welcome back to aljazeera america. these are the stories we're following for you. >> i intend to continue fighting for the future of ukraine. >> ousted ukrainian president viktor yanukovych speaking out for the first time since he fled ukraine. a defiant heard saying he will return. what really happened in crimea, as armed forces set up shop around airports there. and some californians preparing for the worst, a new threat of flooding because of past

wildfires. >> ukraine's ousted president out of hiding, refusing to let go of his title, calling those who oppose him terrorists and vowing to return. viktor yanukovych surfacing in russia giving a lengthy news conference. in kiev, that speech was largely ignored. in crimea, there were new threats of violence today. we have reporters covering all sides of this crisis. we begin with phil ittner in moscow. they are waging a war of rhetoric today. >> absolutely, some very strong words coming out of ousted president viktor yanukovych in a press conference he held inside russia, because he said he felt that his life was in danger inside ukraine. nevertheless he said that he was

still president and would effort on a return to power. he took the time out to condemn those who have taken over power in kiev, calling them fascists, nationalists, extremists, and took jabs at the west. >> i fully place responsibility upon those who brought our country to this crisis and i would say to this disaster, they are to blame for that and those who now in power and those who are today command, visible ones and invisible ones behind the scenes. also, to the west, the united states of america, who were patrons. >> that echos exactly what we are hering in moscow from the

ministry of foreign affairs that they feel this is nothing less than a coup d'etat sponsored or supported by the west. >> this crisis goes well beyond ukraine, because there is now the u.s.-russian situation. how can russia say it's not involved when it is literally giving asylum to viktor yanukovych? >> all along, the russians have been saying that they're not involved, but certainly they clearly are. they've always thought the ukraine was part of their sphere of influence, propping it up with money stolen that they now say tens of billions of dollar may have been taken out of the country by the ruling yanukovych administration and they want those assets frozen in geneva. they may we will get it, the swiss saying that they will look into that, possibly freezing the assets, but also, the ukrainians saying that they want yanukovych extra do id back to kiev.

>> this does not bode well for people who are students of history who watched the collapse of the soviet union. >> absolutely. vladimir putin is very concerned about ukraine for a variety of reasons, not least of which because of the geopolitical situation but internally in russia is keeping a close eye on what happened in ukraine. it's not that long ago we saw thousands of russian take to the streets, as well. it's a very different fine mick domestically here but when russian look to a ukraine prosperous and growing in a civil society with independent judiciary, other things that we associate with the western democracy, there are going to be russians here who look at that and then also look at the kremlin and the way things are run here inside russia. >> phil ittner joining us live from moscow. thank you very much. perhaps the mystery of mysteries today in ukraine, why were there troops surrounding airports in crimea. who were they and where do they

come from? we have all the details. jennifer, what are the latest on the tensions in crimea. >> we had two incidents today, first at the airport where armed men went in early in the morning to the airport terminal, had a look around and now there are still armed men there. the airport is operating normally. we were at the airport. they won't tell us who they are, who they're working for, what they want. they won't speak to us at all. they're in military uniform, carrying military weapons. it's a very organized militia. they speak russian but won't say anything about anything. we have a similar situation over at the other airport, as well, a military airport. that seems to be completely blocked off by a number of men with military trucks blocking the road and then a self defense militia in front of that row of trucks. this comes just a day after the

crimean parliament was occupied by unidentified armed men that appear to be a pro russian militia here. in wednesday that turned into clashes outside the parliament as the crimean minority, 20,000 of those here clashed with the russian ethnic russian population here. 90% of the people here are russian, russian speaking and share a russian culture and heritage. many look toward the east, many believe that they should be under the influence of russia. they certainly have been unhappy about what's been going on in kiev in the last three months and certainly in the last week or so, they believe that the people in kiev are terrorists or thugs or fascists, they say and they really believe that they don't want any part of in a that. >> we have been watching the images of these people in crimea hoisting the russian flag. based on the ground, is there any chance of a reconciliation

between those factions in ukraine and the protestors that you covered in kiev? >> i think there's a lot of smoke. no one is talking secession right now. they are calling for a referendum on may 25, the same day kiev wants to hold the presidential election on broadening their autonomy here. i asked crimeans what that means. they have their own parliament and prime minister. they would like more of the tax revenues to stay here and not go to kiev, have more control over their own destiny. they dismissed everybody appointed by kiev and appoint their own people, the new mayor is actually a russian citizen. the new leader here is actually russian, as well. i think we're going to see a lot more russian influence here. they're going to resist any direction from kiev. >> jennifer glasse, thank you very much. viktor yanukovych also calling those protestors who overthrew

him fascists, denying allegations that he was the one who ordered police to shoot at them. nick, what has been the reaction from people still gathered in independence square? >> del, if you walk through that square and talk to people, they are not talking about viktor yanukovych. they are talking about the people who died to depose him. over the last hour, there's been somber music coming from funerals that are still happening one week after yanukovych fled, some 80 people died fighting police who these protestors believe were acting on the orders of president yanukovych. very much a mourning feeling through out the square, all of the fighting and the tires burning have all been replaced by flowers and people coming to pay respect, coming to deliver money to the families of those who died and coming to bring flowers. they can vast all of the people who sacrificed their lives, who were injured during that fighting with president

yanukovych, who fled. >> people do not take it serious, this is the word said by yanukovych. we now know he's afraid and he's running away in any possible way. he's afraid of the people. he now knows that we have so much power, and he does not anymore and people know that, and that's why their confident about that. we're confident that yanukovych is no longer the president, even though he said that i'm sometime the president of ukraine. >> even though all of the people are trying to ignore yanukovych, of course politically, it is a big concern. you just heard fill talk about how the prosecutor general's office here is trying to extradite him, and there's a definite fear that he is trying to reach into eastern ukraine, trying to reach all of the pro russian ukraineens and bring him toward his camp while the russians are going west. >> they are following the paper trail in kiev, looking at the former penalty's assets, there

are a reports that a lot of money has been stolen from ukraine. >> this is an extraordinary story. the first people into the president's compound or mansion outside of kiev first were a militia gaining that used to be based here and they made a decision. they said we're not going to report, we're not going to compete on all of these documents that they found, we're going to save the documents. they went into the river, grabbed all of these documents that yanukovych and his allies or aides dumped into the river, brought them into the so you know in a, dried the documents and have been pouring through them. based on those documents, officials say that yanukovych dealt with or stole or money laundered perhaps with his son 10, 20, 30, some of them are saying 50 or $60 billion. now the prosecutor generals office here is looking at those documents that those journalists saved to figure out what he did

do. if he never comes back, he'll to have deal with that, but they're looking at a huge amount of money that he, his son as well as all of his aides around him might have taken from this country. nothing confirmed yet, but it's an extraordinary story of finding these documents and out of those documents that he left in the river are finding lots of details about he took money from this country. >> nick, thank you very much. his son, a dentist said to have a net worth of $6 billion. >> the clinton presidential library to release 5,000 pages of documents from the clinton white house, including confidential advice given to the president and communications with the first lady. the documents will be posted on line by the national archives. our white house correspondent mike viqueira watching all of the comings and goings from washington. >> a lot of these documents you think would be released a long time ago, 12 years since the president leaves office, some of

these could be withheld because they deal with confidential advice from aides that had to do with deliberations over cabinet appointments, things of that nature. that time line expired about 13 months ago, and the white house had to sign off on a lot of this and they have now. all told over the next couple of weeks, they're going to get 28,000 documentses, del, 5,000 released today. they're said to include such issues as health care, of course hillary rodham clinton at first lady instrumental in developing the clintons health care proposal early in the first term. it could cover issues like the investigation into white water. there's a blast from the past. of course, that scandal, so complicated and byzantine that the republicans could not pin anything on the white house. this is going to have overshadowing for a hillary clinton candidacy for president. that's probably why the interest

has peeked so much in these documents released beginning today and coming over the next two weeks. in about two hours we'll see the first of them. >> hillary clinton thought to be running for president in 2016, although just like everybody else, she has yet to claire. do you expect interest to be rather high in these documents? >> absolutely. i think that's probably the number one reason why people are interested in this. there are going to be a lot of other issues, the genocide in rwanda would be one example. much of the document is a we expect today comes from the first lady's staff, her press secretary for a while we're told specifically that there will be documents dealing with that as well as advice given to her on children's issues and women's rights, as well as eventually the health care law that she was so instrumental in trying to develop or at least the proposal. >> thank you very much. >> the guardian newspaper is reporting the u.k. has been

collecting scene shots of british citizens during their web chat. they along with n.s.a. has been monitoring videos more than 1,000 users were tapped, naming the program away particular nerve. it saves the images, many sexually explicit, whether or not the users were deemed to be a threat to national security. >> california desperately needed rain, but not so much so fast. so much that people are now bracing for floods, many being told to evacuate. they are putting out sandbags to protect their homes. nine miles of the pacific coast highway is closed because of expected rock and mudslides employee one of the things they're asking right now is they wanted to know when it was going to rain, now they want to know when it's going to stop. >> i don't think until late tomorrow night. we could see eight inches fall by the end of tomorrow night

because we have the strong ridge of low pressure that's pushing on into the southwest. this rain is certainly welcome. they need the rain, but the problem is as del said is how quickly it's going to come. that area of low pressure continues to spin into the south. you can see california taking mostly of the rainfall along the coast. these darker areas of green, the darker shade of green is where the helpest pockets of rain are. they're going to push into glenn dora later on today. you can see that tonight into tomorrow afternoon and through the day. this low pressure is pushing east and will cause ice storms and snow. we do expect eight inches of rainfall into tomorrow. the reason it's so dangerous is because glenn dora had to deal with a wild back that was actually back in january. that wildfire took away a lot of the terrain and so that water's going to flow right in -- >> the bottom line is they need

the rain. >> they do need the rain. >> it's a mixed blessing, getting the good and bad at the same time. >> right. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> coming up on aljazeera america, helping kids be kids during of all things the civil war. new outlets to help syrian children deal with being refugees. new episode, deadly force only on al jazeera america

consider this. the news of the day plus so much more. answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> it seems like they can't agree to anything in washington no matter what. >> activists say an armed group controlling northern syria has left. this video showing the people celebrating. the reason for withdrawal is unclear. the ifil seized several towns north of aleppo and is engaging in battles around the turkish border. it has trapped many families who are unable to leave. we went to a refugee camp between the turkey and syrian

border. >> these children are not misbehaving, they're being encouraged to scream. they come from a war zone and this exercise helps them release their violent emotions. the teachers ask them what does the word violence mean. some talk about the arguments they have with their classmates back in syria, others recall their memories of home. >> my friend had fireworks on his chest to detonate himself, he burned himself. >> my brother was killed, a shell hit his house. army soldiers came and raided and burned our house. >> then it's time for the children to put their memories and feelings into drawings. fighting dominates most of their world. >> she wants to show me her brother's grave. others show me tanks and dead

children. >> running this program is an aid group called human. it's a civil organization funded by a $25,000 grant from the danish government, all staffers trained by the danish red cross to provide psychological support to syrian children. >> our dollars to teach them how to express those feelings, using interactive theater in order so that they gain extensive control over them, which helps in the coping process. they're growing is being suppressed by many factors. 65% of those children are not going to school. of those, 35% of forced to work in very hard circumstances. >> the play ground nearby, it's time to have fun. >> around 150 children have participated in workshops like this one. some of them are showing signs

of photo traumatic stress disorder, including severe depression, lack of sleep, and eating disorder. their trainers say they need psychiatric help. >> there aren't enough psychiatrists, hospitals, schools or food for the syrian refugees. it will always be part of their lives. >> wall street picking up with more buying and your 401k is smiling, the dow up, the s&p on track for a second record in a row. the economy slowing in the fourth quarter. the commerce department reporting the economy expanded at a slower pace than thought, consumers are cutting back and

the economists say the weather could hamper growth in the upcoming quarter. >> bit coin exc.e.o. saying 850,000 bit coins are missing, worth about a half billion dollars. tokyo exchange going off line because of technical problems, they said. >> general motors say they want to get customers back. the automakers are extending discounts through march, saying the bad winter weather hurt sales in january. >> coming up, a mosque in tennessee receiving threats even before they open their doors, but found help in a rather unlikely relationship.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. here are your headlines at this hour. ukraine's fugitive president coming out of hiding today,

viktor yanukovych claiming that he is in control. in kiev, they're building a new government without him. in crimea, mysterious troops surrounding airports, suspected they are pro russia militia men. there is concern about what's happening in crimea. >> bill clinton's presidential library to release documents today, including confidential advice and correspondence between the president and then first lady hillary clinton. >> a mosque in the middle of tennessee has been subjected to hate even before it opens its doors. the vandalism led to a unique partnership between two religious minorities in the heart of the bible belt. we have more from nashville. >> every day begins and ends with prayer. for the second time ever, he and dozens of fellow muslims

embarked to another house of worship. men, women, young and old all traveled from their nashville masks to a jewish temple on the other side of town. >> we want to build generations of youths that work together and work together for the betterment of our community here in nashville in middle tennessee and the state. >> the coming together of the two grooms comes also the muslim community faces new legal challenges over its 2-year-old mosque. before it opened its doors, it was met with public opposition. during construction, vandals spray painted not welcome on a sign and burned construction equipment. now opponents are taking their fight to the u.s. supreme court, saying the public didn't get adequate planning notices that a mosque would be built. >> i the meetings show the two religious communities share common goals, protecting first amendment rights while fighting rat calendarrism. >> for jews and muslims, this is

a pretty rare event anywhere in the world, it's especially rare in the bible belt here in tennessee and more rare given the conflict that's gone on around the construction of the mosque. >> the muslim community says the backlash has strengthened their faith. >> i learn from what happened in the community that what's right will prevail. radicalism or racism will always go to one place in history, to the trash. >> this congregation was very active in the struggle for civil rights. it is built upon the idea of rabbis leading the congregation in uncomfortable circumstances to stand up for what's right. >> both the jewish and muslim community say they'll continue to work together to break down stereo types of both cultures.

they hope their congregations can be a role model for their community, the world and for generations to come. aljazeera, nashville. >> california is getting much-needed rain. we're going to deal with flash flooding. los angeles is looking at two to four inches of rain but could receive up to eight inches in the mountains outside of los angeles. you can see the water flowing, the parking lot abandoned. folks are trying to stay away from the storm. you can seen the area of low pressure pushing onshore. later on today, we're going to get heavy rainfall across the mountains outside of los angeles and also in glenn door, california, you can see the darker areas of green. that's the heavy rain pushing

into san francisco all the way to los angeles and san diego. now, glenn dora is especially at risk given the fact that they're right outside of the mountains, the valley here is going to see up to eight inches of rain. they had to deal with a horrible fire back in january and that burned a lot of the brush. a lot of the trees and terrain that would normally slow down the water flow is not there, so it's going to flow right in and flood homes there. folks are trying to take precaution. it's difficult giving the fact that the rain is coming to quickly. mudslides going to be a major problem. i just read a report that there is a huge rock on the side of the big bear lake and it's really blocking little roads there, mudslides across monterey currently. we're going to have to deem with the threat that have throughout today. flash flooding the major concern. we could see severe thunderstorms across the southwest later in the day. that area of low pressure's going to push east and set up for a nasty ice storm in the

next couple of days. back to you. >> thank you very much. thank you for watching aljazeera america. "inside story" is next. >> run your eyes over a map of the world, the u.s. state department said countries around the globe are threatening, oppressing, even killing their people. that's "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. every year the u.s. state department gathersel