>> people were saying that we were terrorists. >> how are you providing a cover for your brother to do this? >> we saw the evil side of the social media take off. >> this is al jazeera america. i'm randall pinkston in new york with a look at today's top stories. another attack on innocent civilians. this time in pakistan, where the taliban takes responsibility for killing 70 people, mostly women and children. the pope's easter sermon

includes a prayer for victims of terrorism world wide. >> billions of muslims throughout the world. i think they're peace loving people just like you and me. >> this year's race for white house puts a spotlight on religious attorneys in america. that's topic of this wee night'e week ahead. and a metropolitan museum of art, contemporary look. we begin with a suicide bomb that exploded in a group of pakistani christians, celebrating easter. it went off in lahor, ciblg 70 0 people, including women and children. a pakistani faction claimed

responsibility. the suicide bomber was targeting be christians. an explosion at a children's park in the heart of lahor. this was the latest taliban attack to claim lives in pakistan. a food cart vendor described the explosion. >> i was cooking a burger, and suddenly, i couldn't tell what happened. >> most of the dead and injured, women and children. witnesses reported bodies strewn everywhere. with the emergency services stretched and the number of casualties so high, people used taxis and rickshaws to move the wounded. these attacks are not new to the people of pakistan. the country has been fighting a

taliban insurgency for over a decade. whereas the punjab province has been spared, the pakistani taliban carried it out here. zane basrabi, al jazeera. statement by the national security council in washington, calling it a cowardly attack in a scenic park. john kerry tweeted this: and another republican candidate, donald trump, reacted shortly after the initial casualties were released.

s senator bnld bernie sanders tt his wins in alaska, hawaii and washington yesterday will boost his bid for nomination. while he did score a number of delegates he still last behind d former secretary of state hillary clinton. >> our campaign is one of energy and momentum which will lead to a large voter turnout in november and victory! >> the largely white liberal democrats in those pacific states are the kind of voters sanders had done well among throughout his campaign. while hillary clinton has had a strong following in more diverse states including ohio, florida and north carolina. >> the only guy that's really standing up for us the average person or even everybody, is

bernie sanders. so i'm going with sanders. >> the system is broken and there's really only one candidate that will not try go for incremental change, try the make a lot of change at once. >> reporter: but even after the trio of wins, sanders still lags behind clinton in the all important delegate count. it takes ownership 2,000 delegates to win the election. sanders has 956. sanders would have to win 58% of delegates in all the remaining contests, in order to have the momentum in july. >> clearly we have the momentum and at the end of the day, we are going to end up with more pledged delegates than secretary clinton. >> i know the stakes get higher by the day. >> because the delegates are

awarded proportionately, clinton will still pick up delegates even in the be primaries she loses. both sides see an important contest, then there's voting in new york which hillary clinton represented for eight years in the u.s. senate and then pennsylvania where she achieved a significant victory back in 2008 in her nomination battle with barack obama. rob reynolds, al jazeera, washington. >> al jazeera's political correspondent michael shure is live in washington. michael, you heard rob reynolds say bernie sanders would have to pick up nearly two-thirds of the remaining delegates up for grabs. any chance of that happening, you think? >> i don't want to say no. he won three out of three this weekend, he scroant asked for cd

for more. but every tile you talk about bernie sanders, he won, but. the caucus days are behind him, the primary days are ahead of him. places like new york or pennsylvania are places where hillary clinton won, or ran strong in the past. it's going to be a little bit more difficult next week. in wisconsin, next week, he wants to make wisconsin seem a little bit like michigan randall. >> reynolds says he is going to open a are campaign office in brooklyn, new york, and things seem to be a strong ground game, do you see that sanders ground game is getting better exponentially as they go forward? >> who isn't opening an office in brooklyn now?

it's the place to be. (laughing). >> they have him winning contest the around the country. bernie sanders is from brooklyn new york. bernie sanders has a message to appeal to the people in brooklyn. hillary clinton's national campaign headquarters in brooklyn as well. this is a contest if it's going to be about new york, if that's the state bernie sanders is making, it's tough, bold, if he does win it, it's going to be looked at one of the great great strategic moves by any campaign, randall. >> a new l.a. times poll shows among the candidates likely to turn out, donald trump and ted cruz are in a relinquis virtual. >> for a state that doesn't vote

for two months, the real thing that people need to look at is whether or not the viability of donald trump is able to maintain those numbers going into california. what happens to the other candidates? what he can though say to his opponents and to the republican sort of inten intelligent intelf things can happen between now and june 2nd. >> this discussion of foreign policy he's been making a lot of statements. do you think he's make any progress in proving to people he can really handle difficult foreign policy issues? >> i don't think it was his most successful rollout. that being said, i don't think a lot of people are looking at the fine print of what donald trump is saying, but the big bold statements he's making. the five people he named to his foreign policy committee, a lot

of question marks about who those people are that they're sort of off the radar when it comes to mainstream conversation, even republican circles about foreign policy. when you are going to strike a tone about rnl foreig foreign p, republicans will have to take up in congress and they'll have a difficult time doing it. that's an isolationist position or will read like one. >> michael shure acknowledge thank you. burned effigies, of donald trump this weekend, trump's anti-immigrant views and be comments about mexicans sparke sparkedden these effigies. some mexicans calling donald trump a devil.

>> it's the way to get even on holy saturday. burn the people that have hampled anharmedus and in this e chosen donald trump. hopefully he will not get elected president. >> antiimmigration stance, he says he will build a wall along the southern u.s. border and force mexico to pay for it. the days of calm in brussels were shattered today when police clashed with protesters. police use water cannons to subdue more than 400 demonstrators, the mostly right wing anti-immigrant group, anti-islamic slogans before being removed by authorities. police questioned nine people during emotional a dozen raids as part of the

investigation. palm brennan reports from brussels. >> sunday's intended rally was already postponed but security was tight around the gathering place where so many have come to pay their respects last tuesday. while soldiers twached mourner e mourners, they were arresting several more suspects. the postponement, belgian nationalists, mandatory to the mearto thememorial square and md their way onto the steps. >> we love belgium. belgium is our country. >> reporter: then the mood turned ugly. the sense of sorrow and grief which has been an overwhelming

emotion here in brussels since the tuesday bomb attack is giving way to a small and very vocal minority of violence and anger. with water cannon and pepper spray, police pushed the group back where they dispersed. but not before unfurling their banner one more time. beniabelgian police be held fay, be they will not admit his name is faycal cheffou. agitating and using a megaphone trying to incite violence against so-called owner

refugees. >> to be make force -- >> to make violence? >> to make violence, and stuff yeah. everybody was please stop it, especially, couldn't understand totally what he was saying. he was calling anybody, not muslim, infidel. and that's wahabi or very i.s.i.s. or very preserved sunni muslims or shia muslims or whatever, they don't call the other infidels and trying to make these kind of comments. >> but nazim has doubts whether faycal cheffou is the man from the picture in the cctv. >> it's not clear. he's skinny guy and when they say it's him i was like it's not possible or maybe because it's

been six months maybe he didn't have a lot of burgers. >> investigators have a long way to go before they complete the full picture of who was involved. paul brennan, al jazeera, brussels. >> officials have not announced when the brussels airport will reopen. temporary construction is underway but all part of the airport must meet safety regulations before the airport can reopen again. full test of the temporary setup which includes heightened security measures. (t) syrian army has officially recaptured the ancient city of palmyra from i.s.i.l. this is a major victory for syrian troops in the fight against the rebel group. the city was retain after a large scale ground operation backed by constant russian air strikes. i.s.i.l. seized control of palmyra in may of last year. al jazeera's mohammed jamjoom

reports. >> reporter: a significant advance against i.s.i.l. in syria. according to state media, government forces backed by russian air power, have recaptured the ancient city of palmyra after days of fighting. the syrian observatory for human rights the bulk of the i.s.i.s. troops have retreated. >> operating on the eastern country side of homs fulfilled their mission successfully in the city of palmyra. they gained control over the surrounding mountains and ridges and killed large number of i.s.i.l. terrorists and destroyed their bunkers and military gear. >> reporter: i.s.i.l. took over palmyra last may and began a campaign of destroying ancient sites and staging mass executions. known as the bride of the desert

palm arpalmyra idea of to used e millions of tourists. thousands of government opponents were reportedly tortured there. shortly after overtaking the city i.s.i.l. blew up the jail which was empty at the time, destroying an important symbol of government control. palmyra is between damascus and deir ez zor, its location makes it important for the syrian armed forces and their allies. while russia recently withdrew much of its ground forces from syria, bashar al-assad of late has also made advance he in rebel territory. opening up a possible advance of government forces towards most of the eastern dessert

stretching to the iraqi border to the south and raqqa to the east. mohammed jamjoom, al jazeera. >> it is one of the most pressure filled police chief jobs in the nation. up next chicago's mayor rejects the police forts recommendation for a new leader. we'll tell you who he wants to lead the force. what is easter without the parades, the bonnets and of course the pope's annual message. all of that coming up.

>> mother mary angelica, the charismatic face of a catholic

media empire died today. world n network with just $200 in a birmingham, alabama warehouse. she suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2001. holiday of easter follows the resurrection of jesus. and while bunnies and chocolate eggs don't have much to do with that, erica pitzi has a story. >> noticeably different about the celebration this year. empty space, the fear of

terrorism kept some away. >> they or their parents didn't feel comfortable coming. >> they who did come heard his message of prayer for the victims of terrorism. >> translator: the lord jeefs trjesuschrist triumphed over ev. that blind and brutal form of violence which continues to shed blood in different parts of the world. >> reporter: prayers for peace echoed in masses in war weary iraq and syria. >> my own wishes meet those of all syrians, that this occasion would be the resurrection of our country and the end of violence and wash. >> welcome to easter sunday morning mass. >> dressed into their finest, thousands packed into st. patrick's cathedral in new york and homages to the traditional

easter bonnet. the obamas attended traditional mass as did the royals. proved to be disappointing for some children in connecticut, easter egg hunts. >> it was locusts, everyone descended and left. >> the easter egg hunt turned into a riot. >> my son left, he had a broken basket and was hysterically crying. >> easter was far from disappointing, they were on the hunt too. >> they got more treats and at a sort of thing too. they are getting colored hard boiled eggs and seeds and crackers and that sort of thing. >> guerillgorilla learns patienn

peeling this hard boiled egg. erica pitzi, al jazeera. >> rob blagojevich wants the high court to throw out the rest of his convictions. attempted to sell barack obama's vacant senate seat is currently serving a 14 year prison sentence. >> it's been a month long search for chicago's next police chief, and just who the top cop will be is a lot of speculation. hermela ague ars aragawi has mo. >> fired by emanuel amid

controversial how the city hoonld series ohandsahenlda sei. form he spokane, washington police chief, cedric alexander, a public safety director in suburban atlanta and bureau of support services. pressures to have be the hiring within the department, and eugene williams is the only that fit that criteria. but mayor emanuel had someone else in mind, eddie johnson. a spokesman for mayor confirmed those saying: it's unclear

whether the mayor is looking to ultimately give the job to johnson or if the move was to force the police to come up with a second round of candidates. under the city code, the mayor is, resets that process. if the mayor's pick gets the job it would be the first time in more than a decade that a chief is chosen from within the police department. and to give you a sense of the pressure that comes with this post, more than half of the last 14 police chiefs have either quit or have been forced to quit. hermela aragawi, al jazeera. >> when we come back a look at religious tolerance in america. >> billions of muslims in the world i think they're probably peace loving people like you and me. >> the topic of tonight's the

week ahead. and later, the americans coming. the owner ever a company given permission to build a factory in cuba. it was amazing. >> these were emotions that i had been dreaming about for so long. >> getting to the heart of the matter. proud to tell your stories. al jazeera america.

>> millions of americans are celebrating easter today, the holiest day on the christian calendar. while the majority of americans identify as crifntle, man chrisy

more do not. the sun night's look at the week ahead. the uprising traditionall tradiy regarded as the be ries irish wr pitting catholics against protestants. modern times, no different. this past week's attacks at brussels prompted a new fresh look at how religion and secular society coexist in europe and in the united states. as i.s.i.l. continues its so-called holy war against what it deems infidel western culture, islam under the microscope and it has become part of the republican campaign with renal party, front runners proposing bans or surveillance of muslims. but in a country built by immigrants and social outcasts, social co-existence play be the only way to keep the peace.

al jazeera looks at the idea. >> many americans associate utah with religion. though this isn't the religion one first thinks of. utah is more than 65% mormon. here the dominance of that one religion has promoted a tolerance of islam when that is not the norm. >> the bulk, the billions of muslims around the world are probably peace loving people like you and me. >> we believe everyone is a child of god and we believe in i think same god. >> being muslim in america often means being viewed skeptically and having to answer for the action he of a few. >> i think if you have had experience about being misbe characterized.

>> jim has the lds known as the mormon religion. >> if you see how they work and their family works that makes good religions easier. >> muslims in utah, set in the shadow of the recycle mountains in west valley city. >> they don't look at it as us versus them. they look for commonalities and differences. the koran talks about that. >> some commonalities go back more than a century. >> we see that muslims were taken out of mecca. the lds folks also say that they were taken out of certain areas. and they were boycotted in essence. so there is a lot of historical similarities. >> reporter: settled here in

1847, brigham young led mormon pioneers west after% accuse in the 1830s. in the 1870s, there was a call to ban mormon immigration. especially in the afterplatt of terrorism perpetrated in the name of religion. >> if there's anything that is going on around the world and they found out they always come and talk to us and say are you guys okay? >> we have repeatedly when these things have happened have tried to take affirmative steps in the interfaith round table and in our own faith including the lds faith, to communicate love and understanding to the muslims here anden a desire to help protect them. because we know they abhor the violence. >> serving as a missionary at home and abroad has formed an

understanding at home. >> they are willing to go other places, learn about other faiths through their missionaries. they are willing to incorporate what they have learned in other faiths when they come back home. >> reporter: and that is why both faiths are very much at home in utah. michael shure, al jazeera, salt lake city, utah. >> joining me in studio is professor patrick hornbeck, he is the chair of theology at fordham university. and in washington, d.c, imam yaya hindi, director of muslim life and chaplaincy. imam, just for definitional purposes what do you consider to be religious identity, what does it mean to identify someone as a practicing muslim? >> for me the practicing muslim

is somebody who believes in three principles, love is the essence of faith, forgiveness is the essence of religion and religiousity. and islam stands on the concept of love forgiveness and humility. the idea of -- to believe in god you have to practice these specific values of love, forgiveness and compassion. >> briefly, imam, could you explain to our american audience how it is that those concepts generally don't get to be mentioned when we are looking at what are regard he as extremists who, in the name of your religion, practice violence? >> you know, muslims are very clear about where they stand. we believe that violence has no religion, that terrorism has no religion. that those who advocated violence in the name of islam do not speak on behalf of the

koran, do not speak on behalf of our beloved prophet, mahmoud, peacmohammed,peace be with him. and practicing love and justice and compassion. we want to distinguish between islam and the culture of muslims. not every muslim who claims to be muslim practices these values. very much like not every christian practices christianity and not every jew practices judaism. >> rabbi. according to jewish teachings, should one's religious belief dictate work practices? kim davis refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. what does jewish religion say about that?

>> not just religion but faith in general, there is always going to be difficulties, that we in america face, when we try to allow our faith to coexist with our everyday life. and of course that includes a work life balance. in most cases i think employers are very understanding that the makeup of their businesses includes men and women of different faiths. and that includes having different holidays and different dietary needs and religious practices that might require muslims to have the ability during the day to go and pray. it might mean that jewish workers have the ability to have kosher food. it might mean the ability for christians to have other rights. and i think that in most cases, what we've seen in america is that businesses are very tolerant. very understanding. we certainly live in a 21st

century of political correctness. and i think in most cases, employers really do try to allow their workers to be comfortable with their religion. but that being said, we have to understand that sometimes we can't allow our religion to be the priority because we have to sometimes bend the rules in order to work. and we make choices every day. and one of those choices might be where we work. >> to you now professor hornbeck let's talk about the public sphere. do you agree with critics who say government laws and regulations are interfering with religious teachings? taking up the case of the little sisters of the poor, rejecting a government effort to attach contraceptive insurance to their insurance plan, they objected to the principle of it being attached. how do you reconcile that kind

of situation? >> randall, that's a great question and this has been something that's been in the news for at least the last eight or nine years. ever since the debate on the affordable care act began, there was a question of reconciling religious liberties from the government. what gets confused is we talk about the american value of religious freedom. the very first people who came to america were not seeking religious freedom for everyone, they were seeking religious freedom for themselves. most of the original colonies wanted a place to practice religious freedom for themselves. all too often sometimes these historical ideals were invoked by those who do not see the nuances in them. but as to this particular question, we are all living if a

space, those religious or not religious, where we recognize and value the differences of everybody. and i think that that refers to that there will be times whether people need to go along, there are times when people need to push back. the courts in the middle of figuring that out right now. but as rabbi miller said, there are times when a religious person needs to say, i can't go any further and there are times when a religious person has to say, i can't impose my values on the rest of society. >> seize things which are caesar's? >> jesus was referring to a point in his own day. the little sisters of the poor case that you referred to is a really interesting one because the question is how much so-called cooperation with what they consider to be immoral activity is permissible? even within the framework ever

catholic moral thielg, there ard say they are not involved in morally sponsoring it. the courts are not there to apply moral theology but what is correct in modern society. >> in 2014 it found that nearly a quarter of american adults claimed no religious affiliation, among those unfimented americans 61% say they do believe in god in some form, down from 10% some years earlier and among all adults religiously affiliated or not, only 55% say they pray in some manner every day. down from 2007. let me pose this question to you professor hornbeck, why do

you feel fewer americans are idenfying as religious today? >> the key is religiousity versus spirit chal city. spirituality. scandals and revelation not only in the roman catholic church or other churches in the past few decades, they don't have the credibility they used to. even the numbers you just talked to show that while americans may be moving away from organized religion, there is a desire for someone to connect with something beyond themselves, some transcendent. >> imam, have you observed more religious attachment in your circles? and if so, why? >> you know, i guess one has to speak about different experiences in america,

vis-a-vis europe, vis-a-vis the middle east, vis-a-vis asia. i have seen more movement forward, moving closer to islam. but i think problem is not moving forward or back. closer or farther. the problem is, is the message of our religious institutions relevant to the lives of our young men and women? i dare to say that many of our religious institutions within the case of muslims or christianity or we speak more of theology than of religion. we speak more of the life after vis-a-vis the here, and so therefore for people to move closer to islam, closer to judaism, to christianity, we

need to reconstruct the understanding of our scriptures and need to make these religions relevant of the challenges of day-to-day affairs of our young men and women. how often do we speak about social justice? political justice? environmental justice? how often do we speak about issues that matter to women, to men, equality, equal pay, issues of freedom. all those issues are big, real issues that many of our clergy run away from or shy away from. we need to put them in the forefront. we need to put them on the table and that is what will bring people closer to religion and close are to god. >> thank you imam, rabbi miller i will give you the last word. >> absolutely, when you look at the pew center, there was a focus on the jewish people in

america, i think we do have to compare religiousity and spirituality, even though more american jews are moving away from religion, there is a lot of blending and new ways of looking at religion and spirituality in america. that includes as the imam said social action and environmentalism and things of that nature and there is certainly more blending. progressive jews are becoming more observant, or the disoxy is growing and i applaud that. >> rabbi jason miller, professor patrick hornbeck, imax yaya hindi. thank you for joining us. before we go, here are other

stories, ottoer perez molina will be back in court. a judge will hear from prosecutors and defense attorneys to decide whether molina's case will go to trial. shinzo abe's trove laws go into effect, japanese troops fight overseas for first time since world war ii. strengthening are against nuclear weapons. for decades, metropolitan museum of art resisted change. up next a change in philosophy opens the doors to modern art.

>> in western pennsylvania a sky diving bunny brought spiels to o children's faces this morning. the bunny swooped in with drama, as soon as the bunny landed, it was off to an easter egg hunt for the children and their parents too. it was a beautiful easter sunday for most parts of the nation but kevin corriveau says change is underway.

kevin. >> rain showers pushing now into the carolinas, that has caused a lot of problems, mississippi and alabama, where we saw a couple of weeks ago quite a bit of flooding rain there. now the big problem tonight and into tomorrow morning is going to be those showers and severe weather pushing through parts of indiana, ohio, kentucky as well as west virginia. what's going to happen tomorrow though, those two weather systems are going to come together, combined energy mostly across the eastern seaboard. washington, philadelphia, early morning hours in atlanta, airport delays possible there. washington a big difference of 70° but as you go towards tuesday, the only thing left is a little bit of snow towards northern part of the northern new england. but the snow is going to be a welcome relief here across much of the west because we do need the snow pack and for skiers

looking at that spring skiing as we go tuesday to wednesday we are going to see a lot of snow across that area especially into parts of wyoming where we could be seeing anywhere between a foot to a foot and a half of snow and we're also watching what's happening here across northern plains. heavy rain there and a chance of thunderstorms for dallas. >> part of presiden president os trip to cuba this past week focused on business i b initiat. melissa chan reports from havana. >> reporter: all revolutions start with just a few individuals. >> if you look at the tractor you can see it's very, very simple. >> reporter: start with the mission with for horace and sol, they are the first americans granted permission to build a

factory in cuba sphwhrp whe. >> when we looked at what business was the most important to build in cuba, we believed it was food production. >> they'll start exporting them to other countries in south america. >> we'll be in the hundreds of thousands of units a year and employ 300 people or more. >> reporter: but at a cost of eight to $10,000, it's not clear whether many cubans could afford the tractor. some stopped by to window-shop. >> there are those who can afford it, me for example i can't. but there are some who request. >> reporter: may be able to help local farmers buy his tractors. this booth is the only agriculture fair from the united states. it is really break ground.

all the other groups represent cuban domestic companies. >> it's not biggest market in the world but 11 million people is about the size, population wise, of illinois write live and that's the sixth largest state in the union. so there are a lot of opportunities. >> reporter: soon it won't be just tractors. other american businesses plan to enter the market. support for embargo is eroding fast and business interests including the u.s. chamber of commerce have so-called to end it. >> our entire foreign policy have been focused on fidel castro, when it should be focused on the 11 million cubans and that's the shift we've seen over the last 12 months. >> the impact of the embargo on ordinary citizens is tough to assess. out in the country side, farmers best options are often

dilapidated decades old russian imports. new tractors would improve lives. >> translator: all our machinery is old. we need to upgrade in order to advance, in order to move forward we need to make progress. >> reporter: clemons believe a prosperous cuba will arrive very soon. >> if we look at what's happened in china and vietnam where they changed their business model, i tell everybody cuba will move faster than either one of those for the simple reason of the cuban people. >> people may debate whether change in a few years or a few decades. melissa chan, al jazeera, havana. >> for decades, metropolitan museum of art snubbed its nose at art like the one from jackson

pollack lind me. gabriel elizondo reports. >> nontraditional works at metropolitan museum of arts, met broyer classical art objects seen through the same lens. on opening day it had art connoisseurs trying get a peek from all angles. it is a radical shift to slake off an image, the met was fowrchted ifounded in 1870, as n encyclopedic museum shunning

modern works. >> we built up our collection in the late 20th century but now there's an opportunity for us to do evenly more. >> but doing so in a fast moving world, where change is murder in centuries and not re-tweets will take time. that's why the met's reinventing itself but the challenge to do so will be in a city where there are so many options for art lovers. >> you don't have to look far. whitney just moved into a new modern building. and new york's museum of modern art famously known as moma as well as the g guggenheim. art net news says the met found

itself trying to stay relevant. >> contemporary audience he are more interested in relevance than class. and the met is the classiest museum in new york but not the coolest. their attempt to refresh the brand if you will. >> an old institution trying to create a new buzz for a young audience in modern times. be gabriel elizondo, al jazeera, new york. >> thank you for joining us, more news from doha, coming up. have a good evening. but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight.

a pakistani taliban attack kills at least 65 people, mostly women and children in a park in lahore. ♪ ♪ hello, this is al jazeera live from doha i am adrian finnegan. also ahead, iraqi cleric begins a one-man protest in the heavily fortified green zone in baghdad. riot police in brussels disperse protesters marching to a memorial to tuesday's bombings. russia offers restore palmyra after syrian forces