change of all. lucia newman, al jazeera, havana. >> reporter: and if you are away from the tv you can keep up to date with all of our top stories on the website, aljazeera.com. the latest on syria and also the summit in brussels. the headlines are just around the corner. ♪ republicans think the people deserve a voice in this critical decision. >> the supreme court nominee goes to capitol hill as democrats say they are push to hold a hearing. now to stop trump, they decide to unite and conquer in an effort to unseat the front runner. fears rise with the flood waters in texas, and more wet weather threatens to drench at

least four states this morning. ♪ this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm stephanie sy. this morning some republicans appear to be softening their stance. two members of the judiciary committee have signaled they may be willing to hold hearings for president obama's nominee, judge merrick garland. this contradicts senate leaders who have said they would not consider anyone put forward by the president. in an interview president obama said that kind of political bickering is wrong. >> this moment in our history, a time when judicial nominations have become so contentious, a time when our politics so full

of vitreal, i think particularly benefits from a man who by all accounts is decent, full of integrity, is someone who tries to hear the other side's point of view, and can build bridges. >> al jazeera's john terrett is live in washington this morning. john, the president in that same interview denied any back channel talks about confirming garland after the election, but it does appear there may be a glimmer of hope for a hearing at this point? >> reporter: exactly. i just listened to the entire interview from yesterday, and what he actually said was that he has no only in of any kind of deal for a lame duck confirmation. but this is coming out of orrin hatch of utah, and jeff flake of arizona, who both said they may

be prepared to confirm the judge in that period. one day after his nomination and federal appeal's court judge was on capitol hill. garland met patrick leahy from vermont and harry reid. leahy said it is the most important vote politicians have to make along with going to war. >> this is too important. they shouldn't talk to him by phone. they should do what we have always done. >> reporter: he was referring to mitch mcconnell who spoke only by phone to garland on wednesday, telling him he has no plans to schedule a hearing. on the senate floor mcconnell noted how the nomination could change the supreme court for a

generation. >> we just disagree in this instance and as a result we lonlicily act as a check and balance. >> reporter: mcconnell's opposite number met with garland. afterwards reid said americans were begging republicans to do their job. >> my job is to study the qualifications of these people going on this court behind me. it's an awesome responsibility they have, and i think all of us agree that we should take a look at the record as we are begging the republicans to do. >> reporter: the white house is pushing its man as hard as it can, releasing this video montage on the white house website and launching a twitting page. white house spokesman said garland is a consensus candidate. >> the president has put forward a nominee that republicans themselves say would do a good

job. senator hatch described him as a consensus nominee. that's why it shouldn't be particularly difficult for republicans to put politics aside, and put their constitutional duty first. >> reporter: and that pretty much puts the lid on this story. there is no house and senate until after easter, so it moves now to the stin wentsies where on wednesday president obama was urging them to think deeply about the ramifications if they don't at least give him a hearing. >> thank you, john. sticking with politics, bernie sanders has conceded defeat to hillary clinton in the presidential race. clinton ended upbeating sanders by only about 1500 votes. and each walked away with 30

delegates. on the republican side it is too close to call. members of the group anonymous posted what they claimed to be trump's cell phone and social security, it's unclear if any of those numbers actually belong to the front runner. ted cruz is in second place, republican party leaders are now considering new ways to block trump from getting the nomination, including throwing out a name that isn't even in the running, but as david shuster reports, he's not taking the bait. >> reporter: on capitol hill thursday house speaker paul ryan stepped up to the microphone and then through cold irish water on efforts to make him an alternative to donald trump. it's an idea that has been publicly promoted by former republican house speaker john boehner, though perhaps not

again. >> i saw boehner last night. and i told him to knock it off. >> reporter: speaker ryan said he doesn't want to be the g.o.p. nominee. and republicans should cross him off any list. >> it is not going to be me. it should be somebody running for president. look, i made a decision over a year ago not to run for president. i really believe if you want to be president, you should run for president. >> reporter: that's music to the ears of john kasich and ted cruz. >> only one campaign has beaten donald trump over and over and over again. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: but without a contested convention, cruz can only reach the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination, by capturing 87% of all of the delegates in the remaining contest. kasick's math is even worse. even if he wins all of the remaining delegates he would

still fall short. as for trump it is almost a mathematical certainty that he will enter the republican convention with at least a plurality of delegates. >> if we're a hundred short, and we're at 1100 and somebody is at 500, i don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. i think you would have riots. >> reporter: back in the senate, marco rubio. >> there isn't going to be any riots, but -- it's a very unusual political year. people are going to write books about this year. >> reporter: and the final chapter could still be written in trump's favor before the convention. trump just needs to maintain his usual vote ratios, in the contests coming up in these states, and grab victories in some of these contests that are

winner take all. meanwhile the desperate effort to block trump now and perhaps later at the convention is playing out in the republican endorsement game. >> i think the best alternative to donald trump is ted cruz, and i'm going to help ted in every way i can. >> reporter: earlier former presidential candidate lindsey graham said he would rather be shot or poisoned than support ted cruz, and just three weeks ago he illustrated the sentiment of cruz's colleague's this way. >> if you kill ted cruz on the floor of the senate, and the trial was in the senate, nobody could convict you. [ laughter ] >> reporter: the big problem for republicans who dream of cruz, paul ryan, or anybody else but donald trump, is that trump's nomination may now be unavoidable. >> my party is going bat [ censor bleep ] crazy.

david shuster, al jazeera. the justice department has officially dropped its lawsuit against ferguson, missouri. they reversed it's a signing off on the plan. they will now have to submit to a federal monitor and provide additional training for police and court personnel. a man has been convicted in a texas attack last year. john henry smith has the story. >> reporter: courtroom observers say the man went from staring ahead to hanging his head when he heard he had been found guilty. he had been charged with helping the two men who attempted to attack a contest in texas last year. both of those men were shot dead by police. they said he was the motivator,

bank roller, trainer, and intended participant. authorities say he along with two other men were incensed about an exhibit of cartoons showing the paw -- property fete mohamed. the publication often broke the tradition of not depicting the prophet. >> this capitulation to silence ourselves so as not to offend savages is monstrous. >> reporter: isil quickly claimed responsibility via its official radio station. kareem becomes the first person convicted in an american court in participating in a's isil

attack. he is scheduled to be sentenced on june 27th. john henry smith. al jazeera. historic floods continue to drown parts of the south, particularly areas along the texas, louisiana border. hundreds of homes have been evacuated and the interstate will be closed for several more days. kev -- kevin corriveau has a look at this forecast. >> reporter: we're looking at a nor'easter that is expected to develop over the weekend. this will bring more rain across that region. tomorrow, though, the area of low-pressure is going to develop off of the carolinas, and that is going to develop into our nor'easter. let's take a closer look. the area of low-pressure really

begins to deepen and get more intense, binging more showers. and this is when the snow will begin to develop. we are going to see temperatures continue to drop across the northeast. that is going to lead to snow starting to develop through sunday evening and into monday. we think we will be seeing messy conditions across much of the metro areas. the heaviest snow is going to be just north of i-95 and up through parts of new hampshire. sea world bows to public pressure over its orca program. but critics are still angry, why the changes do not mean the whales can go free. demanding justice, lawmakers grill michigan's governor and the head of the epa.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> ali velshi on target. governor rick snide i and the epa chief were on capitol hill defending themselves. both faced intense questioning over the switch of flint's water supply. lawmakers attacked governor snyder's administration and the epa for not acting fast enough

once the problems came to light. >> there is no doubt in my mind that if a corporate ceo did what governor snyder's admin has done they would be hauled up on criminal charges. >> you had the presence, authority, the backing of the federal government and you did not act when you had the chance, and if you are going to do the courageous thing, you too should step down. >> governor snyder says they are doing all they can to clean up the problem. schools in newark, new jersey have begun voluntary blood tests. up to 17,000 children will be checked for lead poisoning. the district will announce plans for wider testing next week. there are water issues in south florida as well. a new story shows a nuclear

plant less than 40 miles from downtown miami is leaking radiation. last month a judge blasted a cleanup plan. the company insists the plant poses no danger to the public. join us for a special report looking into toxic drinking water in communities across the nation tonight at 8:30 pm eastern. big changes are coming to sea word. the park says it will stop breeding killer whales in captivity. >> reporter: they have been taking a big splash for more than 50 years. sea world's captive and controversial killer whales. the massive marine mammals have long delighted audiences and angers activists. on thursday they announced its orca breeding program will soon be history, and is fading out

the orca shows. >> this will be the last generation of orcas at sea world. the company will end orca breeding this year, and the animals will continue to live out their lives at sea world where they can continue to inspire and educate our guests. >> reporter: the change comes nearly three years after the documentary black fish, the film focused on violent incidents, and raised ethical questions about sea world's breeding programs. thursday's move signals just how bad the backlash has been for sea world's bottom line. since the film came out, visitor numbers have plummeted. animal rights activists applauded the decision. on twitter they said: sea world had earlier announced that orca shows will end at its san diego park in 2017.

shows in san antonio and orlando will end in 2019. but the era of captive orcas are far from over. the creatures have live for as long as 100 years. in an op-ed in "the los angeles times," the ceo says: sea world's 29 remaining whales will no longer perform tricks. instead the company says it will develop new orca encounters which showcase the animal's natural behaviors. on the company's website, the ceo makes the case that sea world is a victim of its own success making the world fall in love with killer whales: whatever the reason, it is the

end of an era for what some called entertainment, and what others called cruel. paul beban, al jazeera, nigh. i am pleased to be joined by a former sea world trainer and helped to expose the mistreatment of orcas at the parks. thanks for being with us. is this a victory for you? >> it's a semivictory. there are some parts of it that i like. but let's see if he backs up his words with action. >> what parts are not enough to you? do you think for example the orcas should be set free or live out the rest of their lives in captivity. >> i think an ideal perfect world scenario would be a sea sanctuary. it doesn't look like we're going to get that. but we're not done with that fight yet. but this is the next best thing if he carries through what he says. just because you are saying that you are going to do this,

doesn't mean that six months from now you are not going to aoops -- >> why do you have trust issues with the ceo of sea world. you sound skeptical of their intentions. >> i have trust issues with sea world, because they have a very sordid past. what i'm trying to count on myself with, is he is the new guard. he is the new blood, give him a chance. and i think part of being the new guard is you have to get rid with the old guard. fire those people that were refusing to change and bring on board your new team that will support your vision for the future. >> you were part of sea world for a long time. what was the worst part of the breeding program that you witnessed. >> separating the mothers from their calves, and then having sea world lie about it, and say

that we didn't do it. >> and they did that because they would take the calves to other sea worlds, right? >> correct. >> how young were they? >> as early as 20 months old. i was an apprentice, and witnessed keith who was only 20 months old, and still coming up with milk in his mouth, and they took his mother away from him, sent her to florida and he never saw her again >> do you believe that lead to trauma in these can malls? >> absolutely. he was never the same. in every social group that he has ever been in, whichever park he was in, he was always, you know, beat up, drastically, hyperaggression by the other killer whales. >> has the film taken away from what the ceo of sea worlds says, are quote, the real enemies of

wildlife, poaching, pollution, oil spills, not zoos? >> no, he is deflecting. these are the things i'm speaking about. sea world is not this picture-perfect image that want to portray that we're any ones that made people fall in love with orcas, and we're a victim of our own success. >> that [ inaudible ] to you? >> absolutely. and they are masters at that. i don't want to hear that, because it's not the truth. >> john hargrove, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. still ahead, bringing one of van gogh's most famous paintings to life.

>> stopping the next generation of isis recruits. teaching the youth on the front lines. working towards a better future. >> this is one of the most important sites in the century. >> proudest moment of my life. >> al jazeera america brings you independent reporting without spin. >> not everybody is asking the questions you're asking me today. >> we give you more perspectives >> the separatists took control a few days ago. >> and a global view. >> now everybody in this country can hear them.

>> getting the story first-hand. >> they have travelled for weeks, sometimes months. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> you're watching al jazeera america. art fans are descending on chicago for a unique experience. not only are three versions of the room on display, now you can also spending a night in van gogh's room. >> reporter: it's a arguably the most famous room captured on canvas. >> these are old paintings, but they look as if they were painted a couple of weeks ago. it's amazing. >> reporter: the three versions are currently on display at the artist ought to in chicago. the first time all three have ever been exhibited together in north america. >> i think it's one of those

iconic images that everyone remembers, because it is so graphic and so colorful, and so in some ways startling because of its emptiness. >> reporter: he painted the works in the late 1880s in france. >> it is really a summation of where he was at that time. all of his dreams and hopes of having a room of his open, and a place of his own where he could live and work and have friends. >> reporter: the museum has added a fourth version. it's a near perfect replica of van gogh's bedroom, complete with blue walls, the yellow chairs, and even the red-trimmed towel. the room is available to rent for 10 bucks a night via air b&b. >> it's amazing. yeah. like being able to do a night

in -- like the yellow house, yeah. it's really -- really good idea. >> reporter: it took a team of carpenters and painters about a month to recreate the bedroom. >> it's really fascinating. but in a way -- i don't know, it feels like intruding into like van gogh. >> reporter: still the art institute says the response has been huge. bookings have been sold out for a unique opportunity to sleep inside a masterpiece. and there's a new movie saluting the legendary painter in the works too. loving vincent is done in his style each frame of the movie is an oil painting. it's expected to be released later this year. thanks for watching. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next live from doha.

have a great weekend. ♪ >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello, and welcome? you are watching the al jazeera hour with me. coming up in the next 60 minutes. the e.u. and turkey settle on a refugee deal under which all of those who arrive after sunday will be sent back. syria's top negotiator upsets the opposition, as he addresses the press at crisis talks in geneva. chaos in brazil, anti-government protesters return to the streets after the