>> good afternoon and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city, and here are the stories we're following for you right now. a chilling new development in the ukraine crisis why the russian parliament approves use of military force. this after a warning for president obama. >> we're now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by russian federation inside of ukraine. >> and after a terrible drought

conditions california dealing with the effect of heavy rain and mudslide. >> the crisis deeing in now in ukraine where the upper house of the russian parliament has approved vladimir putin's request to use force. this comes after a referendum on increasing autonomy. for days we have seen the russian military moving around the region. phil, the unofficial leader appeal to russia for help. is this why putin asked parliament to send in troops? >> reporter: all along they said should there be a cry for help from ukraine they would not ignore it. this vote today has been quite

significant, and it's been fascinating to watch. let me tell you what's happened already. in less than an hour' debated this situation and avoted to approve action possibility of military force not in crimea but as it's worded in this document the territory of ukraine. now they have said in numerous debates that they are most concerned about crimea and the russian population there. but the way this is written is much loosing. it took less than an hour to vote for this, and they're talking about other motions including a number of issues concerning ukraine and also a number of issues concerning the wider situation, a possibility that they're going to try to vote for asking vladimir putin to remove russian ambassador to washington. again, morgan, just a

fast-moving story here, and some very powerful and interesting significant developments in the russian parliament. >> just back up for a minute and tell us why is crimea so important for russia, and russian military presence there is allowed. why is this such an important spot. >> reporter: it is considered a very important spot, not the at least they have their plaque sea fleet there. they have a lot of russian ethnic citizen there is, many of womawhom hold dual passports. and there are a number of reasons why ukraine is central to russia's interest. not the at least of the pipeline that supplies natural gas and

runs through ukraine. losing crimea could be a crucial factor in the stability in ukraine. it's all wrapped up together. certainly moscow is very concerned about keeping ukraine within its sphere of influence. >> phil, thank you so much for keeping us updated. we turn now to jennifer glass we have seen forces built up over the last several days. i think things are more over vert. a lot of movement in the middle of the night. coming in and taking over the parliament building. that was overnight wednesday night and then two nights ago troops coming in to the airport here at a commercial airport.

all of those troops were in military uniform but had no identifying insignia. whether they were an army or worked for moscow or from somebody here. nobody knew who they were, but they're very well trained with military-grade weapons. i think we see things more overt and more clearly. they're manned by militias, crimeaens who are worried about what is happening here. they try to keep forces or activists coming in from kiev, pro opposition for activists coming in from kiev. whether the russian also reinforce those or keep the airports closed, we're not sure. >> you mentioned how worried the

crimeaens are, but how worried is the interim government in kiev right now? >> reporter: very concerned. as soon as this passed in moscow, in kiev they called together the security council and are meeting in the coming minutes to try to figure out what to do. it's a very young government in kiev. an awful lot of challenges in front of the economic challeng challenges. of course a human challenge with the military from russia authorizing the use of force not only in crimea, but also as you heard phil ittner say on the territory of ukraine. the country is eas earn eastern. you have 40% of the population is ethnic russian.

then you also have the black feet with forces with that. it's a complicated situation for the new government of kiev. only 48 hours old, facing a lot of challenges. and now this military challenge on top of it. and certainly must be a very, very worrying development. >> all right, jennifer glass joining us. thank you so much. and anyoning me now villa skyp--andjoining me now the newy appointed interior minister appointed in ukraine. what are you concerned about right now? >> yes, what is happening now from the ukraine. you see ukraine is not quite ready for military abrasion from

the russian. nobody thinks this would be happening because everybody is saying that russia is our friend. russia is family, etc. but what is happening now when putin asking to be parliament of russia to make this, and they say yes. going into crimea with th, ukrae is not a nuclear country. it was in 1994 when this umbrellas witagreement was sign. now russia has broken this agreement. we hope in the ukraine that the united kingdom to protect us from the russian regime. >> you say you hope the u.s. and

u.k. can protect you from invasion, but how exactly do you want them to go about insuring that protection? >> the next russian invasion, but right now there is no bloodshed which means that we could fix this the political way. we could try to fix it. yesterday the united nations collect and talking about crim crimea, it should take political steps to fix the situation. >> all right, thank you. joining us begin.

>> let's go back. >> it can--it is ready to take whatever measures it can, whatever measures it has. whatever resources it has at its disposal to keep ukraine in its orbit. >> we saw that president obama said yesterday that he was deeply concerned, and that there would be cause i cost if militay actions were taken. what do you think the u.s. should do? >> you can see right now it's a very disproportionate response in ukraine on the part of russia. the russian government has sent troops to ukraine, and at the same time what we hear from the u.s. currently is just public

rhetoric, and the idea that political actions would be taken to send a much stronger signal to russia, and indicate that it would turn into political pariah in the international community if it continues to act as it does now. >> the big question by nick schifrin said this government has been in place for 48 hours. do you think that the interim government in place now i exacty what they wanted. and this is now what seems to be a very serious threat. >> this is a big challenge by the interim government, but

part of ukraine for more than 50 years. and despite the heavy presence of russians, there wasn't any outbreak of violence and different ethnic groups managed to exist peacefully. >> the russian foreign ministry released a statement saying their troops were in fact in accordance to the law. but is that true? do they have a right to have troops on the ground? >> they have an agreement to have a navy base, but i don't think that the ukrainian government authorized russian troops the crimeaen area.

>> al jazeera libby casey giants us now from washington. libby, has there been any reaction from the white house to this latest move? >> good morning, morgan, not yet. we asked what the white house and state department for reaction, but you can threat are back channel conversations happening and planning going forward. now not issuing a statement may end up being its own strategic choice but i think we'll hear something from the white house later on today. what we're see something a classic tit for tat. even though putin has gotten authorization for use of military force, it's another if he'll go forward and do it. the white house has to be conscious of escalating. is this for the moment or long-range prospects for the ukraine. the president did issue a warning from the white house

yesterday evening. >> obama: we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the russian federation inside of ukraine. >> so you hear it there, morgan. the latest out of the white house. >> you libby, you said this is tit for tat, and they have to be conscious of he is studi escala. what does the president have in his arsenal of moves? what can he do next? >> i think first and most important is tarnishing president putin's image. we just have come off the winter olympics and he was trying to raise the image of himself and russia on the democratic stage. in addition to giving hits to president putin in terms of his might, his authority, and more

fists but his political, the president can threaten to pull out of the g-8 this summer. we'll see if this comes to fruition. that could be a weapon that the white house could use. that is scheduled to be in sochi. there are other things that the white house can do in terms of economic sanctions and things like that. but look to see an unified effort here so it's not just the u.s. versus russia. president putin has a lot riding on not just how he's viewed dimcally but how he's viewed militarily. he's looking to possess military force, and russia has been building up its military forces. this is a tough moment. there are two things happening that the u.s. has to be aware of. >> a tough moment that we are watching unmold before our very eyes. libby casey joining us from washington, d.c. libby always a pleasure to have you. hundreds of people were injured during the mass protest

at kiev's independent square. but one woman who was nearly shot to death caught the world's attention with a tweet. nick schifrin sat down with her. [♪ music ] >> in independent square they refuse to forget. below the stage that helped launch the revolution the shrine goes every day. these are the new government heroes. they call them the heavenly squad. nearly 100 people killed in the last ten days by police pull let's. this country, this city is still mourning. >> they didn't come here to listen to president yanukovych's first presence since leaving the

country. >> we all must i thank those what fell at the barricade. it's all because of them now. >> because of them last wednesday activist she walked into a massacre. she ran towards the bullets, towards the wounded. she traveled here from ten hours away. she is a volunteer nurse and knew she had to help. but then a sniper aimed at her. the bullet went straight through her neck. >> do you remember getting shot? >> yes. >> what do you remember? >> i remember everything, she says. in the ambulance she tweeted the words in ukrainian i am dying. >> when you were in th in the ambulance you took out your phone. why did you do that?

>> i was convinced i would day, so i wanted to say good buy. >> it was a miracle that she survived. it's a miracle she didn't lose her voice. now she pledges to return to independent square. >> the passions that were there, she says, they don't go away. >> i think she led people to leave that anything is possible. knowing that she is alive is unbelievable, and it gives people hope and belief that you must fight for what you believe in. >> 19-year-old daria is not afraid any more. she insists that yanukovych is no longer her president. >> with we now know that he's afraid. he's running away in any possible way. he's afraid. he now knows that we have so much power, and he does not any more. >> reporter: power because of those who fought and survived and those who didn't. h1ndidn't.

al jazeera kiev. >> coming up, rain and blood slides in california. and we have your forecast. you're watching al jazeera america.

>> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. here are your headlines.

president vladimir putin has authorized the use of force in the ukraine. and over in california heavy rains have brought mudslides but not much relief from their devastating drought. plus the secret service is leading an investigation into possible cyberattacks on sears, but so far they don't have much evidence. it is now four months where 40 million pieces of data were stolen. we'll show what you target has done since then. >> reporter: target wants to make its credit card smarter sooner. she hasn't used her target card or any credit card at target since the data breach. we told her about target's plans to change it to make store credit card transactions more secure. >> i think it's a good

improvement. anything they can do to make it safer the better. >> reporter: would you feel more comfortable using your credit card after that happens? >> yes. >> reporter: a lot of people have bee not felt comfortable shopping here period. it said it has put chip and pin technology in place with the idea target cards and card readers would be much safer this time next year. >> we are in the future now. things are improving. and for them to put like a chip in our card to prevent us from being hacked, i think that's a good idea. >> reporter: shopper matthew tran never noticed any fraud but soon after the breach target closed his red card account and sent him a new card. is all the money going t spent o

eliminate credit card fraud? >> it will reduce fraud at the terminal once they have chip and pin cards. >> reporter: an i.d. management and cyber security company in dallas watches for trends in cyberattacks. he said its likely hackers will find another way perhaps online. >> but if you're just shifting it from the physical card fraud, lowering that over to online fraud. then we've spent billions of dollars and shifted liability for potentially no real benefit. >> reporter: but retailers are aware of the online fraud potential and looking to step up online transaction as well. it will be a game of leapfrog between hackers and retailers

that won't end soon. >> thanks for watching, i'm morgan radford in new york city. we leave now with pictures from ukraine. >> hello and welcome. 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