this says al jazerra america, i an job than betz live in new york. ukraine's army on high alert. russia's parliament gives vladimir putin the go-ahead to send in troops. >> it is time for the russian intervention in ukraine to end. >> united nations security council meets in an emergency session to discuss the cries let ukraine. >> i am stephanie stanton in glendora, california, where heavy rains are putting this neighborhood under the threat of mudslides. also inside the home of mexican drug lohr joaquin guzman, how he was able to avoid the law for so long. ♪

♪ tonight fierce of growing ukraine could be on the brink of war with russia. ukraine has put its armed force on his high alert this weekend and is warning russia any military intervention will lead to conflict. >> translator: preserve peace and stability here in ukraine any aggressors or those provoking the situation do not have the right to intervene in internal affairs. >> at this hour russian soldiers remain in control of ukraine's southern region of crimea. today the parliament i'm proved president putin's request to use force. the united nations had a special meet to go discuss this crisis. they are calling for u.n. to observe. president obama spoke to putin earlier toed urging him to withdraw his troops from

ukraine. in the southern part that have country reu rus rush has ceased. crimea. >> reporter: the crimea prime minister asked hospital could you for help and he's getting. russia's decision authorize force in ukraine came as a surprise to much of the world. here in crimea at least, it's welcome news to many. jubilation in the crimean capital. the russians are coming. the as moscow endorsed the use of force, he would anything russians that are the majority here took to the streets. sporting the russian flag. >> translator: they are our protectors. there will be no military clashes she tells me. they are just here to guarantee our safety. >> reporter: beneath the statue of communist leader vladimir len up, russian and soviet military flags. the bonds are close here. crimea was part of russia until

1954. the only ukrainian autonomous republic has a new pro russian prime minister who moved quickly to take control. >> translator: i have decided to temporarily take command of all national forces. the interior ministry, the armed forces, the navy, tax and border control, all commanders should take orders from me only. those who disagree, please resign. >> reporter: that scares crimea's minority population. many of their ancestors were deported by stalin in 1944. >> it's i the first time in modn history that we have lived under search be cans, they have taken over military bases and civil institutions that's why crimean society is in fear. >> reporter: pro russian demonstrators dragged government supporters from city hauled and raised the russian flag there. much of the population opposed the take over of the government in kiev last week.

in key he feel. former opposition leader now presidential candidate vitale klischko appealed for calm. >> translator: i urge everybody, no provocations, no calls for accept rah tim. no violence, no an aircraft, legal and december craig authorities are formed in ukraine now. all who love their country and responsibility and citizen conscience have to show their unity. >> reporter: at a military airport a possible worrying sign of things to come. men in camouflage came and damaged the ukrainian communications equipment. one mystery solved. the men in uniform who have taken over airports and other strategic places here are crimean riot police, intelligence forces, security personnel and some officers of russia's black sea fleita cord to go the crimean deputy director. >> reporter: there are some wondering who russian boots on the ground will mean for their future and what is still, at least, for now, ukraine. >> jennifer glasse there in crimea. we'll have an in dipth look at

the region later in the show at 6:30 eastern tone. meanwhile, ukraine's capitol of kiev some of the activists who hemmed bring the new government for power are now mobilizing for war. our nick schifrin is live in independence square where this crisis began several months ago. nick, what are you seeing there tonight? >> reporter: jonathan, it is really interesting. there is a sense that this government might not be up to the task and so we have been talking to lots of the activist who his did help launch what they call a revolution, did help clear this square of all of the police who were trying to clear it of activists being including one group of afghan veterans who people whose war end 20 year old ago, they are ukrainian and fought again president yanukovych in the last round and saying they will fight russia in this round. they were supposed to have a press conference tonight, that's been delayed until tomorrow. they say that they are going to fight russia if they need to. another group, the right ex-sex

tour, also says the same thing. they led these protests and are quite militant. i was in their hotel today and there were aq47s everywhere, men wearing sunglasses inside the hotel. very shady looking frankly. but they are a secretive group, very militant, very ready to face russia. and there is a real fear that the government simply isn't ready. there are only about 48 hours old. you heard the president earlier today, saying that they are mobilizing for, you heard the prime minister saying that we will cut off relations with russia and all of that was echoed by another cabinet minister i spoke to a couple of hours ago she said, look, we want the diplomacy to work, but sometimes we feel we have no choice. >> translator: there can be no diplomacy with putin. we can remember the example of georgia. russia spread information in such a way to make georgia the enemy. as a result, they stole part of georgia. with putin and yanukovych there can be no diplomacy.

we have no choice but to defend our country ourselves. >> reporter: and so clearly the government getting ready for war rhetorically is it actually ready to send in troops? that's a different story and we don't know the answer to that yet. >> we'll see what happens there. nick schifrin live in keif tonight, thank you. as we mentioned today russia's president vladimir putin got permission from parliament to send troops to ukraine. let's go live now to phil in moscow and phil, it does not seem that russia is willing to back down at this point. >> reporter: no, jonathan, absolutely not. you know, all along in this crisis over ukraine there has been talk of this divide between east and west. and certainly we have seen the west trying to find a solution in ukraine, but equally, of course, equally in russia are trying to find a solution as well but one that suits their interests. a day after russia warned russia not to intervene in ukraine,

this was moscow's next move. >> translator: russian federation council votes to, first, approve president vladimir putin's proposal to use the russian troops on the territory of ukraine until the socio political situation in this country stabilizes. secondly it's effective on the day of its adoption. >> reporter: it took less than an hour for russia's parliament to debate and vote to authorize force in ukraine, not just crimea. western powers responded quickly. in britain the foreign secretary william haug summoned the russian ambassador and expressed his concern. >> the united kingdom is very concerned about the escalation of tensions in the craw inner particularly in the crimea and particularly about the decision of the russian parliament this afternoon to authorize military action in ukraine without the consent of the ukrainian authorities. this is potentially a grave

threat to the independence, the sovereignty and the territory think integrity of ukraine. >> reporter: the e.u. said it would hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers to also discuss a response. the russian decision does not call for military action, but does clear it if president putin decides to act. the legal reasoning sites a number of clauses within agreements between ukraine and russia. as well as the russian constitution. that legal framework was drawn up after the fall of the soviet union, primarily to protect the navel base. an essential part of russia's military. russian public opinion is strongly in favor of supporting the russian efforts against the new government in kiev, seen here by many as extremists. now, jonathan, after they made that vote in the russian parliament on whether or not to at least authorize the use of military use, they further took another swipe at the west and in

particular the united states they said that they would urge vladimir putin and took a vote to urge vladimir putin to withdraw the russian ambassador to the u.s. nobody expect that will happen. but it's a clear indication of how the two sides between the west and russia are becoming increasingly frayed over this issue you of ukraine. jonathan. >> strong messages without question. fill it's never live for us moscow tonight, thank you. the u.n. security council gathered for an emergency meeting james bays has been following this i have give us an indication of what we heard from the u.n. today. >> reporter: i think the first thing to remark is on the fact that we heard it. because there was an open session of the u.n. security council, originally it was supposed to be a closed session. and there was for the first hour before the cameras were allowed in an argument about whether it should be open or not.

the russians didn't want an open session but the you rain vinnie ambassador asked for it to be open and the western countries were pushing in the end the russian ans a out it. what would heard was deadlock. i think now although there will be further meetings there will not be much action by the security council. and i think that's for one of the very basic reasons russia. they are being condemned by the security council. yet the security council can't take action because russia is one of the permanent members of the security council and that means it has a veto on any action. >> and so, james, let's talk about that further. so aside from these strong statements, what is the recourse of the united nations. if russia has the veto power, what else could they do to try

to leverage against russia and try to encourage them and influence them to align more with the west? >> reporter: well, the u.n. will do various things. the u.n. secretary general man ki-moon like president obama has been speaking to president putin, he's obviously been on the phone for much of the afternoon president putin because again he was told by the u.n. secretary general he's gravely concerned about the situation. he has a special representative who is there in the ukraine robert, who he wanted to send to crimea to try to diffuse the situation. when he tried to get there he was told by the crimean authorities that he couldn't travel there. there will be somest to his at least get a u.n. mediator to crimea to discuss the situation going fore worl fore goad. they are going to go different routes and i think you need to look in the next 24 hours to brussels and nato which will be meeting in an emergency session. >> being on, our james bays live

for us tonight at the u.n., thank you for that. we also want to go now to libby casey, she is standing by in washington with more on all of this because obviously president obama and president putin spoke by phone earlier today. libby, can you give us a little bit more of an indication of what those two leaders said to each other. >> reporter: jonathan a 90-minute phone call. that is a whopping long conversation. so that in and of itself is noteworthy. the white house says president obama expressed deep concern over what the white house is calling russia's clear violation of ukraine sovereignty and a breach of international law. those are all important phrases because it shows how seriously the white house is taking russia's actions. president obama condemned intervention of any sort in to ukrainian territory. the read out of the phone call says that, it says the united states calls on russia to deescalate tensions by withdrawing its forces. also says going forward, russia's continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation.

president obama says, according to the white house that, this would also impact russia's standing in the international community. so the white house trying to align itself with other international countries also international bodies in triangulating and trying to isolate russia and put president putin in a poor diplomatic light. president obama has not been seen today exempt for a picture that was tweeted out of him making that phone call. but we did see him in person yesterday when he issued a warning to russia. >> the united states will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in ukraine. >> reporter: again, that phrase international community president obama trying to show that this is not justify the u.s. versus russia but there is a broader coalition that's at play here jonathan. >> he said there would be costs for russia but did not say what the costs would be. any indication of what could be on the table here for the united states? >> reporter: the president's maths the security team met

today behind closed doors, a lot of discussions happening about just what the repercussions could be. and there are members of congress who are calling on president obama to be more specific in what the costs would actually feel like. and taste like for president putin. one thing that the white house made clear the u.s. will suspend upcoming participation in the g8 summit. so this early stage of planning for this summit that's supposed to be held in sochi, russia in june, the white house is suspending that initial phase of participation. when you look at other threats, though, you can look at potential economic tolls, the white house may end up at some point looking at scuttling trade deals or potential agreements with russia. they can also go after key players in russia or in parts of the eastern ukraine hierarchy. they can try to take economic sanctions or hurt them personally which may end up having a broader ripple effect. but the white house only has so much power at this moment unless he wanthey want to get out the g

guns and trent military intervention and that's not everyone being talked about the at all at this moment. >> how much is it in the u.s.' interest to actually intervene in ukraine and russia's affairs. >> reporter: the question is what does intervene mere? are we talking about diplomatic. sanctions. one weapon that the u.s. has making president putin look back on the world stage, russia is coming off the olympics a moment for that country skpreu president paout town shine. the whites house can make him look back about talking about diplomatic failings on behalf of the russian russians and try foe russia in to a corner against a lot of the rest of the international community. but just how much the white house wants to push on this really remained to be seen. the president has not yet drawn that i so to speak lines in the sand or crossing the red line, we heard that language used in terms of syria. and the white house ended up having to sort of walk around those lines once they had already been drawn think so we are not hearing that language at this point. >> libby casey live in washington today.

thank you. let's go now to london where alexander is standing by for us. a former kremlin adviser, we spoke with him last week and he's joining us again on the show this week, thank you for being with us. i first want to get your reaction to the recent developments russian soldiers in crimea. president putin asking for the authority to use military force in ukraine. what do you think is happening here? >> well, first of all i must say that the west and the people who have seized power in kiev have badly misjudged the reaction in russia to what is happening in ukraine. they thought that they can just take power, dispose of the legally elected president and then gradually take control over the whole of ukraine eastern part as well, which is seen as pro russian and crimea as well. well, it didn't happen. and what is happening now is that we see protests in the east

against the interim regime in kiev and we also see the people in crimea where about 60% are russian speakers, actually saying that we don't want to be part of that new game. and i think that was a big, big mistake made by the new interim regime and their western backers. that is why we are now seeing -- >> and so but i want to get the question. the big question obviously is do you believe russia is going to go to war with ukraine over crimea? >> at the moment, the only part of crimea which has stability is -- sorry, the only part of ukraine which has stability is crimea. if you see even the news footage or talk to people there, they will tell you that they welcome the presence of russian troops who at least provide stability. whereas if you look at the other parts of ukraine, it's inning stability, uncertainty, nobody really knows what to do. we also see the central interim

government in panic because they have no money, they were expecting to receive money very quickly after they take power, they are not having it. so now they have to basically create a crisis. there is no other way for them. and as regards to the russian position on crimea, i don't understand why we are talking about war all the time. >> because russian soldiers are there, they have ceased control of the airports that's why we are talking about war and the president asked for the authority. >> yes, but the russian soldiers were there everyone before the crazies erupted. >> but they weren't pa together seeds and controlling airports. >> they can do that that's stated in the agreement between the two countries if their base is under danger. so what we are having here now is that the situation has gotten out of control for the interim government in kiev. and so the western leaders like president obama and others are trying to sort of whip up this

frenzy about a possible war and what is even more interesting they are saying or hinting that there will be a cost for russia. let me just and a hypothetical question, what is it that they can do about it? there is not threatening iraq or syria or libya, this is talking to a nuclear super power. i don't really understand those threats. and if we go further, by the way, russia is not doing -- discussing publicly what it can do to america for example, releasing billions and billions of their i.o.u.s in to the markets and flooding them and america finding it self in trouble. but they are not saying this. so this is what is important here, take a stick back, guys, i would say to western leaders, think what you are saying, you are inflating tensions now, not russia. it's quite remarkable this rhetoric and especially the coverage. nobody for example in the west are saying that there are

meetings of thousands of people on the streets of eastern ukraine cities who are demanding that the new so-called regime steps down. that it's illegal. but nobody is covering that. nobody is saying that. the country is now split. the reason why it's split is because these people who are now running the show in kiev, or at least thinking they are running the show, and the west, have undermined the delicate balance that existed ukraine. once this balance was undermined, and iraq by the way is the same situation, once it's undermined we have a situation, a crisis and it's very difficult to predict what is going to ham. okay, alex -- >> this will happen in kiev. that destabilized the country. and another question, the security council was very quick to call a session to discuss this situation in ukraine. why didn't it hold an emergency session when armed protesters started killing police in kiev?

that was a time to do this. but they didn't. now they do it now when they have those interim government in kiev which is not even recognized by many sides in this country. so this all looks like total chaos and i think everybody needs to step back. everybody needs to think what they are saying. >> okay. >> we'll leave it at that. >> and president obama did -- we are runsing out of time i appreciate your thoughts and perspective on this. a former kremlin adviser talking to us from london today, we appreciate it. you can always get more updates on aljazerra.com. the door opened wouldn't of el chapo's secret right aways.

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protesters are holding rallies across turkey today. following the release of wire taps in which the prime minister

allegedly tells husband son of how to dispose of large amounts of cash. he has been dogged by corruption allegations since september. he says the tapings are fake and an attack on his administration. anti-government demonstrators called for him to resign. egypt's government since 2011 -- sixth government since 2011 was called in to be sworn in today. this was a limited reshuffle widely seen as politically motivated. al sisi is still in charge of the government. more protests in venezuela, hundreds marched in the streets of valencia the third largest city. demonstrators accused the government of human rights abuses in its previous crack down of protesters. 18 people killed in student-led protests since february 12ing. frosts are angry over 56% inflation, food shortages and runaway violent crime. still ahead on al jazerra america, what's at strike in

ukraine think we'll tell you why russia is determined to control crimea. >> reporter: and i am stephanie stanton no again doerr, a california where heavy rains are put this is neighborhood under a constant threat of mudslides. and the nba cracks down on the masks man. lebron james has to change his costume.

♪ ♪ welcome back to al jazerra america, here say look at your top stories this half hour. ukraine's army is shia letter after russia seized control of the crimean peninsula, ukrainian is warning russia any military intervention will lead to conflict of the u.n. security council held a special meeting to discuss the crisis. up observed have been deployed

to ukraine. president obama spoke to vladimir putin today he urged the russian lead tore withdraw his troops from ukraine, he said russia reserves the right to protect russians inside the ukraine. let's look at why so crimea is so important to russia. it's an autonomous republic wih it's own parliament. until 1950 it was officially a part of russia for which it is separated by narrow stretch of water. rare uh-huhs been in its black sea for 200 years. today armed men are in control of the airports and the regional parliament building. lawrence lee has more. >> reporter: how much has changed between thursday and saturday here. then a smallish crowd of protesters outside parliament. now the building guarded by armed troops and the same civilians issue you orders. go back, be gone. they enjoy this power.

it isn't just the parliament building and parliament itself which have been lost to kiev. the blockades have spread to places like the police and security services headquarters. overnight, the state tv channel was plunged in to darkness. we saw military figures inside the perimeter. the airport and apparently air space also controlled by people who want to keep ukraine's influence out of here. everyone on civilian flights. these things don't look like a random series of coincidences. political institutions, state television, airports, military installations, moscow would describe all of these things as that sting i ca strategic objecu can control them, you can control events. could it be that moscow wants to use the ukrainian crisis as an opportunity to take back crimea. as if to emphasize the point the new pro russian prime minister here announced that he had taken control of the a whole raft the

minister is ranging from border control, the navy to tax. and if people in charge of those things didn't like it, he said, they could resign. >> translator: recognizing my responsibility with the lives and safety of the people i call upon russia's president vladimir putin to offer assistance in providing peace and order in the territory of the autonomous republic of crimea. >> reporter: of course presence plenty of people like all of this. all these people said they would lover it if moscow started handing out russian passports. as they did in breakaway regions of georgia. >> translator: all of us are russians, we kept our documents because this our souls we are russians. but we had to accept ukrainian paspassports in order to get a pension or to work. >> reporter: but the speed of all of this has left others terrified. at this ukrainian church they were holding a seven he is for those killed protesting in kiev now they see troop movement here

a lack of government control and they are frightened. >> translator: we wake up in the morning and don't know what will happen before the day end. every day brings surprises. we are very worried. >> reporter: and we found these crimean people defending their own tv channel with sticks. >> putin gave these orders it's impossible the head of state doesn't know he's inning tim at this timintimidatinganother cou. they were already on the border just looking for a reason. >> reporter: rushing a is ridiculous to claim they are invading a place where they already have a military presence and not at all strange to want to claim a place which historically belonged to them. lawrence lee, al jazerra, crimea. >> joining us from washington with more on this is james the deputy director of the american institute in yo ukraine, thank u james for being with us again. >> thank you.

>> i am curious of your thoughts. we heard from a for former kremlin adviser today repeating russia's concerns that the west has caused all of this. they have stoked the fires there in ukraine and encouraged the protesters to overthrow president yanukovych's government and that a lot of russians within the ukraine are not happen by it and like russia's movement. what do you say to that? >> well, i think that there are people in ukraine who are not happy about the events in kiev that don't consider themselves russians who simply consider themselves russian-speaking ukrainians in the east and south country outside of crimea. these are the people who put mr. yanukovych in office and i don't think they like the idea at all that a group of people can assembly in kiev, primarily from the west, and throw the president they voted for out of office. consider how blue states in this country would feel if a crowd of tea partyers stormed the white house and the congress and drove president obama out of offers. i think that's onish.

>> you so considering that do you think it's fair to russia to do what it's doing to say they are trying to protect the interest of its people there? and trying to insure that the country remains secure? and they want to make sure that both sides in this debate are heard? >> i think the statements that the security council today clarified quite a bit what the russians in particular are thinking. i don't think -- i can't rea rut yoout. i don't think they are thinking primarily in h terms of detoo muchintoomuching and reunited t. the ambassador is quite clear what he wanted to do is go back to the agreement of february 21st, where president yanukovych had agreed to form in essence a coalition government with the opposition running the prime minister ship and most of the cabinet departments. that would promote a national unity government. that never happened. almost immediately after the agreement was signed, the opposition claimed then to be in

control, total control of key and every mr. yanukovych was gone. >> are we passed that? is that a real possibility that perhaps the earlier deal that was struck between the opposition movement and the government, that obviously fell apart. that we could go back to that point? >> you know, i really don't know. it sounds like a very tall order and it may sound implausible, but then you ask what is the alternative? is the al tif alternative the un military going to challenge the russians what kind of response can we expect from the united states and europe. i don't see a lot of good options but i see a lot of dangerous options. >> what can the united states do without honestly sending forces in to ukraine? >> well, i can't think of anybody who would ahea advocate something like that. and quite clearly, things like canceling the g8 in sochi are not going to have much impact on things either. meanwhile, ukraine will continue to be in economic free fall.

nothing passes the last test as a functioning government in kiev. so other than a negotiation that tries to balance differences of opinion within ukraine and interests of outside actors like the european union and russia, i don't see what alternative there is but get bag being to the negotiating table. >> do you get the impression that russia is serious about negotiating? i know you think that's what they are implying when they speak to the u.n. but when you look at the soldiers they have deployed, when you look at vladimir putin's efforts to get the authorization to sends more soldiers there, does that not raise the concern that indeed russia may be willing to take a part of ukraine? >> i think that possibility exists but i honestly don't think that is their major object tich right now. i think they did look on with a great deal of consternation over what they regarded as an illegal take over in kiev that mr. yanukovych who frankly mr. fight unis not particularly fond of is still the legitimate president. i think they looked at that and

say, all right then, we will make this counter move. we will see effective control of crimea, now let's talk. >> do you worry that other world leaders are not taking it as serious as they should. a lot people didn't expects this to happen where we are root right now. >> i don't think they took it as seriously, there was an element of irresponsible glee, if you will, over the change of at least superficial change of government in kiev. okay, we win, you lose. we are now in charge. the russians just have to accept this. and maybe they didn't adequately take in to account that moscow had other ideas. >> okay, james with the american institute of ukraine. thank you for a perspective tonight. >> thank you. and we'll keep updated on this situation, we'll have the latest at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight. mourners held funerals today for police officers held in bomb

blasts. they were guarding polio workers. the first roadside bomb targeted an escort vehicle injuring six people but killing no one, moments late a second explosion killing officers dispatched to provide from the first bomb. 28 people killed in what the chinese government call a terrorist attack. ambushing riders in a train station in china. slashing them with knives, killing 28 and hurting more than 100. police say they did kill five of the attackers, but another five escaped. he evaded capture for more than 13 years, and now we can see how he did it. mexican police are investigating the homes of drug lord joaquin guzman known as el chapo. they found underground tunnels collecting his many houses all located in middle class neighborhoods. the entrances to the passage ways were hidden under bathtubs.

guzman was arrested on february 22nd, david mercer from al jazerra visited one of those homes. >> reporter: we have seen? pretty strong reactions here over the past week since the arrest of el chapo. , in fax, there is a demonstration that's being organized, a march i should say that's being organized by a group called sin low ans for peace they want to show that not everybody is in favor of the work, let's say, that el chapo has been doing here in the state. and this is in direct response to a march that happened a few days ago on wednesday. where thousands of people showed enough support of el chapo, carrying signs, give me a baby. people were saying how much security he had actually brought to the region and how much economic benefit he had brought to people here. they were waiting to see this

march happen today and to show that not everybody is in support of el chapo here. the questions everybody has been asking is what exactly will change with the arrest of el chapo? security, drug security analysts are saying that the trafficking of drugs is not going to slow down. that the infrastructure, drug inning from structure here in sinaloa is so strong. it will not slow down the flow of drugs going north. as well there is a lot of economic activity that depends on the drug trafficking. and that probably we are not going to see dissipate any time soon. within of the things that people are worried about right now is what's going to happen as people vie for leadership of the sinaloa cartel. if there will be violence associated with that. if there will be some sort of violent take over. and if people are going to be seeing blood in the streets as that shuffle for highest position starts to happen. >> david mercer in mexico today. officials in montana say

rogue snowboarder may have caused an avalanche that sent three people to the hospital. an emergency personnel say another avalanche is possible. last night about 100 people in missoula joined a frantic search for an elderly cup and a young boy. they were buried when an an last swept down a mountain near their home. they were all found and taken to the hospital. the older man is in critical condition. southern california is mopping up after heavy rains and facing the possibilities of mudslides on mountains recently hit by wildfires, our stephanie stanton is live in glendora where evacuations have been ordered. >> reporter: how large are the evacuations out there, stephanie? >> reporter: jonathan, more than a thousand homes are under mandatory evacuation orders but really about 75% of the folks here have chosen to shelter in placement i am here on rainbow drive and this area is of major concern to officials. here is i whaofplt heck out whose going on behind me. sand bags, and degree in the street.

that is because every time a major rainstorm -- the rain kicks up here, we start to see a huge mud flow of debris down this street think i'll show you what i mean, let's take a look at video shot yesterday during the height of a rainstorm, one of those flashes of rain if you will. this was shot by a neighbor and you can see exactly what happens here. one of the main concerns of officials is the history of this street. because 45 years ago there was a storm here with similar conditions. and it caused some pretty severe damage. >> so stephanie -- >> reporter: and we talked to that -- oh,, jonathan. >> i am sorry, i was expecting a soundsed by to be played there. apologize for the confusion. give us an idea of how large this area is. how many homes impacted and how much damage you are seeing there. >> reporter: the good news is, jonathan is we haven't seen any major damage so far.

there were a few homes that were damaged by newed hud flows, a garage, a pool area from what i am told. but the evacuation is large, a thousand homes roughly under evacuation orders but what is interesting, jonathan 75% of those folks are sticking in place. they are here in fact when we see the rain coming down, we see neighbors here, everybody pitches in, they start to shovel the debris out of the catch basins here on the street so that the water can continue to flow right o out in to the ocean and they are doing everything that they can to protect their homes. >> stephanie what do expect to happen in the next touch days, more rain in the forecast there? >> reporter: well, there is -- we are expect to go see more rain tonight and through tomorrow. and hopefully if things, you know, continue the way that they are, we won't see any major damage. but look behind me, jonathan, because you can see those hillsides, if you can see those i know it's a bittinting bit fos where the burn areas are from the colby fire that happened in

january and that's the big concern when you add water onto that hillside, there is no more trees, they are auburned away, there is nothing to stop that mud and once it gets going, it can be very devastating. as we have seen in previous storms. >> and as we saw in your video there that mud and water rushing through the streets, stephanie stanton live for us in california today, thank you. ♪ ♪ it is hard to see out there in california especially since they are facing that severe draught. >> meteorologist: that is right, heavy rain showers still tonight. they have made an impact across parts of california. let's go a little bit closer and i'll show you what we are going to be seeing over the next few w hours, heavy rain showers, this one here we are looking at flash flood warnings in effect for that area right now. of course warnings go and watches go all wait down towards parts of mexico but this area of red is going to stay in effect

until about 6:15 pacific standard time for them. after we get past this evening, the flooding threat is going to go down and the rain showers are going to be easing across that area. but that storm system is also going to be causing an impact here across parts of the central plains and let me show you what we do expect to see tomorrow as more moisture pumps in. first of all ice storm warnings, that's the biggest thing here, parts of oklahoma as well as over here towards kentucky. now, what that means is that we could be seeing in that area anywhere between a half an inch and three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain and ice happening in those areas, and you only need a half an inch of freezing rain to bring down those tree limbs which will also bring down many of those power lines across the regis, so we are going to be watching this very carefully and then the storm system makes its way over towards the eastern coast as we go towards monday. the new numbers out this is what we expect to see in terms of

snow. eight to 10-inches of snow across new jersey, southern new jersey, maryland also in to parts of delaware as well as in to washington. so philadelphia as well as washington, d.c., you are going to be hit the most up here towards new york, we do think it will be more of about three to six-inches still causing impacts, so what that means is all of the airports along the eastern seaboard will be really effected. a lot of cancellations, jonathan as well also delays. if you are flying out on monday you may want to call ahead. >> that will be a big mess there, thanks, kevin. the crisis in ukraine is casting a shadow over this year's paralympics, the games kickoff friday in sochi across from crimea, where pro russian government forces have taken over the airports. it's on high alert but not planning to alter the games just yet. the games continue in sochi. meanwhile lebron james is spaoeurlgts new look. >> that's right. thief to lebron james to make a fashion statement. the king broke his nose on february 20 agent against

oklahoma city after getting whacked in the face by serge ibaka, he took a game off and he tweeted this picture which made him look like hannibal lecter. towed wear this mask and during practice he was wearing a clear shield like most players do when they sufficient they are type of injury. when lebron made his return on thursday night against the new york knicks, holy batman. lebron spiraling black mas spor. the shield did not effect his game because he went off scoring a game high 31 points, in their victory over the knicks, miami sporting their black uniforms as you can see. and after the game, lebron explains his decision to be machmatchmachi machi. >> it went with the uniform, i was able to get a carbon fiber one that was lighter than the one i had been wearing in practice and it came through the last minute so i went with it. >> all right, here is the issue. lebron did not get a 3r50u68 to wear the black mask from the

league and the league not happy with his decision so tonight lebron will go back to the clear mask when the heat take on the magic. james is having some fun with his new look. hooker is another picture he posted on social media. and said, i always wanted to save gotham city from the corruption, criminals and untrustworthy that brings the city down. now, lebron is not the first player to wear the black mask, kobe bryant supported that look in 2012. kyrie irving did it last season the reason the league prefers the players to wear the clear shield is that a point, opponents can see a players' eyes i guess defender have a hard enough time defending the league leader. >> that doesn't make sense. >> if it looks there is only a small white area they want it to be clear so they can see his anticipated movements or guessing where he's going to go. >> i guess they take that variously. >> being oning thanks, ross, still ahead on al jazerra, target is zell tell reeling from the security breach that could cost the company close for to

half a billion dollars, what it's doing it keep it from happening again. the forgotten stars of hollywood. stuntmen make their pitch for oscar glory.

theft of personal data from millions of target customers has the company taking drastic steps to improve security. so far the breach has cost target $61 million. one analyst says the total could reach over $400 million. and the company is already spending over $100 million more to make sure it doesn't happen again. al jazerra's mark schneider has more. >> reporter: target wants to make its credit cards smarter sooner. sharper chelsea johnson hasn't used her target card or any card since the data breach. we told her about tagger's et cs

plan to change them. >> i think it's a good improvement. anything that they can do to make it safe fore their customers the better. >> reporter: would you be comfortable using a credit card here once that happened? >> definitely. >> reporter: a lot of customers have been uncomfortable shopping at target, period. this week the retailer announced profits plummeted 46% last quarter after the data breach. a couple of days before target sent a letter to its red cardholders saying it's accelerating it's own $100 million investment to put chip and pin technology in place. with the idea target cards and readers would be much safer this time next year. >> we are in the future now. things are improving by day. and for them to put like a chip in our card to prevent us from being hacked that's i think that's a good idea. >> reporter: shopper matthew tran never notice mid fraud but said soon after the breach target closed his red card

account and sent him a new card. so is all the money being spent by retailers and card companies going to eliminate credit card fraud? >> it will significantly reduce fraud at the terminal once people have chip and pin cards and once all the retailers have chip and pin terminals. >> reporter: keith squires owns pack maker group anism d. management and cyber security company near dallas. he watches for trends in cyber attacks and help protect clients from em them squires says it's likely hackers will find another way perhaps online. >> if you are just shifting it from the physical card frayed lowering that to online fraud and the number country change we have spent billions of dollars and shifted liability for potentially no real benefit. >> reporter: but squires says retailers are aware of the online fraud potential and working on ways to step up the authentication of online transactions as well. squires calls it a game of leap frog between hackers and

retailers that likely won't end soon. mark schneider, al jazerra, dallas. >> it's that time of year again when hollywood's best of recognized for their work. the red carpet is being rolled out for the 86th an academy awards, they will be awarded tomorrow night. nominations for best picture this year include american hustle, gravity, and the wolf of wall street. a lot of work goes in to creating a move by you not everyone involved gets the spotlight. stuntmen say they should be recognized for their work. rob reynolds has more on that from hollywood. >> reporter: in 35 years as a hollywood stunt actor and stunt coordinator, jack gill has been blown up, beat up, bold over and flipped out. but one thing he's never gotten is a nomination for an academy award. >> we feel like we are being left out. we feel there is a big hole in the academy and we should be included in it. it should be a no brainer decision that happens overnights. >> reporter: for decades gill

and other stunt action torque have been lobbying the academy of motion pictures to create an oscar category for stunt coordinator in a system that awards oscars for makeup, harry dressing, costume design and sound mixing it's a surprise to many fans that there is no spot in the limelight for stunts. >> most viewers all know that we use stunt people. they are not stupid. >> reporter: myths of movie accidents show more than 40 stunt actors have been killed on citizens 1980. safety has improved over the years, but deadly accidents still happen. in 2011, 26-year-old stunt actor was killed in an exploiting boat scene for expendables two. >> he have beeeventually if youn in long enough you'll get hurt. >> reporter: the academy didn't respond to al jazerra's requests for comment. but stuntmen like gill say they'll keep pushing for the recognition they feel they deserve. >> blood, sweat and tears you put in to a movie for sometimes

a year and you go to watch the award ceremony and you are seeing your friends come up there and accept awards and you are sitting at home by yourself. >> reporter: this year's oscar ceremony is being held on march 2nd. maybe one of these years stunt actors who risk their lives to entertain will get a chance to see one of their own accept an award. rob reynolds, al jazerra, hollywood. i didn't even realize some actors weren't everybody in the academy awards frank limb that's our show for us, thanks so much for inning us, i'll be back in awn hour with more news. of course you can always find us online just go to aljazerra.com. stay with us, because a quick look at the headlines are right after this very short break.

you are watching al jazerra america. i am jonathan betz in new york with today's top stories. you are crane is warning russia against military intervention, russia seized control of the crimea peninsula, gun then have been patrolling the streets for

three delays now, ukraine's army has been also put on high alert the u.n. security council net met in new york for the escalating crisis in ukraine, the u.n. ambassador accused russia of the mill occupation of crimea. *ug iu.s. is calling for international monitors, president obama had a long phone wall can putin he toll him he was deeply concerned by the situation and said moscow should address any issues in crimea through peaceful means. egypt's sixth government since 2011 was sworn in today. the move comes after the last cabinet resigned it failed to tackle the country's economic and security issues. this is a limited reshuffle widely seen as politically motivated general al sisi is still defense minister but expected to run for president they are ye. in california, the recent drought tkra*ut is given way to relent less downpours prompting moons corey evacuations and

triggered mudslides and heavy flooding. >> >> they are some of america's most pressing problems - crumbling bridges, substandard airports and outdated rail roads. we'll tell you how to fix the infrastructure, and how to pay for it. we are taking the pulse of the housing market recovery ahead of the season. plus, confessions of a middle class cab driver trying to get back on the road to economic