good afternoon, and welcome to al jazerra america i am morgan radford live in new york city. and here are the stories we are following for you right now. ukraine accuses their navel chief of treason as he swears allegiance to a russian-backed leader the ukrainian government beefs up its military in response to russian moves in crimea. >> it's really 19th century behavior in the 21st century. >> this cannot be the way to conduct international fairs. >> and on to the red carpet we give you a sneak peek at the preparations being made ahead of

tonight's academy awards. ♪ ♪ ukraine has ordered full military mobilization in response to russian moves on the southern region of crimea. the acting president says that the country is now on the brink of disaster. and is calling up every single military reservist. russian troops have surrounded the ukrainian military base and askeand -- an act that the ukran prime minister calls a declaration of war. the head of the navy has been fired for treason. lawrence lee has this report. >> reporter: this appears to be perhaps the one place ukraine's forces in crimea are putting up any resistence, behind these walls is a ukrainian special forces base. the ukrainian fining is still up and they have apparently refused to give in to those surrounding

them. yet as elsewhere the russian or pro russian forces appears relaxed. it's all as if to say they are only here to stop anyone from harming russian civilians. theye priested turned up he had been blessing soldiers, i asked him if this would end peace of the i. no, he said, they planned this for 20 years. elsewhere, there is no sign of any ukrainian forces at all. this is the bay the home of the ukrainian fleet. victor yanukovych the man who still believes he's president of ukraine had a yacht here but that vanished a day or two ago. and so has the ukrainian fleet. there is something that looks like a coast guard but it's certainly not going to fight anyone. people saw the navel forces leave as well. and in a hurry. after what appeared to be a negotiation. >> translator: at 9:25 the military came in and everybody left the base. two troop carriers full of

soldiers, by 9:40, they had all gone. >> reporter: we tried to see if there was anyone left. please refer to our administration, said the voice and that was that. and at the military airport, russian soldiers on the perimeter from down the road they could be seen inside the compound guarding what we believe to be an ammunition depot. so there is no question the pro russian forces here are trying to press home their advantage militarily, by pushing ukrainian units in places like this either to srepd or surrender or switch. on the political front a hard deadline of a referendum in just four weeks for the separation of crime ya. that's almost two months before planned presidential elections across the country by that time, russia and crimea may have decided their own fate. and of course the russian forces have the eyes and ears of the loyal locals. these people have mans a road

block since we have been here. where are we are, so is russia says the sign. we are here to protect against fascists and terrorists but where are they, i asked him? you don't know where they are, he said. nobody expected terrorists to attack the world trade center. the truth; there is almost no threat to these people from fascists, soldiers or anybody else. crimea it seems is going down without a fight. lawrence lee, al jazerra, in crimea. we go now to jennifer glass who is live. jennifer who is happening now with the navy? do the towns people there think the navel leader is, in fact, a traitor? >> reporter: no, i think the people here don't think he's a traitor. kiev thinks he's a traitor. but he made a very, very public statement the head of the navy here declaring hayes allegiances

here is what he had to say. okay so he says basically that he is declared his allegiance to the prime minister of crimea. the prime minister just recently appointed in the last couple of days is a pro russian and he took over command of the armed forces and the police here just about a day and a half ago and he said anybody who wasn't going to support him should resign. we have not heard that the head of the navy now pledge is his allegiance to crimea. that's a big blow to the government in kiev that want to kuipe the country united part that have is keeping its armed forces together. >> what about the standoff outside the bates you have been there since this gannon folding early this morning is there any indication that russian troops will, in fact, leave? >> reporter: no, morgan, actually as we left the base this evening, those forces were

digging in. it was an extraordinary sight. all day today very early this morning russian forced went in and asked the commander, a colonel for him to lay down his weapons. it's a military base home to ammunitions, arms, and armored vehicles. they wanted him to turnover everything in the base and turnover the base to the russians. rerefuseed and so truckloads of russian soldiers came in and surrounded the base and demanded that eventedder he said that he would not. he and the russian commander met and tried to east tensions there, but it stale remained surrounded tonight. and obviously a sense of pressure there russia is putting on ukrainian forces here. >> jennifer, just very quickly, do they have plans to meet again any time soon? >> reporter: there weren't any plans when we left. but i know that both the -- the one thing both men agreed on that nobody really wanted to start the fight think it's just going take -- it's just going to take one little flash point for things to go very wrong here, morgan. >> all right, we will keep an eye.

jennifer glasse reporting live. thanks for being with us this afternoon. reservists in kiev are already responding to calls from their government to mobilize, jackie role around has mor rola. >> reporter: ukrainians are preparing themselves for war. in kiev, where there has already been so much blood she had people expressed their a lean ants tallegiance to ukraine and defiance for russia. it's fighting red correct and for now still only talk. parliament has been meet in an emergency session, afterwards prime minister said russia had brought them to the brink of disaster. >> this is not a threat. this is actually.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

milateral 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. this office on the outskirts of kiev men were waiting outside even before the doors opened. people have been responding 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 kiev and already in the first few hours several hundred people have enlisted. >> somehow we have to win. and i am -- 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 people different age, from 18 to 60 they are

volunteers. >> i know that russia is powerful, they have nuclear weapon, but on the other side we have our friends in europe and the united states who already claim their support, so we'll find 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. jacky rowland, al jazerra, kiev. >> the u.s. response to russia has been vocally very strong secretary of state john kerry said today that russia was innovating ukraine in a phone iy pretext. mike, what exactly are the administrations options at this appointment. >> reporter: the wheels are turning here morgan no question about it. we have been told by a white house spokesman that the president happen about kept apprise this morning by his national security advisers of situation in ukraine, he has plans to speak on the phone with

world leaders allied leaders to talk about how to react to this crisis. meanwhile, you are right, john kerry making the rounds of the sunday public affairs shows today here in washington, calling them hooligans, the actions thuggery, accuses russia of 19th century behavior. what about it? what can the united states in coordination with it's allies do in reaction to this apparent aggression on the part of vladimir putin's russia, here is more of what john kerry had to say. >> i talked to were 10 of the foreign ministers of those countries most engaged, the g8 plus some others, and all of them, every single one he have them, arof themare prepared to t to isolate russia with respect to this invasion, they are prepared to put sanctions in place, they are prepared to isolate russia economically, the ruble is already going down,

russia hayes major economic challenges. >> reporter: prepared to go to the hilt. and you heard secretary kerry talk about the economic action is being contemplated. i have to tell you that the question was put before kerry many times this morning, about what i military option that does not seem to be in the cards right now. but among some of the other actions that are being contemplated by the united states and its allies, visa bans, asset freezes isolate on trades and i canning russia out of the g8 and of course there are already talk of a boycott the summer meetings of the g8 were set to take place in sochi russia, that will not be happening apparently. >> mike viqueira joining us live thanks for being with us this afternoon. let's take a quick look at the balance of forces between russia and ukraine, the russian army has 285,000 soldiers, that's more than four times as many as ukraine has which only has 64,000 soldiers. russia also has twice as many

tanks, 2,550 to be exact and that's compared to 1,110 for ukraine. russia's air force has 1,389 combat capable aircraft and compared to ukraine's 221. that gives russia five times as many. and then when it comes to the navy, russia has 116 surface vessels and that's compared to ukraine's 11. russia has 64 submarines, ukraine has one. joining us now is amy knight a historian of russia and soviet union, thank you for being with us today. >> thank you. >> a threat from ultra nationalists, who are they and thousand do they trent the three interests. >> that's a tempest in a pea tea pot. there is discontent going on in crimea. probably on a continuous basis just rumblings because of the different nationalities that are represented there. but -- >> so this isn't new? >> no no.

but i think the russians used the same seclusion which they invaded georgia in 2008 saying they were moving in to protect the interests of russian speakers and russian citizens. and so they are saying the same thing with crimea. but i don't think the russians in crimea were really trented by fascists, that's just propaganda. >> russia says having these troops there was legal. doesn't that raise an issue of territorial integrity? the lithuanian president says it shores up fear. >> it's not legal for -- the russians having a very important navel base in crimea. but it's not legal for them to bring in additional troops like they did yesterday. that's a violation. crimea is part of ukraine and it's a violation of ukraine's territory. >> so given this violation, has the even u. don even u e.u. donp

ukraine? >> they certainly voiced their opposition to what's happening and very strongly i think. but the real question is, what more they can do and i think there is still negotiating behind the scenes. it appears to me that about the only thing the e.u. can do is to enforce quite severe economic sanctions against russia. but from a military standpoint, there is really nothing. >> is there anything that they can do to then prevent ukraine from flight splitting besides those economic sanctions? >> i don't think ukraine is going to split. i think that's kind of moving on a little bit too fast. i think it's very possible that the kremlin will decide to do nothing further but to leave the troops that they have in crimea there for the time being. not that i think that's a good thing. but i don't -- i don't think that we should necessarily

anticipate that they are going to be more aggressive russian actions. those would really ignite a huge conflict within ukraine. for example, if the kremlin brought in troops in to eastern ukraine. >> we have talked about the kremlin and talked about the e.u., but what about the u.s., what options does the u.s. have at this point? >> well, the u.s. has the option of boycotting the g8 summit that's supposed to be scheduled in june. they can get a line with their european colleagues and initiate some very severe economic sanctions. they can have this new visa regime where they prevent russian businessmen from coming to the united states. they could do quite a bit to discourage investment in russia. and this could backfire for putin, because his -- a lot of his support is from this elite

group of very wealthy businessmen in russia. and they do not want to see their ties to the west cut off and they really need western investment, particularly since the russian economy isn't doing too well. >> this is all diplomatic. and earlier our guest andré the, you know what, military is not an option, he said this is on the same scale as what happened in iraq. so why if this is on the same scale as what happened in iraq would the same resources and response then not be merited? >> oh, well, i think that's comparing apples orange apples s think the u.s. cares about the ukrainian territorial integrity but not to the extent that it would be motivated to have any military intervention. >> amy knight joining us live in the studio. thank you so much for being with us today. >> you are welcome. several countries including the u.s. and you fee you feel ks

pulled out of the g8 summit. is russia feeling any summit after this move? >> reporter: if moscow is feeling pressure they are not giving him impression of that. it's been incredibly quiet here in moscow today considering the turmoil that other capitals around the world have been in trying to work out what their response to the situation in ukraine is. in moscow, there has been virtually nothing, nothing really from the kremlin, nothing really from the foreign ministry, until the last few minutes actually when the kremlin put out a statement say that vladimir putin had just spoken to angela merkel the german chancellor on the phone and he expressed to her his concern about the threat of ultra nationalists in ukraine. you get the impression really that moscow is buying its time trying to wait for the dust to settle and let the facts on the ground in crimea speak for itself. and also let the western powers work out what their response is

going to be. that has start today crystallize today with the news that some four countries are putting off their participation in the preparatory meet fogs the g8 summit in sochi in june. and we did hearing earlier today from william haige the british foreign minister. >> we have to recognize the the coventry has been violated and it this cannot be the way to you could international affairs, in addition to calling yesterday's emergency meeting of the u.n. security council, the united kingdom will join other g8 countries this week in suspending our cooperation under the g8 which russia chairs this year. including the preparation meetings this week for the preparation of the g8 summit. >> reporter: now in terms of

other activity in russia today, really it's been protests that we have been watching. there huh been protests both for and against what russia is doing in ukraine. the protest against were small and obviously only numbered some two or 300 people. they took place in moscow and in st. petersburg, there were arrests at those rallies the police moved in fairly fast. the police say they arrested maybe 40 or 50 people. there are human rights groups here in russia that are saying the number one much, much higher than that, that some 300 people were detained. there are also protests that took place for what russia is doing in ukraine those protests much larger some 27,000 people, if you believe what the police are sailing. >> all right, rory challands joining us from moscow. and coming up on al jazerra america, a 92-year-ol 92-year-od

transgender veteran battles the federal government over social security.

good afternoon and welcome back to al jazerra america. i am morgan radford. a 92-year-old world war ii veteran says she has been fighting for are social security benefits but huh been denied because she's transgender, al jazerra has that story. >> reporter: she is a world war ii veteran, a flight instructor, and at 92 a stock market trader. >> life is beautiful. it is such a joy to live. >> reporter: two years ago she says she lost the love of her life. her husband norwood. >> [inaudible] >> reporter: but when she went to claim about $600 per month in survivor benefits from the social security administration, they told her she had been denied because she was legally male at the time of her 2004

marriage. born robert in 1921 she was a may have a pilot in world what are two, after the war she came home to work in finance but struggled with her identity. >> i would go to work and as a man, i put a suit and tie on and would go and do it. and then i would come home at night and be a woman. well, it was difficult because i had the emotional twinge of going one way the other. >> reporter: she transitioned in 1976, officially changing her name and gender on her passport, pilot's license and social security card. soon after, she met norwood. >> we never discussed it again the fact that i ever a transectiotransexual. never even entered any of our thoughts. we just learned to live old together. and it was a delightful fun.

>> reporter: after the social security administration refuse today recognize her marriage, she sought help from transgender rights attorney drew. >> for the social security administration, the federal government, the government that she has served as a veteran to not only insult her in this way, but to, i mean, to be legally inaccurate around this issue you, at a time when row bean aways already dealing with the death of her husband. was horrendous 67 after more than a year of appeals row bean a says she received a prize on of all days valentine's day. without contacting her they had deposited the money in her bei being. robina and her attorneys are pushing for a positive change that transgender spouses get the same benefits as everyone else. for robina who has led a quiet life it's about giving young

transgender people hope that the challenges that he face with be matched by joy. al jazerra, new york. >> and up next on al jazerra america, live pictures from hollywood where the red carpet is out and those nominations are in.

welcome box to al jazerra america i am morgan radford live in new york city. here say recap of today's top stories. the red of the ukrainian navy has been fired for treason, not long ago the commander publicly swore allegiance to the russian-backed leader of crimea. russian troops have surrounded a ukrainian military base there. the prime minister call it declaration of war and he's calling up every single army reservist. nato is meet to go discuss a response. ♪ ♪

>> meteorologist: well, the red carpet certainly is out in southern california and the rain has stopped just in time for the oscars, take a look here at the satellite imagery. we have clearing skies for the most part it's goal t going to a nice night across southern california temperatures right around where they should be at this time of the year with the winds pushing in out of sought. another system is making its way in to the west but it will bring snow across the cascades, the washington and oregon cascades where we could see anywhere from 10 to 24-inches of snow. speaking of the snow, the storm that caused all the rain across southern california sought move you can see the spin in the atmosphere as it continues to push towards texas and really cross portions of the plains it will push its way towards the atlantic as we track on in to later on tonight and tomorrow. and we have more snow on the way. look at these temperatures arctic frontal boundary pushed in across the north central plains earlier today and right now it's only going to be minus 2 in minneapolis for their tie timdietime high.

the aaron sinking in to oklahoma and in to northern portions of texas, dallas today only climb to go a high of 32 and that frontal boundary pushes through it's bringing freezing rain across portions of dallas so a very slow go out there along i-35 wher35 where you need to tt ease out roadways through portions of kansas and nebraska and also all the way through portions of the midwest, i-70 along with i-80 look at some heavy snow coming down here today and that is marching its way towards the i-95 corridor in washington washington, d.c., bax to 12-inches of snow. luckily the frontal boundary is far south enough that i don't see boston will see more than two or three-inches of know. and now a live look at rep reparations for the 86th annual academy a wards over in los angeles, california. just a few short hours stars will be arriving at the dolby theatre for hollywood's biggest

night. comedian ellen degeneres is hosting and the favorites for this year's best picture include american hustle, gravity and 12 years a slave. thanks so much for watching al jazerra. i am roaring an radford. "real money" is coming up next. they are some of america's most pressing problems, crumbling bridges, substandard airports and outdated railroads we'll tell you how to fix it and more importantly how to pay for it. and we are taking the pulse of the housing market's recovery ahead of the spring selling season plus conventions of a middle class cab driver trying to get back on the road of prosperity i am david shuster in for al see vanvleet and this is "real money." ♪ ♪