a greater calling... this is be al jazeeral jazeerathis i. these are the top stories. >> it is 90 years since a u.s. president to step foot in cuba. it's wonderful to be here. >> barack obama beginning his two day trip to havana. the topic of tonight's the

week ahead, the items that were to be discussed. >> a honey pack company offers a second chance for ex-convicts, called appropriately, sweet beginnings. plus it's a casualty of war, yoyou probably never think abou. a zoo forced to close when violence takes over the region. we begin tonight with a major sign of the changing relationship between the u.s. and cuba. president barack obama and the first family are in havana. it is the first u.s. presidential visit to the island in 88 years. part of the mission during the two-day trip talking about human rights issues and other differences that sparked a 50 year cold war between the two

nation. senior white house correspondent mike viqueria joins us live from havana about miami mike how is the president approaching the issue of human rights in havana? >> well, it's -- good evening to you rarchld. it irandall.it's interesting ths his own trip historic. many feel he's doing the wrong thing, pushing diplomatic ties. this is a very significant trip, no question. affairs one touched down in havana, the first thing the skies opened up. the president opened his umbrella and behind him trailed his wife, and the first daughters. and bringing along his mother-in-law, marian robinson.

he's trying to cement his changes into the public consciousness. if a republican were to win the office in november, many are force these changes, many are against them. there are a series of critics any number of them who are saying the president is not paying attention to civil rights, to dissidents' rights in cuba, states rights within cuba itself. but the president did visit embassy staff here, of course the u.s. embassy opened officially just last summer. he spoke to them and about what they have accomplished so far. >> what we have accomplished so far, more americans coming to cube, more engagement with the cuban people, entrepreneurs, students, young people, more opportunities for cubans to improve their lives, it's all

happening because of you. >> and randall again, this is all about the choreography and stage craft. the president, a very public tool of old havana, where i'm at now. cameras chronicalling every step the president took along the way. the president disappointed about the weather, it was pouring rain throughout the course of most of this tour. the president then going out to dinner with his family. nevertheless, a historic moment in havana. randall. >> many pairns don't understand tha --americans don't understane u.s. embassy is one of the largest facilities on the island even before we had diplomatic relations as if someone in the u.s. for years had known that this day would come. >> well, it was actually, you know, it was there beforehand 54 years ago, before diplomatic

relations were severed, and yes, you're right, it served as a de facto embassy. jeffrey de laurentis, the staff there, in terms of their ability to move around the country, outreach, that was one of the preconditions. swhows verthe white house is vey sensitive to the euphemism of dissidents, that's what's what the president is going to be doing in the coming takes, there is a lot of pomp and ceremony, a state visit, he will be meeting with raul castro, the president since 2008 taking over from his brother, fidel. the president's staff very emphatic he's not going to be meeting with fi de fidel castro.

there are american ceos that have tagged along, very eager to do business with cuba. marriott hotel, star hotels, air bnb. and others. if randall. >> doing something about that congressional embargo, is this meant to do something about that? >> there seems to be no how no way republicans in congress are going to go along with lifting the embargo. it has to be done legislatively. republicans are showing absolutely no inclination to move forward. they are even dragging their feet on confirming an official u.s. ambassador to cuba.

but the president is here in order to solidify his moves, to create this public permission, thpublicperception,ists time toe page in the white house view, randall. >> mike viqueria in havana, thank you very much. raul castro was not at the airport today to greet president obama. be be officials consider tomorrow to be the official event. lucia newman on how to mend fences with the president. >> raul castro could not be different than the brother he replaced as president of communist cuba. raul and fidel castro fought to overflow the dictatorship but fidel set the course.

punctuated by fiery anti-american speeches, so long they broke the guinness book of records. >> fidel had a vision and he didn't want anything to affect that vision. he placed a lot of importance in the ideologic reason, in the ideologic content of the revolution. >> but for years, raul's brother was the supreme leader of the revolution, creaks o creation ow man and blamed united states for its shortcoming. it was assumed that raul castro would be simply follow in his footsteps, but he has introduced small reforms, letting cubans open up small businesses to be

loosening controls on travel. be raul castro is above all a pragmatist. >> raul castro is, you know, we have to solve the beans and the rice for the cuban people. for raul, obtaining results that affect the life of the people. >> he is in fact pragmatic enough to put ideology and years of mistrust aside in order to reconcile with the revolution's archenemy. but raul cas castro is equally committed to keeping cuba a one party state. >> we demand respect for our system. >> reporter: raul castro is due step down in two years and with the clock ticking on the

castro era, he seems determined to follow viet indianapolis's example. open up relations with the united states. and loose the grip on power. lucia newman, al jazeera. >> coming up in the next half hour, i'll look at the week ahead. how obama will play his last year in office. now to the headlines acknowledge donald trump, head of his aids acknowledge reaching for collar of a protester. tonight, trump held a fund raise are at his mar a lago.

>> unity, unity, lying ted, i refuse to say it acknowledge when he holds up the bible, puts down the bible. >> as for cruz, cruz also criticized president obama for his visit to cuba. given that country's political climate. >> i cannot wait to celebrate with the people of cuba, 90 miles off ever america's shore, their freedom from the communist dictatorship that has destroyed their economy has destroyed lives. >> cruz's father was born and raised in cuba. hillary clinton was keeping a low fro file today, while her husband appealed to voters in arizona, ahead of the tuesday primary. clinton plans to create millions of jobs in the energy sector.

>> hillary believes in investing a lot of money in make america a clean country for the world. >> another water crisis such as flint-michigan never happens again. >> with 5,000 screaming supporters in seattle, bernie sanders connected with voters under 30. >> now everybody here understands one very important hiferhistorical principle: tha, in the history of our country change has never taken place from the top on down, it is always from the bottom on up. >> and the primary in the state of washington is next saturday. here is next on the primary conceptual, tuesday, for republicans, winner take all in

arizona, utah 40 delegates for grabs, and american samoa, 9, 107 for the gop. northbound arizona's primary, 35 for the democrats, idaho holding a caucus with twefer available in all three states. -- 27 available for all three states. the pro-israeli grooun aipac aic kicked off its k, vice president joe biden kicked off the meeti meeting. >> under there disagreement iran will never be allowed to resume nuclear weapons, never never never. >> all but bernie sanders are scheduled to address aipac.

>> a record 18,000 people have made the pilgrimage to washington. strengthening, protecting and promoting u.s. operations with israel. that means lobbying effectively for more military aid to israel. advanced plane sales to be saudi arabia. but the perceived arab threat has been outdated by the greater menace that israel sees in iran. >> the traditional enemy of my enemy is my friend, in the past you're right, weapons to these countries, they now have a common interest. >> reporter: last year aipac confronted the obama administration by lobbying congress to reject the deal that froze iran's nuclear program. but that campaign failed and it undermined aipac's traditional policy against taking sides with

democrats or republicans. these delegates, are warned remaining sanction he are losing their power to curb iran's regional ambitions. >> even today, people will erode the effectiveness of the margin. >> it is very important from especially where we stand in this conference to really get the right answers and how afraid we really should be. and how deep the problem is. >> reporter: most americans agree with two in every three opposed to the nuclear deal, according to a recent gallup poll. aipac may not reflect the full range of opinion among american jews who constitute less than 3% of the american population, but democrats and republicans will be here to court their votes. tom ackerman, al jazeera,

washington. up next, the paris attacker's plans to be be conduct more attacks. and the pope's message for europe.

>> there's new evidence the main suspect in the paris massacre was planning more attacks. meanwhile, his legal team fighting extradition to france. al jazeera's ines ferre has the story.

>> more operation including restarting something in brussels. >> he want to go to the stade did france in paris, he stopped, we don't know why but he stopped. and the next information are that he was ready to restart something from brussels. and it's maybe the reality because i said, we have found a lot of weapons. leaf weapons in the first investigations. and we have seen a new network of people around him in brussels. >> speaking at a forum on sunday, belgium's foreign minister says investigators have found 30 people involved in the are attacks bit he is certain there are others. abdeslam has been held by belgian police since his arrest on friday. his lawyer doesn't want him extradited to france. >> translator: he is cooperating with the belgian legal authorities. in the context of the arrest

warrant i can tell you we refuse extradition. >> reporter: in paris, senior officials held a meeting with security over the weekend. >> translator: be slablesalahm rim have to be held for his be deeds. >> in the coming hours, there will be more contact between our respective officials. >> as abdeslam's questioning continues, mohammed bre rvetionmreemyremains at large. mif michigaines ferre, al jazee.

(f) european union last year fleeing poverty and unrest. more kosovors left the kosovo has experienced poverty and high unemployment rates since then. the syrian refugee crisis gets worse with no end in sight. nearly 9 million syrians is are been displaced since the start of the war five years ago. now a new documentary aims to be showcase the struggle. five years ago, when the war began, the people thought they would be here a month, two months, maybe a year. but now it's five years, life is getting heard and hard he

particularly for women and children. khalid is 12 years old. every day he and his two brothers, eight year old mahmoud, and six-year-old ahmed. even if they were healthy the host governments like lebanon don't let the refugees work. this puts a burden on the children. to make a little bit of money for their families. for young girls like batul, who is a 13-year-old child bride, the burden can be especially

high. this is batul's father mohammed and her mother, amina. they agonized whether to marry her to her cousin. now they agonize over the decision even further. >> mark smith is the senior director for humanitarian missions, that helped arrange the ground troop's team to the refugee crisis. smith joined us earlier. >> in jordan and lebron be lebau

have an underground or black market economy that's been developing . and turkey just a couple of months ago did pass legislation that would allow syrian refugees to work in the country. we are more hopeful for the families in turkey but it is creating some tremendous pressures on families to have their children enter the informal economy, to marry off the young girls so there's less burden on the family, all kinds of pressures the families are facing if they cannot earn an income. that is a very significant issue that the international community is working with the families in the region to try to address that issue. >> as we have seen in the documentary, the refugee crisis is especially concerning for children. two million children under the age of five are undernourished. in the old city of

jerusalem, thousands of christians mark the palm be sunday, waving palm fronds to be celebrate the day that jesus entered the city before he was crucified. pilgrims travel had to retrace jesus' steps. at the vatican, pope francis held dmoin ceremonies, pope recd the fact that jesus was denied justice and unfairly treated. the pope said it reminded him of europe's refugee crisis. >> translator: jesus also experiences in his own flesh indifference. since no one wishes to stay responsibility for his fate, i am thinking of so many other people, so many marginalized

people, so many asylum seekers, so many refugees, there are so many two don't want to take responsibility for their destiny. >> more than 1. 1.1 million migrants entered europe last year. and a place where doors are open for people looking for asecond chance. and this, a day cuban americans will remember for a long time. u.s. president lands in havana for first time in nearly 90 years. plus, a look at the issues that kept the two nation apart for five decades. the topic of this week answer the week ahead, when we come back.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america, here's a look at our top stories. turkish authorities have identified yesterday answer suicide bomber in istanbul as a member of i.s.i.l. erdogan said his country would not be defeated by terrorist groups. the groou group aipac begins meeting in washington. 20,000 are in attendance. all candidates but bernie sanders are expected to address the group.

the week ahead, president obama first sitting u.s. president to visit cuba in 90 years. the two day trip comes 15 months after the president announced plans to normalize relations between washington and cuba's communist government. the obamas will see a baseball game, take a tour of old havana and attend ostate dinner be attended by cuban president raul castro. but president obama also intends to confront some issues that be kept the two fac two nation apa0 years. met with hostility of many in the republican party but american businesses have begun to warm to the idea. at&t, marriott and star hotels are just some of the companies that are hoping to expand to

cuba. melissa chan has more of the changes that are still expected to come. >> reporter: well, randall, i hope thate to say, that the wear turned bad, a little cloudy and then the rain started coming. there's been thunder and lightning, that's what's the case the rest of the evening, i don't know how clearly can you see behind me but just a few hours ago, president obama's motorcade sped through. i realize it is the evening time but the motorcade sped through with on its way to old havana where the president took a tour of the old havana. unfortunately, they all had to hold their umbrellas. they checked out the old cathedral and president met with embassy staff as well. the moarlt caid, although n mote

was out in the street cheering acknowledge you could hear from inside. doorgd washingtoaccording to ben post-you univision poll here. beed have seen symbols of the change, be be now with president obama's trip will it be more style or substance? >> i think obama has a real opportunity to address the cuban people. he has a huge popularity among cubans right now. they want to hear from the president that after five decades was able to change our policy towards cuba. >> reporter: taking a look from the start of this year in january the u.s. eased restriction on financing is exhorts and shipping.

in february, the two agreed to restore are commercial flights and in march, the be major league baseball be submitted plans that would allow players to come to america without having to deeffect. previously hesitant to engage with cuba, because of u.s. policy, to go ahead and do so. europe has invested modestly and cautiously in cuba, in the past few years butter in the past days waves have started coming. >> now they're seeing that united states is having these renewed are ties with cuba, there is a bit of a rush to cuba right now. >> and that's irony. as long as the embargo stays in place, the u.s. actually remains at a disadvantage during this interim period. hamstrung by the embargo, u.s.

businesses be are possibly being short changed to europeans. >> why can't there be american buses? why can't the americans have the oil fields here instead of canadians? we are missing the boat. >> reporter: championing american interests will be one of president obama's goals on this trip about he's broken the status quo, one lasted 50 years, and the question is how much the president of change can achieve on the one trip in his final year in office. and you know we talk about style ore substance and the symbolism of this trim. one thing is though even though we don't have a clue whether president obama is going to make any announcement in terms of an agreement with castro, we see that starwood hotels will be coming to havana and operating a total of three hotels here. perhaps there win announcements of economic deals but even if

there isn't, the significance of this trip beyond the symbolism of seeing an american president walking in the streets of havana is the irreverseibilty of this. that is the goal of this trip isn't it? because very soon, the united states might be having a republican president and the intent of this administration is to make sure that all the with development over the next 14, 15 months with kush is not to be rolled back. what better way than sending an american president down to havana, be randall. >> thank you. raphael hidalgo, melissa, stay with us a moment. the president is trying to put in place the mechanism for making sure that if there is a republican president in 2017, they will not be reversing his policies. how realistic is it?

because all of the republicans are saying that they are going to reverse this opening. how realistic is that that might happen? >> well, actually, you drmple has said thadonald trumplast sat president obama's policy, he thinks he can get a better deal from cuba but in principle he's not opposed to reproachment with the island, probably one of the few reasonable things he's said in his campaign. but if it were hillary clinton, i don't think the next administration is as eager as the president has been in the last year and a half to engage cuba. he sees it as a legacy, a major diplomatic move, but i don't think the next administration, renal or democrat will be as eeg are as presideneager as presides

been to engage cuba. >> do you think it's possible? >> on paper it's possible. all these things have been taken place because of executive order. they can be easily reversed by a president who disagrees with president obama. there are many businesses that are taking place between united states and cuba, hundreds of thousands of americans are engaging with cubans on the island and i think it will be very difficult politically to reverse the policy that obama has set in place. >> melissa, if you are standing by, i visited cuba twice actually and i was struck by the reluctance of cubans ton street, to answer candidly when asked a question by a reporter. i'm wondering your reaction of f

cubans in interaction? >> man on the street interviews, back at that time it was very difficult. cubans were friendly but very noncommittal about their opinions. the big change i sensed whether i came last summer 2015 with the unofficial opening of the embassy and with john kerry coming this, how open and relaxed cubans were, what about castro, what was fine, what was good? what needed to be changed? i felt the sense of openness had definitely changed. not even month after month, from my trip with john kerry and this trip, you are getting a lot more american tourists, lot more

interactions between americans and cubans and a lot more hope and anticipation when cuban people are speaking with one another, randall. >> is there any way to assess whether the opening with the u.s. has had a concrete change in the lives of cubans? >> not yet. it is too early to say that. we can have some measurements that actually show some ted facts. the number of employed cubans dropped by 6,000 people in the last few months. >> why was that? >> we also have seen a sharp increase-z we have seen a sharp increase in the number of arbitrary detentions. you know, many people believe that the cuban government wants to keep firm control of the events, and that's why they are even -- they're even reversing some progress when it comes to economic reformation.

the cuban government is not interested in become a full fledged free market democracy. this is a stalinist dictatorship. if that means reversing or setting back some progress that has been made in the last few years, they will do so. i hope as your reporter says in havana that alt these interaction he between -- all these interactions between cuba anas and those from the united states i don't think that is going to happen in a few months' time. >> hold on just a second. lets look at comments being made by president obama. republicans have consistently criticized his new policy, calling the open door policy nothing more than an endorsement

of a repress uive gem. ted cruz's statement: so on senator cruz's point mr. hi dfertionalgo, it did not require the castro regime to change any of its human rights policies. for example, apparently there is no official freedom of speech, detentions continue and as a matter of fact we heard some dissidents who were supposedly going to pleat with president obama were arrested while the president was en route. does the president have any leverage on matters of human rights in cuba? >> indeed we saw dissidents being beaten and arrested hours

before the arrival of president obama. i think this is a trip of choice not necessity. president obama said he wouldn't travel to cuba unless he would have seen concrete steps towards greater political freedoms in the island. we have not seen that, we have seen set backs, as i've seen before. i understand from that point of view of making his policies irreversible, but regarding ted cruz and other republicans, were critical of his approach to cuba. but isolating cuba didn't work, didn't make it more democratic, it created a scapegoat for blame this isolation and blame the it's for being an gracor. an ag.

we have a better chance of transform the island, than to oppose the regime which failed miserably for 50 years. >> business leaders trying to make inroads into cuba, i've heard one report indicating that cuba businesses oar little bit reluctant to engage because they rntsd sure whether a business deal made in the obama administration will remain after the president has left office. have you heard anything like that from cuban businesses and their interactions with americans looking to do deals with them? >> well, randall i think that's an excellent point. one thing we are hearing, left over from cuban businesses, but the american embargo to other

countries such as canada, european companies have often invested in cuba. but think of the old administrative system that you have to use to do business here, be canadian businesses and hotels are very excited to yofer offload these business to american businesses coming in. with the lope of make money in cuba. the reality is change is going to take time, and there are reforms, a change has been going on but i think yes, we do sort of have to qualify expectations a bit. american businesses such as mcdonald's and starbucks are saying, i want to go to cuba before i see a mcdonald's in the scorner. that's not going to happen.

that rolling stones concert coming in on friday, they had to do everything bring everything down including the alarm to have that had concert, infrastructure and supplies to run a business melissa, it seems that the cuban people fest have a knack of making those scars work. those car from 50, 60 years ago, still running. thank you melissa and juan carlos hidalgo. fest thank you for joining us. >> good evening. >> and before we go. here's a look at other stories we'll be watching in the week ahead. at approximately 8:14 a.m. on monday a comet is scheduled to come within 3.3 million miles on

earth, make it the third closest comet to ever pass earth.. and climate scientists are studying water, and air pollution, the president arrives in argentina following hi cuban trip. finding a job after prison can be almost impossible for something convicts. >> how tough has it been for you? >> oh it's been tough. >> up next, the honey packing company that is offered second chances. plus, zoo animals become casualties of war, many of them killed dooug the violence in

killed during the violence in gaza.

with. >> at the beginning of 2015, nearly 5 million people in the u.s. were either on probation or parole. there's no easy transitioning back into the society but one fest parolee says it is sweet. ash-har quraishi has the story.

>> all of them are looking to start over. how tough has it been for you? >> it's been tough. >> tough because gary davis spent 20 years in prison for murder but he's getting a second chance. here at sweet beginnings, a work forbes development program, efnl offenders like davis will learn skills to earn them jobs. >> there's pain associated with that and a gigantic gap on your resume. and you have nothing to show that you have been a good worker. >> brenda pawms barbe palms bard the program. >> being like a bee afraid of being stung. we had to take sting out of that job search experience for people who have been incarcerated.

>> palms barber says less than 4% of her workers have returned to prison. the apiary was on the grounds of the airport. >> how much this the amount of honey? >> we can harvest 40 pounds of honey. >> cultivating enough honey to still maintaining a healthy colony eve of bees. >> there's not one insignificant bee. >> a lesson learned that one can apply to other parts of life. ash-har quraishi, al jazeera. >> spring snow.

kevin corriveau has the details. >> the area of low pressure is right out here in the atlantic. but a lot of rain has now turned to snow, across much of the area. now some of the areas that are going to be impacted the most are going to be mostly in new england, but as you can see over the last several hours the rain has turned to snow as those temperatures have come down across the region. now this is a closer look in the area. you can see down towards the south we have seen some rain and some mixed precipitation. the temperatures in this area are not going to go below freezing. the snow on the ground is not going to stay too long there but it's really going to be up here towards parts of boston that we'll see the most impact, where winter storm warnings are now in effect for bofd an boston and re

island. boston schools are closed because of that snow. five to 8 inches of snow but localized we could see up to a foot of flow depending how long that system stays off the coast. out here in the west, behind the system another winter like scenario as we are looking at freeze warnings in effect for most of the central plains. as the cold air pushes through. temperatures for oklahoma city, 31° for you and wichita at 30. we expect those temperatures to come up, memphis is going to be seeing 58° tomorrow. middle of the week, another system out here towards the west, that is going to be our next severe weather system. as we go towards wednesday a lot of rain and snow to the north and then we start to pick up some severe weather here across the mississippi river valley and the possibility of thunderstorms

and tornadoes to the north and thunderstorms in the north. war has shut down a zoo because of violence. caroline malone has that story. >> the tiger is about to be fed for the first time in four days. any longer without food and he could die. he's one of the few animals still alive in gaza's al j narvetionooanoobzoo. >> during 2004 israel war we couldn't reach the zoo to take care of it. most of our animals died ever hung irand lack of care. >> restrictions on power and water in goof in gaza are getti.

this display is an attempt to preserve some of the dead animals, a kind of educational exhibit. >> we contacted al janoob zoo to buy the tiger. he is a rare animal. that zoo can't take after him like us. we can provide more care and food to him, otherwise he will die. >> few people can afford to pay for tickets. even if the animals are moved away they'd still be in zoos with severely limited resources. some animal groups visit gaza to provide basic care. their staff are worried about conditions. >> to have the zoo in general, we must have a good solution for these animals, and make a place,

a safety place for these animals in gaza strip if we can. but if we are not have this place, these animals must live in gaza to another place out of gaza strip. >> the zoo keepers say they want what's best for the animals and are ready to cooperate with international animal groups if more care is provided. until then animals like this great beast will have to wait days until he gets another meal. caroline malone, al jazeera. >> the president's trip ocuba is a serious affair but mr. obama is also getting some laughs. on friday he taped a segment with pon filo, a cuban comedian with a running joke about calling the white house. >> this is president obama.

>> que bola? be. >> que bola? >> i'm looking forward to it. the american people and the cuban people are friends. >> ponfilo show watched by two-thirds of all cubans. i'm randall pinkston. thank you for tuning in. more news from doha, next. next. >> 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.

obama becomes the first serving president to visit cuba in almost 90 years. you're watching al jazeera live from our headquarters in doha. coming up in the next half an hour. >> hold your horses syria is accused of stalling the geneva talks. now the opposition is calling on russia to put pressure on the bashar al-assad government. the u.s. steps up air strikes against i.s.i.l. in iraq