>> welcome back to aljazeera america. these are the stories we're following four. president obama set he to meet with the nation's governors will speak at any moment. when he does, we will bring it to you live. the defense secretary proposing big cuts to the pentagons budget including troop reductions. as a new ukraine emerges, a warrant is issued for its fugitive president, viktor yanukovych.

>> president obama set to host the nation's governors today at the white house, this morning state leaders from both parties will meet with he and the vice president, the president expected to address bipartisan issues from guns to marijuana to the affordable care act. mic vicmike viqueira is at the e house. >> there is a lot going on here, a lot of sub plots, undercurrents, both policy and political wise. the national governors association, this is an annual thing, they come to washington for weekend meetings culminating in this morning meeting at the white house in the state dining room. there's plenty to talk about in terms of policy. minimum wage, the president wants to push the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from the $7.25 now. a lot of states have beaten him to the punch, but the president wants to raise it. the republican governors are resisting that initial active from the white house from washington, as well, and it's

unlikely to go anywhere in congress for the foreseeable future. republican governors feel they have a story to tell. ohio and other states say deregulation, this is a familiar stance, but they say it is working in their states as those economies in those states in particular seem to be improving and the unemployment rate going down. you mentioned marijuana, two very prominent governors, democratic governors of colorado and washington represented here. that initiative also sort of the buzz, if you'll pardon the phrase here at the white house over the course of last several days and in washington. key stone pipeline, another thing, we heard bobby jindal yesterday on some of the sunday shows talking about if the president's going to use his pen and phone, if he's going to be signing executive orders and going around congress, he should start with key stone and focus on jobs instead of some of the other more marginal initiatives,

so a whole host of issues to be discussed between the white house and these governors. >> there will be one governor who won't be in attendance today. >> chris christie of new jersey keeping a low pro feel. there's still an active investigation over bridge gate and the controversy and scandal. he was here, del, earlier for the national governor's association meetings, but has he stayed out of the public events. he will not be at the white house today, as well he was not at the dinner the president hosted last night for these governors, as well. he is the chairman of the republican governor's association but keeping a very low profile. >> mike viqueira at the white house, thank you. >> the pentagon is looking to shrink the army to its smallest size in decades as part of the proposed budget for next year. the plan includes eliminating an entire class of air force attack jets. some cuts are expected to affect retired veterans. hagel is expected to make that announcement at 1:00 p.m.

eastern time. >> the supreme court looking to clear the air, right now hearing arguments to determine exactly how much power the federal government has when it comes to regulating greenhouse gases. libby casey is in washington with more. >> the supreme court is hearing oral arguments on the e.p.a.'s ability to regulate pollution coming from water called stationery sources. places like cole fire power plants or chemical facilities or oil refineries. the e.p.a. has gotten the green light to regulate greenhouse gas causing pollution from moving sources, things like cars. they say it's also within the authority of the administration to regulate those stationery plants, as well, because the e.p.a. says that they are the largest source of pollution, therefore the most hazardous to people's health. 13 states, along with energy groups challenging the e.p.a.'s ability. they say the e.p.a. has overstepped its boundaries and they've taken the case all the way to the supreme court. now, president obama has said repeatedly over the last couple

which months that he will use his executive authority to go ahead and put forth more stringent regulations, even if congress isn't onboard. so today's case is seen as a test for executive authority. that's why it's being closely watched. it is largely symbolic, however, both sides will use the decision in this case to say that they are in the right, that the president had either gone too far or he is within his boundaries. not all companies are bristling at the e.p.a. regulations, the e.p.s. is only targets large facilities, they're really leaving alone a lot of the smaller mom and pop operations. what this regulation means, it's been in place for years now is any new plant being built or any plant undergoing modifications or upgrades has to hit these standards. one company has actually filed a friend of the court briefer supporting the e.p.a. it says it has modified its plants and hit the standards and

hasn't found it burdensome, in fact found it to its economic interests. nuances in the case all argued before the supreme court this morning. we can expect a decision this summer. >> a 65-mile stretch of the mississippi river is shut down today. a barge and tow boat collided causing an oil spill near new orleans. officials don't know how much oil spilled but did hold river traffic to keep it from spreading. the drinking water in takes were closed. >> an arrest warrant has been issued for viktor yanukovych, now on the run, the warrant accusing him of mass murder for allowing the government to open fire on protestors last week. at this hour, his whereabouts are unknown. jennifer glass is in kiev. there is speculation that he is in crimea. have we heard anymore about this? >> we don't know where he is

right now. crimea is where everybody theys he is. he fled here in kiev saturday morning. first he went to harkive. he did send a television message we heard claiming he was still in power. from there he went to another of his power bases where he once was governor. he tried to leave on sunday, but was stopped at the airport by border guards. from there, he went to crim cri. he issued his personal guards from responsibility and let them go. he is clearly on the run. we do believe he is in crimea. members of the security force say they are voluntary close to him, but he's definitely been on the run for a couple of days here in kiev, the parliament made it clear the yanukovych era is voting out his government, today voting out his constitutional court. >> yesterday, russia recalling

its ambassador to kiev and condemning the ouster of viktor yanukovych. does this mean for future relations between the ukraine and russia? >> very worry be signs from russia, saying they were called their ambassador because of the uncertain situation here that it was a threat to the citizens of russia and to russian interests and we've just recently heard from the russian prime minister. here's what he had to say. >> those agreements that are of a binding responsibility character will be fulfilled. we are neighbors, close nations, and we cannot avoid each other. everything that has been signed has to be implemented, but strictly speaking, today, we don't have anyone to negotiate with. there is no government in ukraine. the legitimacy of the whole array of governmental actors that now function there raises big doubts. >> the big agreement that he is talk about is a natural gas

agreement with ukraine signed earlier this year worth $10 billion to ukraine. natural gas comes from russia, flows through ukraine to europe. it is part of the $15 billion, actually a $25 billion deal, $15 billion in cash and $10 billion in natural gas. russia said that deal was supposed to be renegotiated. that is pressure from russia, the ukraine needs that natural goes to run its industries, most of those service russia, so basically russia exerting its pressure now on ukraine, many people here were concerned with that. the other big agreement that russia has with ukraine is the leasing of the port where the black sea fleet is. that, too, a big agreement between russia and ukraine, the russian prime minister saying the two need to remain good neighbors. >> jennifer, thank you very much. >> as the political uncertainty

continues, protestors there are stepping in taking up security positions in and around the capitol. we talked to some of those protestors about their new roles. >> if you want to leave kiev in a hurry, you have to go through this 24-year-old on the left and the 36-year-old on the right. >> have you ever done security before? >> no. >> have you ever done security before? >> this is the very first time. >> they fought the government, they feel they won and to the victors go the spoils, the local airport. their goal is to catch people who crack down on protestors. they check passengers against pictures of the most wanted, not the police's most wanted, their motor wanted. they don't want to be the law. they want to be the conscience that keeps order. >> are you trying to find people to enact punishment? >> no, of course not. we are citizens. we want order, we want the law. >> when the real police arrive,

the volunteers shoe them away. >> the police say ok guys, we are for the law, but three days ago, they were ready to shoot us, just because we stay here. this is total hypocrisy. >> you probably heard of rosy the riveter. meet cat arena the caterer, everyone is helping. >> if i'm doing my best and i'mle average person, then probably everyone else is probably doing their best. if everybody is doing their best, then we are just -- we have to win. >> in the heart of kiev, the police have evaporated. the rag tag bands known as the hundreds are in charge, even in the seattle of power. >> this is the court yard of parliament, the future of the country being decided inside. outside, you see one of the main opposition leaders giving a speech, and even here, his security are the citizens brigades. >> a professional service their

not, their head protection designed for construction workers or snowboarding. despite the do-it-yourself armor, they still have a command structure and their presence pressures anyone who will take power. >> to reboot the system. >> yes. >> the politicians seem to realize that. >> people control us, because they move the government away and the new government will work bad, they move us. >> down the block, they control the cabinet office. so some it may seem a building as important as the pentagon is guarded by boy scouts. >> do you feel you replaced the police? >> definitely not, but we do hope the police will get replaced. >> his day job is i.t. he said his clients can wait. what can't wait is the third revolution. >> for years to come, you know, anything that is not right,

we'll make sure, you know, that we work to make that right. >> for that, the public thanks them. they people the volunteers will protect them and their futures. nick shiffrin, aljazeera, kiev. >> egypt's interim government resigned, the prime minister saying that he will stay on until a new government is formed. aljazeera's nicole johnston explains. >> what is significant about this cabinet resignation is what does it mean for the defense minister al sisi, is this a way for him to pave the way to run for the presidential elections. to do so, he must resign as defense minister as well as his position as head of the military. the other factor underway in egypt at the moment is there's a great deal of civil unrest. we're seeing strikes and pro tests from all sorts of different oranges, such as the doctor's syndicate, pharmacist

as well as textile workers and garbager workers. this could be another way to try to put a lid on pro tests to show people that the interim government is listen got to concerns of the people by appointing a new cabinet. >> nicole johnston from doha, and outspoken credit kim of venezuelan president, not backing down, a retired army general addressing dozens from his balcony wearing a flak jacket and armed with a rifle and shotgun said he won't surrender. anti-government protestors are upset about my government and crime rate. 11 people have died in the last weeks. >> an illness like polio affected 25 children in california, medical researchers investigating that outbreak, the case dating back to 2012. experts say the illness has left some of those patients partially

paralyzed. a virus may play a role. >> former defense end michael sam talking about to the media about coming out. today, he'll showcase his skills. we are at the nfl combine in indianapolis. >> people who make popular cereal locked out of their jobs for months. we'll take a look at the labor dispute at kellogg's, next.

>> you're looking live right now at vice president biden, he and the president hosting the nation's governors at the white house today. when the president speaks, we will break into whatever it is that we are showing you so we can bring you that speech live. meanwhile, we want to turn our attention to uganda where being gay is a crime. a bill signed into law coming with harsh penalties. homosexuality is already illegal in uganda. first time offenders face 14

years in prison, aggravated homosexuality life in prison. anyone promoting homosexuality could face jail time. >> jason collins signing a 10 day contract with the brooklyn nets on sunday playing a scoreless 10 minutes. collins is the first professional athlete to come out in north americas for major sports and the nfl draft favorite michael sam could be next. michael eaves is live in indianapolis where the former missouri defensive end is going to test his skills on the field. i wager he has received a lot of attention. >> i'm sorry, del, could you repeat that. >> >> i would say that i would say that this young man from missouri has garner add lot of attention out there. >> yes, he has. on his saturday media availability, del, it was the most well attended of anyone else's media availability during the combine so far. obviously the questions centered

around his announcement he is gay. he tried to divert that conversation back to football. he said i want to be known as michael sam the football player, not michael sam the gay football player. this combine is about finding the best as they measure strength, speed and agility. he had a strength test yesterday, he will have his speed and agility workouts today here at lucas oil stadium. he's concentrating on becoming the best football player he can be before the draft in a couple weeks. >> michael eaves bricking us up to date. we take you to washington where the president of the sounds. >> is addressing the nation's governors. >> one good thing about living here is that you can make all the noise you want and nobody's going to complain. i enjoyed watching some of you with your eyes on higher office size up the drapes and each other. we don't have a lot of time today, so i want to be very

brief, go straight to q. and a. and discussion. we're at a moment when our economy is growing, our businesses have created over 8.5 million new jobs over the past four years, but as i've said several times, the trends that have battered the middle class for a couple of decades now are still there, and still have to be addressed. those at the top are doing very well. ordinary families still feel unsqueezed. too many americans are working harder than ever, and just barely getting by and reversing those trends are going to require us to work together around what i'm calling an opportunity agenda, based on four things, number one, more good jobs that pay good wages. number two, training more americans to be able to take the jobs that are out there right now, and the jobs that are created. number three, guaranteeing access to a world class

education for every american child all across our 50 states and our territories. and making sure that hard work pays off with wages that you can live on, savings that you can retire on, health insurance that you can count on. all of this is going to take some action. so far, just in the past few weeks, i've acted to lift the wages of workers who work for federal contractors to pay their -- make sure their employers are getting paid at least $10.10 an hour. weaver ordered an across the board reform of our job training programs, much aligned with some of the work mary has done during her tenure as head of the n.g.a. we directed our treasury to create a way for americans to start saving for retirement. we've rallied america's business leaders to help the long term

unemployed find work and help us make sure our kids have access to high speed internet and high speed learning tools in the classroom. the point is this has to be action. i'm eager to work with congress. my hope is that despite this being an election year that there will be occasions when both parties determine that it makes sense to actually get some things done in this town, but wherever i can work on my own to expand opportunities for more americans, i'm going to do that. i'm convinced that the time is right to partner with states and governors all across the country an these agendas, because i know that you guys are doing some terrific work in your own states. there may not be much of an appetite in congress for doing big jobs bills, but we can still grow select u.s.a. the secretary's team has put

together a terrific formula attracting investors from around the world to see america as an outstanding place to invest. i mentioned this in the state of the union. for the first time last year what we're seeing is that world investors now see america as the number one place to do business, rather than china, and it's a sign of a lot have things converging, both on the energy front, worker productivity, our innovation, research, ease of doing business and a lot of that work is as a consequence of steps we've taken not at the federal level, but state level, so we've got to take advantage of that. creating jobs in still water, oklahoma, helping an austrian company create jobs in george. >>. we want to engage with you over the next several months to find ways to help market america and

your states to businesses all around the world and bring jobs back. since i called on congress to raise the minimum wage last year, six states have gone ahead and done it on their own. last month, i asked more business leaders to raise their workers wages. last week, gap said it would lift wages for about 65,000 of its employees. several of you are trying to boost wages for your workers. i'm going to do everything i can to support those efforts. while congress decides what it's going to do an making high quality prek available to more kids, there is bipartisan work being done among the folks in this room. you've got governors like robert bentley and jack marle expanding or dead indicating funds to make is that happen in their states. we want to get a coalition together owl of whom are excited

and interested in working with you to help more kids access the high quality prek that they need. while congress talks about reappealing the affordable care act or doing this or doing that to it, places like california and kentucky are going gang busters enrolling more americans in quality affordable health care plans. you've got republican governors here, i won't name them in front of the press, who have chosen to cover more people through new options under medicate and at a result, millions of people are going to get help. states that don't expand medicaid are going to be leaving up to 3.5 million americans uninsured, and that doesn't have to happen. work with us to get this done. we can provide a lot of flexibility. folks like in arkansas have done terrific work designing programs that are right for their states

but also provide access to care for people who need it. i think kathleen sebelius has shown herself willing to work with all of you to find ways to get that done. on the west coast, you've got governors brown, enzley working together to combat climate change in their states. we've set fort setting up for impacts of climate changes setting up hubs in seven states across the country to help farmers and ranchers adapt operations to a changing environment. in the budget i'll send to congress next week, i'll propose fundamentally reforming the way federal governments fund wildfire suppression and prevention to make it more stable and secure. this is an idea supported by both democrats and republicans. >> finally, i want to thank those of you who worked with

michelle and joe biden on their joining forces initiatives to support military families. at your meeting two years ago, they asked for help to make it easier for service members and spouses to carry licenses for professions like teaching or nursing from state to state without having to get a new one every time they were eassigned. at the time, only 12 states enacted to make it easier, only nine to make it easier for service members. today, 42 states have passed legislation to help showerses, forth five of the states have made it easier for service members. we got a few states remaining, let's get it done for everybody. it's the right thing to do for those men and women who are working every day to make sure we stay free and secure. the point is, even when there is little appetite in congress to move on some of these priorities, at the state level, you guys are governed by practical considerations.

you want to do right by your people and you see how good policy impacts your citizens and you see how bad policy impacts your citizens and that means that there's less room for poverty yoposturing and politice room to get things done. we want to work with you. i'm committed to making sure every single member of my cabinet, every person in the white house, every person in my team will be responsive to you. we won't agree on every single issue every single time, but i guarantee you that we will work as hard as we can to make sure you succeed, because when you succeed, the people in your state succeed and america succeeds and that's our goal. thank you very much. >> you are listening to the president of the united states meeting with the nation's governors today at the white house addressing a number of issues from guns to marijuana to the affordable care act, saying that he believes that it is something that the white house and the governors can get done. also continuing the theme that

he has been on sips the beginning of the year calling this a year of action, a year in which he says if need be, he will by pass congress just to get things done. thanks for joining us. "inside story" is next.

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