>> good afternoon, and welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city. we have special coverage today of our top story. the growing crisis in ukraine. the russian parliament has approved president vladimir putin to authorize the force in ukraine. this comes in a scheduled referendum for increasing its

autonomy. for days we've seen armed men patrolling there. they're meeting to discuss their next step to discuss a mediation mission. the european union will address its discussion on monday. what are the people expecting from the russians? >> you know, as the news broke that the russians have authorized the use of force, there is celebration here 60% of the population is ethnic russian, and they feel that the russians are protecting them. they felt a lot of unease about what is going on in kiev. they've been watching television reports for months calling the now government thieves, thugs, fascists. they have created roadblocks to protect themselves from these people.

and we have seen armed men and their military uniforms with no distinguishing insignificant knee i can't iininsignificaninst building until a few hours ago. a lot going on here. and now with russia authorizing force, russia, of course, crimea with 15,000 russian forces. already in the region now they have authorization from the parliament to move around here. move around more freely. i think we may see more of them on the streets and certainly more open. >> reporting live for us from ukraine. jennifer, thank you for being with us. meanwhile over in kiev political leaders have been criticizing what they call russian

provocation. al jazeera's tim friend gives us an over view. >> reporter: now the tension is rising not just in crimea but elsewhere in ukraine. pro russian supporters turned out in large numbers. first it was peaceful. then there were clashes. pro european demonstrators who had been occupying a local government building were on fronted by rival groups. there were reports of beatings. the crisis in the country has stirred up new anger in the east against kiev. >> what used to be the soviet union. that's what we demand, and that's why we are here. >> it was a take over of the ukraine, now we have come here for justice so that russia will be the legal successor to the soviet union. we want to be back in the soviet

union. >> reporter: in the capitol the new ukraine met in emergency session to discuss the russian backed in crimea. a disproportionate russian presence in the territory of crimea is nothing but a provocation. we clearly understand that the plan was to create a new assertion with civil war, blood. >> reporter: president putin asked parliament to formalize russian troops on ukrainian soil. meanwhile many mourn the deaths from independent square.

where many were killed is now the blanket of flowers. the ninth day of mourning. now its events 800 kilometers away in crimea are worrying the people here. tim friend, al jazeera, kiev. >> let's go now life to phil ittner in moscow. russia seems to be using the crisis in ukraine to take back crimea. where is crimea so important to them? >> well, first and foremost, morgan, there is that naval base in crimea. and where the black sea fleet is based is particularly important for russian military might because that gives them access through the black sea through the mediterranean and out into the wider world. strategically military taylor it is important but it's important in terms of economic terms and in terms of where russia sees

itself a as a power block bloc. without ukraine, it's one of the major and biggest parts of what would be vladimir putin's vision. >> it's important in terms of trade. but they have asked to remove russian ambassador to the u.s. what is russia saying to that? >> they've asked to get rid of the russian ambassador, recall the russian ambassador to the united states particularly intriguing development. all of this conflict has actually been started between the e.u. brussels and russia. but clearly there are those elements within the russian establishment, within the government and the parliament here that still holds resentment towards america as the old cold war foe. it's a strange move to shift this from what started as a

conflict between europe and russia over to washington. >> speaking of that resentment we asked jennifer glass a moment ago what people in crimea's expectation from the russian military, but from your end what is moscow's role if military is deployed? >> well, russian public opinion is in lock step with vladimir putin. they are hearing much about what they call nationalist fascist and even nazis have been used to describe the standing government in kiev right now. they feel that kiev has been or ukraine has really seen a coup d'etat by forces propped up by the west, and those are elements that contain some pretty extremist views in russia's opinion. so they see themselves as protecting a broader russia. they see themselves as protecting russian citizens within crimea. there is no lack of public

support here in russia for what is potentially going to happen if the military rolls in to crimea. >> phil ittner joining us live from moscow. thank you for being with us this afternoon. always a pleasure. earlier i spoke to ukrainian ambassador to u.n. and i asked about his reaction to the latest development. >> what happened today in russian parliament could be qualified as severe violation of united nations charter. and will be judged by the international community on international law as an act of aggression. still instead entering easter, instead of praying for us they threatening to kill us.

we're asking christian leader in russia not to perform this crime. >> and the white house meanwhile has warned russia against any military intervention. libby casey joins us live from washington. libby, has there been any reaction from the white house to this latest move? >> reporter: not publicly today, morgan. it's been quiet at the white house. the white house press office has called a lunch lid telling reporters they can stand down until at least 5:00 p.m. don't expect to see the president over the next couple of hours. defense secretary chuck hagel, chairman of the joint chief, head of c.i.a. and national security were seen leaving the white house this afternoon. last night president obama did issue a warning to russia. >> obama: the united states will stand with the international community in affirming there will be costs for any military intervention in ukraine. >> note that use of the word international community. we are seeing more responses

come from that international body. we saw the e.u. come out today and say ukraine's sovereignty should be respected, also the head of n.a.t.o. the white house looking to garner support, and really isolate russia, make it the unified world body, the collective against russia. but the white house has to be very careful about what happens next. because we're essentially in a tit for tat. as the white house calculates its next move it needs to think about how it will proceed and how president putin will react. we are seeing other reactions hire in washington including from republican center john mccain, he put out a statement today expressing deep concern for russia's military intervention or potential for that military intervention. he's calling on president obama to explain exactly what costs may have to come to bear. his statement says, i call on president obama to rally our european and n.a.t.o. allies to

make clear what costs russia will face for its aggression and to impose those consequences without further delay. senator mccain calling for specifics. >> what is next in trying to isolate russia as you mentioned, what comes next. what options does president obama have in front of him on the table? >> well, we've talked about the lack of interest in american polls putting any boots on the ground in places around the world, and president obama had made a red line when the issue was syria, a line in the sand, so don't expect to see any talk of boots on the ground in any sense. the first weapon in essence that president obama can yield is to make president putin look bad, someone who cannot hold power or hold a strong diplomatic stage which could be detrimental after the winter olympics. you may see president obama

moving forward, the white house not attending the g-8 summit this summer in sochi. there is a lot of paper threats or conversational threats at this time. >> we'll see what happens after 5:00. libby casey, washington, d.c. always a pleasure. spokesman for secretary general ban ki-moon smoke just moments ago and announced that the secretary general will speak with russian president vladimir putin. >> the secretary general reiterates his call for the full respect for and preservation of the independence sovereignty and territorial integrity of ukraine. he calls for an immediate restoration of calm and direct dialogue for all concerned to solve the current crisis. they wilthe secretary general we speaking with president vladimir

putin.

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america's war workers only on al jazeera america >> the crimea peninsula home to russian's black sea fleet is part of ukraine. but for more than three centuries it has been lynched to russia. katherine the great conquered the tatars. >> the majority of crimea residents, 58%, are ethnic russians. before his ouster ukrainian president viktor yanukovych signed a deal with russia to keep the fleet in crimea. >> the black sea fleet has been

the pride of the russian navy since peter the great founded it. it is the flagship literally so to speak of the russian navy. it is a point of pride to have is based there. it's not necessary military tayloilyfor them. i think it would be a very severe blow to russian pride to have to do that. >> russia is determined to maintain it's historic influence on ukraine. it was russia t that joined ukraine part of the soviet union. the ussr broke up in 1991 clearing the way for ukraine to gain independence while still seeking elusive national unity. >> joining us now with more from washington, d.c. is james, deputy director of the american

institute in the ukraine. james, as we speak the united nations security council is having an emergency meeting on the ukrainian crisis. what do you expect the security council to do next? >> nothing much, of course, the russians have a veto in the security council. whether the chinese will support them or abstain, i don't see any prospect for resolution that would have the unanimous suppot of the members or result in any action regarding ukraine. >> if they can't resolve any action, if there is any real attack from the russian forces is the interim government in ukraine, only 48 hours old. >> they do not accept th the

interim government as a legitimate government in ukraine, and in large part they're saying, look, we're intervening to support the local population. we have an agreement about the status of the russian fleet there, and the legitimate president of the ukraine in moscow's eyes, mr. yanukovych, has been driven from power by a group of people who frankly did this by violence. i think in terms of the legitimacy of the criticism of russian intervention it puts the united states in particular and rather difficult position. you look at libya, iraq, the 1999 kosovo war that has bothered a lot of people in russia a lot, the united states did not always respect the territory. >> we heard from u.s. lawmakers

such as senator mccain condemn what he calls the russian intervention in ukraine. do you think this in any way changes the way president obama views this issue? >> i don't think so. i think he's proceeding very carefully to this point. but now the chicken has turned to roost. why are the russians turning this into an american problem rather than an european problem, i think they saw an american hand behind the push for total victory of the opposition over yanukovych to undermine any compromised solution to the political crisis in ukraine that ran from november until february. and now having pushed for this total victory in ukraine, now what are you going to do with it, and what kind of government can you form? how much control can you exercise over ukraineed certificate tore and we're seeing the answer of not very much.

>> it's coming into question. just days ago it looked like the opposition protesters in kiev had the upper hand. we had yanukovych. he was running away. we saw tymoshenko come out in her wheelchair to throngs of people who were celebrating her realization. but the question is can they really take that for granted? is progress really a sign of a total win? >> i think that victory as it appeared at the time damaged the credibility of the ukrainian state to a much greater extent than may have been recognized at the time. remember, the people on the street are still there. some of their leaders have said in so many words that if this new government that we put into power doesn't meet our expectations we will drive them out just the same way out just the same way w we drove out yanukovych.

when you have people at independent square with molotov cocktails, you have a problem. >> hundreds of people were injured in the mass protest in kiev at independent square. but one woman who was nearly shot to death captured the world with a tweet. then she became a symbol for protesters. >> reporter: in independent square they refuse to forget. below the stage that helped launch the revolution the shrine grows every day. these are the new government's heroes. they call them the heavenly squad. nearly 100 people killed in the last ten days by police bullets. this country, this city is still mourning. they didn't come here to listen to president yanukovych's first

press conference since fleeing the country. they came here to honor those who died to oppose him. >> we all most thank those people who fought at the barricade. it's all because of them now. >> because of them. last wednesday activists with flimsy shields walked into a massacre. and she ran towards the bullets, towards the wounded. she traveled from ten hours away. she is a volunteer nurse, and she knew that she had to help. but then a sniper aimed at her. the bullet went right straight through her neck. >> do you remember getting shot? >> i remember everything, she says. in the ambulance she tweeted the words in ukrainian i am dying.

it went viral. she became a symbol of sacrifice. >> when you were in the ambulance, you took out your phone. why did you do that? >> i was convinced i would die, she says, so i wanted to say good buy. it was a miracle she survived. it was a miracle she didn't lose they are voice. and now she pledges to return to independent square. >> the passions that were there, she says, they don't go away. >> i think she gave people the belief that anything is possible knowing that she is alive is unbelievable. that gives people hope and belief that you must fight for what you believe in. >> thanks to people like her, 19-year-old daria isn't afraid any more. she insists that yanukovych is no longer her president. >> we all know he's afraid. he's running away in an impossible way. he now knows that we have so

much power, and he does not any more. >> power because of those who fought and survived. and those who didn't. nick schifrin, al jazeera kiev. >> still ahead a look at some of the other top stories we're following for you today, including federal investigators trying to determine if sears was hacked. i must begin my journey,

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>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city taking a look now at some of the other stories making news today. china state media reports 27 people are dead after mass stabbings at a train station. a report says that a group of men armed with knives burst into the train station and started stabbing people. 109 people are reported injured. after the attack the government is calling the stabbings a terrorist attack. the pakistani taliban has

agreed to an one-month cease-fire with the government. spokesman for the taliban said the truce is towards a row surviving a piece talks with the government. talks fell through last month as pakistan stepped up attacks on taliban areas in the northwest of the country. the retail giant sears said its reviewing the company system to see if it has been falle falm to a data breach. so far they have not found a breach at sears or k-mart. the secret service is conducting that investigation. and heavy rains have caused flooding and mudslides in southern california in hills stripped by wildfires just weeks ago are now in danger of mudslides. this outside of l.a. where evacuations have been ordered, and the rains are expected to last through today before moving east to the rocky mountains. we have a look at the weekend forecast. what's happening out west?

>> meteorologist: it's been incredibly busy. we have heavy rain in the areas you were just showing around glendora and back towards azusa, california. it will continue to push on floor, this evening bringing on the heavy rain and a threat of damaging wind in addition to a bit of hail. we had a tornado warning. eboni told you about that earlier, but now we're just dealing with gusting winds as that pressure of the storm makes its way onshore. and heavy rain all the way from san diego to los angeles, and we have the warnings in effect. we have the storms that push through the east coast. it will push quite a bit of snow towards portions of the mid-atlantic. we have storm warnings back toward indianapolis. it will be a very slow go. you can see those warnings shifting towards the ohio

valley. you can see areas of pink and blue. that is a winter storm warning. a couple of factors contributing to the system. we have an arctic frontal boundary. that storm out east with the frontal boundary and that storm is going to ride the conveyer belt full of moisture to portions of the central plains through the ohio valley. that's the reason why we have those warnings in effect. he want to watch out out there, the areas in green are the areas looking at the flood warnings through this evening and really through tomorrow. i think the oscars, though, is going to dry out in time for the oscars. that frontal boundary is going to shift to the east. we have a nasty ice storm under way here. really with that warmer milder air pushing out of the southeast. we also see the threat for tornado outbreak possibly throughout portions of eastern texas and the mississippi tomorrow.

morgan, back to you. >> thank you so much. and thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford in new york city. and "fault line" is coming up next. for more news all throughout the day you can always head over to www.aljazeera.com. don't go anywhere. traveled to libya, as forces fought to overthrow moammar gadhafi, in the unrest that was sweeping the arab world. now, benghazi is a by-word for political scandal, after the murder of an american ambassador in 2012. >> i cannot imagine sending folks out to benghazi, after what we saw, from the security cameras and the drones. >> mistakes were made. >> and i said that what benghazi