we thank you very much for joining us. the show may be over but the conversation continues on our web site. you can find us on twitter at aj consider this. see you next time. >> >> good evening, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler. deep flying crisis. ukraine's unrest moves closer to the russian border as new reports of gunmen trying to seize two new airports. storm front - reeling from doubt, mudslides and flooding. extreme weather and mandatory evacuations in california. >> breaking their silence - the sweeping accusations of sexual assaults on college campuses

across california. a message to victims and school officials. >> united we stand - solidarity, thousands joining in a protest. what it may take to free the al jazeera journalists in egypt. >> i think if president obama called abdul fatah al-sisi and said, "let them out", it would have an influence. >> we begin with the crisis in ukraine. the chaos is spreading to ukraine's crimea region on the black sea, near the russian border. the situation is fluid and dangerous, focussing on the capital. there are reports that gunmen in military uniform seized the airport there. this picture was taken at that

airport. a dark image of uniform men wearing helmets, witnesses say 50 armed men were there. the uniforms gave no indication of whose forces they were. jennifer glasse is on the ground and joins us live. i know the situation is fluid, what do you know, jennifer? >> reports are that the men went to the airport, wept in, asked security politely to check. they went into the airport for a little while and left. we don't know who they were, they wouldn't talk to anyone or answer questions as to who they were. it was 24 hours after armed men seized the parliament building. they are in that building. they are said to be a pro-russian militia. other than that, we don't know any more about them. there's an airport down the road, a place home to the black

sea fleet. dozens of men are at that airport. it's a reliable newsagency, that, and to secure the runways making sure ukrainian officials and troops can't come in. a fluid situation. no one knows who these people are or what they want. >> in addition to all that, the pro-russian demonstrators are looking for support. >> any chance you'll get it. >> we've seen a lot of saber-rattling. seven russian personnel carriers are on the road. north of the capital, they say it was an exercise. there were troops on the soil. the russian black sea fleet is based in sebastapol, and russia

has bases here. officials warned russia not to move the troops off the bases because it would be a provocation. we have seen russian troop exercises on the border. basically mobilising all of his troops in - on the border with ukraine, 150,000 of those troops. they say it's an exercise. it has to make the new leadership in kiev nervous. russia making clear that it is close, it has influence. the former president, viktor yanukovych has now surfaced and is in russia. and is planning to have a press conference there tomorrow. >> jennifer glasse reporting. thank you. that is the situation in crimea right now. lawrence lee looks at how events unfolded earlier in the day in ukraine. >> attempts have been made to turn the crimea capital into a

kiev, but in reverse. the parliament building in the hands of dozens of apparently heavily armed men, protecting it from what they see as profoundly un-democratic forces. the supporters, not so many, but eager to tell you they would like nothing more than russian tanks on the streets to protect them. >> that's okay, yes, because the american army was reported in different countries. we support russian army because every one of us has relatives in russia. >> the police lines staffed by a handful didn't look impressive. the small group proved how unimpressive it was. >> the point being that they wanted to tell the armed group in charge of parliament that they were with them, and this were in control. >> so it's pretty obvious who is in charge. the police line, such as it was, melted away as these people

obviously said they wanted to hold the protest in front of the building, which is under control of the armed militia. at the moment no one is here to stop them doing what they feel like. >> there's a daily protest in the for of sebastapol. a hard line russian nationalist and member of the russian parliament was a surprise guest, talking with the russian mayor in this supposedly ukrainian city. this woman could barely describe her fury at the take over from the country. >> those people from the west, we educated them. the people think they are governed by a bunch of fascist sympathising peace ants. they disbanded afterthe shootings of protestors, they walk around with faces on did display. behind this is the knowledge

that whatever as tier passions the -- aspirations the government in kiev might have, the russians were here. >> ukraine is in the middle of a diplomatic proxy war between the west and russia. as of now we have a government in could ef that harbours -- could have a government that harbours the area. >> did the local pro-russian politician think the naval forces would leave them? >> it's impossible, and he's almost certainly right. >> is crimea on the brink of war or separation. it's hard to know if anyone is listening to what the leaders in kiev have to say. >> back in the united states a warning from the secretary of state, russia begins military exercises near ukraine's borders

in a few hours. john kerry said it is no time to interfere, and adds he's assured by the russians this the manoeuvres were scheduled before the recent uprising. >> we believe that everybody needs to step back and avoid any kind of provocations. we want to see in the next days ahead, obviously, that the choices russia makes conform to the affirmation that we received today. >> as jennifer says, ousted president viktor yanukovych still in hiding issued a statement saying he's asked russia to ensure his safety from extremists. rory challands has more from moscow. >> if any country, ukraine, for example, was wondering about russia's military capabilities, conveniently there's a display going on. vladimir putin put two of

russia's four military districts on high alert. land, sea and air power tested for readiness. moscow insists that the war games are not connected. n.a.t.o. is warning against escalation. >> i urge russia not to take action escalating tension or creating misunderstanding. i urge the new ukrainian leadership to continue its efforts to establish an inclusive political process that reflects the democratic wishes of the people. >> on the streets of moscow there were concerns about the heightened tensions, but solidarity, particularly of those in crimea. >> i think russia should help the ukrainian friends to get back to life. political leaders should decide and should not let fascism take over. it's a nightmare. >> on one hand there are

brothers, on the other hand it can cause an international conflict. it's important to keep the territorial integrity. we can't leave our friends in trouble. where is the man that calls himself ukraine's rightful president. >> a russian newspaper claims he was spotted here at a grand moscow hotel in the week. it's known as the hotel ucrieana. the management denies he is was there. if he was, he's probably moved on. to here, a luxe village on the outskirts of the capital. if there was doubt that viktor yanukovych was in russia, it was squashed on thursday when the state newsagency announced he would give a press catholic church in a southern city on friday. >> joining us is ambassador kurt

voel kerr. former ambassador to n.a.t.o. >> do you thinker about to witness the division of ukraine? >> i think it's a real risk. what you see now is russia pulling every lever that it has, short of the military lever, although threatening through the exercises military action. you have a population inside ukraine, and you run a risk as you see a government take office, parts of the east wanting to stay east and declaring affinity to russia. >> if they separate, what does russia do? >> i think they have a game plan. they occupied ports of moldova, georgia and south osetia and would be comfortable with a divided ukraine, one influenced by russia in the eastern parts,

and keeping the country a little unstable and weak, maximising the chances. >> is moscow flexing military muscle or send a message to the west? >> i don't think we know, i'm not sure they know. before russia invaded georgia in 2008, it conducted military exercises. one scenario is that they are practicing to do military intervention in ukraine. on the other hand they may be trying to get the u.s. and the west to back off, and make sure it's a ukrainian driven process, which maximises the opportunities for russia to wield influence through the proxies and the russian speaking parties. >> there has been calls for viktor yanukovych to be charged with war crimes. the u.s. documents suggested that some people might have taken part in killings of

innocent protesters should have assets frozen, and if viktor yanukovych ends up in russia, says he will make a statement tomorrow. what message does that send? >> two different things here. one is what does the new government in ukraine needs to do. it needs not to engage in repressive action, using military forces and reasserting positive, secure control over the country in the short term. that would lead to counteraction from the eastern part of ukraine and russia, escalating the conflict and civil war. they should not do that. on the other side, viktor yanukovych has to realise that the reason he was ousted from ukraine was because of oppressive actions that his government took, and the killing of protesters. he'll assert that the authorities were not legitimate.

it's irrelevant, as long as they create conditions for legality, constitutionality, elections and move on in ukraine. that'll be a balancing act. the one thing we didn't talk about is the economic picture. >> good to see you, thanks for joining us, we appreciate it. >> now to the other big story, the weather threatening california. a state in need of water is bracing for a huge storm that could trigger flooding and mud slides. mandatory evacuations are under way. 1,000 homes could be in harm's way. jennifer london is in los angeles. >> the concern is if the storm materializes and we see the rain starting tonight into tomorrow into the weekend, it could prove to be too much of a good thing. here is why: the region is so dry, with little rain that coupled with the rare winter fires stripping the hillside of

vegetation, fires burning tens of thousands of acres, and taking away the valuable vegetation, and what happens when the rain is heavy is fast, and the earth is so try and there's no vegetation, there's nothing to keep the the mountain sliding into residential communities. that is a concern. we are talking about glendora and maduza. based at the foothills of the mountains. that is where there was a wildfire burning 2,000 acres and destroying five homes. they are the homes in danger should the rain materialize. that prompted local officials to initiate mandatory evacuation orders. >> how extensive are the evacuations. >> they issued the orders for about 1,000 homes, and the

police have been going door to door telling people of danger, how to get out. they gave the residents until 8:00 pm pacific time, 11:00 pm eastern. this is a mandatory evacuation order. initially it was a voluntary evacuation order. this afternoon it was mandatory, they said people do need to get out. they have set up a shelter for people to go to, and they have also been handing out thousands of sandbags as a precautionary measure. >> jennifer london in l.a. thank you. kevin corriveau is tracking the extreme weather and has more. >> you want to look at the picture. it's an impressive storm off the coast of california. it's the southern part of california that will be affected. we are only hours away from seeing the rain making its way towards los angeles, as well as all the way to mexico. that is where the problems will

be. these are the warnings that are out. most are dealing with flooding - flash flooding, coastal flooding. wait until you see the pink. we are talking about a winter storm warning. in that area we have things developing. because the moisture is coming in from the south, it will hit the mountains, dropping across the cannians and the valleys, that is why they are concerned about the anmerain. this is the area burnt. we expect to see 15-20, 24 inches. across the southern areas, 6-8 inches of rain. as we go towards sunday, that's the total accumulation. here in the mountains we are looking at 20 to 24.

>> coming up, showing solidarity. >> when you are contained in horrible conditions as they have been, the only people you can talk to are people in that condition because it changes everything about your mentality and your life. >> '60 minutes" correspondent, bob syme onward who spent six weeks as a hostage in iraq talked about those held in egypt. >> jake ward on what may have gone wrong for a dozen workers.

>> today's our day of solidarity for our detained journalists peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and mohammed badr, who

have spent 60 days in prison. patty culhane reports. >> making a statement with their silence. the solidarity first on display in the al jazeera english news room in doha swept across the globe in 40 locations. the message from the streets of australia, indonesia and balloons released in england and flying high in brazil. in every language, one message... >> journalism is not a crime. >> a nobel peace prize winner said... >> we are asking for the freedom of the four >> a poet in paris and the cold in toronto where are calling for freedom of al jazeera's prisoners. >> we want to call on the egyptian government to release them and the canadian government to call for their release

unequivocal unequivocally. >> none of the al jazeera employees are americans. that did not stop the white house secretary calling for their release. >> we are watching the trial of al jazeera staff and journalists in egypt. we understand the defendants pleaded not guilty and the trial was adjourned until march 5th. we strongly urge the government to allow she is and all journalists for them to do their job, and it's impossible to see how they can do that, if they are detained and on trial. >> a call echoed. locking up reporters never stopped the world finding up what is going on, particularly in this modern world. >> with petitions delivered to the egyptian embassies, protests from turkey to gaza. washington to beirut, and flashed across the screens, this

was a day to send a message from one voice: you can put the journalists in a cage, on trial, but they will not stand alone, the world is watching. >> earlier i talked about veteran c.b.s. news man and '60 minutes" bob syme onward who covered conflicts, he was held in 1991, hostage in iraq for 40 days. i asked who has the power to set al jazeera reporters free. >> i think if president obama called field marshal abdul fatah al-sisi and said, "let them out", it would be an influence. they said they have called and asked for the releaseful short of that happening, i don't think it means much. >> is it there something with egypt that represents what is going on with journalists around the world, the dangers they are facing.

>> no, syria is perilous. you have a good chance of getting killed in syria. in egypt it's taken hostage. i won't use the word prisoner, because a prisoner will have charges against him, and these guys have not really been charged with anything cred ill. >> you were kidnapped and held. can you talk about what it's like to be a journalist and be detained. >> it's nothing to do with being a journalist when you are detained in horrible conditions, as they have been, it's indescribable. the only people you can talk to are the people in ta condition, because it changes everything about your mentality and your life. >> how did it change your life? >> when you are there, in prison, you become obsessed with hunger, with food. pretty much that is it. you can't get your mind off food. and you lose sense of time.

today is thursday, isn't it. tomorrow is friday. in prison it doesn't make any difference what day it is. there's a difference between two weeks and two months is minimal. but the point is, in this case, that i don't understand what the egyptians are doing. it doesn't make any sense. abdul fatah al-sisi to have gotten where he is has some intelligence, but what he's doing, forget about morals, ethics, what is right or wrong. what he's doing does not make sense. if he wants to be in mine with the west - aside from the fact that he has a lot of egyptians in gaol, a lot of protests, demonstrators, and a lot of members of the muslim brotherhood, this is the regime he's running. there's not much we can do about

it. but the fact he's keeping western journalists in gaol - i don't get it. if you live in venezuela, you see c.n.n. about to be thrown out. is there a trend in the country. are journalists under attack? >> i've been kicked out of more countries than i can remember. you don't like it when they come to the hotel and say, "get to the airport", it's not pleasant, but it's the game. to be lock up, the way i was in iraq, the way these guys in egypt are. when you think of it in terms of the revolution, it's tragic what has become of that revolution. if it's a military - saddam let

me go because very high people got involved. does that mean that very high people -- >> gorbochov pressure. >> yes. and the egyptians have to listen to the russians - maybe russia doesn't care >> so pressure helps? >> pressure is the only thing that does it. it has to be pressure from someone, that guys in charge have to listen to. >> when you hear egypt talk about peter greste, as you know peter greste, and others being terrorists or part of a terror of the movement, what - how do you respond to that? >> then i'm a member of the ku klux klan. i mean it's the height of absurdity. >> it's been 61 days, and still

they haven't been released, and there's no sign that they will be released. other than a call from president obama, what else can be done. >> a call from putin. who else does he have to listen to. who else does abdul fatah al-sisi have to pay attention to. i can't think of anyone. when i was in iraq, the iraqis didn't have relations with many parties, because the whole world was fighting saddam's occupation. saddam had relations with the vatican, king hussain, the plo and the russians, c.b.s. and my family got pleas from the vatican and king hussain and plo. king hussain - sorry, saddam hussein didn't give a dam. why should he care what the vatican or king thinks about

him. but he did care about the russians, when gosho chov said, "let the guys go", we were gone. >> her story. a campus sexual assault survivor on what happened to her, and if the schools are doing enough to keep women safe. plus, big brother. a spy agency collecting webcam imagery from millions of people. ♪ what is this place? where are we? this is where we bring together the fastest internet and the best in entertainment. we call it the x1 entertainment operating system. it looks like the future! we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity.

tv and internet together like never before. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. a through the cover this half hour.

by the numbers, the government proposes more realistic nutrition labels on food. back on board facing manslaughter charges, the captain of the costa concordia returns to the cruise ship where 32 died. >> dangers leak - workers exposed to radiation at a nuclear waste site and what it means for the rest of the us. >> first the top stories - ukraine and fighting returns near the black sea. pro-russian demonstrators protest the overthrow of the government in kiev. mandatory evacuations under way in california. a powerful storm hitting the foothills. the same area where the colby wildfire erupted, 1,000 home owners have been asked to leave. >> signs of support from around the world. a day of action for our

colleagues in egypt. >> mohamed fadel fahmy, peter greste, mohammed badr have been in prison for 61 days. their child is scheduled to resume. it's a shocking allegation of sexual abuse at a top university. 31 current and former students at u.c. berkeley saying the university mishandled assault investigations. they say they were discouraged from reporting incidents and that judicial reviews favoured the accused. the school said it hired extra staff to handle sex-crimes complaints and victims will be able to appeal. >> evelyn is a writer, a teacher from chicago and wrote an oped describing her experience of sexual assault in college. she joins us from chicago. >> thank you so much for having me. >> can you tell us a little

about what happened to you? >> well, as you said, it was 20 years ago. i was a freshman. it was about three weeks into my freshman year, at the university of iowa. i spent some nights, the night with some friends and ended up back at a friend's dorm room. it was on another part of campus, i was pretty far away, actually, and a young man attempted to rape me on a dorm room floor my freshman year. >> did anything happen to him? >> no, unfortunately i was not strong enough at the time to report it to anybody at the university or anyone, for that matter. >> can you explain how difficult it is to report a crime like

this, and why there needs to be programs in place to allow women to do that? imented at. >> at the time i don't think it crossed my mind. it's strange for me to say as a 37-year-old mother. it kills me to think about, but i was so nervous i did not know where to push. i had only been at the university for three weeks. i had no idea if there was a place on campus to go to. i was afraid of getting my friends in trouble. i was afraid of myself getting in trouble. i was a young woman on campus doing things i shouldn't have been doing. i just - i honestly did not cross my mind, i don't think, until - i tried to forget about it, because it was one of those things that you feel shame for,

even though now you shouldn't feel - i shouldn't have felt that way. >> when you hear about the reports at the universities, how do you react? >> that's what made me write the peace, what's happening at my universities and others at u.c. berkeley, that women need to know that we should be able to come forward after something like this happens to us. and it pains me to see 20 years later nothing has changed and perhaps maybe it's worse, i don't know. all these cases of students coming forward and the universities turning their back is just unacceptable really. >> the university of iowa present is making news with regards to comments on sexual assault and here is the quote:

>> your reaction? >> yes, i mean, it was that line that i had read myself, that prompted me to sort of speak out on this issue because for a female president of a major universitiy to say that essentially rape is human nature or sexual assault is human nature, it's not right. it's horrible to men. to say that all men, it's innate in them or some men to do it to men or women. it's horrible for society to think this is the conversation, the words are saying about this, and what does that say for the victims. >> what does it take for university to change their opinion on this. >> i hope that media attention that this is getting will make some universities look closely at the policies they have in place, both to protect the

victims. most importantly, i think the victims need to have la safe space, and many young women do not know what that means, or where it exists on campus. >> thank you for your courage and your willingness to talk about this. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> president obama unveiled a new initiative called "my brother's keeper", bringing black and hispanic boys in school. they have the highest drop-out rate. president obama says that it could have been him. >> when i was their age, i was a lot like them. i didn't have a dad in the house. i was angry about it, even though i didn't necessarily realise it at the time. i made bad choices. i got high without always thinking about the harm that it would do. >> basketball hall of famer

magic johnson is a business person pledging to help with the brother's keeper. >> food labels, it's about healthy choices. first lady michelle obama made the announcement today. we have that story. >> according to the food and drug administration it is time to update the nutrition labels found on thousands of items in the grocery store. the biggest change deals with calorie count. here is the counter label where the calorie count is tough to read. on the new one there's no missing how many calories you are eating. >> another change is how much sugar is added to the product, making up 16% of calories we consume and are a big contributor. the proposal was rolled out at the white house with the first lady leading the charge.

>> our guiding principle is simply - you as a parent, a consumer, should be able to pick an item off the shell and know that it is good for the family. >> some welcome the change. >> it's a good thing when we try to help people know what they are eating. will it work - not sure. >> anything that is transparency on food labelling is a good thing. >> another big difference is a change in serving size to reflect how we eat. for example, this muffin under the label is considered two serving sizes. under the new label it's one surfing size meaning it's 400 calories, not 200. >> a food advocacy group applauded the move. >> most of the changes are for the better. accurate serving sizes. getting surar on -- sugar on

the label, that's important. >> michael jacobsen would like them to lower the salt consumption and add in information. jacobsen expects push back from the industry, especially putting added sugars on the label. >> in a statement grocery manufacturers of america said: >> new nutrition labels will not show up on storm shelves soon. there's a 90 day comment period. once the f.d.a. makes a decision, food companies will have two years to update the labels. >> from new labels to new rules for drivers. in california a court ruling means a person can read a map on

a cell phone while driving. talking on a phone while driving is outlawed in that state. a radio active leak at a nuclear waste site in new mexico. 13 workers tested positive. jacob ward has the lautest on the leak. >> the wipp is not a landfill, it's not for recycling, it's a tomb. the department of energy opened it to house the by-products of nuclear weapons, research and production. it's supposed to entomb those materials, transuranic waste for 10,000 years, until the year 11,999 ad. if, as reports suggest, the place failed, it has failed already it reached even a quarter of 1% of its total life span. i spoke with an academic who

visited the facility and he described a group of panels, six rooms the size of football fields. at the end barrels of radioactive trash sits on pallets and over the course of 75 years of the ceilings are supposed to collapse, burying the barrels for all time. it's not clear how radiation may have gotten loose. the site was chosen for its geological ability. there's no groundwater. there's salt in the soil. the workers are in close proximity to the radioactive nearly, they'd quickly be exposed. this is a unique facility, nowhere else is there a permanent centralized resting place, a deep geological repost itry.

this is a place where the planning and resources the federal government were gathered in one place. unfortunately that seems it was not enough. the material is so exciting that the department of energy convened a group of thinkers to solve the problem of warning future people away. imagine a future civilisation coming across this place in 8,000 years, they don't speak the modern language, none of the archives survived. how would they know not to dig there. snow the doe's link wist and -- linguist and science fiction writers, hostile looking terrain and design courses warned the people to stay away. the project begs the question, if the stuff is so dangerous that we need to warn people about it $10,000 years from now.

what possible steps are enough to protect ourselves today? >> jacob ward reporting. >> a new report on government spying. this time it's a british intelligence agency accused of intercepting millions of webcam images. it's code named optic nerve, and the people whose photos were connected are not suspects. the paper says 2 million yahoo! users were targeted in 2008 alone. >> two years ago the costa concordia ran into rocks off italy. 32 were killed, the captain accused of the abandoning the cruise liner. he bordered the ship or the first time since the incident. we have this report from giglio island. >> francesco schettino was swamped by the media as he returned to the ship that he captained to tragedy. after spending four hours on

board he had an answer. >> translation: those plea bargained admitting blame. i'm here, undergoing trial, so before you say the guilty one, the person responsibility, i'm doing this. >> investigators inspected an emergency generator which allegedly didn't work the night of the shipwreck. francesco schettino's lawyers demanded he join them. >> he has been charged with endangering ship, environmental damage and manslaughter. he's been faced with the daily reminder of the tragedy. >> there's no sense for him to come and cry in front of the ship when all this happened he was - he took a cab back to his hotel when everyone was running around looking for, i don't know, the parents, children. >> in any case, guilty or not,

and in whatever way, anyone can make a make and give you the blame. >> 32 were killed when the costa concordia hit rocks and capsized off the ghost of giglio island. 44,000 people were on board. there was a long list of witnesses at the trial. expect to last many more months. it can't end soon enough for the island's residence. >> coming up, our picture of the day. and the ethics of the oscar - how personal conflicts affects the winning of an award.

>> we are a few hours away from seeing the next part of rain. you can see the next rain band off the coast. we'll watch it. we'll see incredible amounts of flooding and mudslides and land slides potential in the areas. this is a dangerous area for the next 24-48 hours. this is what we are looking at. snow is the major problems for parts of the sierra nevadas. the snow is a good thing, we'll see a lot of problems if you travel in that area. a lot of heavy snow for montana and wyoming. the storm system on friday will make its way to the east.

more snow filtering in across nebraska. rain showers to mexico. sunday will see the valley with the stormy conditions. problems at the airports on sunday. then, unfortunately, as we make our way to the east coast on monday, a major problem affecting transportation from washington, filly and new york. that is a look at the weather. news is coming up after this.

>> the homes are the size of a room. but put together they make up a village and offer something special to those in need. allen schauffler has the story from olympia washington. >> drugs drove rebecca into homelessness. sharon calls herself a nomad, who has not unpacked in 20 years. >> it's messy, but i'm not that organised. >> john lost his job as a cook

and unemployment payments ran out of. >> one thing snowballed into another. >> what they share is they used to be homeless. this village has tiny separate housing unit sharing a community center and village. residents pay 30% of their income. >> you can't beat this. >> the village grew out of a homeless protest in olympia. the tent city moving from church to church until supporters formed a non profit organization, raised $3 million and built this place on land donated by the county. construction $19,000 per unit. add in site preparation and the community building and they cost $88,000. >> this is perfect for me. >> residents can use the kitchen and have their own refridge rater space. there are showers, lockers and mail service. there's a weekly meeting and

attendance required. many residents have mental health issues or fighting addiction. >> you can't go into a job high or dirty. here we get the opportunity to clean ourselves up and go in. >> with help from a community services manager, everyone here passed a background check and has to do their share of shores. >> since the village opened in december, they have learnt from community leaders all over the country, wondering if something similar could benefit the community. organizers say they never intended to address the model. >> we started to house 30 people we knew, that we loved. >> it's amazing the compassion of some folks that made this

happen. >> 30 people, a stable community and their own basketball. >> on sunday the music industry honours the best of the best, but can artistry ru jip the chance of an award. >> sexual scandal and intrigue - soundslike the making of a movie. it's in real life. voting members must decide if they can draw a distinction between controversy and artistic achievement. >> famed director woody allen is up for three oscars, including best original screen play. allegations have resurfaced that alan abused his adopted daughter when she was a child, calling into question whether he stands

a chance of winning. >> woody alan - the fact that he is writing about his view of the controversy was telling. that means it suggests it could have an impact. >> author in screen writer says it. >> there's nothing incompatible with someone being a great writer and director and a terrible human being. >> as a child this man was molested by a family friend. when roman pollans ki convicted in 1977 of raping a 13-year-old girl asked him to write the screen play for his 1994 film "death in the maiden", he didn't hesitate. >> actors, writers, producers, directors are not cops. that's not my role. the only concern i have is quality, and what the work was

saying. >> pollans ki won an oscar for "the pianist." outspoken views affect artists. consider charlie chaplain, his politics leaning to the west. despite being an important artist, he never won on oscar during the height of his career. >> people were black listed. they couldn't get work, they had to write under pen names. >> they paid a huge price. >> chaplain was honoured with an oscar in 1972, it came well into the twilight of his career. >> iconic director alea kazan took the oscar for "on the

waterfront" even after naming names during the anti-communist red squares. when it came to honouring his life work, it wasn't without protest. >> a number of people in the audience refused to stand when he came out on statement. if you look at the history of the academy award, most oscar voters set aside what concerns they have about a person's personal behaviour and recognise the work. >> that holds true - at least for academy member and film-maker. >> no others are involved in my decision making process, other than the body of work and what they did. we have to wait until sunday to find out if the other 5,990 academy voters feel the same way. >> around the world people have been supporting our colleagues. this is martyrs square in

beirut. people holding banners and posters saying journalism is not a crime. re refer to the al jazeera journalists who have been held in egypt. in jakarta 30 gathered in silent protest. >> and the agreed frame, solid ardy for three al jazeera journalists. here are a few of the supports from around the globe for our colleagues in egypt.

>> welcome to al jazeera america, i'm john seigenthaler in new york. here are the top stories: new developments in ukraine's crisis. reports gunman have taken obvious a regional airport. the upheaval in caimia comes as

pro- -- crimea comes as pro-russian demonstrators protest the change in government. >> we believe this everybody now needs to stepback and avoid any signed of provocations. >> a warning from the secretary of state directed towards russia. john kerry voicing concerns about military exercises happening near the boardserers. >> mandatory evacuations in southern california, a power storm could hit the foothills of los angeles, causing potential mudslides. 1,000 owners have been asked to leave. >> a worldwide day of action for our imprisoned colleagues in egypt. silent protests showing support around the world for their release. mohamed fadel fahmy, mohammed badr, and peter greste have been detained for 61 days. >> nude rigs labels on packaged foods are getting a makeover. the new labels make calorie

counts and serving sizes more noticeable. those are the headlines. "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. remember, you can get the latest news at aljazeera.com. >> on "america tonight", tensions build. signs of clashes on the ukraine yn-ruran boarder. >> we'll do everything. >> saving kids on the streets. the president offers a new initiative. >> the point was i could see myself in the young