>> looks amazing. you can find out more about "the bear story," and everything we have been covering on our website. the address is on your screen right you, and it's aljazeera.com. ♪ i'm very, very humbled by the campaign, and the experience. >> john kasich and marco rubio battling for their political lives with winner take all contests for both of them. while bernie sanders's supporters are pinning their hopes on a political upset against hillary clinton. and for the first time ever, an nfl firm confirming the link between concussions and brain

damage. ♪ this is al jazeera america, live in new york city. i'm del walters. voters in five states making their choices known in those key presidential elections primaries. florida and ohio of course winner take all states for the g.o.p. they are also the home states of marco rubio and john kasich, both men trying to stop donald trump's momentum. if trump loses either of those states the path to the nomination becomes more difficult. we have all of the big primaries covered for you. jonathan betz is live for you. and what is the turn out like for you where you roo are in cleveland? >> reporter: hi, del, it is the lunch hour, so we're seeing a

new more people trickle in here. people come in through this door, and sign in another this table, and then they are told to go to one of four tables depending on their precinct. if they come to a table like this, they will ask for a ballot. in this state it's a mixed primary state, which means if you are a democrat you can ask for a republican ballot, if you are a republican you can ask for a democratic ballot, which means if you are worried that trump is going to win, you can vote for the other front runner here, john kasich to try to throw trump's vote. the people we talked to today did not say they were going to try to do that. this is what they had to say. >> i just don't think that trump is a good fit for me, or individuals of my race, so that's why it is very important for everyone to get out and vote. >> reporter: whom did you vote

for? >> hilary. >> reporter: why is that? >> because i want to give a woman a chance to see how they can work in the white house too, it has the mens all the time. how about that? >> reporter: now turnout is expected to be higher than usual in ohio as primary. voters say their number one concern is the economy. ohio has a pretty low unemployment rate, about the same as the national unemployment rate, but in terms of median household income it is lower than the national rate, del. >> and john kasich voting in his home state a few hours ago. what is he saying about his cam feign? >> reporter: he has continued to keep the same tone as he has before. he has said over the weekend, actually, of several stops that he is not going to take the low road to get to the nation's highest office. he cast his ballot earlier today, and said he will continue to keep his positive tone.

>> well, i think people are proud. you know, it's really interesting because i have been asked at a -- do you regret the fact that you have been so positive in the campaign? and we all know that by the fact i ran a positive campaign, or our team has run a positive campaign, that there were probably missed opportunities to get attention early on, but by continuing to run the race, the positive campaign is now starting to shine through like a becan. in the third begait i was the first one to challenge donald trump for his position on immigration, and ben carson's position on medicare. >> reporter: now polls show john kasich and donald trump in a tight race here in ohio. >> roxana saberi live for us in

cleveland thank you very much. john than betz is standing by for us live. >> reporter: we noticed in the last couple of days a definite change in tone of marco rubio as he tries to slow donald trump. he has been pushing this message that marco rubio is best positioned to beat trump within florida and a vote for any other candidate, rubio says is basically a wasted vote. rubio also open admitting that insulting donald trump was a mistake. he is no longer doing that. and instead over the weekend, offering a rather deep look at -- critique of trump calling his rise to power disturbing, a grotesque development in american politics and saying that trump is feeding into the an inger and violence that we

have seen. >> the republican party and the american electorate are at a cross roads right now where we have a nation of a lot of people that are really struggling and are frustrated and we have to decide are we just going to make them more angry or acknowledge their anger and frustration or offer a better way forward to turn their country and lives around, and that's what i want to offer. >> so trying to offer a more optimistic vision to the future, without question, though, pushing the stop trump movement, hoping to unite republicans around him and the idea of defeating trump. so rubio pulling out all of the stops in what could be the final days of his campaign, unless he is able to defeat trump in his own state. >> and once again, the battle cry seems to be florida, forward-looking, forward-looking, why is florida so important. >> there are so many delegates up for grab. 99 del grates.

it is the biggest prize of the five-state voting today. and whoever wins the republican vote here wins all of those 99 delegates, so it is make or break for so many campaigns. and florida is without question a critical swing state so how people vote today could offer clues to how they vote in november. and they are going to be looking for signs of whether trump's past scandals are catching up to him. >> and what about the democratic side of the ticket? what is going on there? >> reporter: hillary clinton just like donald trump enjoying a comfortable lead here. hillary clinton leading in many polls by 20 percentage points over bernie sanders. but hillary clinton is still spending a lot of time campaigning in florida, because unlike the republicans, the delegates on the democratic side are awarded proportionately. so she needs to win and win big in florida to show she is the front runner, and deserves that

title. >> jonathan thank you very much. donald trump already can count on one victory today he won the caucuses in the northern mare annia islands, just east of the philippines. he is expected to get all 9 delegates there. lincoln mitchell is always with us on election day. today no different. what about this percentage of votes? which states does bernie sanders have to do well in? and does he see any winner take all scenarios on the democratic side of the primary. >> the democrats don't have winner take all. >> so even if he scores victory -- >> right. it is hard for him. for him he'll try to win the three most northern states, and he has written off florida and north carolina, and that is a mistake. he should try to do as well as

possible there. >> so would it be wrong to be tracking this as a horse race saying sanders won two, clinton won four? >> i'll make a baseball analogy. the winner of a baseball game is the team that gets more runs not more hits. it's not the real ball game. >> let's talk about donald trump for a second. the super pacs against donald trump are running these ads, and they are donald trump's own words about women. >> real quotes from donald trump about women. >> i would look her right in that fat ugly face of hers. >> look another that face, would anyone vote for that. >> she had the height and the beauty. she is crazy, but these are

details. >> i like kids. i'll supply funds and she'll take care of the kids. >> so these ads are now running in all of those battleground states that we're talking about. but so many are asking is it too little or too late. >> when i look at those ads, i see if you are hillary clinton and you have swing voters who are in the middle, you run that ad. what are you going to tell republican voters that trump is bombastic and obnoxious? they already know that. the way they have to hit trump has to be something different. >> the one thing that seems to be emerging is that ted cruz is doing well, but the republican party, the establishment itself finds itself trying to coalesce between either trump or cruz. why are they having such a hard

time? >> well, because cruz -- there's two problems with cruz. one he is not exactly the most electable guy either. on the one hand cruz isn't exactly electable, but he is also widely disliked. so to fight trump and get a guy who is going to carry 12 states, and even if he wins people are going to hate him isn't that big of a concern. but if the concerns about donald trump that he is really a threat to democracy on some level, his understanding of what it means toly in a pluralistic society is different than what many people think, then it's worth having ted cruz take one for the team. >> thank you. donald trump like we said counting on that one victory

today, but also the white house moving to a different island easing restrictions with cuba. among the changes americans will be able to travel to cuba without an official organization. it still has to be, quote, an educational trip, but you don't have to sign up with a sponsored company. cubans will be able to open u.s. bank accounts and americans will be able to buy cuban products overseas like those cuban cigars and alcohol which is already being sold in europe. the changes are set to take place tomorrow. iran saying it has retrieved thousands of pages of information from the electronic devices of those american sailors held in january. the information was taken from laptops, gps devices, and cell phones. no response yet from the pentagon. and brussels officials saying shots were fired today during a raid that was tied to last year's paris attacks.

three officers suffered minor injuries in two different shootouts. belgian security forces hunting for at least two men in connection with today's shootings. up next, officials behind the water crisis in flint testifying before congress. and and it has been five years sinces the conflict in syria began. the latest on the talks trying to restore peace in that nation.

>> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight.

former city manager of flint testified in front of congress today. al jazeera's john terrett is live for us in washington. and john, what have we heard so far today. hey, del, this has been quite the hearing in many ways. according to representative john micah, the republican of florida this has been the finger pointing hearing. and he held his hands up pointing at everybody. he heard from susan headman who used to be in charge of the epa where flint is. we heard from marc-edouards, who went in to fry to decide whether there were serious levels of leader not. and we heard from the emergency manager in flint at the time the water flipped over.

he was asked whether or not he had asked enough questions at the time here is his answer. >> do you believe a an emergency manager, somebody who is put in charge of the city of flint, it doesn't fall on you to question any actions taken prior to your appointment? >> no, what i mean by that is it does not fall to me to arbitrarily change that. >> isn't the job of a city manager to question things? isn't that why you are brought in? >> that's part of the reason, yes. >> if as a congressman if i took the position that it's not my job to question, second-guess or invalidate any actions that happened prior to my being here, would i be doing any job? >> darnell earley going on to say he thought the information being given to him by the likes of the epa was scientific, but in hindsight he wished he would

have asked more questions. >> and what have we learned about the roles of others in the situation. >> reporter: that they are at opposite ends. mark edwards from virginia tech that headman did nothing to protect flint's children. nothing, he said. and there was a lot of in the weeds discussion about an email sent by an epa scientist, and whether or not headman created a environment of fear, basically saying the whole of the city of flint, michigan was being poisoned by lead. the republican chairman of this house oversight committee basically slammed in to susan headman as you are will. >> this is where you are fundamentally and totally wrong. and if you don't recognize that

now, we're in mid-march, 2016, and you still don't get it. you still don't get it. and neither does the epaadministrator. you crewed up, and you messed up peoples lives. >> mr. chairman -- [ applause ] >> no, no, no. the audience, please. >> reporter: and the audience, del, applauded enthusiastically at that point. this is a two-fer this week, because this committee hearing is wrapping up now, but it will be back on thursday, and the star witness will be michigan's governor rick snyder. del. >> john thank you very much. also today obama administration backing off plans to allow oil and gas drilling off of the coast. the white house originally intended to let that drilling begain as soon as next year, but there has been a lot of backlash from the coastal cities.

russian troops and war planes are leaving syria today vladimir putin calling it a step towards peace. al jazeera's james bayes is there in geneva. >> reporter: it certainly changes the dynamics, i think, that ung lie these talks because russia has always been the strongest supporter of the syria regime of bashar al-assad. now there is some doubt about that, about their stead-fast support for the syrian government, and i suspect there's some doubt even in the government delegation about where they stand, and i think they will be a little bit uneasy about the situation. the opposition seem to have a bit of a spring in their step in the last few hours because of this news. isil reaction from the main

spokesman, from the main opposition block, the high negotiations committee. >> we know there is big efforts from the states, from european countries that really made putin take this decision. there were -- you know, some, i believe, some meetings, some talks between the states and -- and russia, and hopefully that, really, the big decision would be -- is to really bring democracy, bring freedom to syrians, away from this regime. i don't think it's acceptable among syrians to see assad any longer. >> reporter: this is quite a slow process. on monday we have the government side here, before the announcement from moscow meeting with staffan de mistura, and in one hour's time, the parallel meeting, it will be the opposition who will be meeting

with staffan de mistura. he has already put out a statement, the u.n. mediator, saying he is pleased by this development. he says it is constructive development for the talks, the news coming out of moscow. >> that is our james bayes on the ground for us in geneva. when we come back, making the connection. the nfl acknowledging for the first time that there is a link between concussions and the brain disease cte. also -- ♪ >> reporter: the creator of hamilton making a trip to the rose garden.

for the first time an official of the national football league is admitting that there is a link between the game and traumatic brain injuries. that is a major change from what the league has been maintaining all along. >> reporter: on capitol hill a round table discussion on concussions was playing out as a routine affair until it became anything but when the attention turned specifically to the nfl. first, leading researcher dr. ann mckee testified that she believe there is a link between chronic brain disease and playing the game of football. in a long-term study, dr. mckee says 90 of 94 nfl players had

cte, as did 45 out of 55 college players, and 6 out of 26 high school plait -- players. >> do you think there is a link between football and degenerative brain us disorders? >> certainly her research shows that a b in of players were diagnosed with cte. >> you are speaking for the nfl, right? >> i -- you asked the question as to whether i thought there was link, and based on dr. mckee's research there is a link. >> reporter: and with that answer he became the first senior nfl official to admit the link. the league has staunchly maintained that no proven link exists. >> i feel that, you know, that

was not the unequivocal answer three days before the super bowl by dr. mitchell berger. >> i'm not going to speak from dr. berger. >> the league has been dpening itself and ultimately settled a lawsuit by former players alenling it knew of the dangers and didn't warn them. shortly after miller's comments a lawyer representing some of those players filed an objection with the court. he argues that miller has now directly contradicted the league's position in that case. >> a leagues spokesman wrote, quote: mccarthy also saying the nfl wants the facts so the league can better development solutions. google going been congress today to help fast-track getting

self-driving cars out on the road. google was set to tell congress that self driving cars could reduce the amount of space devoted to parking and also make the roads safer. google is one of many companies working on the cars. they say the current rules get into the way, for example, requiring a rearview mirror only makes sense if a human is parking the car. >> reporter: a system based on facial recognition for security is out. amazon's application saying it would be more secure than using pass words who are often too short, too simple, and easily hacked. ♪ the $10 founding father without a father ♪ >> that is the cast of hamilton which visited the white house for a performance of the hit

show and a little assist from the commander in chief. ♪ oh, my gosh, i can't believe, i'm there, it's so much more intimidating than if it was square ♪ ♪ i'm here with the president and my pop ♪ ♪ and you, the mic dropped >> how good is that? do you think that's is going viral? that is going viral. >> we shall see. he performed during a white house event back in 2009. so last night, the president taking some credit for hamilton's success. and as we get ready to go out for this half hour, play particular attention to the young drummer in the back still in uniform, rocking it, and making sure that the world knows that he has got beats. thanks your joining us. i'm del walters in new york. the news continues live from

london next. ♪ shots are fired in the belgian capitol, following a police raid related to last year's deadly attacks in paris. ♪ hello, i'm barbara sarah, you are watching al jazeera live from london. also coming up, russia begins pulling out its military from syria, as talks on how to end the conflict enter their second day. and a new president for myanmar after more than half a century of military rule. back in court, norway's mass murderer,