through extreme economic and political tumult. is it teetering on the brink? aim ray suarez, good night. >> this is aljazeera america, live from new york city, i'm tony harris, say supreme battle over the president's choice for the supreme court. closer to the finish line, hillary clinton and donald trump gain even more ground against their rivals. from war-torn, and a small town in east porterville is bone dry, despite el nino

predictions. >> today, president obama named merrick garland a former judge, to fill the vacant slot on the supreme court. the president faces a constitutional battle with gop senators who say that the next president should make the call. john terrett is in washington, and what happens next? >> hey, tony, good evening. this is the story of a widely respected dc circuit judge, much liked among members of both political parties, who finds himself caught up now in a gargantuan political struggle. in the morning in the rose garden, president obama tailored down his political opponents to find a replacement for scalria, who died last

month. >> he's not only one of america's sharpest legal minds, but someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity and even handedness and excellence. >> 63-year-old merrick garland is chief judge on the dc circuit, known in legal circles as the nation's second highest court. a job he has had for years. he's a moderate on issues, and earlier, he oversaw the prosecution much oklahoma bomber, timothy mcvie and unibombor, ted kaczinski. >> people need to be confident that a judge's decisions are only by the law. for a judge to be worthy of trust, he or she must be faithful to the constitution and statutes passed by congress, and he or she must

put aside personal preferences and follow the law, not make it. >> president obama called on republicans in the senate to give garland a fair hearing and then an up or down vote. if you don't, it will be an abication of the senate's constitutional duty. >> it will be a process that is beyond repair. everything is subject to the most partisan of politics. everything. it will provoke an endless cycle of more tit for tat, and make it impossible for any president to carry out their constitutional function. >> reporter: if the president hoped that his words might bring the intro sides together, he was wrong. >> ever since the death of justice scalia, the battle lines are drawn, and it didn't take long after the ceremony in the rose garden of the white house, for the republicans to

state that for them, absolutely nothing has changed. within minutes, mitch mcconnell was on the floor of the senate. there will be no hearing. republicans who think that the next republican will be republican want them to choose the justice after scalley a. and not obama. >> it seems clear that mr. obama made this not with the intent of seeing the nominee confirmed but in order to police department size it for the election. >> reporter: in other words, if he doesn't give garland a confirmation hearing, it will become a 2016 campaign issue, and a very big stick for the democrats to hit the republicans with. and tony, many people in this house, think that despite the circumstances in the rose garden this morning, wantest is to get this into campaign 2016. >> so john, what option is there for the president here? he can't force the senate to consider a supreme court

nominee. >> no, that's a very good question. no, he can't, it's not possible finish the administration to force either a confirmation hearing or a confirmation for merrick garland. but there are a couple of things that they could pull up their sleeve. for example, if it's possible for them to put on a political show. they have done this before, if you remember regarding the closure of guantanamo bay. time and again, they put gitmo into other bills that came up on capitol hill. and people said we can't vote for this, because it has gitmo in it, and they didn't. it has a cause, and it attracts a lot of attention, but the downside, nothing gets done in washington, and as we know, that's one of the main themes of this election campaign 2016. >> john, thank you. and at the bottom of the hour, i'll talk about the president's pick and the impending fight with republicans in congress

with mike at lee. now, presidential politics and the aftermath of last night's primary was a big night for donald trump and hillary clinton. each canceled date appears to be within striking distance, hillary clinton has almost half of the delegates that she needs, and on the republican side, donald trump has more than half of what he needs for the nomination. mike viqueira and senior correspondent, mik michael shure are both in miami, and we begin with michael shure and the republican campaign. >> today my campaign is suspended. >> with those five words in miami last night, the once promising campaign of marco rubio came to an abrupt end. the state of florida, which propelled him to the senate in 2010, was ironically want site of his final defeat in this presidential race. >> while tonight, while it's clear that we're on the right side this year, we last name be on the winning side. >> it was donald trump beating

rubio by 19 points and winning over 50% of the vote in the state for the first time, who found himself on that winning side in florida, and just about everywhere else. >> this was an amazing evening. >> in addition to taking all of florida, trump won in illinois and north carolina. he has won in every cove confede state except texas. trump missed the notion that his campaign will divide republicans in november >> the fact is that we have to bring our party together. we have to bring it together. >> despite his huge night, he did lose the state of ohio to governor john kasich. who was jub lent over winning the 66 delegates in his home state. the departure of marco rubio means that kasich is the last man standing among the

so-called establishment republicans. >> i want you to know that the campaign goes on. and i also want you to know that it has been my intention to make you proud. >> but the path remains daunting for kasich. even if he were to win every remaining delegate, he would still fall short those needed for nomination. >> he is unfazed. >> we will beat hillary clinton, and i will be the president of the united states. >> senator ted cruz, who did not have a good night, finishing second in carolina and illinois and third in florida, was not daunted. >> only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination, ours and donald trump's. nobody else has any mathematical possibility whatsoever. >> kasich knows that his only chance will come at a contested nomination in july, was already

contrasting himself with trump and reaching out to rubio supporters. >> i want to remind you again tonight that i will not take the low road to the highest office in the land. >> donald trump increased his lead in a race that began with 17 candidates and little clarity. and moves on with only three candidates, but perhaps even less clarity. michael shure, aljazeera, miami, florida. >> i'm mike viqueira in miami. hillary clinton is back where she started at the beginning of the campaign. the odds on favorite to take the fight to republicans in the fall. >> we are moving closer to securing the democratic party nomination, and winning this election in november! >> reporter: clinton routed bernie sanders in north carolina and florida, and it was a draw in missouri and

illinois. but it was double-digits in ohio that debunks the theory that clinton is vulnerable in the industrial heartland. but sanders is succeeding nothing. his campaign has plenty of money to carry on, and addressing supporters in arizona tuesday night, he launched into his now familiar attack. >> she has received money from the drug companies and the fossil fuel industry. she has given speeches on wall street for $225,000 a pop. >> even the clinton team succeedconcedes upcoming primarn arizona and in hawaii, caulk uses in a format where sanders does well. but after her victories on tuesday, the delegate map put sanders in a big hole. a lead of 300 pledge delegates,

and what president obama had over her in a 2008 cost. clinton is turning the contest to the fall, and the likely confrontation with republican, donald trump. after calling for democratic unity, she trained her fire on trump, accusing him of bigotry. >> rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all muslims from entering the united states, when he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong. >> mike viqueira, aljazeera, miami. >> mike viqueira, michael shure, joining me from miami now, and michael shure, gentlemen, you look great. and that's not too to take. michael shore with donald trump

campaign, more than halfway to the nomination, what on earth can republicans do? those republicans who want to try to stop him? >> you know, tony, whatever it is, they haven't figure today it out yet. $15 million of anti-trump money was spent here, and 5 million in north carolina, and they have been doing whatever they can. it is a little bit anecdotal but consistent throughout this race. every candidate that i've been traveling it, when you get out on the road and you talk to these people and you ask them, would they vote for donald trump or hillary clinton, if those about the choices, they say that they would stay home. and that may be what the republicans do to stop donald trump. they may give it to hillary clinton. but that's what is going to happen. it has to be by accident because everything that they're doing is on purpose. >> the exit polls show that as many as two out of five republican voters would consider voting for a third party candidate if one were to

get in the race late. >> with the math on the democratic side, leaning more and more in hillary clinton's favor, where does bernie sanders go from here? >> well, one thing that bernie sanders does not have a problem with is raising money. his online contributions have really set a new precedent. he says that he gets an average of $27 per donation, and he doesn't take super pac money. even the hillary clinton concedes that many of the upcoming states, because many of them are caulk uses that require people to spend time, two or three hours at the caucus, only the enthusiastic voters show up for that, and that goes to bernie sanders. he may have a shot in california. you saw hillary clinton put out an ad in arizona. though many look at it as bernie sanders territory, and he put out an ad with gabby

gifford, with her stand with gun control. you have california, pennsylvania and new york coming up, and bernie sanders would have to get almost 60% of each of those states to come within the taillights of hillary clinton, and it does not look good for sanders right now when you look at that math. >> when you talk about california, it's june 7th, and if hillary clinton thought that she would still be running for the nomination in the month of june, she wouldn't have believe today. >> i have something for both of you here. the top story on this news cycle is the president's choice of merrick garland [ audio difficulties ]

led. as they apply power to the trains, after a tunnel fire raised safety concerns. it's the first non-weather related shutdown since it opened 40 years ago, and it's forced 7,000 commuters to search for other transportation. all in all, the situation might have been a lot worse, because all non-emergency government workers were offered the option of taking this as an unscheduled leave day or

working from home. the system's passengers have become accustomed to chronic breakdowns. >> there's a lot of work to be done on that. and i think that it's just sort of a sign that there's an aging system, we need to replace the cars and the structure. >> reporter: but government resources have failed to keep up with the challenge. >> the growth, the shear growth that the country has been experiencing, is i think a troubling trend given how much we're investing today. >> reporter: experts say that the u.s. has become dangerously neglectful of attending to other parts of has infrastructure. the society of engineers rates the roads, energy systems, and dams in poor condition. a recent report warned that a large portion of the country's water supply infrastructure is approaching or as already reached the end of its useful life. as evidence, the crisis in

flint, michigan, where corroded pipes forced them to change their water source to a dangerously polluted river. they would have to come up with $3 billion to tackle the energy needs in the next five years, but where the money will come from is something that the government is struggling with. >> building life in america, how syrian refugees are finding hope in the united states.

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>> talks on syrian's war resumed today with face-to-face with the opposition. the head of the delegation said that he will not speak to terrorists. meanwhile, sir ran kurds are trying to declare an autonomous zone. james bay is in switzerland. >> reporter: as the talks in geneva continue, a group that's not been invited has forced themselves onto the agenda. they decide to exclude the pyd from the process for now, under pressure from turkey, which calls the kurdish party a terrorist group. the question of federalism was a question to be decided by the syrian people at the talks. >talks.. >> the u.n. position is very clear. every spokesman stands for the

sovereignty of the syrian nation. >> reporter: the head of the pyd turned up for the talks in january before he found out he was not invited. other members say that his party should be excluded because they have been working with the assad regime. >> when they openly announce that they are disengaging with the assad regime, only then will they be welcomed with open arms in geneva. >> are the russians abandoning you? >> want government's chief negotiator, al jaffrey, ignored my question as he arrived here for his first session since russia started pulling out its forces. later, he explained that that was a joint decision. >> our friends and allies, the russians, came to syria, by a joint decision, and today they

will leave. it will be done through a joint syrian and russian coordination and action. >> he then used the opportunity to. >> it's not an honor at all to sit with a terrorist in direct talks, he belongs with a terrorist faction in embassies that kill citizens, and that's why we'll never have talks until this terrorist apologizes for what he has done, and then he should shave his beard. >> those most undiplomatic comments showing the dig trust on the day where the announcements by the pyd only make the process harder. james bay, aljazeera. >> sirrians around the world are keeping a close eye on the

talks now in switzerland. bisi onile-ere discussed the negotiations with a refugee who is now living in michigan. >> samir fled syria with his wife and seven of his children two years after the civil war began. >> life was bitter and tormenting. we fled from place to place from, small town to small town, panicking, kidnap and rape and so forth. >> after spending three years in a refugee camp in jordan, they went to hamtramic, michigan six months ago. >> i feel i'm reborn again. >> with the help of a non-profit, the family is representing this two-story house. having gone years without schooling, the children are at an elementary school.

he's a carpenter, looking for work to support his family. >> i believe america is the mother of the world. the rule of the law in america is above all. and everybody is adhering to the law. in america, there's an equal opportunity, regardless of being poor or rich, influential or not. >> it has been five years since the complicate began. the war has displaced more than 11 million people. and it has claimed more than 250,000 lives. al rashdan said that he has very little hope that the end of the war is near. >> peace will only be attainable in syria if all foreign elements pulled out by force, and i mean by american force. all foreign armies must go out of syria, and leave syria for the syrians, who alone can reach agreement away from all influences. >> al rashdan often thinks of the family that he left behind.

he hopes to visit syria someday. but michigan is now home. >> that was my dream which was in syria, to have a better future for my children. that was only a dream, but now i think when we are here, we can achieve this dream. >> bisi onile-ere, aljazeera, detroit. >> president obama has issued an executive order, imposing new sanctions on north korea in response to its nuclear test and rocket launch earlier this year. an american student was sentence to 15 years hard labor. otto was convicted of times against the state and get this, for stealing a propaganda banner from a hotel. up next, who is merrick garland? the judge that president obama is fighting to get on the supreme court, and donating to your favorite canceled date is just a click away, but is your personal information safe with the campaigns?

>> president obama announced merrick garland to the supreme court, and republicans say that they won't consider it. it sets up an election year showdown for president obama and senate republicans. >> today i'm nominating chief judge, merrick brian garland to

join the supreme court. >> reporter: on wednesday, merrick garland began his life in the public eye. a video introduction to garland, signaling that it has to have a public fight over the pick. >> i think that's what judges are supposed to be to make sure that the constitution is faithful to the law, and have the people's trust. so they get an honest hearing. >> this could be the only time that the public hears from judge garland. when judge antonen scalia died in january s. want senate said that they wouldn't pick anyone to replace him because obama is in his last months. >> it's the president's right to nominate a supreme court justice, and it's the senate's duty to act as a check on a president and withhold its consent. >> the president praised

garlandes' experience, he oversaw the trial of timothy mcvey. >> it will not only be the senate's constitutional duty. but it will indicate a process for nominating and confirming judges that's beyond repair. it will mean everything is subject to the most partisan of politics. everything. >> reporter: a political observer said obama isn't going to get what he wants. >> once they have taken a position over here that says i'm not going to vote, i'm not going to confirm this seat. it's very hard for them to flip the position, and only doing it because of political considerations is not something that's a very strong position to take heading into an election. >> i'm grateful beyond words for the honor of this. >> reporter: merrick is

starting his courtesy rounds with senators, and it may take more than that to get them to confirm him. >> michael lee, he's here with me and welcome to the program. you have to consider garland, don't you? >> yeah, he's absolutely an impeccable judge. he has amazing credentials, he has been -- he's chief judge of the dc circuit, on the court for 19 years, and well respected by people of both sides. not even considering him is unprecedented. >> so have him to the offices, play the game, if you don't -- or maybe don't, maybe that's not the thing to do. but you have to consider -- so why are we in this position so soon after antonen scalia's

death. and we have a vacancy. they staked out the position, didn't they? >> they did, and that's really unprecedented and not what themen people want. two-thirds of the american people want a hearing and people are going to vote in droves because they're mad about it. and here they are, being more dysfunctional. >> so why do the republicans take a position like this in your estimation? is there a political calculation that the people around the country won't make the republicans pay a price for this, and in this election cycle, they're more concerned about pocketbook issues than supreme court vacancy? >> the calculus is that they're not going to pay a political price, and i'm not sure that that's right. today, you've already seen

seven republican senators, people like or no orrin hatch wl have a hearing after the lame duck session, and there's a sense on the republican side that there's a price to pay. >> senator orrin hatch, the longest serving republican on the judiciary committee, and his thoughts on who the president should nominate to fill the court, he said obama could easily name merrick garland, who is a fine man. then he added, he probably won't do that because this appointment is about the election, so i'm pretty sure that he'll name someone the liberal democratic base wants. what's your critique of garland? is he an ideolog in any discern annual way? >> he has great credentials,

harvard law school, and served as a prosecutor, a judge for 19 years. on the dc circuit, he's known as someone who is very thoughtful and thinks through issues, and he's absolutely the sort of canceled date who should get a serious hearing. and i think that the republicans have questions that they want to ask him. and i think that the democrats have a lot of questions that they should ask him and that's fine, but the process should be respected, and that's really -- our system works when people play by the rules, and this is a total abdication of constitutional responsibility. >> you told me that he has been through something like this before. >> that's right, he was originally nominated by president clinton, and the republicans refused to review him. they didn't think that the dc circuit needed a 12th judge, and after president clinton

nominated him and they confirmed him overwhelmingly. >> i think that they ruled out josh earnest to make a case on a couple of other channels that judge merrick is the most qualified person for the court in history. >> he is. he brings a lot of life experience, and he was a prosecutor in private practice, and i'm not trying to go as far to say the most qualified in history. but he's top in any stretch of the imagination. >> and the last one, what is your critique of the republican position so far? is it stated that there will be no hearings and no vote? >> it's an abs case of constitutional responsibility. it's unprecedented. it's crazy. >> do you understand it? >> i don't understand it. >> even in political terms?

>> no, it doesn't quite make sense to me. there are certainly lots of reasons why you might vote -- and it's not clear had -- there's a fill buster and that's hard to get past. but this guy deserves a hearing. he has been well respected by people on both sides of the aisle for 19 years, and it really speaks to the state of the country. >> and michael lee, from the council on democracy program. good to see you. >> pleasure. >> and the ohio supreme court ruled today that the state can try to execute an inmate again after a first failed attempt. back in 2009, the execution team was unable to give drugs, and since the lethal drugs never entered the body and the execution didn't start, broom was sentenced to death for the

death of a teenager. last night, it appears that hillary clinton and donald trump have cleared paths to their respective nominations, but john kasich is hoping that his big win in ohio will boost his way over donald trump. >> reporter: john kasich's home state of ohio has put him back in the race. >> when you listen and you find your purpose, you're on fire. >> reporter: but after winning just one state, he has only one strategy available. team up with the other candidate, texas senator, ted cruz, to brock the billionaire. >> to say that they win it out right, it's zero, but now there's a much better chance that he and perhaps ted cruz as well could deny trump the absolute majority of delegates, and then we go to the summer and see how the republicans try to sort this out. >> if that happens, the

republican party would have its first contested convention since 194. 1948. any candidate could win the nomination for the ultimate prize. after sweeping florida, illinois, missouri, and florida, donald trump has about half of the candidates that he needs for president. after hillary clinton, after winning five primaries, the road ahead is clear. >> i think that we saw, the democrats are consolidating around their frontrunner, secretary hillary clinton, is gaining votes, and enlarging her margin of delegates, and i think that she's well on the path toward the nomination. >> reporter: clinton's rival, bernie sanders, has vowed to stay in the race until the end. but increasingly, she's focusing her fire past sanders. >> that doesn't make him strong, it makes him wrong. >> reporter: the man she

seems to expect to be her rival in november, donald trump. >> there has been a lot of passion from supporters during this race, and some of that has translated into online donation. looking into whether that money and your perm information is secure. >> reporter: browse through candidate websites, and it's hard to miss the donate button. giving money is easy, but when it comes to keeping credit card information safe, some sites are more vulnerable than others. the company ranked them from best to worst. donald trump's is the safest, followed by ted cruz, bernie sanders, hillary clinton and john kasich. the security experts that we spoke with say by and large, the transactions are safe, but giving money to a political canceled date on the web is no different than shopping online. >> there's never a 100% failsafe way of making a contribution, a purchase, a

transaction, so in a way, it's buyer beware or donor beware. >> security said all candidates use third party vendors for the transactions. it means that unless you check the fine print, your personal information could be sold to third parties. >> name, address, email address, sometimes a phone number or other identifying information that could be very valuable for the political campaigns, super pacs, organizations spending a lot of money, or data. >> online donations has never been more popular than in this campaign. thousands of people have given small amounts, for bernie sanders and hillary clinton. >> a south by southwest welcome to michelle obama to the stage today. joined by stars, queen latifah,

missy elliot and sophia bush. the first lady spoke at the austin festival to promote her let girls learn initiative for girls arn want world. >> today there are 62 million girls who are not at school. what i could do as a little girl is try my best to control my own fate. and i'm trying to carry that spirit over to the 52 million girls >> the first lady disappointed the crowd after telling them that she has no plans to run for president, but did say that she'll miss overinteraction with people as first lady. up next, the addictions from doctors, powerful painkillers. from el nino to el nada? how the promise of much-needed water in a california community literally evaporated

>> so new national guidelines to address widespread abuse of medications known as opioids. trying to get doctors to prescribe ib you proven and only opioids for of a short period of time. the department of affairs has them in place. veterans are particularly

susceptible to opioid addiction. >> this veteran said that he has been addicted to heroin and prescription opioids for most of his adult life. >> shooting heroin is like a bandaid. >> and it offers a similar potential and similar risk of death by overdose. and that's where the veterans administration has a massive problem. 50% of its patients seek help for chronic pain, and that helps to make the va want nation's largest prescriber of painkillers. it makes the va the largest single prescriber of medication linked to addiction, and 16,000 overdoses a year. now a national group led by a va addiction specialist has a program to give any veteran, and perhaps all veterans, another drug as well.

narcan, it temporarily reduces an overdose. >> one problem is that openid are invented to prevent sharp pain, acute pain, but they have been prescribed for chronic long-term pain. and the alternatives at pain clinics, like physical therapy and massage and accupunker are more expensive and hard tore come by. >> 50% of them have chronic pain condition, and if every one of them went to a pain clinic, that's a lot of care that they need to provide. >> for the vast majority, opioids are effective, and because the va has not been able to cut the overdoses, narcan is a last-ditch chronic management tool. >> they liken this to something that, you know, wouldn't hurt to have in case

of an emergency. >> the complication is that the drug that comes from the va can sometimes lead people into heroin. >> yes, but that certainly doesn't reduce our protect people. >> for boston, a program can't arrive fast enough. >> i have lost a lot of friends to overdoses, and some of them were the biggest addicts i've met in my life. but they were also fathers, brothers, sons, and best friends, and to lose someone to that because the government has come around yet, it's ridiculous. >> jacob ward, aljazeera, san francisco. >> new jersey is preparing to test thousands of students for lead poisoning. lead was found in the waters around the schools, and the finger pointing has begun.

>> a week after the officials in new jersey announced that they were shutting down the water in the city schools, the concern is growing over their water supply. >> the student health is in jeopardy. suggesting that the parents want to get their students lead testifying. now the state will employed testing for all 17,000 students who may have been exposed. it will begin in preschools, something that the doctors call a wise move. >> the younger the child, want more likely that the lead is going to deposit in them and cause damage. >> newark is not flint, michigan. >> there's nothing wrong with newark's water, but there's something wrong with our infrastructure. >> specifically, the officials point to the old rusted pipes that run through the newark school buildings, many of which are 100 years old or more. they will begin testing the

infrastructure in all of the school buildings this week. but the teachers say that the administrators didn't need to wait for this testing to help students. >> don't let my child drink poison while you are waiting for assistance. >> he took pictures of the water filters at the schools, installing them four years ago, and they were told to change them every six months ago. >> stop my child first, and then get help. >> they are insisting that the lead levels in the water are not high enough to cause serious enough problems. >> in parts of california, el nino has answered the drought, restoring the sierra nevada snowpack, and look at lake shasta today compared to a year ago, but in towns like east porterville, the rains never came. aljazeera's jennifer london

reports. >> reporter: dust, and dry wells have become a way of life for the residents in the small community of east porterville in the central valley. in jane's kitchen. >> we don't have water for washing clothes, dishes, or bathing. >> reporter: and deborah mad gal's backyard. her water lifeline is a tank in a tree. >> so this is one of the extreme measures that you had to take to get water independent house? by putting a tank in a tree? >> reporter: more than 75% of the people have no running water, and haven't had it for two years. >> have you got barrels? >> no. >> reporter: when we spoke to her in 2014, she spent much of the day delivering water to her neighbors. >> i'll bring the truck by. >> today she's still at it, busier than ever, but now she isn't just helping out residents. >> there are businesses in east

porterville that are also out of water. the sanchez, auto and rodriguez and other gentlemen down there that has a tire shop, they're out of water, and there are a couple of businesses farther down stringville drive that they closed because they had no water. >> reporter: east porterville has no water, so they have ride on others. >> we're like many third world countries at this home, and we have not resolved this issue. many consider it a disaster when houses are crashing in a tornado, and we have seen it before in hurricanes, but there is a slow disaster. >> reporter: el nino was supposed to bring much-needed rain and relief. but for many drought stricken communities in the central valley, the rain has largely been a no-show. here in east porterville,,

el nino has delivered a couple of quick storms, enough to turn the grass green, but not enough needed to end the destruct. >> everybody is waiting on el nino, and you still have a pickup truck full of bottled water. >> i'll probably be delivering water for quite awhile. >> right now, we expect to receive 5 inches of rain through this calendar day. but they have only received 3 or 4 inches. >> that's an inch below average in an el nino year, and time is running out to make a real difference, according to scott row. >> imagine a bucket representing the last four and a half years of what we would expect to receive. the buck set only half filled. and even if we get more precipitation in the next months, it's unlikely that we'll see it filled. >> like mother nature, some have stepped in, from these

large above ground tanks to these showers, and now a resource center. >> sometimes instead of shorter, it gets a little bit longer. >> resource coordinator said that every day as the wells run dry, 30-50 people come to the center in desperate need of help. >> how hard has it been on you it. >> we here stories from people all the time, especially the elderly people, they're not flushing their toilets at night. and they're not able to do their laundry. we are providing needed assistance here at the drought center, but there's only so much we can do. >> donna johnson said that she's is one of the fortunate few, she could dig a deeper well, but that has come as a price. >> i felt very bad. but that's good, its caused me to work harder to help the other people. >> reporter: long-term solutions, like drilling a new

community well take time and money, two things that east porterville doesn't have. and as the elusive el nino leaves residents in the dust, hope is also running dry. jennifer london, aljazeera, east porterville, california. >> up next on the program, surviving tragedy. a young palestinian boy is ready to meet his hero.

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>> life as a five-year-old orphan is not easy, but one soccer player hopes to make it better. >> reporter: like many five-year-olds, he's just getting into football. and his favorite player is christiana renaldo. and in everyday life, his favorite person is his grandfather, because his home was firebombed. his eight-year-old brother, ali, was killed straight away, and their father died in september, and their mother succumbed to her injuries. >> ahmad asked me every day about his parents, he asks me where is heaven? how far is it from our house? the other day, i found him looking at his mother's photo and asking where she was, and i believe that ahmed will need

help. >> he has had several operations, and his treatment in hospitals is not finished. but he's volumed by staff and volunteers who make sure that he's love. and now he's getting a special trip to spain to visit real madrid and renaldo. >> we pictured him on facebook, and some guys from the soccer association saw him on facebook, and they said, renaldo, we can connect with the club there, and maybe he can visit him. >> ahmed faces a much longer journey, his rehabilitation, but at least here at the hospital, they're trying to give him as much of a normal childhood as they can, and that means lots of love, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the spanish capitol to meet his football hero. >> that's all of our time.

>> paul beban is up next with more of today's news. right now. >> we begin with two political stories, the white house race and the showdown over president obama's supreme court no nomine. first, the wide fin widening ga. missouri is still too close to call. donald trump won four states. john kasich won his home state of ohio. michael shure is in miami tonight, he's going to help explain the republican side of it tonight for us. michael. >> paul, nice to see you. in miami just across the harbor is freedom tower w