>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we have for you. protesters in ukraine back on the streets as calls come for opposition leader to become the next prime minister. a sea of refugee in damascus. these photos show risk of starvation. a site for drought-weary california, it's raining.

>> there have been troubling signs coming from ukraine showing how deeply th there is division. now we're learning of new calls from kiev for opposition leader to be the country's next prime minister. jennifer glass, tell us about these latest developments coming out of kiev? >> that's right. it's kind of a logical move. these are the big movers and shakers we have sign over the last few months at the-of the protest in kiev, and so emerging

as the favorite for prime minister. that also after yulia tymoshenko who was released from prison a few days ago had a triumphant return to independent square, she took herself out of the running. they can't negotiate anything. they want move forward, and they can't engage with the international community. there has another name put forward as well as foreign minister, the oppositions choice as well, but i understand there are still a lot of political wrangling to be done. i think we're going to see a very busy day in parliament del. >> and in ukraine demonstrations in the streets where you are. tell us about that.

>> that's right. people came out on the streets. they have taken down the ukrainian flag and they're flying the russian flag. we've seen incredible clashes between the minority and pro-russian majority here. they were worried they would come out one way or another. we saw a lot of pushing, shoving, hitting people with bottles. it shows the deep divisions here. you know, del, crimea was not part of ukraine until 1954, and the portion where i am did not become part of ukraine in later. many people here are russian, they speak russian and they tell me they want to be part of russia. they feel deep sentiments here. they're very upset that ukraine

on sunday was made the official language of the country. they feel that marginalizes them, so they look to moscow, and from moscow we're hearing--some worrying signs of vladimir putin has announced there are exercises going on near the border with ukraine. they are totally unrelated but certainly making ukrainians here nervous. i think they reassure the russians here. they feel like they can trust putt on it protect them, but the fact there are russian exercises going on not far from the ukrainian border is going to make a lot of ukrainians uneasy. >> jennifer, thank you very much. how complex is this situation. nowhere is the divide more evident than a border town far from kiev, and the town economically and otherwise struggles. it was once ruled by the soviet union. >> ukraine's border with russia

stretches more than 2,000 kilometers. the decaying symbols of the self yet union are everywhere. in the cemetery a proud grave stone of a hero of socialist labor. there is nothing here to mark the horrors of stalin's forced collectivcollectivization. the area suffered a famine which killed an estimated $6 million. in the center of the town the only monument is to those who died in the great partic war against the nazis. the deposing yanukovych so far in kiev has divided opinions even here. >> you call this life? it's not. if i had a chance i would would have fled to russia. >> kiev is important but we can't cut ties with russia. a lot is dependent on those

ties. >> we should fix the country first. we have to build a normal, functioning legal system which will serve the people and not 450 members of parliament. >> employment is vanishing from this town along with its young families. investment by the old government was broken. the money never came here and it shows. this town once supported 16,000 people. but it has been in catastrophic decline. the economy here is frozen as the river that gives it it's name. the river lopan flows from russia. by the time this ice that yous relationships with moscow might be facing a deep freeze. as light began to fade we were forced out of the town. oh our taxi driver had received threats of violence for carrying journalists. they call it the iron fist of

yanukovych, and it still exists here. >> we want to show a photograph right now that has just about everyone talking. the photo is palestinian refugees as far as the eye can see lining up for aid. in damascus food and medicine has been scarce. these refugees went to syria to escape conflict, and then the syrian civil war broke out. the spokesman for the united nations, joining us via skype in jerusalem. >> for as long as the eye can see there are gaunt figures

deprived commodities of life. food, heat, warmth in one of the most cruel winters we've seen in this region. what they describe is a portrait of intense and profound tragic civilian suffering. we have reports of women dying in childbirth because lack of medical care. wide reports of children in malnutrition and they were reduced to eating animal feed. >> i want to show a quote that someone said hell than this camp would be better. they said they boiled spices with water and drank that. she goes on to say we ate the grass until it was all gone. and she said she wanted to feed

breast-feed her child but her milk stopped after two months. the little boy is khalid. tell bus that. >> reporter: it's a very good which because it's i wil illuste of one, because of the aid, th things could improve exponentially. baby can lid came to us with his mother. he was 14 months old and looked like a five-month-old baby. the doctor who treated him said, quite honestly, that he was going to die. after a month or so of proper food, of vitamins and dietary supplements, that little boy is now the right size, about the sidesize of a 14-month-old baby. i would like to think that his life today is emblematic, if you

like, of what could happen. there can be humanitarian access, and then organizations like unr, which has worked with this population, let's not forget there are 18el thousand palestinians today, and 160,000 before the war. >> this is the seen inside damascus. how bad was it in camps you haven't been able to get to? >> well, by it's very nature that's impossible to answer because there are camps that are inaccessible. we can only hope and pray that things are not as bad as other places. but that would be hoping against national thought. that's why the humanitarian workers on the ground are calling for secure substantial,

and sustained humanitarian access. that means we must be able to get aid in and evacuate the women, the children, the dying, the sick, the elderly, the needy. that's what we mean by humanitarian access. the security council spoke with one voice. it was rare, and let's hope that the parties on the ground are listening. >> christopher, spokesman for united nations relief work agency joins us via skype from jerusalem. thank you very much. those two men who killed a british soldier last may learned their fate, one getting life in prison. the other 45 years, and in december they were found guilty of this: killing lee rigby, a british soldier, running him over first with their car, and then hacking him to death. that crime happened in the middle of the day on a busy street of london. they said they weren' they wereg ththey were avenging thedeath od

overseas. the army looked at 20,000 soldiers all told and disqualified anyone with a record of criminal or unethical behavior. one of georgia's largest employers, delta airlines coming out against the state's anti-gay bill, georgia now considering putting into affect a law that would allow business owners deny service based on religious ground. they say the real purpose is to discriminate against gays and lesbians. how significant are these comments from delta today? >> we think very significant. these are strong words in response to the bill that the house is currently considering. if we could put up the full screen here's what delta had to say. if passed into law these proposals would cause significant harm to many people and result in job losses. they

would violate delta's core values of mutual respect and dignity shared by our 80,000 employees worldwide, and then 165 million customers we serve every year. >> and urging state officials to reject these proposals. now also the mayor of atlanta came out and said he supports gay and lesbians here in the state and in his city of atlanta. a very large population of gay and lesbians here. this is what the mayor had to say. >> it took me time to evolve on this issue. i was a long time supporter of civil unions and i feel that gay and lesbians should have the same rights as i have.

>> reporter: nice the state capitol 45 minutes ago. they were giving a press conference, and i said what do you think of this bill, this proposal. he said it's not a priority right now and stepped away. >> when might we expect a final vote from the georgia legislature? >> well, it appears very soon. they just proposed this last week. this is moving swiftly through the session. so within the next couple of weeks though they did cancel a hearing this morning that they were supposed to have. we don't have exact details an as to why that hearing was canceled but soon. >> robert ray live for us in georgia. thank you very much. >> it's raining, and that's not a big deal unless you're in

california where they are suffering from a serious drought. we go to california 50 miles from san francisco, melissa, you have your umbrella out, and people are smiling because of that. >> reporter: well, it's definitely good news that there is a little bit of rain, and we expect a bit more rain over the next few days. the thing that everyone is telling us is that this is not going to turn the tide in terms of the drought. the drought is still here. they have dairy cows behind me. you can see them, and keys nee d hay, and the cows need rain. >> they said they were going to cut off the tap. it wasn't going to allow them to tap into the federal reserves. even though it may not make much dent in the drought, at least it

will water some of the crops there. >> a lot of farms in this area had to depend on drilling hills whether it's for cows or their crops, that's the challenge. a lot of people are wondering what is happening in the summertime. for example in the area there are a lot of vineyards. right now the vineyards don't need a lot of water but they will in the summertime. and what will happen then. that's the challenge. >> thank you very much. dave warren, they say it's a start, but they need a lot more. >> meteorologist: they need a lot more. the rain helps plus the snow that we'll see, that will help a great deal. the airplan april 1st melt willo a lot of the reservoir. the rain coming in some area, we're starting to see a lot of rain come down. we'll need to see more to get rid of the drought situation. the light rain going through all the state. there is the snow in the high elevations.

this is the first storm. this is what it looks like with the computer forecast showing the rain and the snow. snow in the higher elevations today. look at what happens friday. a bit more snow close for two feet likely here, and more heavy rain, one to two inches of rain coming down. it will certainly help. it won't get rid of this problem, though. we have a severe drought throughout much of the state. exceptionnal drought with that dark color. and it's not just california but the entire west is dealing with very dry conditions and drought conditions. certainly helping the situation but not about to put an end to this drought. we'll take a look at the national forecast when we come back a little later. >> nine years ago hurrican hurre katrina hit new orleans, but although it's not happening again already we're seeing problems down there.

>> wall street at this hour trying to hold on it today's gain. wall street higher on upbeat earnings report on retailers and strong housing data out earlier today. the ceo of credit suisse is firing back hel at helping wealy americans to dodge taxes. they said they kept those

activities from the bank management. senators accusing the bank of cloak and dagger tactics so customers can evade the irs. >> these illicit banking practices belong in a spy novel not at one of the world's top banks. >> we now know the impact that have big data breach at target. the profits fell 46% in the fourth quarter and saw a significant decline after the breach was uncovered in december. but shares are higher after customers said they are now going back to the store suggesting the breach may not be as a bad as some feared. federal prosecutors in manhattan looking into the failed bitcoin exchange, investigators want the nature of the of the attacks. bloomberg reporting that the fbi is investigating and the collapse is calling many to consider regulating bitcoin.

nine years ago new orleans looked like this, hurricane katrina exposing a failing infrastructure, and a levy system that could not contain the floodwaters. now the new 350-mile levy system is already having problems. >> you have a beautiful wife there. >> katie's restaurant is known for its seafood. >> really nice, shrimp right out of the gulf of mexico. >> reporter: while the gulf gives, it also takes away. it took owner scott craig nearly five years to reopen after the storm surge from hurricane katrina burst through the levies and flooded him out. >> i didn't have the finances. i had to go out and work, rebuild, and put all the money that i made working back into this. >> because new orleans exist from two to 20 feet below sea level in different areas, the

army corp of engineers created a system to protect the area from another hurricane, or worse. >> it could potentially come right through here. >> reporter: and right here there is already a problem. a near one mile stretch of levy built just last year has already sunk up to six inches more than expected. >> one thing with southeast louisiana, we're continuing subsiding. very challenging to build on. >> while the difference in just a few inches of elevation might not seem like much most new orleans residents know that it is. to get an idea of the shifting landscape in this city all you got to do is take a ride on the surface streets it's usually a bumpy ride. >> what's the guarantee? how do people know that this is safe. >> there is no guarantees in anything. but what we can point to is 2012

we had hurricane isaac. the system as a whole was complete. it did exactly what it was supposed to do. >> when you ask me questions about the levy system, i don't think we have a whole lot of faith. a lot of us don't because i am pet treefied of losing this again. i really don't wanting to through what we went through. >> right now they'll soon turn the levies over to the state. >> we'll try to put in something, some instruments to monitor to make sure we get a good baseline on t and we'll address it. >> reporter: scott craig is grateful for the protection but worries nonetheless. >> at least the state of louisiana has a stake in it. it's not another part of the country controlling what is going on in our state. the state of louisiana is well

aware of what could happen if these levies fail again. the greatest city in this state probably won't come back. >> how are we doing guys? >> he and others just hope that the engineering promises will hold. al jazeera, new orleans. >> coming up on al jazeera america it looks fast sitting there, but wait until you see it move. it's really fast, record-breaking fast.

>> welcome back al jazeera america. i'm del walters. in ukraine, protesters are taking to the streets in the east to rally against changes as parliament makes changes in the west. the u.n. saying the refugee crisis in syrian is getting

worst. these photographs taken inside of a camp in damascus. these are palestinians trying to escape violence before that country's civil war broke out. the men two killed a british soldier were sentenced, one receiving life, and the other receiving 45 years. they were charged with running over a soldier and then hacking him to death. >> meteorologist: i'm dave warren, another round of winter weather with many advisories and warnings in effect for the northern plains. this is a blizzard warning. the wind will pick up as that cold air moves in reducing the visibility and creating bitter cold wind chill that will take place this afternoon and this evening. right now the temperatures are in the teens. when you factor in that wind already starting to pick up, numbers below zero. is 1 below in minneapolis and 7

below in chicago. another storm moving out. this dumped a little bit of snow. not a lot, just a little coating one oh to two inches along i-95. it's cleared out. still some rain to the south. that rain snow line pushing through north carolina. it's ending and the temperatures are climbing. 36 in washington, d.c. so main snow that came down the main roads clear. they melt and get sunshine and the temperatures are above freezing. this is the storm that moved out just a few isolated showers lingering across the northeast. that brain pushing south. another storm approaching from the north, and this is where we're getting the listering cold winds here. light snow comes across the great lakes, and as it moves in you have cold air coming in and we'll start to see the cold

wind. it may be as far sows as washington, d.c. seeing these temperatures really drop. a welcome site is this rain in california we see that rain develop, the first in a series of storms. this will give a good amount of rain today, and then overnight tonight and then snow in the mountains. this is what it will look like throughout the day in maron county, taking rain in the valleys and snow very importantly getting snowpack building up in the mountains. >> dave warren, thank you very much. finally a new king of speed in the automotive world. that's fast. setting a world record it is now the fastest car in the world. the super car going from 0 to 200 mph. it hit 217 mph, but don't dump your bugati's just yet.

they have to do it a second time to get in the world book of records. it cost $1.8 million i am here to talk about innovations that can change lives. we are going to explore the intersection of hardware and humanity and doing it in a unique way. this is a show about science by scientists. let's check out our team of hardcore nerds. lindsey miran is a cia operative and analyst. tonight, high tech crime stoppers. shots fired in the night. cops pinpoint the crime scene. how do they do it? the new science of solving crime. crystal dilworth is a scientist. if you think wine making is old school, think good. the newest ways of making wine. >> a neuro scientist and i will