>> this is al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at your top stories. ukraine capitol engulfed in flames. 13 killed in fighting. dueling protest in venezuela and government arrest leashed of the opposition. and reports the white house is willing to trade prisoners at guantanamo bay for an american sergeant held captive.

>> riot police are charged into groups of protesters as the violence turns deadly in ukraine. six police officers and seven protesters have been killed in clashes in kiev. fires are burning in the center of ukraines capitol right now. some protesters are armed with clubs and wearing body armor. the ports person for the protest maiden movement. thank you for your time. i understand you have evacuated your headquarters in kiev. what is going on on the ground right now? >> it is very tense. we have reports of government

troops shooting at people. we have reports of armored cars, and we have continuous movement and we have attacks against barricades. the police are shooting at the speakers. we have a stage with a main screen on the headquarters has been turned off. there is fire, and the situation is very, very tense. >> did you anticipate this? again, there was a warning from the police that they wood from a given time begin to move in. did you anticipate this? >> the warning was the announc announcement that they would take counter terrorist action,

and they asked women and children to leave. there has beethese are not terre least, so we were not anticipating anything of this scale. i must correct you. not seven people are dead. we have reports of 20 people dead and 11 of them confirmed. this is the violence that the ukraine has not seen in 20 years, and this will resonate greatly. >> i appreciate your numbers, but i'm going stick with my numbers until confirmed by our news gathering organization. here's the question. are there armed elements in the opposition square right now? >> they're trying to defend itself with every means available.

>> my question is are there armed elements on the square right now? >> there are regiments. if you mean by armed with they armed with firecrackers, batons, they're trying to stand their ground and defend the people from police who are shooting with rubber bullets and attacking indiscriminately anyone they see. >> are you at all worried about the mostly peaceful opposition at this point will lose the moral high ground and international support if infiltrated, taken over by armed opposition elements? >> there is no threat of the armed opposition elements. what we see right now is a great many people, regular kiev people who are coming in with supplies, with milk, with lemon, which

helps contract the tear gas. we have random people trying to come in and defend and build the barricades. they're defending guess the rubber bullets and water canons with barricades and fire crackers. this is not an armed insurrection of the people. this is a group of people trying to defend itself from the indiscriminate action of the government. >> what do you want from the government? >> we want the government to be held responsible for the people who are dead today, and we want people who were killed before to be remembered. we want the government to finally understand we will not sit and watch as it continues detain and kill people in this country. >> my question is, what does it mean that you want the

government to be held responsible? what does that mean? >> the people in the government who give the orders. this was not an initiative taken by military officers. the people who give the orders are the people who should be brought responsible for their action. this includes president yanukovych, who is the top of the pyramid which controls this country. >> that's what i'm trying to get to. do you want the president to step down? >> yes. >> would it be a better strategy because president yanukovych is a democratically elected president. would it an better strategy to call for new elections, new parliamentary elections, new presidential elections as opposed to asking the democratically elected president to step down? >> in this condition, we are trying to find a way to renew dialogue. in this dialogue we want a

change of government, which can be the stepping down of the president or election, presidential election or parliamentary elections. which one, we don't know. what we're concerned about right now is the safety of the people and trying to avoid more casualties. with the government continuing, it seems likely and likely. the reasonableness of this president is less and less likely. what we fin want right now is a change of the government. >> the spokesperson for the protest movement. we have just--thank you, thank you for your time. we have just learned that vice president joe biden has called the president of ukraine to express concern over this violence and urge the president viktor yanukovych to pull back government forces. meanwhile images of protests and violence are all over social media. marie? >> these images give a glimpse

of what is happening in ukraine. they have a facebook page up. they put this image up earlier. on three dead protesters that died in today's encounter. right besides it you'll see this image. it says our sniper has injured the riot police with a traumatic weapon. a girl's eye was injured. a boy was knocked out of his feet. and take a look at this video. this was posted, these are protesters today. they were preparing for the police raid. they're picking up these cement blocks, and literal on you'll see these images. they were passing cement blocks to each other. a long line, people of all ages, and this is being used against the riot police. here in this image this was tweeted out, it says people are jumping from three-meter heights trying to escape.

and these sandbags right here are part of the barricade that they constructed. and christopher miller, with the kiev post, he writes police firing rub rounds, runs of these on the ground. good day to have picked up a vest. this is one of the protesters who is injured. he's receiving medical attention here. this is graphic. this is one of the police officers, he was, the riot police, he was injured, beaten, and he's walking away there. and then later on you see another riot police there. he's getting up and the protesters are chasing him away with the flag, tony. >> and as a point of clarification we should mention when you hear midon and you hear us in the west call it independence square we're talking about the same location. we're talking about the same piece of territory here. >> that's right. >> marie, appreciate it. >> thank you.

>> iran and six world powers return to the negotiating table looking for ways to curb iran's nuclear programs. negotiators will try to build on the temporary agreement reached last november, but there is little optimism, very little optimism that talks on the permanent deal will succeed. we have more from vienna. >> reporter: talks begin again, meeting the representatives of the international community known as the p5+1, the five permanent members of the u.n. security council plus germany. these countries came to a deal with iran in november. it was an historic agreement but only a temporary one lasting six months. now they must attempt a

permanent deal. there are many issues still be resolved as well as areas of mistrust and suspicion. >> during these negotiations on the comprehensive agreement all concerns about the iranian nuclear program will have to be addressed. it will be, of course, there will be intensive and difficult work lying ahead of us. the overall objective remains a comprehensive solution to insure that the program is exclusively peaceful. >> one of iran's main negotiators was interviewed on a state tv channel. they know that many people at home including iran's supreme leader does not seem success will be achieved. >> how would you describe this morning's talks? >> it was a good beginning, and very constructive we have decided to continue bilateral

sessions. >> no one involved in this process doubts that it will be difficult and complicated. there is a deadline, the interim deal is just for six months. but there is a clause in it saying that it can be extended for a further six months. therthere will be long negotiat. james bays, al jazeera, united nations vienna. >> i talked about christopher hill who conducted a forum with mohammed zarif today. i asked him about the stance on the nuclear program. >> i think as the foreign minister made clear today, he once again reiterated the iranian government has no interest in developing nuclear weapons. it's always nice to hear that but the issue is we need to really prove that this is not the case. sow certainly from an u.s. perspective you sort of wonder. >> they have an underground enrichment facility. just what are they doing with the plutonium reactor.

questions like that. and so i think the u.s. does need to see the u.s. and the other parties do need to see this--these issues addressed. how that's done, how much enrichment could they live with, if any? i think these are issues that have to be addressed as we go forward. certainly it is good to hear the iranians moving forward on this agreement, and i asked the follow-up question to foreign minister z, rif. how does he see the u.s. relationship, assuming progress is made on the nuclear, will that go forward? again, he was very careful. but you know, i think we're dealing with a very professional diplomat there. >> but i wonder to the critical question, and i think it is the critical question, you sort of outlined it. does iran have to make some kind of case for continuing to house

if not operate the facilities, the underground facility that you mentioned just a moment ago? >> yeah, i think they are going to have to make a case because if your interest is in peaceful new england what are you doing putting it underground? you know, buildings tend to be a little more economical when they're botch ground. i think that's a very valid case. the problem is, and certainly you won't hear this from their foreign minister, but their problem is within iran their opinions are very much split whether to go forward. a lot of what we're seeing is an iranian government that understands the--what these sanctions have done for the economy, and that's something that the foreign minister have made clear again. they would like to tiptoe out of this. but i think they've got to be very careful because not everyone agrees with him.

>> iran's foreign minister is hopeful that an agreement can be reached by july. new reports that the u.s. will participate in a prisoner swap with the taliban. jonathan betz is here with more on this potential del. >> the white house said it's not actively negotiating with the taliban but it does work every day to bring home bow bergdahl{^l" ^}. he has been held by the taliban for five years. he's from idaho and likely right now in pakistan but it's not clear where exactly so rescue missions have been ruled out for now. this reported deal would trade him for five prisoners from guantanamo bay. in the past the prisoners thought it would be for these men right here? who are they? first off, mula fasal has been

in jail for 12 years. but he has been so high profile and the up usa paid $500,000 to safely get him out of pakistan. he used to be a military commander for the taliban. he's accused of wars crimes and one of the most significant officials detained by the u.s. mohammed nabi omari used to be a police officer and farmer. all have been labeled a high risk to the u.s. and the swap is far from certain. so much time has passed it's unclear how much of a threat the men still pose. the biggest concern is for bergdohl. officials are worried that they are losing time and leverage to

bring home their pow. >> thank you. >> a new report says raising the minimum wage $10.10 could come at a cost of hundreds of thousands of jobs. real money.'"real money's" ali n us. >> it takes whatever congress is considering and puts a price tag on it. president obama wants to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. it's at $7.25 right now. the cvo said that will cost 500,000 jobs by 2016 assuming this would be phased in until 2016. it does say that it would lift 900,000 people out of poverty because they would get a raise. they would spend a little more money and that would create some jobs but on balance, 500,000

jobs would be lost. they said 16.5 million workers would see their earnings rise. so it's a mixed bag. you can see what we're talking about here. if you raise the minimum wage there are a lot of small business who is will say we can't afford that image wage and will let people go. what you hope is that people earning that higher minimum wage will spend more and that's why it would increase demand and people would hire more. it's an interesting debate. conservatives are latching on to this one. saying see, we told you, don't raise the minimum wage. >> i know your team has been researching this, how has business been reacting? >> hard to tell. we haven't spoken to as many small business owners as we would like. the small business federation shows that businesses that might suffer the most would be in the restaurant retail franchise sector, the national federation of independent businesses says we're in a recovery right now.

the focus should be creating jobs, not increasing labor cost. i will say this, the national federation of retail chief economist said that it should be zero. but they do represent businesses. i don't come across a lot of people in america who think there should be a minimum wage of zero. >> what else are you looking at? >> reporter: nafta. happy anniversary nafta. a lot of people think it's created a great deal of prosperity, some people hate it as much as they hated it 20 years ago. we've got a good discussion on that. >> coming up on al jazeera america. more u.s. troops than ever before are using food stamps to help feed their families. we'll look at the growing trend and what's causing it. also a 84-year-old nun and two

activists have been sentenced for breaking int in to a nuclear plant. their punishment next. there is the picture, more updates throughout this hour. so many money stories sound complicated. but don't worry. i'm here to take the fear out of finance. every night on my show i break down the confusing financial speak and make it real.

is. >> we have just learned that a judge has sentenced an elderly nun convicted o. they broke into the national security complex in oakridge, tennessee, in 2012. the 84-year-old sister admitted to spray painting the peace logan and hammering on the walls of the facility. she has condemned nuclear weapons as immoral. she has served time for her anti-nuclear active. a new report shows that military families on food stamps is higher than ever.

>> this comes from the u.s. department of defense. a report that the d.o.d. just put together. they finished analyzing spending at military commissaries. commissaries are stores that sell food to military personnel and their family. the total revenue that the commissaries brought in, $184 million came from food stamps. that figure, $104 million is double the military food stamp figure from four years ago and quadruple what the food stamp total was for 2007. the key issue involves the overall u.s. economy and lack of opportunities for young military spouses. new soldiers with a spouse earn $20,000, yet the frequent relocations and disruptions make it hard for a spouse to work and bring in a supplementary income.

just two years ago in 2012 the unemployment rate was 30% for young spouses and members of the u.s. military. spouses between the ages 18 to 24 and again that unemployment rate was 30%. another military group picked up the pace for food stamps is retired personnel. those who joined the military after 9/11 but since has retired contributes to the elevated food stamp figures at the dod commissaries. as the food stamp usag continuet the lower scale food stamp usage will level out. >> one lyon and six tigers were killed. going north dallas.

>> this is where big cats go when their owners realize lyons and tigers aren't meant to be pets. or the animals are no longer making money for them like in circuses. the wildlife rescue center is a non-profit that rehabilitates and forever cares for these abandoned animals. last year an outbreak of canine distemper, a measles like virus that effects only animals spread here with deadly abandon. >> it almost destroy us emotionally. it didn't destroy us as a sanctuary as we had to keep in mind that our mission continues. >> 22 big cats showed symptoms of the deadly distemper virus. seven died, but several died,

how? by the immeasurable work of the staff here. >> we start bright and early giving meds and we had to conjole until they would eat. our days would not end until 2:00 or 3:00 the next morning just trying to get these tigers better, these lyons better. >> talk about what you have done to ensure that that doesn't happen again? >> well, what we've done primarilily is to vaccinate the cats using what is the best possibly vaccination available for big cats, that is the ferrett vaccine. >> there are no guarantees but they don't believe they'll see another distemper outbreak, which they think was caused by an infected raccoon. and the hope is that this memorial wall will be because of natural death not disease. recently ten tigers and three

cougars from a wildlife foundation getting out of the caged animal business. >> the relief is palpable. it was heartbreaking to walk by empty cages for so long. and now that the cages aren't empty any more, it's definitely given us a new sense of purpose. >> reporter: there are now 63 big cats here. all symptom-free. mark snyder, al jazeera, texas. >> people fill the streets angry over high crime rates and a creaweakeconomy. we'll take you to caracas. you've seen the commercials for commercial drugs with 15 seconds of pitch and 25 seconds of warnings? and we're seeing the a very dangers situation in ukraine. police moving against protesters in a very violent scene. the latest details coming up.

unrestrained and uncompromising. >> are you going to resign if you're indicted? >> first, real money with ali velshi brings the big-money issues home where they effect you the most. >> household debt has been slashed. >> then, what real people are talking about in real-time with the stream. >> all of our communities lightin' up twitter tonight. >> and stay with us for live, breaking and in-depth news. real reporting, this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here's a look at your top stories. live pictures from ukraine and kiev, the capitol city. there were riot police moving in on protesters as huge fires burn in kiev. it comes hours after police officers and protesters wer invd in clashes. we'll speak with someone in kiev in just a couple of minutes. officials in iran return to the negotiating table looking for ways to curb iran's nuclear irar

program. and iran drew a hard dine line saying it would not get rid of its facilities. >> 16.5 million low-wage americans getting an increase in their earnings. thousands of venezuelans holding dueling protests on the streets of caracas. lopez turned himself in to the police and protesters were angry over widespread crime and weak economy. on the other side, let's get to caracas, andy, have the demonstrations wrapped for the evening?

the streets of caracas are quiet. the headlines is the attention of leopold lopez, the opposition leader who has been charged with terrorism and murder. we believe he's at the justice department waiting to have those charges brought against him. but we don't know what's going to happen next. just before his arrest he was on top of a car and through a loud speaker he said this must be a wake-up call. this is a man over the last few days who have been taunting authorities with his twitter account saying come and arrest me, i have nothing to hide. this is not an unified opposition and some of the notable opposition leaders have been putting distance between themselves and leopold saying there are better ways to make their voices heard using democratic means making their voices heard and being critical

saying if people want to take to the streets and protest, they should be allowed to do that peacebly. at the moment things are calm here in caracas, of course there have been three deaths and we've seen violent scenes but for now peaceful. >> let's talk about that fracture sort of opposition for a moment here. you mentioned there were many who were criticizing lopez. i'm thinking of the man who ran against nicholas medoro in the last election. what is he saying about what lopez is doing? >> that's exactly who i was talking about. narrowly lost to nicholas medoro in the last election, and he has placed some distance between himself. he said look, there are people who are not happy with the

conditions of the food shortages, the inflation, which is the highest in the world, and the crime rate which is horrendous. he said if you want to make your voices heard there is a referendum in a year's time. saying this may not be the right way to go about things. but at the moment all eyes are factefocused on lopez, and whatl happen to him next. >> you outline some of the issues that need to be corrected by the government as voiced by the opposition. what is the opposition actually demanding of the medoro government? >> they just want a fairer voice. and they are very bad problems. i've been coming here the last

year on a regular basis, and you talk to people who say they can't get flour, they can't get sugar, they can't get the basic foods that they need. inflation is running at over 50%. crime is rampant, but key to this is the support that nicholas medoro commands from those poor people. he still won the last general election and in today's rally he basically galvanized tens of thousands of people on the streets showing that they still have a powerful base of support. they often move popular with the poor. reducing the price of household goods, something that has gone well with many people. he still receives a great deal of support and many of these people who are protesting against the government are students who protest in middle class areas and people like him saying if you don't have the support of the poor you're not going to make any process. >> andy gallagher, good to see

you in caracas, venezuela. the opposition leader turned himself in circulating through social media. >> reporter: yes, tony, i'll show you this one of the images going around the internet today. leopold lopez is being taken in by the national guard. he's wearing white. he asked people to wear white to these protests. he's carrying flowers on the left hand. and moments before he handed himself in, this is his wife, he and his wife saying good buy. and also here you've got this image of him. this is a selfie of the year. and this is an architect in caracas. he took this video of they believe to be the car that leopold lopez was in moments before he spoke to the crowd, and moments before he handed himself in. you can see the protesters

running along side that car. it's not just in caracas that they had protests today. they also had this the northwestern region of venezuela you see thousands of protesters as well. they compet tweeted out this prn support. >> thank you, thank you. >> libyan militias are threatening to overthrow the government three years and one day after they topple muammar qaddafi's regime. demanding libya's parliament step down or be arrested. many fear it could spark an internal conflict between rival militias. in thailand four people were killed in clashes between

government protesters and police. al jazeera has our report. >> the moment that the historic part of bangkok became a war zone on tuesday. anti-government protesters and police alike scramble for cover the day began with the police attempting to take over the protests side. bulldozing tents and other structures. crowds and demonstrators cheered and taunted police behind their riot shields. the his held their line until they heard a loud explosion that was later identified as a grenade. they fired in the direction of the explosion, more gunshots

then chaos with people running in all directions unsure of where the gunfire was coming from. by the end of the day emergency services reported the number of people injured and killed had climbed even higher, including one policeman who was killed. >> as the police called back, protesters reclaimed this area and created new barricades, as you can see. that meant overturning even police vehicles and destroying them. >> the aftermath of tuesday's gunfight is not just the casualty toll and barricades. but the injured pride of the police who lost one of their o own. >> the police are clashing with protesters right now in the

center of kiev. we've heard protesters yelling glory to ukraine and lighting up the skies. 13 people have been killed in these clashes. the police are trying to break them up. three months of anti-government demonstrations unfolding right now. and joining me is that talia an independent ukrainian journalist. good to speak with you. give me some perspective here. we see these scenes of what is going on in independent square, and tell us how localized compared to how widespread these protests and demonstrations are in the capitol of kiev. >> to give you the context, something like that is happening for the first time in the ukraine history since the independence. people are absolutely shocked, and they don't know how to respond because nobody could dare to imagine that the police with the full force woul would e

such immense violence. but this night the people try to find the shield in the center of the city where was always the camp of the protesters. for hours and hours and yes, the protester fight back with what they can, an we know that so far according for instance, 20 people killed, 500 injured. it's also very complicated because it is localized. but the people try to find shelter, and it's kind of the symbol. it's the only place where people can feel secure from the police

and from the thugs, and they attack that they are afraid of what might happy to them if they are arrested. so the residents of kiev do their best to come to the city, help the injured and drag them back. the most concern is, and journalists working in the field, working in the newsroom that we know compared to what is happening, the picture that we see there are much more injured and might be much more dead the casualties. the opposition and protesters, anyone who can imagine it's for hours and hours. it's late night here, calling the president to give any voice, there was not any sound bite from him, now we know that he is meeting the opposition leader

leaders--they really tried to protect themselves with anything that they can. i won't give my opinion on that. just really they're protecting themselves. but for hours and hours they're waiting in the administration. we know there are a lot of world and european leaders trying to call the president. germany chancellor, she's calling-- >> you're right. there are world leaders calling including the vice president of the united states who called viktor yanukovych who asked him to call back the police and end this violence. i'm wondering where this all goes from here. we're talking three months in, and it looks as though the political has stalled at this point. what is it that the opposition is asking for?

i've heard some ask the president to step down. that seems unlikely, so where is this headed? >> i would say it's not just the opposition. there are other people, and there is a difficult--it's not the opposition just representing the people. they are part of the mediation. the initial cause for the people at least to have for instance those who are would be responsible for the brutal crackdown of the demonstration or for the killing to be responsible for the actions. but there was not any sign of that. perpetrators that call them like that were just promoted. there wasn't any small sign of the governments to really go to the negotiations. so the demand was to change the constitutional reform and there was an old political reform. i know today they were using the rocks as well as the police were using the rocks. but no one here in this country

could ever imagine even if there were hundreds of people ready to come close to the parliament a lot of journalists coming, and we see bulleting, and we've had the pictures, so this kind of extensive use of force made people like to protect-- >> there is surprise, i get it. natalia, thank you for your time. an independent ukrainian journalist on skype with us. >> the search of a man who dis' period after leaving friends at the super bowl has stopped.

>> the police have found the body of brian yori, an intern to florida state representative and his body was found in a building in tallahassee. he was last seen leaving the bar after watching the super bowl with his friends. authorities do not believe foul play at this time. richard parker appeared in court pleading not guilty to two counts to first-degree murder. a package exploded at his wife's parents' house. parker's bail was set at $1 million. mad in miami. do you remember yesterday we told you all about that guy who smashed $1 million vase because he was upset? >> yes. >> well, we now have the video. he was reportedly upset that the

museum was not displaying more work from local artists. he walked right up and smashed the vase and his friend filmed the whole thing. the police called it vandalism and he called it protest. the creator of that vase spent a lot of time in chinese prison, he's free now. that's part of why this is so so expensive. >> the painting behind him is black and white shows a vase being dropped at that very moment, which is why he chose to do it right there. >> isn't that clever. some advice for would-be olympians wait until you cross the finish line to celebrate. also high tech lights that can track your every move. they're popping up everywhere,

and privacy experts are worried.

>> so have you paid attention to one of those tv ads for prescription drugs lately? they start off with how great the drug is and what great things it will do for you and then lists the possible side-effects for taking that drug? by the time the commercial is over you can't remember what is good about it. the fda said this is confusing and wants to simplify those ads. roxanne is here with more on those ads. >> they start out talking about what the drugs can do, and then they end with a long list of possible side-effects. everything from nausea, stroke and often times those lists are

longer than the commercial itself. >> call the doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscle and confusion to address a possible life-threatening condition, high blood sugar has been reported and extreme cases can lead to coma or death. >> why would i take that? >> yeah, you might it think twice about it. many people tune out a lot of that because they are just so long. today the fda said it wants to find out how many people pay attention. the lists are sometimes too long or otherwise times they leave out important information. the idea is to limit the ideas to the most serious side-effects and a statement like this. this is not the full list of side affects. talk to your doctor and read the full information before taking it. they'll test different versions of the warning to see what works

best. you can go to this website regulations.gov to weigh in. for now the best advice is still talk to your doctor first. >> yes, you got to believe that long list of side-effects is killing sales for some of these drugs, and they could probably do some really good work. >> but people are still buying them. >> yes, that's true. roxanne, thanks. new technology that allows for invisible cameras that detect everything from suspicious behavior and long lines, but it has advocates worried. we go to san francisco where some public areas are getting this type of high tech security upgrade. jacob, take it away. what's going on here? >> reporter: well, that's right. there is a long storied history of security and designs working hand in hand, almost visibly.

this new project at newark airport has led lights being replaced by microphones, camer cameras, sensors that cannot only illuminate the ground below but take shots of passengers at the airport, license plates, long lines and working real detection into the fabric of our public life in a way that's almost inadviceble. >> jacob. is newark's lighting system going to be the next step forward in security? >> well, that's really the idea here. from a pure engineering standpoint it's a smart plan where technology has shrunk to the point where it can all be jammed to the space that it's used to occupy. but from a privacy perspective this is a big deal. las vegas has had a long history

of snooping on its customers, london is a great pioneer trying to fight crime through a system like this. this is a big step forward in terms of monitoring this. >> should we all be concerned in being tracked with everything, including now these lights? >> absolutely, yes. that's right, tony. everything that we're going to be you doing in the future is going to be monitored in some way. but as we track this story the idea that it takes a lot of humans to get this done. you need to have people paid to sit in front of a monitor and check it all out. but it's when software takes over that we really get in trouble. >> jake, thank you. let's get you to sochi, russia, now. a lot of winter games action here. jessica taff with the headlines. >> we learn a lot of lessons. the fight through the finish, not to the finish.

and never give up on your olympic dreams. four years ago alex was a technician for the u.s. snowboarding team. this year he's leading with his own olympic bronze medal. he won the bronze today. a far cry from his days of prepping the boards for team u.s. when he was in vancouver, he said all that work was worth it when he was standing on the podium with the american flag wrapped around him. and here crossing the finish line. what he didn't count on was martin of france right behind him on his tail. the frenchman lunged forward to create a photo finish. spencer with end up with the gold but not without a bit of a scare. david weiss taking home the gold in the first ever men's ski

halfpipe, and it looks like this right now. take a look. the netherlands and u.s. tie with 20 each. host russia with 19 and norway and canada with 18 and 17. thank you. we're going to take a look at the headlines and then we're going to get to you "real money with ali velshi." this is al jazeera america. >> 20 years ago the united states, canada and mexico created the largest trading bloc the world has ever known. has it caused prosperity or pain? and what if raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour cost america half a million jobs? we'll sort it all all out on "real money." each month? have you thought about how climate change can affect your grocery bill? can rare minerals in china affect your cell phone bill? or how a hospital in texas could

drive up your healthcare premium? i'll make the connections from the news to your money real.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. you're looking live on kiev, ukraine, where riot police are battling tens of thousands of protesters. they're using stun guns and

water canons to charge the main opposition camp. protesters are fighting back with rocks, bats and firebombs. 18 people have been killed in clashes tap. nuclear talks in vienna, iran rejected getting rid of any of its nuclear facilities. talks were based on the initial six-month deal in eas easing of angels. and president obama using his executive power to introduce new standard for trucks in the united states. he said it will cut down greenhouse gasses and boost the economy. the white house is looking at a prisoner swap with the taliban in order to free sergeant bowe berghdohl. the budget office said raising the minimum wage $10.10 an hour will result in

16.5 million low wage americans getting an increase and their earnings president obama proposed, but half a million people would lose their jobs and have lower family income result. i'm tony harris, ali velshi is next. >> the united states, canada, and mexico created the largest trading bloc the world has ever known and two decades of controversiacontroversy. we'll look at why the world is still mad about nafta. we'll sort that out. i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money."