good afternoon, do you and welcome to al jazerra america i am morgan radford live in new york city. russian soldiers surround a ukrainian military base in crimea, this amid warnings of military intervention. >> it's really 19th century we haven your in the 20th censure. >> i this cannot be the way to conduct international affairs. also anti-government marches resume in venezuela. and the red carpet out in los angeles for tonight's academy awards.

♪ ♪ ukraine has ordered full military mobilization in response to russian moves on the crimean peninsula. the acting president says that the country is on the brink of disaster. they are calling up every single military reservist and russian troops have surrounded a ukrainian military base in the southern region of crimea. the ukrainian prime minter is calling it a declaration of war. john kerry says the g8 countries are all ready to isolate russia. jennifer glasse is live in the capital of crimea now. earlier this morning you witnessed a pretty tense stands off have things calmed down at all since then? >> reporter: well, as darkness falls here, morgan in crimea, at

that base about a 20-minute drive from here things were getting a little bit settled the two commanders had spoken to each other. the ukrainian commandser and russian commander had agreed to stand down their alert stat to us calm things down, they agreed the ukrainian had an armored vehicle with a gun pointed straight at -- straightforward. they asked to make the turan it's go a little bit hire so it wasn't pointed directly at them to calm things down, but the base is still surrounded by those russian forces. the russians were beding in for the night. they came in 100 trucks, they were building tents, things were quiet but the ukrainians standing guard say they won't give up their arms or the armored vehicles the russian said they wanted to come in and secure that base. but the ukrainian officers saying they won't do that. >> is there any indication that

the russian troops will leave any time soon? hour the towns people reacting to that possibility? >> reporter: i think what we have seen today is more and more troops coming in. they have come in trucks and on the roads. this is not the only base they are taken over ore surrounded or moved towards. we have seen it not only in the east of crimea but also the west of crimea. a lot of russian troops moving in here. there has been a mixed rea, from the people here, some people are pro russian and believe the troops are here to secure their safety. others believe it's an occupation and they shouldn't be here it's a foreign force on their soil. so the divisions here are growing very much. we saw actually a fist fight between a couple of people from this village two men getting very agitated with one other. one saying why are they here we are all ukrainians the other saying they are our brothers we are russians. the divisions are are very stark

here. >> jennifer glasse reporting from the crimean capital. thanks so much for being with us again this afternoon. jackie roland has more reaction where people are calling for their government to mobilize. >> reporter: ukrainians are preparing themselves for war. in kiev where there has already been so much bloodshed people expressed their allegiance to ukraine and di defines of defia. it's fighting rhetoric and for now still only talk. parliament has been meeting in emergency session. afterwards, the prime minister said russia had brought them to the brink of disaster. >> this is not the threat, this is actually the declaration of war to my country. and we urge president putin to pull back his military and to

stick to the international obligations and bilateral and lateral agreements that were signed between ukraine and russia. >> reporter: the army has opened recruiting stations across the country. there are nine in the capital alone. at this office on the outskirts of kiev men were waiting outside everyone before the doors opened. people have been responded enthusiastically to the call to mobilize. here there are young men, there are older men, people with military experience, people without any military experience at all, but who still want to take part. we have visited a total of three stations in and around key and every already in the first few hours several hundred people have enlisted. >> somehow we have to win. i can't tell that you we will win, but i am sure that we have to win. and we will do everything that you can see pee different age pe

from 18 to 16, they are volunteers. >> i know that russia powerful. they have nuclear weapon. but on the other side we have our friends from europe and the united states who already claim the support. so we will fight until then. >> reporter: this is the gravest confrontation between russia and the west since the end of the cold war. what started here as a protest movement has escalated beyond what most of the demonstrators could have imagined. and it's not over yet. jackie roland, al jazerra, kiev. >> ukraine's acting president is now urging vladimir putin to pull back his military, but the question now is will russia listen? rory is in moscow with more. it is a waiting game. vladimir putin has shown his hand. he has the mandate from the upper house of parliament to use military force if he so desires

in ukraine. the big question is, will he use that mandate or does he feel that the threat of military force is enough for russia to reassert its influence in ukraine? overnight, the phone lines were absolutely humming here with high-level conversations. vladimir putin spoke to program, hbarackobama, he spoke to man kn the secretary general of the united nations and spoke to the french president n all of those conversations he made exactly the same point that russia was prepared to protect it's a citizens, its fellow russians in crimea and also protect the black sea fleet if violence escalates there. >> that was al jazerra's rory reporting from moscow. meanwhile there was conflict in st. petersburg where demonstrators crashed over putin's request to use force.

40 people were arrested in the rally. second of state john kerry wasn't holding back on meet the press this morning, he had this to say. >> this is an act of aggression that is completely trumped up in terms of its pretext. it's really 19th century behavior in the 21st century. president obama hopes that president putin will turn in the direction that is available to him to work with all of us in a way that creates stability in ukraine. this does not have to be and should not be an east-west struggle. this is not about russia and the u.s., this is about the people of ukraine. >> british foreign minister william haige is now on his way to kiev. he said ukraine's approach to russia is in fact appropriate and world powers are now uniting in their diplomatic response. >> i will strongly advic advisem to continue with that approach. i am very concerned by reports this morning of escalating

tension. he will also continue to your honor the return an to his speak directly to the ukrainians through ministers, through military channels. though so far they have not wanted to do that. i urged foreign minister lavrov to do that. the united kingdom will join other g8 countries this week in suspending our cooperation under the g8 which russia chairs this year. and finally, i will discuss with the ukrainian leadership the need for them to represent their whole country, to include as much as possible in their leadership representatives of the east and south of the country to insure the forthcoming elections are fair to all concerned. >> nato secretary general anders rasmussen also aligning himself with top foreign powers sawing russia is threatening european peace. he called a meeting of nato

ambassador today in brussels. saturday there was strong talk but little action at an emergency session of the cure any council. james bays was there. >> reporter: hour concerned are you of the situation? >> very deeply. we need deescalation. >> reporter: ambassadors arriving for the second meeting in 24 hours. ambassador is your country innovating crimea? the russian ambassador not asking my question but aware that he would face strong criticism from other secure thank you council members, particularly western nations. cameras were finally allowed to film the meeting, despite initial russian opposition. ukraine's ambassador appealed to the international community. >> translator: we call upon the security council to do everything possible now to stop a direction by the russian federation against ukraine. there is still a chance. >> early this morning the russian doma acted to authorize the use of military force in ukraine, this is as dangerous as

it is destabilizing. we are deeply disturbed by reports this morning of russian military intervention in to crimea. this intervention is without legal basis, indeed it violates russia's commitment to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of ukraine. >> reporter: russia's ambassador present aheapresented a very dit version of event and put the claim directly on the e.u. for creating that situation. >> why did this problem need to result in demonstrations? why is it that these street demonstrations need to be encouraged from abroad? encourage from people from the e.u. >> reporter: while the security council met. president obama called president putin a call we are told lasted 90 minutes. what is the message from the u.s. to president putin right now? >> the message is pull back your forces. let us engage in political dialogue.

engage with the ukrainian government which is receiving -g out to you for that dialogue. the occupation and military presence in crimea is a violation of international law 67 the security council is deadlocked. this is a crisis in which russia is accused by other security council members of hostility and yet russia has a veto and can block this action. the focus of diplomatic activity will now move to brussels where nato and then the e.u. will be meeting. james bays at the united nations. >> join is us now sex executive board member for the ukrainian congress commit to america. thank you so much for with us today. >> thank you. >> first off, given all that has transpired in just the past 24 hours, is it safe to say now that we are entering unchart the territory? >> absolutely. the scale of events right now we haven't seen any many years, my friends in washington are saying the amount of international planning is on the scale of iraq

war, that's how important this is to the geopolitical scheme. >> strong word. what options do you think your friends in washington or the u.s. government really has at this point? >> the ukrainian committee working with our friends in congress and the state department are not advocating for boots on the ground, we want people on the ground. john kerry, chuck hagel. more international people like the foreign minister from great britain visiting ukraine. more of those people coming. they see what the actual situation is on the ground. especially in those eastern and crimean parts of ukraine where the media manipulation by the russians have been really strong. >> you say no boots on the ground approach, but some people say that's really the only way. they say if you are dealing with a country now that has four neighboring nato allies, that's a huge security risk. >> absolutely. and really the problem is that mr. putin has done this repeatedly. we heard this morning by senator

lindsay graham saying that in maldova part of our territory has been referred to by the russian government since 1992. in george a in 2008, we saw those two unrecognized by any other country other than russia break off states being occupied by russia now we have the situation in crimea where it's a date back to occupation. what we would like to see is diplomatic resolution to this, by absolutely as your report said the ukrainian military and the people stand at the red to defend their homeland. >> if we do what you is i and we follow diplomatic resolution, can putin be trusted? do you think the international community is ready to trust him? >> no. and we are not ready to concede just -- work just on ukraine, at this point we have to push back on all those areas that i mentioned. the broader community in the united states of the central eastern european coalition of 20 million americans are advocating for the united states not just have mr. putin leave crimea, but he should be leaving georgia and other states where he's contesting.

>> what do you think just very briefly is listened game in all of that? some are saying it's really just to make the west look weak. because if the u.s. and nato don't act couldn't have have us look weak abroad? >> absolutely. this is what he's been doing for years, this is his game plan have the very beginning it's about am take, we are not going to get stopped here we'll push you further here. >> we'll wait ca see if things continue to unfold. thanks so much for being with us, exec it i have board member for the ukrainian congress commit foy america. >> thank you. ahead kicking off the 2014 election season in texas. and demonstrators in venezuela are shifting their focus. that story all coming up on al jazerra america.

in nigeria the red cross is reported that 50 people are dead after twin car bombs explode in the a marketplace an area that's home to a rebel group. these attacks have threatened to destabilize africa's biggest oil-producing nation. anti-government protesters are swarming the streets of venezuela's capital demand that go president nikola maduro resign. at least 17 people have died of protest violence in just the past month. al jazerra's paul has the story from caracas. >> reporter: this is how things looked just about two weeks ago in venezuela. largely peaceful protests. as students took to the streets to complain about inflation, shortages of food and consumer

goods and soaring crime. >> the shelves are bare and the morgues of full. inflation is run al at 56% and growing, which means prices are skyrocketing and there are huge shortages. homicide rate is out of control. [inaudible] creased 400 percent in the past 15 years. somewhere around 18 times the homicide rate in the united states. but when the students called for his ouster, press nicholas maduro cracked down, throwing hundreds of protesters in prison, cranking up the tension, and the violence. that's why it shifted from protests about what a mess the government was and economy cass to protests about government repression. >> reporter: maduro accuses the united states of trying to destylize the country. almost exactly the same line taken by his predecessor hugo

chavez. >> he constantly campaigned against the united states, against george bush, against condoleezza rice, against me personally as he called it the empire. >> reporter: charles shapiro was the u.s. ambassador to venezuela. chavez was briefly outed on a coup he blamed on the u.s. some spear owe says we had nothing to do with it. >> we didn't organize it, plan it or and weren't behind if if we were guilty of anything we were too happy too fast because it was obvious the direction this government was headed. >> reporter: where chavez could rally millions, shapiro says maduro lacks his predecessor's charisma and his support. >> beyond the election by a little bit over 1%. he lost support so quickly it's amazing. through his nonpersonality. through his lack of personality.

>> reporter: in spite of the political friction between the u.s. and venezuela, oil has bound the two countries together for decades. venezuela sits on the world's large of the reserves and much of its output was s* process inned the u.s. but that link is growing weaker. >> they are producing less and shipping less to the united states so it's shifted it's almost as if venture swa las la needs the u.s. market more than the u.s. markets need the venezuelan oil. >> reporter: so far the u.s. line seems to be watch and wait even as both countries kick out each other's diplomats. >> the government ought to focus addressing the legitimate grievances of the venezuelan people. >> reporter: just how long this confrontation between calls from reform and brought force will last is minut anyone's guess, fw it's playing out on the streets. paul, al jazerra, caracas. the an mull meeting of the american israeli public affairs

committee opens today in washington. 14,000 supporters are expected to attends the israeli lobbying group's conference and john kerry will speak there on monday. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will deliver the keynote address on tuesday. texas holds political primary on his tuesday and one candidate is really sticking out. democratic state senator wendy davis gained national attention when she staged a one-woman filibuster for abortion rights. brandon has her story. >> reporter: democratic texas state senator wendy davis stages an 11-hour fill bust tore protect abortion rights last summer. her activity sparked a movement for women and mena cross the state. >> you all have inspired every member in the senate democratic caucus. >> reporter: ride that go momentum she threw her hat in the ring to become texas governor. >> i am proud to announce my

candidacy to the fourth eight governor of this great state. >> reporter: she has gotten attention nationwide. 27% of funds she raised last month came from outside the texas compared to abbott's 2%, still some political strategists say it ma may not be enough. hal explains the democratic hopes of turning the state purple any time soon is wishful thinking. >> the problem that she has really is that texas is currently a conservative state. even if you think it's headed toward a competitive state, make a democratic state 20, 25 years from 2340u6789d running on i a personal story of struggle, davis advocates for improved education policies. >> by the time i was 19, i was already on my way to a divorce. living in a tiny trailer with my daughter amber. >> reporter: greg abbott has attacked her hard luck biography as embellishments saying she didn't divorce until the age of 21 and released a web video portraying the state senator as

a flip flopper on guns and abortion. >> so wendy davis has changed a lot of issues. >> reporter: the dennis came pan hit back claiming his relationship with ted nugent. >> it bothered me that he is with ted nugent know his history as a predator. >> reporter: $11 million still can't compete with abbott's $30 million war chest. and abbott continues to beat davis in the polls. a recent poll from the university of texas and the texas tribune puts abbott 11 points ahead of davis. >> is a think that greg abbott will beat wendy davis maybe by high single digits. over the last 20 years even competitive democrats have lost by 12 to 16 points, so when i say that davis is likely to lose by 7, 8, 9 that means she is running more pest till.

>> alcompetitively. >> all of you deserve to have your voices heard. >> reporter: democrats appreciate supporting a candidate who they see as having a fighting chance in a state that hasn't elect ahead i democrat as governor since ann richards in 1990. brandon, al jazerra dallas. coming up ahead it's hollywood's big day. a sneak peek at the preparation for the academy awards coming up next. >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america >> oh my...

welcome back to al jazerra america, i am morgan radford live in new york city. russian troops have surrounded a ukrainian military base in crimea, the ukrainian prime minister calling it a deck los angeles raise of war. and asking every single army reservist to respond. nato is meet to go discuss that. anti-government protests continue in venture into los angeles where at least 17 people are dead after a month of demonstrations against president

nicholas maduro. ♪ ♪ >> meteorologist: well, it is finally drying out across southern california but i'll tell you one thing we have another system pushing in off the pacific and it's bringing quite a bit of snow is who portions of cascades, see the moisture pushing north and in to the east across the washington and organ cascades today. we can see she fisch where from 1anywhere from 20 to20-inches o. the storm that brought all the rain to southern california continues to push to the east. you can see the spin in the atmosphere pushing across portions of colorado yesterday and created quite an accident out there along i-25. 104 vehicles were actually involved in the car accident. one person lost their life and 20 people rushed to the hospital. so this system is very potent still. you can see it setting up a snow really here across portions of nebraska in to portions of

missouri and we have to deal with the threat of ice out there. they said in the northwest the snow coming down across the washington and oregon cas cascas but winter storm warnings and advisories from colorado to the east coast. everywhere you see pink and purple that's what we are dealing with winter storm warnings and advisories, we could see up to a foot of snow along i-70 in southern portions of indiana. in addition to that we have to deal with ice and ice is very dangerous, sphroeurbl especialle roadways, the winter warnings and advisories extending towards the east coast washington, d.c. philadelphia. previously we were thinking there would be a great deal of snow in new york city and boston but right now they are only under a winter storm ahead vials and see two to four-inches of snow. the front continues to move in oklahoma city through central and eastern portions of texas may see severe weather later

today, talking about damaging winds, hail and isolated tour natos watch out for the ice on the roadways, this is a look at at accident yet. you only need a thin coating of ice to make very, very treacherous travel conditions back to you, morgan. >> thanks so much jelelah. now all live look at preparations for the academy award in los angeles, california. in just a few short hours fans and stars will be arriving at the dolby theatre for hollywood's biggest night. ellen degeneres is hosting and the favorites including american hustle, gravity and 12 years a slave. preparations for the ceremony have been underway all this week despite the heavy rain over there in la. organizers put up tents so they could roll out the red carpet and flowers will be in place and it will be lights, camera, action for the fashion show preceding the oscars. thanks so much for watching al jazerra america, i am morgan radford live in new york city.

listening post ukraine is coming up next and remember you should stay with us throughout the day for the very latest on the crisis in ukraine and news updates from around the world head over to aljazerra.com. don't go anywhere we look forward to seeing you at 12:00 p.m. eastern. hello, i'm richard gisberg, and you are at "the listening poet." ukraine gets a domestic government. the obama administration observes the right to cee