good morning, to you and welcome to al jazerra america, am morgan radford live in new york city and here are the stories we are following right now. independence square in kiev full of people this despite the uncertainty of ukraine's future. and as a 2014 winter games come to a close, we'll take a live look at how they'll be remembered. ♪ ♪

thousands of opposition supporters remain in the streets of kiev, the country's parliament has named its speaker as interim president, this after ukrainian president victor yanukovych fled the capital on saturday in a tell visited interview yanukovych says he's not stepping down and accusing them of a coup. here is the latest. >> reporter: victory came at a cost. there is no euphoria in independence square. instead, we found grieve. thegrief.they have lost too muco celebrate and anyway they are too exhausted. ukrainian politics is upside down, former opposition leaders now hold power. they deny they staged a coup against president yanukovych. >> translator: the government didn't want to listen to the people it. did everything possible to hold onto power and it crossed the

line when it killed people now we need a functioning state as soon as possible and parliament will work on this nonstop. >> reporter: parliament has been busy dismissing january coach's people one by one, a new speaker. consolidating the change in power. but what of yanukovych. these security camera pictures appear to show his entourage fleeing his residents in the early hours of saturday morning, they took off towards the east. where they went, where they are now, we don't know. a familiar face looms over the new landscape. up i can'yulia tim tymoshenko from prison to high profile. i met someone who wants a new politician and is not convinced tymoshenko is the answer. >> i am not sure she is the person with her own bad history and her own baggage.

so we need someone new, not from old. >> reporter: with no police to be seen, the protesters are in charge. they accuse this frightened beatenned man of being a paid thug, hired by yanukovych to cause trouble. they drag him way, we don't know what happened to him next. these people have chased a president from power, they have corn down a state. but at some point they'll have to step aside if a new political order is to emerge in ukraine. they are not prepared to do that yet. ukraine's protest movement has seen many twists and turns and much is still unresolved. it's become a life and death struggle to shape the future of this country. al jazerra, kiev. meanwhile, right here in the states the white house says they want to see a deescalation of violence in the ukraine and democratic elections but above all say they are on the side of

the ukrainian people. >> ukrainian people indicated from the out seat there months ago when this began, that press yanukovych's decision to turn away from europe is not the choice of the ukrainian people. they expressed himselfs peaceful and i were met with violence and that did not end well for januaryanukovych. >> speaking of that our jennifer glasse is outside the parliament in kiev. it appears the opposition has major support. are they count on the ground that support to accomplish their goals in the near future? >> reporter: i think they are. you know, yulia tymoshenko when she returned here last not promised a future that leaned more towards europe. we have seen early in parliament european parliament members who come in to support as they left parliament pim people applauded them. ukraine's economy is in tatters.

they have made changes they have made clear that the era of yanukovych is over. they dismissed his cabinet and ministers and nationalized his home. we do have opposition politicians now vying for power. as you heard in barnaby's piece it's about who the new leader will be. they are divided about that. ukraine will need a lot of support in the coming weeks and months as it heads towards presidential elections may 25th and as it tries to rebuild all of its institutions that will be part of the problem, not going back to the old institutions, morgan. >> speaking of not going back to the old institution, what is next for yanukovych now that the parliament has the presidential power? >> reporter: they have the presidential power, everybody associated with him in government was dismissed. everyone i have spoken to in

kiev today says it wouldn't be a good idea for victor yanukovych to come back here, they believe his era is over, this is time for a new ukraine, many people blame him for the bloodshed. hits ruling party that supported him that was his majority in parliament who gave him so many powers they said on their website today they blame victor yanukovych for the bloodshed. they blame him and planning to on as a political party here, an on him us sign for the president of kiev. he has left kiev. his home and office are empty. we don't know where he is. he had a televised message yesterday that came out but it was from an undisclosed position he says he was in ukraine and he's the president but people here don't believe that. >> we are ready to build a new country, a better country with a new political system with new people, with young people

because young people -- only young people can build a new future. new, beautiful, bright future. >> reporter: and to have that bright new future, of course, you need to build a new country. and they have to kind of build it from the ground up. the concern is the same old corruption will come back. they don't want the same old politicians, the same old ukraine, part of the reason this all spiraled out of control is regular ukrainians were fed up with not being able to get on with their daily lives, everywhere they faced corruption and now they have the chance to fix it. they have gone in the streets, been on the streets, and they are staying on the streets, morgan. >> and jennifer, just briefly, with all of this talk about the new bright future and the rebuilding of the new ukraine, why then are so many protesters still unwilling to leave the old site of these protests? >> reporter: they want to make sure that these changes last. that no one steals the power away. and that's what they are concerned about. you know, they have been through the revolution on the square

before. this happened in 200 2004, theyw yulia tymoshenko topple victor january covyanukovych and then k and the last few years have been difficult for the average ukrainian here, they watched victor yanukovych and his cronies, they say, take power and corrupt the system and make ukraine the most corrupt country in europe. they want to see that change and they say they'll stay on the streets until they know they have the leadership in place to that will do that, morgan. >> thanks so much, our jennifer glasse reporting live from kiev ukraine. joining me now, you like hundreds of people from kiev went to the presidential palace. tell me what you saw. >> well, what i saw was outrageous display of luxury and a lack of taste. a combination of ancient replicas of greek ruins combined

with russian style houses. inside of which you can see mosaics or renaissance pictures. and the whole place is unbelievably huge. we have been there for five hours and we barely saw a third of it. there is a huge golf course, unbelievable sized privately for yanukovych. there is a boat there which has been turned in to a living house. there is approximately five homes inside of it. and four -- in the entrance of it, a four-story building specifically for the security. cameras are everywhere. five-meter walls around the place. so it shows us why the hole in the budget appeared all these years. >> but, what does that then make you think? when you see a palace this lavish, do you think that that confirms his opposition's critique saying, look, this guy is in fact corrupt. does this now serve as proof

positive that he is the corrupt politician that his critics say he is? >> obviously. there were photos and videos of this place for a long time now. now it's a museum which everyone can visit and see with their own eyes and it's changing many people's perception of yanukovych. this is unbelievable. and this is just unbearable to see in any democratic state. >> you mentioned the changing percent, so what was the mood like at the palace? i mean, were people excited, defiant, just incredulous, what was the feeling like that there? >> well, it was essentially in the beginning when -- near the entrance everybody was extremely excited when they got in they couldn't believe how, you know, what is the extent of wealth that yanukovych has and confirming that continuously and then walking around and seeing all of these small examples of

his personality was for them extremely surprising and deeply shocking. >> who is in control? you said it's turned in to almost a museum. are the government forces now in full control of this compound? >> no, the self-defense forces of the maidon and in cop corporn with the local police and security guards from the place are actually controlling it. >> all right. thank you live from kiev. >> thank you. ukrainians living in the u.s. are concerned over the current cries let their homelands. al jazerra's erica ferrari has reaction from a ukrainian church right here in new york city. >> reporter: while history infields arunfolds nearly 5,000, parishioner in manhattan are in mass kneeling and praying for their friends and family back home in kiev.

they have been glued to their television sets and social media watching the political crisis happen in their homeland. the pastor here of st. gorges tells me for the most part parishioner are in support of the demonstrations and they are doing what they can to help. >> they are sending funds through the credit unions which is the safest way to make sure that help reaches the people there. and the clergy, orthodox as well as the catholic bishops there are working together to make sure no further violence takes place. >> we are so connected to our homelands and it's heartbreaking for us, they are craig and praying and we are doing the same here it's just heartbreaking. so we hope and pray that this can be resolved. we feel it's a lull in the progress at the moment. and we hope and pray for the best. >> reporter: inish to the fiveie

five masses they plan to go to the consolate at 2:00 eastern as well as a march over to the russian embassy, in lower manhattan, erica ferrari, al jazerra. more venezuelans are expected to show their support for president nicholas maduro today. yesterday's mass marches saw hundreds of thousands of pro and anti-government supporters on the streets of caracas. after two weeks of arrest that have already killed eight people. in thailand two crea peoplee dead including a 12-year-old child after a last whipped lou the capital. dozens more injured at the site of an anti government protest. a day earlier gunmen attacked demonstrators at a rally east of bangkok, two people died and the young girl among those killed when at tackers dope up i drove up in ap

truck. rallies between supporters and opponents have grown increasingly violent. meanwhile a suicide car bomb explodes near a field hospital in northwestern syria willing at least three people. it happened in the rebel held down. parts of the hospital have since collapsed and it's one of the only hospitals in about 40 miles until patients can seek treatment in neighboring turkey. no group has yet claimed responsibility. over to afghanistan now where the taliban has dealt a major blow to the afghan security forces killing 21 soldiers a stormed a checkpoint and the dal pan says they have taken seven soldiers and a search is under way for the seven soldiers. the taliban has pulled a plug on a prison swap that would have released bo.

the taliban agreed to negotiate his release in exchange for five of their members in guantanmo bay. an unspecified political reason is the reason for halting the talks. still ahead, the olympic games come to a close in sochi russia. continued fallout over a plant leak in north carolina and now the focus turn to the state's governor and his ties about the company that's at fault. i

check out those four works the closing ceremonies in sochi are underway as the games to him .com on a close they wrapped up with finals in men's bob let, hockey and cross country skiing, we look ahead to life after the games. >> reporter: when the sochi olympics finally burst in to life two week ago the event was already carrying huge burdens.

for some, particularly in the west, necessary were the homophobic games, the terrorist games about to be blown up at any moment. the games costing a record did demolishing $51 billion. they were even the dog-killing games. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: pussy riot risked whippings and arrest for a punk music video. and the we website showing. but president putin was proud. and the russians proud too. these are their olympic olympicr all. >> putin made no attempt to hide it. he said this is the olympics did voted to the resurgence for the russian nation. for him it was extremely important to do this sort of national building effort through

sports. >> reporter: armies of charming smiling volunteers made sure the visitors that came felt welcome. despite the disappointments of russia's men hockey team there was still russian gold to celebrate. it's often easy to forget that the olympics are about sport, particularly when they come with as much political bag i believe as the sochi games have. but the athletes will be remembering their successes, or their failures long after the journalists have wandered off to find other things to report on. that's actually already happened. events in ukraine have overshadowed these games to a certain extent. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: and once the circus leads town, it's the people who live in this region who will be best placed to answer the question, was it all worth it? rory, al jazerra, sochi. >> and here is the medal count as these winter games wrap up.

russia leads with 33 medals. the host country has also claimed the most gold with 13. as for the gold old usa they are second with 28 total medals nine gold and norway third place with 26 melds. canada fourth with 25 after today's hockey victory over sweden. and the netherlands is fifth with 24 total medals. down in north carolina work to plug a coal ash league is now complete by the long term effects are unknown, now some are questioning the ties between north carolina's governor and the come responsible for the coe leak. >> reporter: when toxic coal ash started pouring in the river. environment groups turned their eyes to the governor. they waited four days for a response. it came in a tweet from him saying he would visit the site to be briefed on the spill. he is a former duke energy

executive. a company he spent 28 year old with. one group took issue with that during his campaign. >> pat mccrory's questionable ethics, case number two, duke energy. >> reporter: john frank say political report for the raleigh news and servers being he says mccrory's ties to duke energy have raised eyebrows. >> and the questions go well beyond that. the utility commission regulates duke energy and ma cory filled his administration with former duke executives. >> reporter: a cause for concern among environment the groups after 30,000 tons of coal ash spilled in to the dan river lead to go warnings about swimming in the river or eating the fish. we wanted to get a closer look and found signs of the dark ash sticking to foam placed in the river to collect the co contaminants. though, the coal ash is not at the bottom of all places of the dan river, you can find it on many banks, also 70 miles downstream from eden here, but

if we dip it down about a foot or two feel and we pull up the muck and we get through some of the leafs and stick and empty the water. you can see the black sediment in here, that's some of the coal ash that has made its way in to the dan river. >> we have had serious harm for a major river of this state. we have been saying that we have 14 disasters waiting to happen. >> reporter: frank holliman, made those claims. in three lawsuits the southern environmental law center filed against duke energy seeking the clean up of its coal ash pits at its 14 north carolina sites. environmental groups say the state used a provision of the clean water act to block the lawsuits by filing its own suits, a consent order reached in the casenot require clean up. holliman and others accused ma core contrarthemccrory administf

giving duke energy a pass. a spokesman told us duke energy is not receiving any special treatment. this administration took more action on coal ash during any administration in north carolina history. mccrory has called for a committee to look at what to do with coal ash in north carolina. while his administration and duke energy both pledge a full clean up of the spill, environment theists like general i edwards are frustrated. >> i saw ducks swimming in coal ashmeadely after the spill. i saw a balanced eagle flying over a river of dole ash. so that balanced eagle is relying on fish in the river for its sus at that nexts and the fish in the river are relying on the macro invertebrates or now either suffocating or dieing and certainly bayinging in a toxic bath. >> reporter: a criminal information is also under way. stateen and sraoeurpltal officials and leaders are duke energy have already been subpoenaed to appear next month.

robert ray, eden north carolina. ice jams are sending flood waters in to towns in eerie county, iowa, the overflowing river has flooded several times and it's an off shoot of lake erie which is one of the great lake, it was practically flows n over last week. rescuers had to use boats to help people escape. unfortunately most of the united states, there is much more icy cold temperatures on the way and our meteorologist i can'jelelah all med is here to l us about that. >> meteorologist: temperatures in the 60s in atlantic city right now. it feels good but don't worry, winter will come roaring back, the warm air helping to melt snow and ice that we have accumulated here this th througe winter and that's the reason the lakes and rivers are rising especially across the ohio valley where temperatures today are in the 50s and to the east coast in the 60s.

now the frontal boundary that pushed across the northeast and southeast earlier this week is stalling out no now across ports of the sound with a ton of moisture in the atmosphere, a flourish of showers and thunderstorms later on some of these storms along the i-10 corridor from eastern texas to louisiana in to mississippi, alabama and georgia could turn severe here, we want to be careful later on in the day we have flood warnings in effect across i-10 and i-12 along baton rouge, they can use the rain in the south. another very dry take on deck. the pattern i think will change a bit as we track on in to next week, but look at this deficit we are looking at here. the rainfall that we received since december, san francisco has only received almost three-inches of rain, typically her close to 12 at this time of the year, very different across the north central planes where they have had to deal with snowstorm after snowstorm a

light band here back to you, morgan. >> thank. , so much, gentleman leah jelel. thousands of people are dancing along the beach this weekend. check it out. the party is a precarnival right. bands entertaining the crowd with songs. carnival officially begins on february 28 and the parties continue until march 4th which is just a day before the lent and season begin. now, coming up next on al jazerra, an update on the situation in ukraine. and the girl scouts take a bite out of one girl's brilliant business plan. ♪

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good afternoon to you and welcome back to al jazerra america. i am morgan radford live from new york city. and here are today's headlines, ukraine begins to reveal as the speaker of the parliament is

made interim president, president victor yanukovych accusing the parliament of a coup he fled the capital yesterday and is now prefuse to go step down. a controversy foyt girl scouts that involves pot. one california girl scout sold 117 boxes of cook is in just two hours and how did she do it? outside i've medical marijuana dispensary in san francisco. well, word of her lucrative and brilliant take quickly spread and that ledsome girl scout lead nurse colorado to put out a notice to all of its troops saying there won't be any targeting of legal, recreational pot dispensaries. >> we have kind of joked about it and, you know, the girls showed quite a bit of initiative and we of course have said that we are not really allowed to do something like that here in colorado. >> well, there you have it. the girl scouts of colorado are calling for a ban on the selling of cook is outside of bars,

strip clubs, casino and liquor stores, thanks so much for watching al jazerra, am morgan radford live from new york city. "listening post" is up next. remember you can always get the latest news online at aljazerra.com. hello, you are at the listening post. this week huhgo is gone and they continue to go at with the media over the venezuela story. first glen greenwalled's partner and now edward snowden's lawyer held. the