers say that they will do whatever he asks them to. he's telling them to be patient for now, but not for long. >> suspending work on a controversy military base in okinawa. the marine base has long been between the officials. >> this would be a concession by the japanese prime minister, and the government in tokyo, with the battle between the pre-feck feck shall government. it's in the middle of the okinawa island and the residential area. the japanese government calls it the most dangerous air base

in the world because of that. it's destined to be relocated to the northeastern oak inawa island. but there has been a long-running protest of the residents of okinawa. and they say that they bear too much of the burden of the u.s. military presence within japan. and they want to see at least many of the residents and the government certainly of okinawa, they want to see that base taken outside, potentially outside of japan. there has been a legal challenge to the governor's work, the predecessor to the japanese government. and he will submit to a court mediated process, and they will drop their legal challenges and try to come to some kind of a peaceful settlement. but he says there's no alternative in the long run,

other than this plan. so that's still being a hard line in the long-term japanese government. and the core of this issue remains as it was before decision. >> the u.s. has grepped to remove up to 10,000 marines from okinawa in the coming years, but not until it's complete. u.n. peace keepers are sent to some of the world's most dangerous places. but more soldiers are being accused of sexual abuse. >> another damming report on sexual abuse of civilians by u.n. personnel in the field. 99 cases were investigated last year, 69 of them police or soldiers. citizens from 21 countries were accused of sexual offenses in ten u.n. missions, most of them in africa. no criminal allegations took place, but some had their bay

docked or were sent home. officials say that the trust in peace-keeping is badly damaged by even a single case of abuse, let alone the dozens reported here. >> i'm a peace keeper. i strongly believe, with the agenda, and i agree that everybody is, that anybody serving ouched the u.n. flag should prey on the vulnerable is truly an abomination. >> last saturday, ban ki-moon took the unprecedented step of firing the head of the peace-keeping mission in africa, he found them guilty of gross institutional negligence and called for more transparency and accountability. activists say that the latest report, the u.n. hasn't taken those allegations seriously, and calling on member states to

take over the investigations. >> the member states need to be being reminded. they're in charge, and peace keeping is their collective will. it's being undermined, it's reputation is being destroyed, and it's not being carried out effectively because of what the secretary general himself has called a canceormity system. >> court marshals in victim's countries, and dna tests, with police and soldiers aware of abuse. the u.s. is drafting a security council resolution, calling for repatriation of troops from countries where there's a pattern of abuse or evidence of non-ing cooperation with investigations. this is an issue that continues to plague the united nations and it's peace-keeping efforts. while a level may be encouraging, it's clear that the u.n. has a long way to go if it's to restore its

credibility, let alone the people that it's supposed to be protecting. >> waiting in on the fbi report that the apple phone crack for the officials that unlocking the could be a dangerous precedent >> the fbi needs everybody's full support into the investigation of the san bernardino killings. this was an an abomb dibble crime, and this is not about a company and it's supporters seeking to protect criminals and terrorists. it's about where a key red line necessary to safeguard all of us from criminals and resuppression should be set. >> several other tech giants, including going to and will facebook and microsoft have all signed on to i joint legal brief supporting apple. the gop frontrunner,

lashing out again. and why zimbabwe is seizing every diamond mine in the country.

>> former mexican president, vis enta fox, has told his disapproval of donald trump, even like thing him to adolf hitler. asking him, what mexico will do if trump becomes the next president. >> what we're going to do is

what the united states is going to lose. for instance, he says, he's going to build the wall, and go into a trade war with mexico. he's not understanding that by trading, we both win. but either he's not understanding that mexico buys from united states every year millions of u.s. dollars. this means millions of jobs for u.s. citizens. where is he going to replace that market and sell those products? it's very stupid what he's saying. he says he's going to tax goods manufactured in mexico, coming into the united states. what does the consumer going to say when the car price increases 20%? >> can you watch the entire interview with the former president, vicente fox. brazil's former president reacted angrily today after a

massive corruption probe. he said there was no need to bring him to a police station for questioning. two of the presidents had voluntarily testified in the operation, known as operation carwash. lula, as he's referred to, has been convicted of selling bribes to oil companies. it has been more than a year since the prosecutor died just one day before he was going to testify about a alleged cover up by the former president. >> it was a death that shocked the nation and for thousands of people on the street. prosecutorial berto kneesman died over a year ago, found with a bullet in his head. it was thought to be suicide, but now some authorities believe that it could have been murder.

>> if this man had killed himself, he would have had gunpowder on his hand. and he didn't. we did self with the gun used, and there was gunpowder, and nisman had none on his hands. he was found dead the day before he was going to trial for a secret deal with iran. concessions for covering iran's role in the terrorist bombing of a jewish community center in cyrus in 1994. the case against kirchner was thrown out. the investigation into what happened to the prosecutor, in the last year, conspiracy theories have flourished in this country, and many believe that nisman killed himself, and

others are convinced that he was murdered because he was a threat for the argentine and iranian governments. a former spy master with close links with the cia and israeli intelligence. the old image of him is this picture. he has recently said in court that those behind the killings were close to former president, kirschner, and he even suggested that iran could have been behind his death. he played an active role in the investigation, and he said that he should be investigating as well. >> this man was fired by the kirchner administration, and he was angry and his way of seeking revenge was by blaming the government for nisman's death is ever has irregularities. >> everything was destroyed. and there was a coverup in

1994, so we really don't know the truth. who killed nisman, we may never know. >> and that's something that upsets many people here, that it will be another crime in argentina that will remain unresolved. >> the president of zimbabwe has issued a new edict. robert mugava has told the government to take ownership of all of the diamond mines in the country. >> reporter: an official broadcast, he explains why his government is seizing all diamond mines. >> we have not received much from the diamond industry, and yet we think that well over 15 or more billion dollars have been found in that area. >> reporter: so to keep track

of funds, the government is forcing companies to form a single diamond mining company. it will be controlled by the state, which will have 51% of the shares. >> everybody else coming to the scene says, we're not going to supply 100% of the capital just so we can earn an income from 49% of the capital, on which we will anyway pay taxes and very heavy royalties. >> reporter: the diamond monitoring group said that two years ago, zimbabwe was the 8th largest diamond producing country in the world. people have been mining diamonds for ten years, but it's a secretive industry. most don't know how many have been found, the value of them. opposition parties don't believe the president doesn't know where most of the money has gone. >> we know that this money has been -- they have their pockets

lined, with billions of u.s. dollars, and they should have that money repateiated back to zimbabwe. >> reporter: it had been mind by the chinese and locally owned companies. some have tried to take the mines to court, but the president said that he does not trust the private sector. mining companies in zimbabwe have to comply or leave. >> up next, how the cuban cigar is making a splash in the market, especially among americans, and calling attention to the plight of the panda.

>> so america's new space hero is ready to go to mars. scott kelly, he was in space for a year as part of nasa's research, and in his first press conference since returning to earth, kelly said that returning to mars might soon be a reality. >> going to mars, if it takes 2 years, 2 and a half years, that's doable. >> well, kelly and his russian cosmonaut colleague made 5,000 trips around the earth. and during that time, kelly took breathtaking photos of earth. he said that the view gave him a new respect for the planet and the need for environmental preservation. for havana aficionados,

havana's the most prestigious in the world. and now americans can find them. >> reporter: the smell of tobacco is overpowering as cigar aficionados are over a world away. seeing who could produce the longest ash. it's not just a hobby. it's a passion for men and women attending the annual havana cigar festival. >> i have to say there are more and more young people starting to smoke cigars, it's a trend. >> it has turned into a classroom for aficionados to learn how to roll a cigar. >> it looks easy enough, but it's very difficult. and people are coming here from all over the world to learn how to do t. >> among them, george from

new york, who said that he smoked his first cuban cigar before they banned them from the country. >> at 17, i was hooked. >> but until now, he couldn't come here legally to smoke them. now, with the restoration of diplomatic ties between havana and washington, a number of americans are here openly to take part in the festival. >> obama has time opened up the gates. >> this year's festival is special because it celebrates the 58th anniversary of cuba's cigar brand. >> in 1966, to make it this. fidel castro's favorite cigar. it was exclusively for the leader of the revolution and visiting dignitaries.

and in 1992, when it was final put on the market for anybody to buy except for the americans. now you can buy and bring home $400 worth. not much when you consider that tens of thousands of dollars worth of cuban cigars, just maybe enough to last them until next year's cigar fest. aljazeera, havana. >> bangkok is the scene of an art exhibition that pays tribute to endangered species. aljazeera's wayne hay. >> reporter: they have been flash mobbing their way around the world. and now in thailand they will be popping up in various locations to try to raise awareness about the plight of their counterparts. there are 1600 of them in 2008,

when they started, >> tony, we begin with the elections, five states to go, their votes may tell us what they thought of last night's republican debate. david schuster has more. >> it's a minor civil case. there are many, many civil cases. >> count to 10 donald, count to 10. >> according to the latest, gop

debate was a disaster. overoverwhelming policy discussions. >> you can breathe, i know, it's hard. >> when they're done with the yoga can i answer a question here? >> i really hope that we don't see yoga on this stage. >> he's very flexible so you never know. >> and just when it seems front runner donald trump might try to sound presidential, the celebrity billionaire alluded to the size of his genitalia. >> he referred to my hands if they're small, something else must be small, i guarantee there's no problem. i guarantee. >> conservative media outlets affirm, gop implosion accelerates in motor city wreck. the christian broadcasted broady network. the only enthing that was