conversation continues our website aljazerra.com/considerthis or on our facebook or google plus pages you can find us on twitter at ajconsiderthis. we'll see you next time. ♪ ♪. >> good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. carnage in kiev. a truce shattered, dozens are killed in the bloodiest day of protests in ukraine. an al jazeera exclusive. inside the taliban. an inside look at afghanistan. and double the federal minimum,. and together at last, korean families split by the conflict by north and south reunite after

more than six decades. we begin tonight with the standoff in ukraine. a morning after a day of bloodshed in the capitol, kiev. this is independence square, now early friday morning there. a world in shock, leaders express their concerns. at least 70 lost their lives in fighting thursday, according to opposition. owner observers on the ground. our nick shifrin is there. what is going on there? >> john, it is caulk in the square behind me. you can hear the solemn singing of the national anthem here.

it's 6:00 a.m., they have been keeping each other awake with political speeches. a video posted online that may go down as more of the horrific and memorable of this situation, got 3 million hits. protestors walking up hill, armed by only plastic shields, hit one by one by police snipers. this was defined by violence. over 70 dead, the single deadliest day in ukraine, since the soviet union collapsed. because of that video, because of that violence we've had a huge outpouring of support from young and old, everyone across the city coming to this square to help to honor those who have

been killed and to support those who have no intention to stop fighting. every army needs a supply line and for the 18th government protesters in kiev, the weapons are empty box, crudest kind of bomb: molotov cocktails. all night they will stay here stuffing rags, pouring gas. someone has to help the fighters. for them this is revolution and their generation is leading it. even though it means deceivin dg their families. >> what do your families think? >> they don't know i'm here. i have a son, one-year-old son. and i think that i must be here, because it's my city. it's my people. and i don't want that they will be killed.

>> reporter: this informal support network has created not only a physical but a emotional fight line. fighting for the future of ukraine. we have just walked a block from all those molotov cocktails these are the barricades and beyond them, independence square. earlier on the other side of the square st. michael's cathedral became a rear guard base. the people can't fight so they help younger protesters whom they consider heroes. >> people come here to the specific place to bring medicine to bring food to bring warm clothing. despite the danger they're here to provide their support for those in need. >> we met maria, only 19 years old, on her head a skateboard

helmet. >> it's a skateboard helmet, what do you think it will save you from? >> it's going to save me from stones, i don't know. it's not going to save me from a bullet. >> for maria and her sister this is worth the risk. they carry what they can. they may feel defenseless and unarmed but they are protected. >> it is important to support those who are dead now. to support those who are still alive and who are still here. so i think, well, i'm not scared anymore. that's the most important thing for me. when i come here, i feel safe. i feel more safe than i feel at home. >> in three months of protest today was the deadliest. but the protesters supply line and their conviction to fight has never been more alive. this began as a peaceful protest and now they're calling it a revolution. because of the police crack down and defiance of the protesters,

that revolution risk may mean the violence may only increase. >> nick shifrin, thank you. president obama says he feels partly responsible for that violence. i asked if president yanukovych should ten down. >> if it is part of the compromise, if it is part of a deal, it -- but it is again, it should be a complex solution. so it means that not only the political solution, who will lead the country, but how to lead the country. the constitutional reforms are badly needed as well. >> as you've been seeing, reporters in kiev are on the front lines of this protest and journalist olga told us what she has seen. >> it's a very, very insecure situation now in kiev. and in all ukraine generally because it's completely out of

control. not just there on the independence square. where there were clashes with the police. and where, around 100 people were shot today by snipers. it's impossible to go to the city center, to the independence square, without a flag and helmet and some kind of protection because there are snipers and there is belief all the time that the fire ant -- and shots heard. today it turns out even when you have a bullet proof vest it may not save your life. because around 100 people were shot dead today and many of them were shot into their necks. there were some groups of armed men, basically, thugs, who are roaming the streets, together with the police. basically, under the protection

of the police. and they are, you know, smashing cars and they are attacking people. they stop the car with the taxi, was a journalist inside, and they took him out and they shot him and he died. he's a jowrnltd. -- jowrnt. nobody knows the security forces who are -- journalist. they are basically, attacking and killing civilians. as a woman, it's really dangerous for me, you know to go outside. because well, as i said, there is a complete absence, lack of security and it's complete, you know like criminal atmosphere. i think the international community should get more involved in what is happening today, and should do all it can to stop the bloodshed in crun. they enacted -- ukraine.

the measures announced by eu and canada government. too late however. all these things should be enacted before the bloodshed. the western country, the u.s. and the european union, they should -- not only the problem, it's not just president yanukovych. not just the problem in the ukraine. the problem is wider, it has a geopolitical context and they should definitely condemn such statements by the russian side which are insighting violence in ukraine. so, of course all ukrainians hope the violence will end soon. >> that is journalist olga tokaru, we'll don't update throughout this broadcast. now to the weather throughout this country. powerful storms whipping through

the midwest, storms touching down in illinois. kevin cor ve corriveau reports. >> what we are wrachg right now the storm -- watching right now the storm passed through nashville, did think we had a tornado as well. going towards huntsville, alabama as well as dayton, cincinnati. you can see how well the thunderstorms are defined and this is going to continue throughout the evening. this is what i think we have in terms of tornadoes. these are the 10s we are talking about, evaluated tomorrow morning and determine if the damage was a tornado. we have quite a few tornado watches in effect now. if you are traveling anywhere especially overnight, you can't see these tornadoes on the highways. also if you are traveling out of

atlanta, that's where the storm system is expected to be. blizzard conditions across iowa, minnesota, winds are gusting to 65 miles per hour. john. >> winter continues, kevin, thank you. up next, inside the taliban. exclusive video on attack on the afghan national army as it is happening. and a report on what could happen when the u.s. troops leave. our al jazeera colleagues enter a plea during their first court appearance in egypt. at a piano protest, our first person conversation with an antigovernment protester, hoping to change ukraine one note at a time.

>> in the last day at least six people have died in bombings in afghanistan. nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks. high volume suicide attacks by the taliban are likely to increase. tonight al jazeera has an

exclusive look at what the fighting looks like from the taliban side. richelle has the story. richelle. >> following a group of self proclaimed taliban fighters in lagar province right outside of kabul. what he found offers a rare insight into afghanistan from the other side. >> it's just after dawn at an afghan army base in logar province 40 miles from kabul and the taliban are about to attack. the taliban has little military training. they fight on instinct. the afternoona figh afternoon -t back. in this latest operation, suicide bombers are cents forward. -- sent forward. the plan say the fighters is to

blow open the gates and allow the other fighters to stream in. but things are not going to plan. the fighting continues for more than 90 minutes. to the camera the taliban claim they're more successful than the evidence suggests. once the taliban get word the afghan national army has called in backup in terms of tanks the commander orders his men back including the suicide bombers. when they see fighters circling in the air the taliban don't seem too worried. reporter is worried and takes cover. >> i just saw two fighter jets in the air flying maybe low, possibly targeting us. i'm scared as hell. >> the plane's unable it seems to get a definitely target, move

on. the taliban blend again with the local population. >> i'm sure that there are indigenous afghan fighters who are fighting with the taliban. of course there are and they're getting significant external support. >> najip spent several days with the taliban. it's happy the taliban are happy to show access they have the upper hand in the area they say they control. what al jazeera witnessed was strong resistance from the afghan army. but what happens when u.s. and nato troops leave may change the dynamic ton the ground and change the future of afghanistan. we'll get more at the top of the hour and fault lines will have the exclusive report in a

two-part story, look for that, next month. that's not an angle the viewers normally get. john. >> afghanistan can be a safe haven what they call for terrorists once the u.s. leaves the country. keeping afghanistan stable will cost billions of dollars more than estimated two years ago. nearly all of that funding will go towards sustaining afghanistan's security forces. a minimum of nearly 373,000 afghan troops are needed to keep that country safe. u.s. military commanders recommended sending international advisors to afghanistan to support those troops through at least 2018 but president obama has yet to make a final decision on that. elliot ackerman is a military analyst. elliot, thank you for being on the program. >> thanks for having me.

>> you have been to afghanistan many times before. what do you make of this report? >> i think the findings are somewhat obvious in the fact that forcing presidents in afghanistan for probably the next six to eight years, if the u.s. wants to secure its interest there, the report becomes how many troops and how much it is going ocost and the obama -- to cost and the obama administration is wrestling with long term cost. >> do you think there's political will to do that? >> i don't think there is in the united states. again there is a very significant price tag with that type of commitment and this is a war that's gone now for 13 years. i think the obama administration is weighing that. >> when you served as a marine corps special officer with multiple tours there, is there the will in the military, the american military? >> the american military follows

the orders of its civilian leadership. >> of course but i waswondering iwas waswondering if you had ann on that. >> the american military is something that regenerates, those who are serving there in 2002 and 2003, not the same as serving in 2014. if the u.s. says afghanistan is going to be a very significant national security objective for the next five to ten years it does eventually come a zero-sum game. that means syria is not as a national objective or getting into other parts of the world. really, the question now is what is the u.s. strategy going to be in the next ten years globally and how are we going to allocate resources to that. >> do you think afghanistan

should be a top military objective for the united states there? >> it's interesting to look at that. in afghanistan, the history of afghanistan especially in recent times has been one where the international community has withdrawn, and in that vacuum we've seen the radical tranc -- strands of islam assert themselves. we've seen iraq for instance after the pullout of iraq. i think one of the issues -- one of the questions that has to be asked is, how much risk the united states is willing to accept. >> exactly. so much blood was shed in afghanistan, american bloodshed in afghanistan, this has been a very difficult war in the united states and many in afghanistan as well. we're talking about the will of the united states of america, the people of the united states political will to do something there. but i guess the real question is, does the ultimates want t to -- does the united states want to see the afghanistan go

back to what it was like before 9/11? >> in the last couple of months with the islamic state, and there's no u.s. troops in iraq to speak of now, that is weighing heavily on the minds of the folks in the obama administration. you may say that the great strategic blunder of the bush administration is putting the troops into iraq. you might say the great strategic blunder of the obama administration is to pull the troops out of iraq. >> elliot ackerman, no easy answers. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> now to egypt where our three al jazeera colleagues are being detained. they made their first appearance in cairo courtroom.

peter greste, baher mohamed, mohamed fahmy pled not guilty. the trial was adjourned until march 5th. al jazeera says the charges are false and is demanding the immediate release of its staff. our tom ackerman reports. >> cameras were barred inside the courtroom at the cairo police academy where the trial of the al jazeera journalists was convened. baher mohamed, mohamed fahmy and peter greste, three pled not guilty. >> we demanded their release and a chance to interrogate prosecution witnesses. >> the three are among 20 defendants, eight of whom are present, the rest charged in absentia. >> we are very pleased we are in court, we believe we will get a fair trial and we believe we can

defend ourselves and we have a very defensible position. >> family members of the journalists say the charges had no merit. >> from my point of view this trial is politicized. my son and his co-workers are good patriots and they work professionally. >> he is prepared to die. but he is also prepared for an outcome that perhaps you know that we don't want. >> two of the journalists shouted from the defendant's cage that they had been subjected to, quote, psychologically unbearable conditions since their arrest december 29th. they said they got one hour of exercise a day and had no access to reading material. the case has raised the interests of journalists all around the world, who understand egypt is the one place around the world the worst for independent reporting. >> this is not acceptable. people think it's a perfectly fine way to proceed and not only

egypt but other gochts are following suit. >> the judge says prosecution witnesses will be heard, and the next hearing scheduled for early next month. tom ackerman, al jazeera. >> shasharif, welcome. were you surprised by the are court proceeding here today? unfortunately not. i'm egyptian. very similar case to what we see today, al jazeera, and endured trial two years ago. >> what's the point of the delay first of all? >> well, the system is allowing the judge full control on how the proceeding of the case will take place. and the judge usually takes in consideration other cases that had -- that he has on his plate.

and we know right now there are thousands of people who are have rounded up, many of them also have been held without charges and without any evidence. so the fact of the matter there are a lot of injustice in egypt but also there is no rule of law. so it's all -- depends on what the judge wants to do and on this case and on that time. >> there's been a lot of pressure that's mounting on egypt. al jazeera, the committee to protect journalists, your organization, some of the biggest journalism organizations in the world and best known journalists spoken out in support of these three journalists. how does that pressure play in egypt? >> i think it does have a very important role to play. i think the egyptian deposit yet have some factions who do not care about international opinion.

and international news organizations. but there are people in the government who would. i am pretty confident that someone like general asisi, who is poised to run for presidency starting next month will not want the international public opinion having this case on his head, when he is running for office, and eventually, might be leading the country or the presidential election. i think he would want to have a smooth transition to being a president. and having this case and others, people behind bars, is not going to help. it's not going to have the international community give him any legitimacy no matter what election proceeding might look like. >> sharif, we appreciate the support of the committee to protect journalists. thank you for coming to speak to us.

>> absolutely. thank you for having me. >> up next, day break in ukraine. also you may know her from the sopranos, actress oxana is here live to talk about what's happening in her ukrainian home land.

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. we have a lot to cover this half hour. packing up. the impact of violence in kiev often olympic athletes in sochi. they call it mcpoverty. fast food workers protest for much higher wage. and gone too long. korean families. richelle carey.

richelle. this footage shows self proclaimed taliban fighters outside of kabul. they are attempting to execute an attack on afghan security forces but once they spot fighter jets circling overhead they retreat. the trial over al jazeera colleagues in cairo has been adjourned until march 5th. mohamed fahmy, peter greste and baher mohamed pled not guilty. they have been in prison for 54 days now. al jazeera rejects the charges and demands their release and our top story that john just mentioned, opposition forces say at least 70 people killed in clashes in ukraine's capital. it was the deadliest day of fighting sint antigovernment -- since 18th government protests began -- send antigovernment protests. john you have more.

>> we do. watching closely is john kerry, secretary of state, calling on the ukrainian government to withdraw its forces immediately. watching events as well, ukrainian actress oxana lada. she's perhaps best known for her role on the spra sopranos. >> don't hang up. >> what the (bleep) are you calling here? >> oxana, thank you for being on the program. >> thank you for having me. >> can you tell me what's on your mind when you watch these pictures of violence in ukraine? >> today was the hardest day for me, seeing people being shot on the streets that i know so well, it's heartbreaking. it's hard to see people being shot open the street. >> you have family and friends there? >> alt my family, my sisters,

cousins, all my family is in ukraine. those opposition people are not terrorists, those are actually people who are fighting because they're fed up. they're fed up with the government that they have right now. >> you see those pictures of the snipers today. >> those were heartbreaking me. i couldn't believe it actually happening. it is. >> how do you keep in touch with your family and friends right now? >> we called. i had a long talk with my mother today. very emotional talk. she cried on the phone and she just expressed her concern, why west and europe are being silent and that's why i'm here. >> why the rest of the -- >> why europe and the united states are just standing and watching. >> what does your mom and other folks want the united states and europe to do? >> united states?

i guess some form of mediation between the government and opposition. they need help so there is some sort of mediation, so people -- so they can find some common ground. and it -- and there will -- and unless you know, because -- the worst well, it's just the people have been killed and blood have been shed. and i don't want -- it would be heartbreaking to see it's worsening. >> i'm sure you're very familiar with kiev. uh-huh. >> and have been to that square before. there were so many people that were killed today. and in the last couple of days. there are some observers who have been suggesting that the two sides are now so far apart that this is not going to be resolved quickly. what do you think? >> it's exactly my point. there should be some mediation, there should be some intervention that these two sides can sit down and talk instead of shooting at each

other. >> now you hear young people talk about protesting and we hear a number of young people on in one of the stories earlier tonight. and despite the danger they seem to have tremendous courage to step out and stand in the path of bullets. >> i have tremendous respect for ukrainian people for their courage and their bravery to actually stand for themselves and fight for corruption in their country. i just wish there could be a way, i just wish it so end with less lives being lost. >> is there any way out? does president yanukovych have to step down? >> i think they need new government. i think they need a government that is capable of making economical and legislative reforms that will make future of ukraine completely different than it is, that it is right

now. >> oxana, we appreciate you stopping by to share your story with us. and we'll hope for the best coming up in ukraine. thank you. >> thank you. >> the violence in kiev is having an effect on the ukrainian olympic team competing next door in sochi. michael eaves has that story. >> it has now spilled over to the winter olympics. several members of the ukrainian team have left. katya, thank you for joining us. what exactly is the lingt between what we're -- link between what we're seeing in sochi? >> the link is basically political besides sports of course. viktor yanukovych is backed by vladimir putin.

vladimir putin promised ukraine aid, $15 billion but in exchange, they asked the president, viktor yanukovych to handle things and get the country under control. and a lot of ukrainians were hoping that maybe during the time of the games it will be time that all the parties that are involved in the conflict will find some kind of a compromise, it would be time for a dialogue. but unfortunately it didn't happen and halfway through the games the authorities started using violence and a lot of people connected with the policy that russia has towards ukraine. >> is it safe to say that the violence in ukraine is starting to hang a dark cloud over what putin wanted to do with the olympics in sochi? >> oh, yes, the overlap of the glamorous glorious putin's dream that he can build something beautiful in that wonderful region by the black sea and at

the same time in ukraine in the heart of europe in the center of the capitol there is black smoke, fires are burning almost 75 people got killed over the last couple of days and over 1,000 people are injured. and many in the news outlets right now irbelieve that ukraine is dominating and not the olympics. >> how significant is it for some of these ukrainian athletes to actually leave sochi early as a response to this most recent violence in kiev? >> i think it's a statement. i think it's a solidarity. people that ukrainianens are generally proud of international international -- fame, something that they appreciate. in this case they went back to their country earlier to show solidarity and great support. >> urging ukrainian athletes as a sign of unity, but it didn't

prevent the skier to pull out from her event which is on friday. what do you think it will do to the response of the protesters? >> honestly, i think that people who know this particular athlete will appreciate it. most people can't follow the olympics right now. we have an athlete, we have a heavy weight boxing champ, vitaly klitschko, who is involved. to show solidarity, support and i think it's nice that she decided to support her own country. also there is one thing. athletes wanted to wear some black to show their solidarity with ukraine and support and i think it wasn't allowed by the rules. so i'm insure that ukrainian athletes even though it's a greatly event for them to participate their hearts are with ukraine right now in kiev.

>> michael eaves reporting. seattle workers are demanding hike in the minimum wage, in a protest they call mcpoverty. fast food workers rallied outside of mcdonald's and burger king, asking people not to buy the food there. our allen schauffler has the story. >> the fight to raise the minimum wage by more than 30% in seattle heats up again with what organizers call a day long mcpoverty boycott. of wendy's burger king and mcdonald's. >> it's been easy to get people excited to stand up and make a stand. >> jason says the extra money would make a big difference. >> i would get off of food stamps, i wouldn't have to go to the food bamples and would

have -- banks anymore and maybe save up and get my teeth fixed. >> on our tour of more than a dozen locations we see protesters at 3, food workers saying business as usual. big business downtown, seattle city worker kashala is one of the speakers. >> it is absolutely critical that we have protests like this. >> $15 minimum wage campaign. it continues. >> it's not only about 15. it's capturing all the anger and frustration and people are coming out and saying, you know what? we got to do something. >> protesters are not the only ones making statements. paul packs his lunch from home. today he made a point to buy it at burger king. >> it's not meant to be a career, not meant to raise a family with. >> the politicians, the only

reason they want this so they can get a vote from the people who really don't care about politics but $15 an hour sounds very good doesn't it? >> it's hard to tell whether the boycott part of this is really working. mcdonald's says it's been a little slow here so perhaps it's in an impact at least here. the other restaurants we checked, told us it's business as usual. but downtown they were very bu busy. allen schauffler, al jazeera seattle. the bigger the city the worst the problem they say. one example is san francisco where the widening gap play actually be changing the character of the community. melissa chan reports. >> it cost about $3400 a month to rent a one bedroom apartment here. >> erin mcelroy walks me

through soma, south of market. it has become one of san francisco's hottest neighborhoods. >> the income disparity is growing at unprecedented rairts and if you look at -- rates and if you look at san francisco's income disparity, it is an hourglass? there is no middle class. the average income for somebody working in tech is largely over $100,000. >> the money has led to a construction boom and that means many older residents have had to move out. sometimes against their will. the last few years have seen a number of evictions skyrocket. >> having a home is a basic human right and you know i think it touches a lot of issues. if you are kicked out of your home you lose access to your community. you might lose access to your health care if you have to relocate. >> san francisco went through a tech boom before in the early 1990s. some people say the money, the

billions of dollars and the dizzying ipos has alternated san francisco into a city that caters almost exclusively to the new rich. a history of political activism. stopping the private shuttle buses of google, apple and others, from their suburbs to the city. what's interesting about the report is not just that the rich are getting richer but the reason there's a widening income gap is the poor are getting vastly poor. it is definitely very sobering news, john. >> melissa chan. thank you. coming up, our picture of the day. can a piano protest amid the

deadly violence in kiev. a musical show of support for antigovernment protesters.

>> it is going to b to be a very stormy night. snow for many people of course. frontal boundary making its way to the east, parts of illinois, as well as down near the mississippi valley, those storms will continue to make their way. we're watching what is happening with all the snow. by friday, friday afternoon a lot of that activity will be out of the states and into parts of ontario. we will have that same frontal boundary bringing thunderstorms florida to parts of new york. what that means is it is a very narrow front. we're not going to be seeing it for a long period of time, maybe two hours. as it pushes for through new york and washington, afternoon time frame towards the commute.

commute is going to be a little bit bumpy. washington going up to about 60° there with thunderstorms pushing through as well as getting much better as we go towards the weekend. frontal boundary makes its way through. cold after this weather system. high temperatures, minneapolis only reaching 6 on sunday, that's a look at your national weather. your news with john siegenthaler is up next.

>> separated by wars and decades of division, families from north and south korea met today. richelle is here with that story. richelle. >> keep watching john. only about 7 70,000 south koreas who were alive during the korean war, were present, its away as a very emotional day. tears are joy, tears of disbelief. families torn apart. separated by the korean war. reunited at a mountain resort in south korea. most of them in their 80s and 90s. this could be the last time these families have contact with one another. >> translator: i'm 87. the only reason i'm still alive is that i was waiting for this

chance. >> reporter: but these are the lucky few. millions of others have been separated since the korean war ended in 1953 and with both north and south korea banning communication, many koreans have gone without any contact, phone calls, letters or e-mails from their loved ones across the border. there have been 18 reunion event since the first one in 1985 and this one the first since 2010. this one almost didn't happen. they threatened to back out if they went through with military exercises. but in the end the north yielded leading to brief joyful meetings of people who may never get another chance to see each other again. this reunion event is six days long and it is broken into two

parts. a second group of south koreans will be reyeunte reunited with r relatives. >> very sad when they have to leave. richelle, thank you. gene beck -- jean beck joins usm watertown massachusetts. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> tell me your reaction to what's going on. >> i just got teary listening to the footage that i'm unfortunately familiar with. it evokes memories and stories that i grew up with. both of my grandfathers are from what is now north korea. and it's all too familiar and very personal. >> this -- i mean this is wonderful that they're able to come together at this time. and at the same time, it seems almost terribly painful to have

to get together for this little time and then be ripped apart again. what do you think? >> it's -- like you said, it's birth sweet to say the least. the three days are, i -- bittersweet to say the least. i haven't been to a reunion myself. to try to share whatever you can the past 60 years of division. if you -- if one looks at footage from previous reunions, when people are literally forced apart from their embraces because they refuse to let go it is heart-wrenching. it is absolutely heart-wrenching. it is interesting because many south koreans, i know are religious and they look forward to meeting their families again after they pass on. >> how have they kept up with each other in those years when they have been apart? >> most have not -- most have not been able to keep any contact. there are no legal mechanisms

between north and south korean citizens to do so. there are other kind of round about -- >> back -- >> back channel ways to do so. but for the most part people have not been able to contact their families. even via post cards or phone calls or anything like that. >> what is the purpose of all the -- there's a lot of show here because you see the pictures of people, and officials holding, holding up their glass, and the wonderful pictures of reunions. are we going to see more of these or not? >> i hope so. but essentially this is a case where we're all racing against time. the oldest gentleman who was able to participate in this -- in the most recent reunion was 95 years old. and people are -- it's a race against time and the longer that governments wait to have more of these reunions, the fewer the pool of people are, are

remaining to meets. and so i really do -- to meet. i really do hope that reunions will take place in the future and i believe they will happen. >> jean, do i understand that your family was divided like many of these? >> so not directly. i was born in the u.s. both of my parents were born in south korea. both of my grandfathers were born in what is now north korea. they both fled south before the war started. >> these are really tough stories. some hours of celebration for those families. jean beck, it's great to have you on the program. >> thank you for having me. >> the idea to bring music to imaged square. he -- independence square. he tells his story in tonight's

first person. >> i participated in mass demonstrations, i did a lot of things but probably the biggest thing that i did was that project with the piano, me playing in front of the riot police. i did a similar project in my city, in the half year before the revolution that was more like a cultural experiment. i've put a piano on the street just to see if people will play it and what will happen. so i decided that maybe it can bring something good into this revolution, and to facilitate the conversation between the people and the police. i bought the piano. i took it there. and i painted it with my friends. it was black, and we painted it in yellow and blue. notes imagine there's no heaven ♪ even if you try ♪ >> we wanted it to be a message

not just playing it but that itself a stand-alone piano would be a big message for everybody. a lot of people immediately started playing on it. usually ukrainian fox hunts, it was on all the time. people played and sang. and it was very nice mood. and it was in front of the police border for one day. after that we moved it to the main square. after that it started living its own life. people moved it from one place to another. all the time somebody was playing the piano. what happened today, what happened two days ago, just horrible. i would never expect this to happen. snipers, literally shot peaceful protesters. they all believe that what they are doing is right. but killing people is right and that they should do it. it's a very scary part because they still don't understand what

line has been crossed. fortunately a big part of people and other politicians have joined the people. and also some police forces have joined the people. i don't believe that any movement with the piano is relevant now. i see it more as maybe some kind of disrespect because people are dying. piano right now it won't help. and trying to put it in between the guns, that would just be wrong. today is a day when we -- the whole country is missing for their people who have died. people captain play music today. it's -- can't play music today. this united peaceful movement, is wrong, i hope that violence will stop and that nobody will die from now on. >> he is happy that the

international community has chosen to get involved. he says sanctions against ukraine are very important however he's sad that people have to die before actions could happen. freeze frame, also from ukraine, a medical team setting up in the lobby of a ukraine hotel. the furniture pushed aside to make way for the gurneys. the hotel lobby a makeshift hospital as well as a makeshift morgue. richelle carey have the headlines after this. >> al jazeera's investigative unit has tonight's exclusive report. >> stories that have impact... that make a difference... ...t make a difference... >> this is what we do...

>> america tonight next only on al jazeera america

>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. here are the hour's top stories. world leaders have condemned the loss of likes of on the square

of kiev today. vice president joe biden spoke with the ukraine president and demanded he pull back security forces. an exclusive look inside the taliban. fighting in afghanistan. these are self proclaimed taliban fighters, outside of kabul. attempting to attack afghan forces first by using suicide bombers. once they spot bombers overhead they retreat. the trial of our colleagues in cairo has been adjourned until march 5th. mohamed fahmy, baher mohamed and peter greste have pled not guilty. al jazeera has denied all allegations and demanded the release of their staff. protesters outside of a fast food restaurant in seattle

today, boycott mcpoverty and gathered outside of spots be like mcdonald's. that's the latest news, you can get the latest on our website, aljazeera.com. on "america tonight," a short cease fire. ukraine erupts again with more blood shed after the so-called truce. what's at stake? also tonight, a star athlete and popular celebrity accused of raping women in five states. could former new orleans saints player darren sharper have lived a double life? >> he began to make some shots and he began to give these shots to the girls. >>