ahmad is 20 years old, and works in his dad's garage. nine months ago he defected from the regime police force to join the rebel free syrian army. >> (translated): i was a policeman. we were sent out to quell the protests, and some of us would open fire on demonstrators. but i used to hide. i'd throw my bullets away. here is my photo. i looked evil when i was serving the regime. i was full of hatred. now i look better. this photo was taken after i joined the free syrian army. this is the real me. the regime used to force me to shave my beard every day. when i defected, i started to grow it. i wanted to change my look while fighting with the rebels. >> (translated): he's just showing off. it's just a fashion. it's not really him. he even struggles to read the koran. i'm not happy about it. i want him to pray but he doesn't. he can do what he wants. >> narrator: in the center of ahmad's village is the local office of the free syrian army. these men were all born in this valley, and like the majority of syrians are sunni muslims. they're de

okay, let's rejoin now ahmad. ahmad, last couple of years, you've been watching the giants and as on a national level and now locally. pretty interesting, huh? >> the giants could maybe have a little more offense, but one did it today. no time to wait. the giants, as, warriors and sharks all in action. plus, there was a celebration, yes, at at&t park. the 2012 championship flag flying high. and one of the player's amazing streaks. it continues. that is all coming up next in sports. >>> welcome back. ahmed fareed here. barry zito is on a role. it started at the end of last regular season and then continued into the playoffs. now 2013 and still going. the giants have won the last 15 times he's gone to the mound, that includes today's home opener. let's get right to that one. cardinals and giants at at&t park. a rematch from last year's championship series. the flag flying high. bases loaded, walking on four pitches. bl blanko scored. picking up right where he left off last post-season. he went seven strong allowing

>> ahmad nassri: not even a little bit. >> pelley: not even a little bit. these friends saw him two weeks ago. he was a sophomore at the university of massachusetts, dartmouth. ahmad nassri and bassel nasri tried without luck to get him to join the m.s.a., the muslim student association. did you see him at mosque? you see him at prayers? nothing like that? >> group: no. >> bassel nasri: no, unfortunately. >> pelley: unfortunately? >> bassel nasri: i would've loved for him to come to the m.s.a. a few times so he can maybe understand his religion better. maybe that would... that would've helped in what happened, i would say. >> pelley: what was he interested in? >> group: soccer. cars. >> ahmad nasri: if someone a few days ago told me that one of my friends was responsible for the bombs, bombing in boston, i would've named off at least 90% of everyone that i know before i would've said dzhohkar. >> pelley: tamerlan tsarnaev did not fit in easily. a champion amateur boxer, he was disappointed that he couldn't try for the u.s. olympic team because he wasn't a c

military withdraw all but hopes for democracy ahmad by bombings and protests our two reports from the heart of the unrest. and the tens of thousands in bahrain event there for your ear over the upcoming formula one grand prix races seen as giving legitimacy to a regime that's continuing its crackdown on anti-government protests. it's seven pm here in the moscow you're watching r t a live with me to bomb once a top top story a teenager suspect in monday's deadly marathon bombings in boston has been captured by police a day long manhunt to shut the city down alarming vehicles and tactical teams combed the suburb.

guests included tiger woods, patrick ewing, spike lee and ahmad rashad. an all-star lineup. >>> in baseball, a warmup pitch got away from mets catcher and shattered the plexiglas. seven years back luck i think is what they were saying. between innings in san diego, a fan got a huge head start in a foot race against a guy in a squirrel costume but it still wasn't enough of a lead as squirrel man blew right past him for the victory. that is real. that guy was running really slowly. thumbs up. >>> at a golf tournament in south korea, a tee shot went off to the right and landed on the paved golf cart path and just kept rolling and rolling and rolling to about 500 yards from the tee. ouch! >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by touch of gray. get rid of some gray, never all. >>> just ahead, who won the weekend box office battle of the continents? >>> plus, so long, kennedy compound. taylor swift has a new summer home. we'll tell you where when "early today" returns. >>> good morning. welcome back. warmth in the southwest. 50s up and down calif

the fbi arrested 18-year-old abdella ahmad tounisi on charges of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. >>> five people were killed in arizona over the weekend when their van flipped while being chased by border control agents. 22 people were in the suv at the time of the crash. >>> the search continues for survivors of last week's devastating earthquake in china. the government has so far confirmed more than 150 deaths and some 11,000 injured. >>> engines start. liftoff for the mission to mars. >> cool stuff. it was a successful launch sunday for a new rocket carrying supplies to the international space station. the rocket lifted off from a base in virginia on a test flight to send a cargo ship in space. >>> all right. in health news now, a new report from the journal of pediatrics warns young people to just say no to the cinnamon challenge. the risky trend that went viral last year and dared teens to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon without water in 60 seconds or less. now doctors warn long-term damage could include throat irritation, lung inflammati

. >>> right now let's bring in ahmad fareed of comcast sportsnet. a bizarre day today. >> yeah, and that last story, music did our ears. i had to say it. the sharks look to continue their run down the stretch. we'll preview their april outlook. first, march madness heats up as eight teams get whittled down to a final four. we'll tell you who booked their ticket to atlanta. it is a wild day in sports next. >>> ahmed fareed at the xfinity sports desk. two teams punched their ticket to the final four yesterday. the final two seats have been won. a terrible injury, we're not going to show the injury on tv, it really is too horrific to see. louisville before the game. the injury came on this play. kevin ware was contesting a shot, came down hard, broke a bone in his lower right leg, his teammates shaken up. rick bettino wiping tears from his eyes. ware taken off the court, surgery tonight, he will make a recovery, about a year before he can play again. louisville up 14 in the second. russ smith driving for the lay-up,louisville prevails on a tough night.

. >> ahmad cox claims he was the victim of curb sitting by police during a traffic stop. he was never arrested and said he felt humiliated. >> i started to talk to other people in the community and other black friends and they were starting to say the same things. >> the advisory board advises the acting chief, he said that they should have given the policy a chance to work. >> we have expectations of him and his department to come around, while we do not have a chief, and put the plan back in its proper place. >> we wanted to ask the acting chief why he suspended the policy, but we could not reach him for comment tonight. the head of the san jose police officers union, said that he could not say if he supported this policy it depended on how far reaching it would be. nbc bay area news. >> thank you, they are unmedicated and unsupervised. dozens of mentally ill patients are being dropped off. it's claimed that nevada's mental hospital put the patients on a bus and sent them out of town. 1/3 of them ended up here. we have more about the city attorney taking action. >> repo

north caucasus accused of heinous crimes particularly those of chechen background one example ileus ahmad of who was known as the right hand of the internationally recognized chechen terrorists. just a quick reminder of who was he was killed in two thousand and six. record as a chechen militant leader included in one thousand nine hundred ninety five he and his gang attacked the city of good yarn of took up to one thousand eight hundred residents of that city hostage in a hospital including one hundred fifty children at least one hundred forty people died as a result of that attack also as he gained power in the region stated his objective to have all muslim regions in russia break away from the country it was basically a call to start a war on all fronts among his other heinous acts to. was the school hostage crisis in this line in two thousand and four terror that russia will never forget it left so we hundred and thirty four people dead one hundred eighty six of them children so the right hand of this monster who helped stage all this whore. modify arrives in the u.s. somewhere around

authorities politicized the intelligence given the fact that russia concerns had been ignored before you yes ahmad if the white head of the internationally recognized chechen terrorists science was given asylum and now lives in boston. who rushes accuse of heinous crimes against innocent people is still seen in the u.s. as a chechen freedom fighter the odd part of this if anything we've been i'm not going to say sympathetic with them but we've certainly been critical of and how far he's gone in dealing with. so if anything they should they shouldn't have this anger at the united states many ask whether tom or lon may have learned about bomb making on his trip to russia but the answer could be much closer to home according to a senior government official quote they got their instructions on how to make this from the internet no nobody has to travel anywhere or get any specific in person training from some expert somewhere in order to access instructions for making explosives when joe hart's are now if woke up this week he reportedly told the families he and his brother were motivated by a desire to

military withdrawal but it happens full democracy ahmad by bombings and protests are two reports from the heart of the unrest. and the tens of so all those in buff rain event they're furious over the upcoming former you know one grand prix race seen as giving legitimacy. to a regime that's continuing its crackdown on anti-government protests. a oh the. international news analysis and reports of this is our first story a teenage suspect in monday's deadly marathon bombings in boston has been captured by.

the f-b-i says abdella ahmad tounisi of aurora was arrested friday night as he tried to board a flight to turkey. tounisi.a u-s citizen, is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. according authorities tounisi carried out research online about nursa front. the most effective rebel group in syria affiliated with al-qaida. >> earthquake survivors in pakistan staged angry protests friday -- accusing the government of failing to provide enough aid. a 7-point-8 magnitude quake struck tuesday near pakistan's border with iran -- killing at least 41 people. more than a thousand homes in this town alone have been destroyed or damaged. the military has been leading relief efforts and the u-n has offered help if pakistan needs it. but the men on the ground here say they need more aid. >> we need support because this is primarily from the army. the damage to the contribution. so we need a law several levels of help to come and help. >> reporter: those seriously injured have been air-lifted to the provincial capital. the military has dis

host: where have you served, ahmad? caller: well, i've served in vietnam and cambodia and laos and some in tokyo. host: thank you for calling in this morning. calvin is on our republican line. caller: yes, good morning. i'm a retired military, been out of the military for about 27 years, i spent 13 years in europe, and i was also a vietnam vet. and what i feel is that military worldwide should be that we should focus our attention mainly on the -- and let some of these countries that we go in and support like germany and england, i think sometimes people forget -- they need to step up and try to defend some of their own shores. and have the u.s. take care of the people here in the united states, and a climate and everybody's in agreement on both sides of the aisle whether democrat or republican. to support various actions throughout the world. host: calvin, were you career military? caller: yes, i was. host: are you associated with, what is it, the national army college in carlisle? caller: that's where it is now. defen

i park in there and i go up and i figure playing via such -- authoritarian and i say sergeant ahmad smitty out here right now. he starts laughing, what is smitty done now? i said get in the car smitty. i'm sad i didn't mean to scare you but i'm just looking for calley. he said well he's on base somewhere. i said what you have on him? i have his violin there. it's inside? [laughter] he said yeah. i said get it. [laughter] and he said okay. he goes in and takes it and puts it in his wallet and gives it to me. i opened up in the first page was the same page as the day before in the judge's office. anyway, it's all about making your logic and i eventually found calley. i eventually got a straight story from him. captain medina who was in charge and i wrote the first of what were five stories as a freelancer and by the way once i saw calley it took me a week or two to get the money to buy it even though i've been press secretary for a guy running for president and two weeks before i had the lead story of the new york times magazine who is on assignment. doing another piece for life magazine so