ukraine on the brink of disaster, the latest on the standoff between russian and ukraine troops and international response at ending the crisis. the first double amputee to compete in the olympics goes on trial for murder, the case of the blade runner is watched so closely in his country. another winter storm shuts down federal offices and causes major pile ups, where the system is headed today and what could be coming on its heels. >> without rapport we don't have

intervention. >> reporter: police officers going the extra mile to change the lives of repeat offenders. ♪ good morning and welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy. the crisis in ukraine has quickly spiralled into an international standoff, russian troops now control the crimea peninsula in the southern part of the country and ukraine is mobilizing military calling up reserves and asking for volunteers. this morning the foreign minister sergei fedorov says it's about defending rights and john kerry is heading to kiev on tuesday to meet with members of the interim government and british foreign minister william hague is there right now. we have live team coverage this morning and lisa stark is in

washington and begin with phil who is in kiev. good morning, phil, the russians surrounding a ukrainian base in crimea and have operational control of the peninsula. what is happening now in crimea and just off shore in the black sea? >> well, stephanie, they are consolidating power on the crimea peninsula. they have surrounded a number of military bases there but we have spoken to ukrainian intelligence sources who say there are still some very strong, capable ukraine units and threats coming from the other side of the border. we have learned today that the ukraine intelligence officials are aware of where russian tanks are located. just on the other side of the border, less than 150 miles away from the capitol, if they decide to come into ukraine as a greater effort, not just crimea

but ukraine and vladimir putin asked for it in the parliament and said he could do it, with ukraine and if they come to the capitol they could be here in a matter of hours. and we have no intelligence saying they fully intend to do it. the question is not whether they have the capability though but if they have the will and that sends a mess message to kiev. >> they will go for larger ukraine and they say his country will talk to ukraine but claims ousted president yanukovych is head of state and should consider impeaching them and where does that leave the new government in kiev? >> well, the russians tried to put all of this within a legal

framework and why vladimir asked permission to use military force. the statement by midvid is saying to ukraine if you don't like the president do not oust him by mob rule street effort but impeach him and go through legal means but the government here feels they are already in place. the problem for the very brand-new government and let's remember this is a group of people who are not proterrible career politicians, they are finding their way as they go through this. they are learning on the job with a threat from the russians on the table as well. so there is a lot going on on the political sphere. they may respond to russia's request or suggesting to impeach yanukovych, but they also are very much aware that yanukovych is the kremlin's man and lots of people certainly in the west of the country who don't care, he is gone, they want him gone, they don't want to return to

living under moscow's rule, stephanie. >> reporter: britt i foreign minister william hague is in kiev and meeting with the new ukraine prime minister and what have they been saying about the situation there? >> well, all along william hague has insisted on maintaining ukraine's territorial integrity and that includes crimea. this is part of a wider european and western effort to show support for the government, this brand-new government here in kiev. and when william hague met with them here today, this is what he had to say. >> we all are in communication with russia and i was with the foreign minister over the weekend saying what has happened is unacceptable. that is a, and we made announcement about cooperation under g 8. if this situation cannot resolve, if russia cannot be persuaded to respect the sovereignty and territory

integrity of ukraine, there will have to be other consequences and other costs. >> reporter: so there you go. what this is much about is not only criticizing the russians and yanukovych but showing support for the very young and very fragile government. stephanie. >> reporter: still no specifics and costs and consequences and thank you, phil. po worked the phones this weekend and not only did he talk with russian president vladimir putin and lisa stark is in washington. >> she showing putin he standalone and isolated without international support for the move into crimea and is talking tough and not shown a willingness to budge. the tense standoff between russian and ukraine reached

beyond the crimea peninsula as the out cry led by the united states intensifies or putin's position to send troops in the area. >> the united states is united and russia is isolated. >> what they should do quickly is a resolution condemning what putin has done. >> reporter: it's the kinds of tough talk that president putin has heard before such as when he invaded neighboring georgia in 2008. but just how much the u.s. can flex its muscle has some in washington questioning president obama's next move. beyond his 90 minute phone call with putin over the weekend. >> number one stop going on television and threatening thugs and dictatodictators, it's not strong suit. every time the president goes on tv and threatens putin's everybody's eyes roll including

mind. >> trying to isolate russia and britain, france, italy and canada have said they will not attend planned meetings for the g 8 economic summit in sochi and the same place where the olympics wrapped up and threatening economic sanctions against russia. >> every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt to isolate russia with respect to this invasion. >> reporter: the u.s. is offering russia a way out. one option, a so called off ramp calling international observers to take the place of russian troops in crimea to protect the rights of the russian speaking population there and the reason that president putin cited for sending troops into crimea. secretary of state john kerry will head to kiev tomorrow. he will head there to show his support for that provisional ukraine government. stephanie. >> reporter: do we know

specifics about what kerry's agenda will be? >> he will meet with the parliament there and really like the british foreign military says he has support for the new government and territorial sovereignty. >> a start for us in washington and stay with al jazeera america for the very latest on the ukraine crisis. in our next half hour a closer look at the troop movements happening in crimea and weather american forces could wind up on the ground there. in south africa it's day one in the murder case against track star oscar pistorious and blade runner plead not guilty and accused over killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp last year and he said he thought she was an intrader and they say they killed her after an argument and if convicted pistorious faces a two-decade

long prison sentence and we are joined outside the courthouse in pretoria. what is expected in court today? >> well, the court has just adjourned for lunch but today prosecutors will try and prove they thought it was premeditated murder and oscar pistorious tried to kill his girlfriend reeva steenkamp and the first witness went on and said she heard shotting and screaming coming from the apartment, a woman and then a man shouting and then they heard four again shots. and the only person in the room when she was shot and killed was oscar pistorious and what is brought to the table is on

circumstantial evidence. >> this is in south africa and around the world, tell us a little bit about that. >> it's actually quite crazy outside the courtroom, a lot of media and not just africans but people across the world ready to broadcast every twist and turn of the trial. in terms of ordinary south africans they feel rich people and people with money and celebrities often get away with many things when they do something wrong officials look the other way and people who do things wrong and commit crimes get off scott free and they will see how the judge treats the case because how she handles the matter, the crime and the sensational trial could effect south africa view of the justice system. >> with the latest on the oscar pistorious getting underway this south africa and thank you. another winter storm is plowing

across the country. ice and wind are causing power outages in the midwest and parts of the east coast could get a foot of snow and we are live in philadelphia and chris what are the conditions like where you are? >> stephanie, really cold, windy. we had a heavy wind that has picked up blowing straight into my face here towards independence hall and snow since about 2:00 this morning, we got more than an inch of snow on the ground right now and the city of philadelphia is going to a record. if they get 6" of snow here today, and it's going to be close, this will become the second snowiest winter in philadelphia and a winter across the u.s. will not soon forget. a winter blast effects americans has the mid-atlantic in the grip and stores are running out of ice melt and people are running out of patience.

>> big rush, everybody is here and got in ice pellets yet and it was gone by 11:00 and nonstop everybody wanting it and i cannot find any at this point in time. >> unusual for dc but i love the snow but i'm getting tired. >> reporter: it's causing havoc from the rockys and ozark to massachusetts, in colorado one person died in a 100 pile up on i-25 and fog and slick roads are to blame and the system is going coast to coast and heavy rain to california, ice from little rock to nashville and snow through the mid-atlantic and new england and 30 million people in the path sending records across the land. >> we are approaching five feet of snow. very close to that and i shovelled this, every five feet of it and i'm tired and it's in march. >> reporter: not everyone has the winter blues, 3,000 people took an issi dip into lake michigan sunday, the polar

plunge benefitting charity and the tv host jimmy fallen saying cold is a state of mind. and it's already been a rough start to the monday morning commute here over the weekend, airlines cancelled more than 2000 fights. today already more than 1500 have been wiped off the boards. it's a story live in philadelphia and i'm chris, and back to you. >> eboni dion is tracking the storm and who will get hit the hardest today? >> good morning stephanie, it looks mid atlantic where we see the snow in d.c. and baltimore where we could see 8-10" before it's said and done. on the radar all moisture that made its way off to the east and even the snow, getting into oklahoma and arkansas and could see some snow and freezing or at least freezing rain down into

parts of texas and i will show you that in a moment and this is in the northeast and you can see we started off with rain as late as about 3:00 this morning in d.c. and it switched over to snow. since it just begun some of the heavy amounts 2-3" but we will continue to add to it because it will stick around there a little bit longer through the day and new jersey and new york people rejoicing because we are not expecting to see more than an inch but the roads will be slick. we don't have advisories in new england but the advisories will be in existence until the late-morning hours and you will need to use extra caution there and if you have travel plans you might want to hold off because lit be dangerous because the roads will be slick and this is across virginia and into maryland and we have an area of low pressure and that is why we didn't see as much snow. high pressure building in and as it does the clockwise flow around the high is going to drag

all of that cold air further south so temperatures will continue to drop and behind our front we dropped as many as 40 degrees in the last 24 hours in san antonio and yesterday we were dealing with 70 and now in the 20s and feels like 20 around san antonio and tonight with the cold air in place and gulf of mexico moisture we could see freezing rain and sleet into parts of south texas and back to you. >> eboni thank you. north korea fired short range missiles for the second time in a week and the launch is believed to be in response to annual military exercises taking place between u.s. and south korea. the two scud missiles were fired earlier today 300 miles in the sea of japan, on thursday north korea launched four missiles when the joint exercises began and he tried an australian missionary for promoting

christianity and according to the official news agency short admitted he committed a crime and signed an apology and asked for forgiveness for his antistate acts and he remains in north korea after being arrested in similar charges in late 2012 and bay has been sentenced to 15 years in a hard labor camp. merit badges and mickey mouse and walt disney is pulling funding from the boy scouts. >> almost become personally involved in their lives so we can establish a relationship of trust and confidence. >> reporter: an unique program in texas and winning oscar gold and see which ones walked away with the top honors.

♪ good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy, straight ahead how police officers in one city are building relationships with repeat offenders to reduce arrests but we will look at the temperatures across the nation

and metrologist eboni dion is back. >> a chill in the air to the southern plains and the cold air filtering in this morning and i want to show you the broad pictures because you can see where the cold front lies and it's here across the mid-atlantic in the deep south where ahead of the front we still have mild temperatures and 58 in atlanta, 70 in miami so that is where the mild air is in place. however the cold air is on the move right now in houston it's 28 and in the northeast it's cold and it feels the count air temperature is 12 in albany and this morning we were in the 30s and the temperatures are falling rapidly and factor in the wind which will really pick up through the day and feels colder like minus ten in albany and single in philly as well as d.c. here in the deep south and much of texas we are talking single

digits and 9 in lubbock and oklahoma city and 18 in dallas. closer look at milder temperatures savannah 54 and orlando 60 and nice start to the day for you and cold air is sticking in the upper midwest and we have not been over the teens in the last few days and chicago it's minus one. stephanie. >> reporter: thank you. disney is pulling funding for the boy scouts starting in 2015 because of the scouting policy banning gay leaders and disney said it does not donate to groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation and they say the decision will hurt ability to serve kids and others have pulled the plug on funding and this year they did accepting gay members but not scout leaders and officers are first defense dealing with mentally ill but people who need help are arrested and created like

criminals and shows how one texas department is looking to break the cycle. >> as a father of seven mike is stretched thin. >> it's like a referee sometimes. >> reporter: his 15-year-old has aspergers, a form of autism and needs extra attention. >> lack of understanding of other people. >> reporter: with the exception of a texas police officer, monique hall who met his son a year ago after he ran away from home. hall is part of the bedford police department unit, with breaking a pattern of responding to or arresting the same people for the same crimes. hall makes frequent visits to mike's home becoming a familiar face to the troubled teen. >> he will talk to her and excited at times to see her. >> reporter: after reviewing data police chief roger gibson noticed a trend, most repeat activity came from two groups, victims and offenders who suffer

from mental illness or domestic violence. gibson's unit targets two groups, attempting to build relationships and stop crime before it starts. >> am becomes personally involved in their lives so we can establish trust and confidence. >> reporter: ken bennett a liaison officer for mental retardation and is on house calls checking to make sure individuals are current on medications and treatment, reducing the number of people funneled into county jail and hospitals. >> without rapport we don't have intervention and when the unit goes out and follows up on a continuous basis they are building rapport. and by us interacting and learning more about them we can see some things, maybe that an officer who gets a 911 call and goes to the house will not know and be able to pick up on. >> reporter: the hope is the extra care and scrutiny will lead to fewer calls for help.

bedford police departments statistics suggest the special unit efforts are working. 79% of those they tracked in 2012 were no longer victimized in 2013. mike sees a welcome change in his son. >> he has been in-patient before and taken medicine from a psychiatrist. none of these things worked. none of them worked. this was a one, single factor i can point to that had a major impact on his life. >> reporter: a change that mike says inspired his siblings and who were inspired by his bad acts and seeing far fewer arrests in the year and a half the unit has been around. bedford, texas. >> one in four americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness in their lifetime. taking a look at business news this morning global markets are taking a hit after ten --

tensions escalated and the dow is 16321 and s&p starts the day at a record, 1859 and nasdaq is 4308. overseas instability pushing asian stocks lower but the shanghai rose and european markets are selling off at the hour and russia falling 10% in currency is at the lowest point ever against the dollar. investors selling stocks and moving into commodities and oil and natural gas prices are rising this morning and russia military advance in ukraine and raising concerns of economic sanctions against one of the world eastern guy producers and could mean higher bills for consumer whose already had a rough winter. >> we seen a $5 billion in cost for consumers for heating this winter and cannot go on much longer and they will be strapped

and if we go in the summer and have a bad hurricane season it could effect the prices too. >> reporter: it kept buyers out of auto dealerships in february. auto sales and numbers will be up slightly from the same month a year ago. the inventory means better deals for people looking for a new car and gm and ford said they are extending discounts on new vehicles through march. military face off in ukraine and some ukraine are happy to see russia troops in the country. in a nation at war, children are paying the price and thousands of syrian refugees are literally starving and what is being done to try and stop it from happening. for decades gays fight to march in the parade and people with irish communities are dealing with the issue now. >> i'm john henry smith, the world's number one golfer has major issues that could effect the rest of his season and that is coming up, in sports.

>> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america. ukraine's new prime minister says the country will never give up crimea and the foreign minister is asking them to honor an agreement made last month to call for constitutional reform and referendum for all regions and john kerry is heading there for meetings on tuesday and british foreign secretary william hague is there now and he told russia the current situation this crimea is unacceptable, along with suspending plans for g 8 meeting in sochi they say there will be consequences there. they have military installations across the region and taken

control of an air field and russians outside a navy base have support of those who live nearby. >> they are by the basis in eastern crimea. inside they refused to surrender. residents of the village have turned out to lend support to russian whose are surrounding the base. the russian soldiers are leaving it up to the people to convince the ukraine to switch sides. >> translator: the soldiers pledge to be loyal to ukraine and the real government chosen by the ukraine, not yet to the people, if they put their guns down and join the people we will protect and be grateful to them. i hope they make the right choice. >> reporter: and people are angry, suspicion and feel betrayed by the western government in kiev. america, we will not let you

through they thought. and wheel kiev acues the russians of invading crimea, for many in the russian majority who live there they are saviors and over the past few days they have been taking over key installations in the atonomous regions and the air field is now under russian control. the soldiers don't take much but say he was deployed two days ago and doesn't know how long he will be there and there may be an answer to that on the border that separates them and the mainland where soldiers are building an encampment and prohibited from filming but commander did and he identified himself as from southern russia. >> translator: we did not come here to invade and we will come and go back home after the referendum and they will make a

decision that will be legitimate in front of the countries in the world. >> it's set for march 30 and the ethnic russians see the vote of a chance of distancing themselves from a country they never felt they truly belonged to. >> translator: we will never become one nation with the western part of ukraine because we have different mentalities. their heros are our enemies and our heros are the soviet soldiers who saved us from the nazis. >> reporter: while international community fears further escalation many here feel the russian soldier's presence is necessary while they continue their quest for greater atonomy from ukraine, i'm from al jazeera in crimea. >> reporter: turning with more on the conflict in crime yeah is military analyst mark keagan and joins us from washington d.c., good morning and thank you for being with us. >> good morning. >> a lot of analysts are drawing

comparison to the russian war with georgia in 2008. what similarities do you see here? >> similarities are that ukraine is right on the border of russia and rather far away from western europe although much closer. and the situation where you have an at least one province or one area in ukraine which doesn't feel that it belongs to the overall country and majority population is russian who want to be with the russians and a much larger military force in the -- in russia facing a much smaller military force in ukraine as was the case with georgia although the disparity is not quite as great as it was in the conflict between russia and georgia. >> and of course in that conflict most reports say that georgia ended up firing first although there were some provocative actions by the russian mill -- military but

ukraine called up the reservist and has troops in crimea and let's take a look at a map where the russian troops are in crimea and they effectively have operational control of the peninsula. what does that mean and you did say that ukraine's military is smaller but how would it stack up if shots were fired? >> they would be in a very bad situation. the russian army at this point has about 845,000 people whereas the ukraine army has about 130,000 people. the ukraine army is disbursed across ukraine whereas the russian military is more concentrated and is also able to choose where they might launch attacks few crane did make a military response. the ukrainian military is in poor condition, most of its equipment is either badly maintained or in storage and

because of the economic problems they haven't -- don't have a very high level of training whereas the russian military forces went through some significant reforms in the -- after the conflict with against when it was revealed that by their performance that the russian army wasn't in as good shape as they thought they were but given disparity in forces and crimea is a peninsula which limits the ways in which you could approach it, the russians hold most of the cards right now at least as far as military options are concerned. >> would there be any type of material military support that would change that equation on the ground and would there be any reason for the u.s. to put boots on the ground? >> nothing that could help in the short term. again, given that the russian army out numbers the ukrainian army over 6-1 and couldn't

easily asimulate in a reasonable amount of time with equipment they are not familiar with and that is not a real option. it helps from the russian point of view that ukraine is next door and further away from western europe or the west. at this time and in the foreseeable future i don't see any option for the u.s. putting boots on the ground. we didn't do it in georgia. we didn't do it with libya. and we -- the u.s. government i think does not want to see things escalate out of hand when you have a situation with two powers that have nuclear weapons and people can just possibly make wrong decision at the wrong time. >> reporter: of course we did provide air support in libya but not even that seems to be under discussion right now. given the facts you describe is there a military solution to this conflict or is diplomacy the only way out here? >> well, from the russian point of view i guess there is a military solution and they have already done it as far as they are concerned.

as far as diplomatic solution is concerned, that depends on how united the western countries are in terms of will they make significant sanctions against russia and back them up. the russians i'm sure at this point have done a cost/benefit analysis and saw after the conflict with georgia in 2008 things pretty much went back to business as usual after a year or two and they are probably counting on the same thing as well especially when western europe is depending on gas exports from russia and much go through ukraine. i would not be surprised that a diplomatic solution, if you want to call it that, might be where you have this referendum that they are talking about in crimea and the population votes for separation from ukraine, whether that would be as an independent or atonomous region and might then ask to join with russia as did those two break away

provinces in georgia. at this point quite frankly given that the overwhelming majority of crimea is open and it probably would end newspaper a vote for precisely that and russians can say self determination has worked and ukraine will not be able to do much about it. >> reporter: the referendum is march 30 and we will watch that and military analyst thank you very much and we will have coverage all day and focus on how it's effecting markets around the world and the oil that we alluded to and america tonight will have an in depth special with real life stories of people living in crimea and a look at how life has changed with a shift of power in ukraine and that is tonight at 9:00 eastern. death toll in an attack in china stands at 33.

people in southwest china lit candles for those killed at the train station and they are calling it an act of terrorism by a separatist group and police shot four attackers and looking for others. children are in failing health and humanitarian organizations say poor hygiene and lack of food is taking a serious toll and al jazeera reports on increasing case of malnutrition in lebanon. >> healthy new born can way over 3 1/2 kilograkilograms and that much she ways and is on acute malnutrition and on a supplemental program. and her mother was unable to feed her mourning the death of her brother and that is why this

is like this. >> translator: all my children walked at her age. it's because of the tough times we have been through. >> reporter: a resent health assessment of syrian refugees in lebanon described this as a silent and emerging threat and reveals that 2000 syrian children are at risk of dying. out of 10,000 cases of both severe and moderate malnutrition. and he is diagnosed with moderate malnutrition and being treated, his father says he has been sick ever since they arrived in lebanon a month ago. >> translator: he was okay in syria but when we came here the cold and rain made him sick because we didn't have a wooden frame to hold the tent. >> reporter: most children suffering from malnutrition are living in make-shift camps in the valley where safe drinking water is scarce and hygiene can be poor. malnutrition can be caused by inadequate or imbalanced diet

but also linked to the living conditions. child play around in the filthy waste water all day, poor sanitation and improper practices like this make the children vulnerable to serious hygiene-related illnesses. several families at this part of the camp are suffering from scabies and others have chronic diarrhea for drinking unsafe water. humanitarian agencies are trying to screen as many syrian children as possible before it's too late. it did not reach yet the serious situation and we are in lebanon lebanon and not able to activate healthcare centers. >> it will take millions of dollars to improve where the children live animal nutrition and that is difficult as new

syrian refugees arrive in lebanon everyday. and i'm with al jazeera, in lebanon. >> reporter: the u.n. estimates more than a million children have been forced out of their homes in syria. president obama is meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin natasha ghoneim at the white house today and the president is trying to get netanyahu to agree to framework with the palestinians and the president says the window is closing for a peace deal and will address the controversial iran nuclear deal. israel wants iran to destroy the entire program and washington said it should be allowed to produce energy. mr. obama will hold a similar meeting with the president in two weeks. orthodox jews were in west jerusalem over the weekend. they were protesting a law being debated in the israeli parliament with men to be drafted into military service

and orthodox jews have been exempt and they want to keep it that way. >> it's important to tell the state of isreal that we are opposed to their political philosophies that we feel that the contribution that the elements of society are making will help the army and through our contributions and the religious spectrum we are arm and arm with the army, helping the state of israel. >> reporter: the new legislation is expected to pass in the next few weeks. ultra orthodox jews makeup 10% of israel's population. a california state lawmaker facing corruption charges says he is taking a paid leave of absence and he is accused of accepting about 100,000 in bribes including meals and golf games in exchange for his political influence. he is pleading not guilty. and he is the second california state senator to take leave to fight charges and it will cost

democrats the super majority in the state senate. mayor of boston and new york refused to march in the st. patrick day parades and say if gay people are not welcome they don't want to be part of it either and boston's parade may be easing off on the band but erika says there is a sticking point that may get in the way. >> it's 2014 and far beyond the time we should have this discussion. >> reporter: boston mayor marty walch spare heading with the leaders of the st. patrick's day parade has a deal to allowing veterans to participate in the 100-year-old tradition. >> celebrating veterans and we should not exclude veterans out. >> reporter: so now they are included in the parade but under certain conditions. the marchers will not be allowed to wear clothing or carry signs that refer to sexual orientation. the group representing the veterans mass equality says at this point it's still an ongoing

conversation adding mass equality has not accepted an invitation to march and consider accepting an invitation that allows lbgt people to march openly. year after year gay rights groups push to march openly in the st. patrick's day parade that bans lbgt participation. tens of thousand in new york participate every year, hundreds of thousands more watch the parades in both cities. this year both mayors are refusing to march unless their papa -- parade lifts the band and the first in 20 years. >> he marched in queens and an annual tradition for 15 years, erica for new york. >> boston held a st. patrick's day since 1901. new york's celebration dates back to 1762. moving to sports and to golf where the number one player in

the world was in some trouble on sunday and john henry smith has more. >> tiger's aching back from the what a difference a day makes file. tiger woods on saturday seemed to be getting his mojo back with his best round of the year but then on sunday he tweaked his back and had to withdraw. to tiger's credit he tried to get through the final round and he was slicing and dicing all over the course and after completing 13, 5 over par he decided that is it and walked off the course and the 6th time in his career he had to withdraw from a tournament. after his round he said it's my lower back with spasms and it started warming up and asking if he will be well enough to defend the championship on thursday he said it's too early to tell and i need treatment until thursday to try to calm it down and we

will see how it is. honda classic and mcilroy had a stroke in the final round but former number one player was having issues and he lost the lead and he ended up in a four-man playoff. this chip did not go well. so that opened the door for russell henley and he taps it in for the winner. and the second pga title and pockets $1 million in the process. when the debate in the sports bar goes to the hardest thing to do in sports you will win if you say sinking a 75 foot put on the lynx and has 1% success rate on the pga tour and maybe she didn't know how much it was worth in the women's championship and from 75 feet away for an eagle for the win,

look at her make the ball and a sharp left turn, bottom of the cup and spectacular fashion kramer captured the first lpga since winning in the u.s. women's open. >> i can't tell you how good it really does feel. this is a big win. this is a huge win. i'm shaking, oh, my gosh, this has been a long time coming and i would not be here today if it wasn't for my caddy and my best friend. >> reporter: what a shot. to the college hardwood, number 8 villa nova and looking like a tournament team and won three in a row coming on to sunday and taking on marquette, the golden eagles won 5 of 6 and wilson has a easy two and darren went all wild and scored a career high 26 points and a triple to end on a high night and all nova and

finds visit jenkins and nova wins and 26th win in season and the regular season record. number three arizona hosting stanford, early in the first half, it's the academy awards, look at that, now we are back, that is beautiful, we are back to basketball. arizona three up and tj lays it up and they throw up the ally and has a two-hand slam and more from gordon in the second half and drives it and lays it in and if he goes prohe goes 19 points and boards and the regular season home game and 79-66 to win the pack 12, that is sports for this hour with a little bit of the academy awards. >> injecting glammar into the college hoops.

ididarod dog shred race is on. nearly 70 people from all over the world and huskys are bolting to the finish in alaska. the dogs will go through 1,000 miles of winter terrain and the race normally lasts ten days. hollywood celebrates another year in film and the actor whose took home statutes and who won big at the academy awards and why some people are protected from diabetes even when they are diabetes. our winter storm will be moving out soon but the arctic air behind it will last longer and we will have an update on the snowy and frigid forecast.

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moments from the 86th academy awards ceremony but let's look at where the snow and rain may fall across the country and eboni dion is back. >> the snow made its way in the mid-atlantic and northeast but not lasting long once you get across northern areas of new jersey and new island pushing through the south and east through the day and getting it in d.c. and baltimore and keep it around at least through the first half of the day and that means with that in place we are expecting to see from 3-7" and localized areas could see as much as 10" of snow and on the backside we have snow coming down across the midwest and cape jerardo and western kentucky and we have already a quarter inch of ice and add snow on top of that, that will make for very dangerous travel. no snow across minneapolis and des moines but it's cold with moisture increasing in the

plains and we could deal with freezing rain in the late night hours south into san antonio, texas and back to you. >> thank you, scientists uncovered a genetic mutation that could one day help prevent diabetes. a new study found that the rare mutation slashes the risk of type two diabetes often with diabetes and had a 65% lower chance of developing the disease. researchers say the findings could be used to create new drugs that better target diabetes but could take more than a decade to develop an effective drug. about 347 million people around the world suffer from diabetes. you can bet a lot of hollywood biggest stars are just not getting home and were up all night celebrating after oscars handed out for the best of the big screen and we have a wrap of the 86th and wall academy awards. >> and the oscar goes to "12 years a slave." >> reporter: a story of slavery and brutality in the 19th

century american south won top honors on oscar night and it was directed by british film maker steve mcqueen and best director for gravity, a film that won awards for editing and cimamatography and on the coat tails of that best supporting actress abuse bid a plantation honor and a newcomer to hollywood and 31-year-old kenyan actress were in a handful of productions and won the part attending yale university. >> thank you so much for putting me in this position. it has been the joy of my life. >> reporter: to almost no one's surprise the best award went to matthew mcconaughey for his role

as a roughneck texas person battling aids and an establishment and lost 20 kilos and said the position is the finest in the generation of american actors. >> to whatever it is we look up to and look forward to it and whoever it is we are chasing and to that say i all right, all right, all right. >> reporter: and the portrayal of a broke, manipulative and a social light in blue jasmine earned her the best actress award and jerard had best supporting actor as a transgender person dying of aids and gave a speech and spoke up for people striving for freedom and self determination. >> to all the dreamers out there

around the world watching this tonight, as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we are thinking of you tonight. >> reporter: this year's oscar winners came to grips with serious subject matter, slavery, aids, transgender and exploitation of women and perhaps a sign of the times that the entertainment is out and serious drama is in. rob reynolds, al jazeera, hollywood. >> and addressed the conflict in ukraine and venezuela during acceptance speech and the stories we are following the next hour. >> the crisis between ukraine and russia spooking investors around the world and global markets taking a hit and how tensions in europe could effect investments and cyril of

bin-laden circle and the charges he faces. >> reporter: and where snow and freezing rain can develop >> and del and i are back with you in just two minutes. ♪

>> ukraine on the brink of disaster, the latest on the standoff between russian and ukrainian troops and the international response aimed at ending the crisis. >> another winter storm walloping the u.s., create ago nightmare on the highways. >> double amputee limp peen oscar pistorius pleads not

guilty. >> we never discussed again the fact that i was a transsexual. >> fighting for social security benefits after losing her husband. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. the crisis in ukraine an international standoff, russian troops surrounding military bases there. >> russia says the matter is defending russian citizen human rights. u secretary of state john kerry is heading to kiev to meet with members of the interim government on tuesday. we have live team coverage, lisa stark in washington. we begin with phil ittner in

kiev. the russians have surrounded at least one ukrainian base in crimea, have operational control of the entire peninsula. what is happening now in crimea and just offshore in the black sea? >> the russians have blockaded that important sea port. they've also surrounded the various military bases on the peninsula, and in addition to that are now in control of the road routes. they have put up roadblocks around the peninsula and are controlling the transport on the crime crimean peninsula. the ukrainian mill said the 810th marine battalion are still on the peninsula.

these are dedicated men, talented and hard. now whether or not they engage in direct conflict with the russians is something that obviously a lot of people are watching, but we do know they are very well disciplined. we are told by the ukrainians here in kiev that if they get the order to start shooting, they will but nobody wants to see that happened. we learned about where the russian troops are, just on the other side of the border, obviously a very precarious moment here in ukraine. >> russia's prime minister said is his country will talk to ukraine but claims the ousted president is still the legitimate head of state. where does that leave the new government in kiev? >> well, the new government obviously still feels that they are in the rightful place by a mandate of the people who came out on it is streets. the russians are clearly trying to frame this within a legal

situation, trying to make this a legitimate legal movement. obviously when vladimir putin asked for authorization to use military force, he didn't have to do that. he did it because he wants to make this look letting. what prime minister medvedev is doing is saying if you ukrainians won't to get hid of yanukovych, do it through legal means. if you want do it, do it, but do it legally. >> president obama working the phones this weekend not only talking to russian penalty vladimir putin, but seeking support from u.s. allies trying to increase pressure on moscow. lisa stark is in washington this morning. good morning. >> good morning, del. the administration is insisting that this is not a fight between east and west, not a repeat of the cold war, but they're trying to convince russia that they are being isolated internationally

and face a broad array of diplomatic and economic sanctions. >> the tense standoff between russian and ukrainian armies has reached beyond the crimean peninsula as the global outcry led by the united states intensifies over president putins decision to send troops into the area. >> there's a huge price to pay. the united states is united, russia is isolated. >> what congress has to do, what the senate should do quickly is a resolution condemning what putin has done. >> it's the kind of tough talk putin has heard before when he invaded georgia in 2008. how much the u.s. can flex is muscles has some in washington questions president obama's next move. >> number one, stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators. it is not your strong suit.

every time the president goes on national television and threatens putin or anyone like putin, everybody's eyes roll, including mine. >> on sunday, president obama worked the phones quickly, shoring up world support to isolate russia. the u.s. and several of its g8 partners, britain, france, italy and canada have said they will not attend planned meetings for the g8 economic summit in sochi, the same place the olympics just wrapped up. some of the countries are threatening economic sanctions against russia. >> every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate russia with respect to this invasion. >> the u.s. is offering russia a way out. one option, a so-called off ramp, a proposal allowing international observers to take the place of russian troops in crimea to protect the rights of the russian speaking population there. that's the reason president putin has sided for sending

troops into crimea. >> secretary of state john kerry will travel to kiev tomorrow in a show of support for the provisional ukrainian government. del. >> lisa, what is on the secretary's agenda as he travels to kiev? >> he will be meeting with the top ukrainian officials, with the parliament there and talking about economic support for ukraine, very important. the country desperately needs it. he'll talk about shoring up economic support, also political support and reinforce the u.s. view that ukraine has its own territorial integrity. del. >> this is the tough question, what are the u.s. options going forward. >> over the weekend, the administration made it clear they do not want to see this escalate into a military conflict, much more interested in using diplomatic options. they are pulling out of the g8 summit and they are going to deny visas to russians and try

to talk about economic sanctions, as well. del. >> lisa, thank you very much. stay with aljazeera america for the very latest on the ukrainian cries. in just a few minutes, we'll take a closer look at how that situation is facing the global markets. >> a massive rainstorm in california has provided little to help the drought situation. heavy rainfall also brought destructive mudslides. the dry his have lost much vegetation during the drought and wildfires so they couldn't hold the water. thousands of urged to evacuate but are now able to return to their homes. the system is moving across the country. ice and wind are causing power outages in the midwest and parts of the east coast could get more than a foot of snow. we report on the impact of the latest winter storm. >> another winter blast affecting millions of americans now has the mid atlantic in its grip. stores are running out of ice melter as people are running out

of patience. >> big rush, everybody's here, got in three pallets of ice melt yesterday morning, it was gone before 11:00 a.m., and it's non-stop, everybody wanting it, i just can't find any at the this point in time. >> this is unusual for d.c. i love the snow, but i have to admit even i'm getting tired. >> this latest system is causing havoc from the rookies and ozarks to massachusetts. at least one person died in a pileup on i-25, fog and slick roads blamed. it brought heavy rain to california, ice from little rock to nashville and snow through the mid atlantic and new england. 130 million in its path, setting records across the land. >> we're up, i think approaching five feet of snow, very close to that and i've shoveled all of this five feet of it and i'm tired. and it's march. >> 3,000 people took an icy dip

into lake michigan sunday, benefiting tha that charity, prd is a state of mind. >> no, it's not, it's a state of panic. for more, let's turn to ebony. >> that storm will make its way out this evening, but for now still spreading the snow and freezing rain across parts of the mid atlantic and even parts of the northeast although we're really not expecting to see a whole lot. we have an area of low pressure riding out along this front. the front has made its way across the coast out of new england and the northeast. we still have the tail end of a secondary front here across the deep south. that will push off to the south and east. ahead of it, we have the warm, moist air all rain, but to the north, the arctic air is moving in thanks to this area of high pressure moving in. it's really dropping our

temperatures. as far as where we are seeing the snow, at this time, we are seeing it mainly coming in across the mid atlantic and d.c. and baltimore. we started with rain as late as 2:00, 3:00 this morning and it's switching to all snow. we're going to keep the snow around to this evening. we still have a widespread area of winter storm warnings in place and winter weather advisories. this will be up until 6:00 p.m. this evening so through the evening drive, we will have the snow with us. here's a look at the timing of it all and notice at we get into this evening, it gradually tapers off from north to south. we'll still have the rain to deal with right along the southeast coastline and even on the backside of it, the cold air is just getting started. we have temperatures as cold as 40 degrees or 41 degrees colder than where we stood at this time yesterday and san antonio and now we're watching for moisture to increase. later, moisture will be heading northward as it meets up with this code air, freezing weather

advisories across south texas. >> carnival festivities in venezuela are being overshadowed by growing protests. tens of thousands filled the streets of caracas, some wearing festive costumes. they are angry and calling for a new government. we report where the demonstrations have been ongoing for weeks. >> we're on one of the main boulevards coming out of the square, one of the hottest of the hot spots since mid february when protests began. behind me here are a series of barricades far down the street, maybe a few hundred yards are police and national guard troops lobbing tear gas canisters up over the crowd. occasional groups of people running up the street surging back this way and surging back to the barriers really taunting the police and security forces into a confrontation. behind us are thousands and thousands of people pressing down this direction.

protestors responding with fireworks. the police and security forces firing tear gases, we can see that rising behind us. people picking up the canisters and throwing them back. this is just happening over and over again as the tension escalates here, as this confrontations run through the night. >> aljazeera's paul beban recording in caracas. government supporters plan to take to the streets on wednesday to commemorate the anniversary of president hugo chavez's death. >> 11 dead in pakistan after an ambush at a courthouse in islamabad, gunman storming the complex and opening fire, at least two suicide bombers attacking. one dead is a senior judge, the other two attorneys coming days after agreement to a month long ceasefire with the pakistan. the taliban in pakistan is

denying any responsibility for the attack. >> benjamin netanyahu is meeting with the president at the white house today. the president said a window is closing for a peace deal. two leaders will address the controversial iran nuclear deal. israel wants the entire program destroyed while washington said it should be allowed to produce energy. >> afghanistan's president saying years of war in the country have left him angry at the u.s. government in an interview with the washington post. hamid karzai said the war was not fought with his country's interest in mind and he is deeply tabled with the afghan casualties he has seen. he refuses to sign a security deal with the u.s. allowing forces to stay in the country beyond this year. the upon the gone is told to prepare for the possibility to no troops will be left in afghanistan beyond 2014.

>> the highest profile al-qaeda member will be prosecuted in a civilian court. we are outside the courthouse in new york city. what is he charged with and what do we expect to happen today? >> good morning, welcome to the federal court here in lower manhattan and the start of the trial, he's a kuwaiti. he is best known for being osama bin laden's son-in-law. he's also apart from that best known for incendiary videos which he published alongside bin laden andal doe al zawahari in h

he was berating americans and warning muslim americans not to fly on commercial airliners. he said the wave of aircraft being used as bombs would keep on coming. the prosecutors also going after him for an alleged attack on an aircraft in december 2001. this trial is likely to be neatable for video testimony given by a britain, 33 years old, and he is a super grass in britain, convicted for richard reid, the shoe bomber and his driver giving evidence from yemen. he denies all the charges against him. the case gets underway today with jury selection and it's expected to last a month. >> i understand there is some doubt that this man is as high-ranking as he first

appeared to be. >> that's right. he is a kuwaiti and senior leadership have been saudi and he was not. a lot of people feel he was given a position of responsibility in al-qaeda and then fled to iran because he married osama bin laden's daughter. allegedly very high up in al-qaeda and saying we can do this in a city like new york city. they hope it goes off without incident. the irony is lost on no one, the fact that the trade center site is less than a mile away from where this will take place. >> reporting from outside that courthouse in new york, thank you. >> the ripple effects from ukraine going beyond the political realm. how global markets are reacting. >> the murder trial involving

olympic runner oscar pistorius getting underway. the punishment he could face if found guilty. ♪

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>> good morning, to aljazeera america. global markets under pressure over growing tensions in ukraine. >> we'll have more on that in a minute, first temperatures across the u.s. today. ebony. >> it's definitely going to be a cold one, but not just for the upper midwest and northeast. we are going to be finding cold air making its way down into the southern plains to near the east coast, 27 in chicago, nine in minneapolis. twenty's around the new york city area. overnight, mid 50's for highs today, but tonight rain early changing to freezing rain at 30 degrees. it's still mild across georgia into florida, 50's and 60's

today, just 28 degrees. bundle up in houston. we have single digits heading into oklahoma city. it's going to be a cold start to the day even here. back to you. >> thank you. >> the instability in ukraine is pushing world financial markets lower, u.s. stock futures down 1% or more, signaling a selloff at the open. russia's stock market dropped 10%, it's currency at its lowest point ever against the dollar. mr. ingram, thanks for being with us this morning. what are we witnesses in the global market now. is this just fear of uncertainty, stephanie, very much so. it's a big batch of risk aversion, you're seeing a big move out of risky assets such as equities into bonds, we've seen

flights to safety into currency such as the swiss frank,ian and u.s. dollar. we've seen things like oil, gold, fit up at the epicenter gas up 8% today. >> let's talk the energy markets. 80% of russian gas exports to europe pass through ukraine. how worried are investors about a disruption to supply? >> it's clearly a concern, although crimea, the prime area area affected isn't really on the transit route, and we've just had a very mild winter here in europe and we're heading into the spring. there's plenty of supply in europe if there were a disruption. the east of ukraine, a lot of russian speakers there. if the kremlin seeks to bradden this conflict, we could see it

in energy prices here. >> does this lead to higher gas prices at this point for consumers? >> i think that's likely. if anything else, there's going to be a risk premium built in, unless, of course, the situation in ukraine is contained quite quickly in crimea. i don't think any of this is going to die down over the next few days. >> how is the economic crisis in ukraine affecting its stability aside from crimea. >> ukraine economically was already on the brink, the immediate run-up to this crisis, they had to seek a $15 billion line of credit from russia, the vast majority of which they still to have hand over, which i guess won't be forthcoming now. if the situation in ukraine is not any further, i guess the west has to step in with massive

fair ball aid. they need at least $35 billion in order just to pay existing bills, so the west really needs to get its act together, even if the russians play ball from now on. >> russian's currency is already affected. is russia's economy already at risk even before the talked about sanctions by the west to take affect if there are to be sanctions? >> yeah, there's been a significant slowdown in the russian economy over the last year. it's been quite used to booking growth of 4% to 6% in g.d.p. annually, that slowed to one and a half% last year and is likely to be much the same. this year, i guess it has affected vladimir putin's popularity reasons and part of the reason he's made this move is to bolter his popularity domestically. >> thank you. >> stay with aljazeera america for the very latest on the ukraine crisis.

we'll take a closer look at how the u.s. is responding to the russian aggression. >> as you just heard michael mention, the crisis in ukraine driving energy prices higher. crude oil and natural gas futures are up 2%, russia's advance into the ukraine raising concerns of economic sanctions, this combined with the rough winter could mean even higher energy bills for consumers. >> the severe winter weather keeping buyers out of auto sales. we have one positive sign coming out early, nissan reporting a sales jump of 16%. >> the u.s. warning russia to stand down concerning its stepped-up military presence in

ukraine, how russia's involvement in the region is sparking reaction around the globe. >> he was an olympic hero, now the man known at blade runner on trial for murder. the case is grabbing global attention. >> nascar changes the look of its cars outside every year, now see how they're trying to change their look behind the wheel, coming up in sports.

>> these protestors have decided that today they will be arrested >> these people have chased a president from power, they've

torn down a state... >> what's clear is that people don't just need protection, they need assistance. >> al jazeera's investigative unit has tonight's exclusive report. >> stories that have impact... that make a difference... that open your world... >> this is what we do... >> america tonight weeknights 9et / 6pt only on al jazeera america >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. >> ahead, security in china is being tightened after that mass

murder that happened at a train station. >> we'll look at the big issues president obama and israeli prime minister have to tackle at their meeting at the white house today. >> ukraine's prime minister saying the country will never give up crimea, russian troops controlling the area. russia is calling on ukraine to honor a plan for constitutional reforms. russian soldiers surrounded a ukrainian military base. >> a small contingent of russians came to the military base and wanted this man to surrender. they said they're here to bring stability to crimea. what that means, he doesn't know. he refused to give up. then more russians arrived, truckloads of them. he watches and tells someone

they're here. the ukrainians move an armored fighting vehicle to their gate, but there will be no reinforcements. >> no one is coming from kiev, he tells me, i'm alone, me and my brigade. we'll do what we can and we'll see. >> he says we'll see if there's going to be war. >> the troops come in on foot. civilians try to stop them. but soon, they have the base surrounded. >> ukrainian troops, russian troops, russian troops all around here. they came in earlier and tome the commander to give us a base. he said he wouldn't and now they're standing against each other. >> they still want the ukrainians to lay down their arms. no deal says the colonel.

if they enter the base, i'll have to shoot them. he gross to visit the growing russian encampment. all they agree on is nobody wants to war. there is an appeal for peace, the public divided, some coming to praise the russian presence, others threatened by it. >> people from another country are here. what should we call it? intervention, occupation? they have no legal right to be here. >> but they are in significant numbers and given the way they're setting up, there's no sign the russians will be leaving soon. aljazeera, crimea. >> roy is in cambridge, england good morning, good morning, russian troops clearly in the country, no shots fired. is this an international game of chicken that we're seeing? >> something like that, del. what we have seen is russia vital in a blatant fashion

international allow invading an independent, sovereign country. it's about as america invading quebec to defend english speakers. the pretense of this invasion is preposterous, the purported reason from the kremlin has been to defend the human rights are russian speakers and ethnic russians in crimea. this is preposterous, the new government in kiev poses no threat to them where as the previous president who robbed the country blind and had putin's support was indeed such a threat. >> analysts are comparing this in curse to the georgian war with russia in 2008. are they right in these comparisons? >> the comparison is valid in the sense that this is russia stirring up trouble with a neighboring independent sovereign country, but they have different histories in the post soviet era. a great deal of ethnic conflict,

ethnic cleansing, none of this type of history has involved crimea which has emerged from the soviet union peacefully. there's no pretense for this invasion and occupation, it's clearly illegal and the west needs to step up immediately, not with rhetoric, but with a massive in flux of financial aid to the new government. the kremlin strategy is to foment public unrest throughout ukraine, to overwhelm and undermine the new government. if the west can put together a marshall plan pory crane, that would stabilize the situation and call putin's bluff. >> secretary of state john kerry heading to kiev, but a lot of tough talk ahead of that. >> i talked to 10 of the foreign ministers of those countries most engaged, the g8 plus some others and all of them, every

single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate russia with respect to this invasion. >> now ahead of removing russia from the g8, there's talk about asset freezes and visa bans. do you think this will be enough to get russia to back off? >> we have to acknowledge that for the kremlin and vladimir putin, such rhetoric, while reasonable and appropriate in this instance serves him electorally. russia casts itself in opposition to the west. when the west responds with this type of rhetoric, it only serves his somebody. rhetoric needs to exist, we need to put pressure on the kremlin, they are violating international law in a blatant fashion, but the most appropriate and savvy impression from the u.s. is to support the gleg ling ghost in kiev. this is a major step forward. we need to act quickly, but this is one way to tend to the situation in a very positive,

constructive way. >> ukraine is not a nate foe member, nato issued a strongly worded statement condemning it as a breach of international allow. what could nato be doing here? >> nato needs to remain engaged. we need to minimize saber rattling for the reasons i mentioned earlier. nato has had a number of partnerships with the ukrainian military in the past. i hope that engagement and those connections prove to be a positive circuit of information between the ukrainian military and nato military. this is not a small island in the middle of nowhere. this is the large evident country within the european continent of 46 million people

nato has to be engaged but careful about escalating things along the lines of i think russia's ultimate strategic objective. >> what do you make of former president viktor yanukovych comments saying that he insisted he is still the president of ukraine, but what power does he really have? >> he has no power. he is not a legitimate president, he's a criminal, a corrupt individual who stole from his people as we have seen over the past few weeks. the protestors that ousted him and chased him out of his country are very much democratic forces. they deserve our respect and admiration. a lot of people asked me who the protestors are. these are people who go to former president yanukovych's residence and instead of looting the police, defacing the place, catalog and document things. viktor yanukovych's performance recently in a press conference is laughable. he should be ostracized and

alienated to the extent we can do it. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> a reminder to stay with aljazeera america for the very latest on the crisis in ukraine. in our next hour, we'll talk about the global response to russia's increased military presence in the country. >> north korea fired short range missiles for the second time in a week, believed to be in response to annual military exercises between the u.s. and south korea. two you asked missiles were fired early today. thursday, they launched four missiles when the joint exercises began. >> an australian missionary jailed for promoting christianty has been freed. he was arrested last month in north korea's capitol. short admitted he committed a crime, signed a written apology

and requested forgive necessary for his anti state religious acts. another man was sentenced for similar charges and sentenced to 15 years in a labor camp. >> southwest china lighting candles for those killed in an attack at the city's main train station. authorities are tightening security in beijing. the government is calling this an act of terrorism. >> being treated at hospital number one, he was one of a group of holidaying retirees who were attacked. he tried to defend another member of the group, the friends tell us, suffering stab wounds to the head and arm. up to 60 patients are being treated at this hospital with a variety of injuries. one of the worst cases is a man stabbed through the heart,

requiring transfusions of eight-liters of blood. miraculously he survived, one of 10 patients treated in intensive care. putting on display weapons used in the attack, the authorities have continued to blame accept are a activities, drawn from the muslim minority community, some of who oppose chinese rule. the authorities are promising to hunted down attackers still on the run. >> the only apparent connection would seem to be the small ethnically weaker community. people here are just as shocked as residents. >> i feel heartbroken.

>> despite that, there is a heavy security presence in neighborhoods. if separatists were involved, this is the first major incident since the suicide car attack by separatists in tiananmen square last october. this incident comes as delegates prepare for the annual gathering of china's parliament, the national people's congress which the authorities like to ensure happens against a stable backdrop. by controlling how this event is being reported in china, they still hope to create that harmonious picture. >> please shot and killed four attackers in saturday's attack, are now looking for others. >> twin car bombs exploded in a busy nigerian marketplace, at least 51 killed. it happened in the northeastern part of the country, which is the birth place of the armed group. the group however did not claim responsibility for these blasts.

>> a group of armed protestors in tripoli storming the libyan parliament one day after the results of an election were released. they got inside the building while the parliament was in session, burning the speaker's chair and attacking lawmakers. two members were shot trying to escape and get to their cars. the country is trying to transition to a new democracy following the ouster of muammarr gaddafi. >> protestors along a pipeline which stretches from canada to the gulf of mex cove is already under construction. plans for the remainder of the pipeline await the president's approval. >> a california state lawmaker facing corruption charges say he is taking a paid leave of

absence, accused of accepting $100,000 in bribes in exchange for his political in flu ebbs. he is pleading inning. cold ron is the second california state senator this week to take leave to fight criminal charges. his leave of absence will cost democrats their super majority in the state senate. >> it is day one of the oscar pistorius murder case, pleading not guilty this morning, accused of killing his girlfriend on valentine's day last year. we take a look at the trial ahead. >> the trial is getting a lot of attention. even though a judge hasn't heard his case yet, some people have made up their minds about the olympic and paralympic runner. >> i think oscar is a good man. he did run for this country, but what happened to him was unfortunate, and i hope that they give him a free trial.

>> he did kill someone and shot her three times. maybe if there was a brother in the house, come on, he was shooting to kill. >> on valentine's day last year, he shot his girlfriend at his luxury home. she was a law graduate and well known model. he said he mistook her for someone trying to break into the house. prosecutors accuse him of premeditated murder. if convicted, he could go to prison for 25 years. a nudge has already ruled that some parts of the trial can be teleadvised. some think that could jeopardize his chances of a fair trial. >> the media might make or break the case here because the information that is not in the public domain yet might come to the public domain when the trial starts and other witnesses might possibly hear or see these evidence or statements that has been made and might alter the version that they put to the investigators. >> there are many eyes watching.

journalists from around the world are outside the high court ready to broadcast every twist and turn of the court proceedings. the south african legal system does not have trials by a jury, a judge will preside over the proceedings and rule on whether he is guilty. aljazeera, pretoria. >> this trial is so highly anticipated that a south african cable channel launched a trial coverage channel that began broadcasting sunday. >> the nascar season is in full swing and the company making efforts to pull in even more fans. we have more. good morning. >> good morning to you. that's right, the sport of nascar's going full throttle in the hopes of reaching a broader fan base, for multi-cultural and female drivers. >> this isn't your grandfather's nascar anymore. the sport of left hand turns and a good old boys mentality made

up of pro dominantly white drivers is trying to steer the sport into a new audience. >> diversity is important for nascar. rerecognize that america is a diverse place and nascar wants to be equally diverse in every aspect of our business. >> including the front office with max siegel becoming the first and only african-american president of a nascar franchise. jami was one of the first fee meal engineers. there's been a concerted effort to diversify behind the we'll. daryl wallace, jr. came from the drive for diversity program. the now 20-year-old made history at martinsville in 2013 when he became the first black nascar driver to win a series race. >> i think the biggest thing was

relief. then i get in victory lane and they're talking about the history behind it and i'm like wow, i didn't even see that. that was another tear jerker there of being a part of that and just going out there and doing my best. i'm like ok, sweet. >> another driver in the prom demonstrate's nascar's in tent for global reach. having started out 2014 winning his first two races, the 22-year-old is on pace to be one of the future stars in motor sports. the second year driver on the nascar k and pro series east, a regional race series that feeds their national series said the toughest transition into the sport hasn't been the driving or language barrier. >> i feel we have been learning a lot about how oh to communicate with the team. i feel like all this thinking in

english and communication for the term. we need to work on it, and last year, and i feel like all this adaptation is pretty decent right now. >> the drive to the divorce city program isn't targeting the legends of the pass or by passing those in the sport in the present, it's about looking toward the future and making the sport more representative of what the world looks like today. >> nascar that one of the largest fan bases of any sport in the country and is the second most popular t.v. sport. the criticism is it's made up of 60% men and most of them white from southern and midwestern states. like drivers like wallace help move it in the right direction, last year's rookie of the year said there's still a ways to go. >> for me, when i encounter, r. the bad and negative side to it, the racism, i was too young to understand it. i would get hand gestures,

slurs, but i was ok, what is that, you know. my parents, it hid them, because they understood it. they just told me to go out there and win again. ok, i'll do that. we'd go out the next weekend and win and either they'd be quiet or stop complaining and finally say that kid's good. >> that was our jessica taft reporting. right now, market research shows nascar's fan base is 60% male and 80% white, while a woman, danica patrick and a latino have run in sprint cup races in recent years. a black driver hasn't run a sprint cup race since 2006 and that's sports for this hour. >> fascinating. >> a transgender woman fighting for access to her late husband's benefits. the reason the social security administration says she could not have the money. >> in our next hour, israeli prime minister set to meet with

president obama today. the tensions facing these two allies.

>> good morning, w.t.f. to aljazeera america. we're going to tell you about the fight one woman waged for her late husbands benefits. it all centered around her sex exchange. >> first, the rain and snow is falling today. >> i'm tracking rain across the northeast but that will change to freezing rain. it's a wet start, atlanta points northward to dahl to know. around i-20, it looks like we'll catch a bit of a break. getting into north atlanta, around shreefs port you can find slick roadways. here across the mid atlantic,

we've been watching rain and know. outside of baltimore, we have picked up three to four inches of snow. watching that very closely, snow will gradually wind down through the late morning hours through parts of new jersey and new york, but we're going to keep it around through the day. maybe upwards to seven or eight inches of snow. heading across the midwest, st. louis into kentucky with ice, we are seeing snow on top of that. you need to use extra caution there. here cross texas, we're cold this morning, temperatures already in the teens and 20's for the start. not seeing a whole lot of moisture now but through the day, the moisture will provide freezing rain around san antonio. >> california governor jerry brown wants to see how legal recreational pot plays out in colorado and washington before signing off in his own state.

brown thinks the country could lose its competitive edge by smoking too much pot but says it's ok in moderation. >> it is carnival season and many consider brazil to be the greatest on earth. thousands flooding a park for a traditional block party. rio is famous for hundred of those parties. thousands traveling to italy to celebrate carnival in venice, one of the biggest events is the ball featuring intricate face masks which can be traced back to 1296. organizers say the celebrations can rake in about $70 million over the 20 days. >> looks like a good time. >> a 92-year-old world war ii veteran has been fighting for social security benefits for years, but believes she has been denied those benefits because

she is transgender. we take a closer look at her battle for recognition. >> she is a world war ii veteran, flight instructor and at 92, a stock market trader. >> life is beautiful. it is such a joy to live. >> two years ago, she said she lost the love of her life, her husband, norwood. >> 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. she was a navy pilot in world war ii. after the war, she came home to work in finance but struggled with her identity. >> i would go to work, and drive as a man. i'd put a suit and tie on and dress and go and do it, then i'd

come home at night and i'd be a woman. well, it was difficult, because i had the emotional twinge of going one way or the other. >> she officially changed her name and gender on her passport, pilot license and social security card. soon after, she met norwood. >> and we never discussed again the fact that i was a transsexual. never even entered any of our thoughts. we just learned to live old together. it was a delightful, fun. >> after the social security administration refused to recognize her marriage, she south help from a gender rights attorney. >> for the social security administration, the government she served as a government to

not only insult her in this way, but to be legally inaccurate around this issue, at a time when she is already dealing with the death of her husband was horrendous. >> after a year of appeals, she received a surprise on of all days, valentine's day. without contacting her, the social security administration had deposited the money in her account. >> she and her attorneys are pushing for a policy change that would guarantee transgender spouses get the same benefits as everyone else. >> she has led a quiet life and it's about giving younger transgender people hope. >> much to the social security administration says it's now much easier for the transgender to change their gender identity on their records and can do so on the government website. >> here are some of the stories we're following, russian troops

controlling the peninsula of crimea. russian's to foreign minister said it is a matter of defending russian citizens and human rights. >> the oscar pistorius murder trial is underway. he pleaded not guilty to killing his girlfriend. >> another winter storm slamming the east coast this morning, washington, d.c. shutting down federal offices all ahead of the winter snow. >> israeli prime minister set to meet with president obama at the white house, but the president may have already sent netanyahu a message. >> two big city major refusing to march in st. patrick's day parades, saying they discriminate against guys. looks like one of the cities got the message. >> arctic air continues to invade the south. an update on the national forecast. >> back in just a few minutes.

real reporting that brings you the world. >> this is a pretty dangerous trip. >> security in beirut is tight. >> more reporters. >> they don't have the resources to take the fight to al shabaab. >> more bureaus, more stories. >> this is where the typhoon came ashore. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. >> al jazeera, nairobi. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america.

>> russian flags flying high over the capitol of crimea. now ukraine's defense ministry saying russian fighter jets violated crimea air space. >> the landmark trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law. >> the prime minister of israel setting down in washington a few hours from now. his meeting could be tense.

>> being in the middle of the word's largest party, the heart and soul of carnival. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. the cries in ukraine spiral into an international standoff, russian troops controlling the peninsula in the southern part of ukraine. in response, you a crane is mobilizing its military and call for volunteers. this morning, secretary of state john kerry now headed to kiev to meet with members of the interim government. over the weekend, telling russia to rethink it's military intervention warning of consequences and embarrassment on the world stage. we have live team coverage for you, lisa stark is in washington

but we begin to -- with phil ittner. >> russia sent in two amphibious landing vehicles. overnight, at least twice, russian jets violated ukrainian air space. we're also hearing from the ukrainian side of things when it comes to military matters. we spoke to an intelligence officer here. he said they know exactly where those russian troops are and where they're poised to come into ukraine. the trouble thing for these intelligence officers is that the russian forces are situated

in a place such that if they are given the order, they could be here within a matter of hours. of course they have that capability, but do they have the will, that's the question. even if they don't come in or are given the order to come in, the sheer fact that they stand poised on the border to move into ukraine proper is send ago very clear message to kiev, this town is tense, del. >> russia's prime minister maintaining they are protecting the human rights of citizens in crimea who speak russian and they were greeted by people bearing russian flags. where does that leave the government in kiev, where you are? >> well, in a precarious situation. the government here in kiev says that despite what's said about the russian population out in the east of the country, that there still is a division and there are many people out in the east of the country who want to stay within ukraine. the question still remains about

crimea and there's been lessons learned from the 2008 war in georgia where russia moved in under a very similar pretext, saving russian or protecting russian citizens in georgia. those russian troops are still there. that's a lesson that ukrainians have noticed quite clearly. now, while there is still the question of the mix in the east, we did see today new video coming in from the town of dunyesk. there was a pro russian rally, showing russian support. of course, there's still a major question that we are hearing from people here in kiev about the real motivation for these rallies. the people here inside the government and intelligence organization say there is a fifth column out in the east of the country brought in by that the russians under the auspices

of slavic brotherhood or unity with russia and that they are provoking these kind of actions. clearly that's something coming from kiev, del, but exemplifies the situation in the ukrainian capitol as they watch the landscape out in the east of the country, and they are very concerned that russia may not just have designs on the crimean peninsula but may have designs on the entire country. del. >> looking for us live in kiev, phil, thank you very much. >> ukraine becoming one of the most intense and complex international issues. lisa stark picks up that part of the story for us. >> the u.s. government is moving quickly on a couple fronts, one to try to get economic rance to that provisional ukrainian government, but also to keep building international support to isolate russia, given their move into the crimea region.

the u.s. said this is not a crisis likely to end quickly. it is propped to keep on the pressure. >> the tend standoff has reached beyond the crimea planes as the global outcry intensifies over president putins decision to send troops into the area. >> there's a huge price to pay. the united states is united, russia is isolated. >> what congress has to do, what the senate should do quickly is a resolution condemning what putin has done. >> it's the kind of tough talk that president putin has heard before, sues when he invaded georgia in 2008. how much the u.s. can flex its muscle has some in washington questions president obama's next move beyond his phone call with putin over the weekend. >> stop going on television and trying to threaten thugs and dictators, it is not your strong

suit. every time the president goes on national television and threatens putin or anyone like putin, everyone's eyes roll, including mine. >> on sunday, president obama worked the phones quickly shoring up world support to isolate russia. the u.s. and several of its g8 partners including britain, france, italy and the canada have said they will not attend planned meetings for the g8 economic summit in sochi, the same place where the olympics just wrapped up. some of the countries threaten economic sanctions against russia. >> every single one of them are prepared to go to the hilt in order to isolate russia with respect to this invasion. >> the u.s. is offering russia a way out. one option, a so called off ramp, a proposal allowing international observers to take the place of russian troops in kathleen sebelius to protect the rights of the russian speaking population there. that's the reason president putin sided for sending troops

into crimea. >> secretary kerry will travel to kiev tomorrow for a very public show of support for the new ukrainian government. del. >> on the table with options, how many options, what are the u.s. options at this point? >> well, the u.s. was asked repeatedly is there a military option, because they keep saying all options are on the table. the secretary said that he does not want this to escalate into a military conflict, that the options are primarily economic and diplomatic. they can deny visas to russian folks wanting to come to the west, freeze russian assets and talking about removing russia from the g8. >> thank you very much this morning. we will be following all of the events in ukraine as they unfold and reminders that you can always get the very latest news updates just by going to

aljazeera.com. >> a winter storm causing major power outages in the midwest and the east coast could get a foot of snow. chris, what are you seeing where you are? we are seeing a lot of snow. >> it's been snowing since about two ok in the morning, it's bitter, bitter cold here, the wind blowing, so it's a light, dry blowing snow here with bitter cold temperatures and philadelphia is heading for a record. if they don't get there today, they really might get there at some point in the next week. if they get six inches of snow, this will become the second snowiest winter in philadelphia history and they've been keeping records since the mid 1800s. obviously this has been a winter for much of the country that most people won't forget. >> another winter blast affecting millions of americans

now has the mid atlantic in its grip. in maryland, stores are running out of ice melter as people are running out of patience. >> big rush, everybody's here, got in three pallets of ice melt yesterday morning, was gone before 11:00 a.m. and it's non-stop, everybody wanting it. i can't find any at this point in time. >> it's unusual for d.c. i love the snow, but i'm getting tired. >> this is causing havoc from the rockies to the ozarks. in colorado there was a 100 car pileup on i-25. the system is racing from coast-to-coast, it brought heavy rain to california, ice from little rock to nashville and snow from the mid atlantic sending records across the land. >> we're up approaching five feet of snow, very close to that and i've shoveled all of this, every five feet of.

it i'm tired and it's in march. >> not everyone has the winter blues, 3,000 people duke a dip do lake michigan, the polar plunge benefiting charity. the chicago mayor and tonight show host jimmy fallon proving for some, cold is a state of mind. >> obviously, the big problem with all of this is that it creates travel nightmares just here in the philadelphia area, there are spinouts all over the place, a jack-knifed 18 wheeler on i-95. over the weekend, airlines had to cancel 2,000 flights and today, at least 1500 flights have been wiped off the board. del. >> chris, thank you very much. what's next? who gets hit hardest and where is the storm headed now? good morning, ebony. >> we are continuing to watch the snow coming down around virginia and to the maryland area. that's where it's going to stick around really as we go through the day.

you can see that we started off with rain early this morning, but it has pushed over to snow around d.c. there's that fine line, we're still talking about icing, but here, we're only expecting about a tries, but certainly less than a quarter inch. it's really going to be the snow that continues to fall, making for slick spots on the roadway, so keep that in mind. going through the day, everything winds down as our front pushes off the east coastline. by tonight, the front will clear the coast, and we'll have the tail end of this front hung up across the gulf coast. that's where we could still see a shower or two. as far as the temperature side of the story, the arctic air has made its way all the way down into texas, arkansas do little rock, temperature now 37 degrees colder than just 24 hours ago, so we will continue to keep it cold, even as we get into the overnight hours. if we add any moisture to that, that will spell out for freezing rain problems.

here's that area of low pressure, draped just along the gulf coast, will continue to scoot off to the south and east, high pressures believe in behind it. although we are going to keep it drier once we get the tomorrow to move out, it continues to pull down the arctic air. to the west, we're dealing with an area of unsettled weather conditions as low pressure moves in. the air's milder here, we're dealing with mainly rain along the coastal areas of washington and california. across the country, middle of the country quiet for now, but it's definitely cold. more on the temperatures coming up. >> i ran out of patience and rock salt about the same time. thank you very much. >> at least 11 people are dead in pakistan after an action push as a courthouse in the capitol city of islamabad, gunman storming the court opening fire. at least two saturday bombers also detonating their explosives. one dead was a senior judge, two

others attorneys, that attack coming days after the pakistani government had a ceasefire with the taliban. >> osama bin laden's son-in-law going on trial for his role in the september 11 terrorist attacks. he is the highest profile al-qaeda member to be prosecuted in a civilian court. we are outside the courthouse in new york. what is he charged with and what is happening today? >> good morning, del. welcome to the federal court here in lower manhattan and the start of the trial. he's 48 years old, charged with conspiracy to kill americans and support terrorists in the immediate aftermath of september 11, 2001. you will remember his votes in which he appeared alongside osama bin laden and also the current leader of al-qaeda in which he appealed to muslim americans in particular not to use commercial aircraft because he said the wave of aircraft

being used as bombs would just keep on coming. authorities charging him with trying to bring down an airline flying between paris and maim in december, 2001. he is osama bin laden's son-in-law, he married bin laden's daughter fatima. there's going to be video evidence given from london by a man, 33 years old, convicted for trying to bring down aircraft. he's been released in britain. the judge here allowing video evidence from him and also from yemen where osama bin laden's former driver will be giving evidence. also a prisoner in guantanamo bay is giving written evidence in the charges allowing this trial to go ahead ahead today. the trial gets underway with jury selection this morning, and he denies all charges against

him. it's expected to last a month. >> there is some question as to how high-ranking he actually is. >> yes, that's right, because he is a kuwaiti. a lot of commentators think he was only given the position in the hierarchy of al-qaeda, he was with bin laden, that his influence was quite limited. nonetheless, prosecutors here using this as an opportunity to show that an alleged high-ranking member of al-qaeda can be tried in a court case in a place like manhattan and that i had can go smoothly and seem to be fair. of course, the irony is lost on nobody that this trial is taking place less than a mile from the world trade center site. >> this trials in new york are

rare. why are we seeing so few members of al-qaeda tried in new york? >> the answer's guantanamo bay. you remember president obama when he campaigned to be president in 2008, a key part of his campaign was to close guantanamo bay, and he's been unable to do that and the reason is the congress, members of congress simply don't want this kind of high profile trial taking place in their back yard, so if ever it remains open. many of the al-qaeda leadership are there. that is why a trial of this magnitude is causing such a lot of interest, because it's something that the authorities want to be able to use, certainly the obama administration is keen to see this go off smoothly as a way of maybe moving some of these people to trial in the united states in the future and eventually one day maybe even closing guantanamo bay. if he is found convicted at the end of this one month trial, he

will face life imprisonment. >> john, thank you very much. >> in south africa, it is day one of the pretorous murder trial. you are looking live inside that courthouse. the former olympian known as blade runner pleading inning number, he is accused of killing his girlfriend on valentine's day last year. he said it was an accident, claiming he thought she was an intruder. prosecutors say he murdered her after a late night argument. if convicted, he faces up to 20 years behind bars. >> might make or break the case because information that is not in the public domain yet might come to the public domain when the trial starts running, witnesses might hear or see evidence or statements made and might alter the versions that they put to the investigators. >> this case so highly

anticipated, the south african cable company launching a new channel focusing just on the trial 24 hours a day. >> carnival festivities in venezuela overshadowed by growing protests there. tens of thousands of people filling the streets, some wearing carnival costumes. protestors are angry about rising inflation and high rates of crime, calling for a new government. those demonstrations have been going on for weeks. >> the mayors of two cities refusing to march in their hometown st. patrick's day parade all because they say those parades discriminate between guys and less beans. >> you have your iphone, ipad, now buckle up for the icar. >> this is the world's wildest

party. what it looks like and sounds like for dancers right up in the middle of carnival chaos.

>> that is not pennsylvania avenue in washington, d.c. this morning, it is the iditarod. they are all rushing to the finish. the dogs have to make it through 1,000 miles of winter terrain. the race lasts 10 days. in just a moment, we will take you very inside the festivities at rios carnival. first, we have the weather across the country. >> our temperatures are down and throughout the middle of the country range from below zero down into the 20's near the gulf coast. we're dealing with gusty winds. this is actually making our feel-like temperature even colder. winds are gusting up to 31 miles per hour around d.c., so it feels around five. not much of a warm up today but

over the next couple days, we get back to where we should be around new york city. >> the rising tensions between ukraine and russia rattling the global markets. could be a sign of a sell off as the market opens, do you futures falling 100 points, well off earlier. in europe, london down 1.5%, the big sell off in tokyo and hong kong, did manage to rice 1%. assets considered safer such as u.s. treasuries and gold. >> the situation in ukraine driving energy prices higher and crude oil and natural gas futures are up 2%. russia is one of the world's largest producers of oil, one market watcher telling aljazeera means drivers will end up paying more at the pump. >> if anything else, there's going to be a risk premium built in, unless, of course, the

situation in ukraine is contained just in crimea quickly. i don't think any of this is going to die down over the next few days. >> the price now $3.46 according to triple-a. >> car play is a simple touch screen interface with voice command, allowing you to access your calendar, emails and music. some of of the brands that will integrate with apple include ferrari, hyundai and mercedes benz. >> it is carnival and many considered brazil to be the greatest show on earth. it is famous for street parties across the city. we look at celebrations underway.

>> it's an overload of sounds where the beat is in the air tugging at the soul. the only thing competing for the attention are the colors. welcome to rio de janeiro's carnival parade, the biggest party on earth. the parade spectacle one of the world's greatest single events. here the floats are larger than life, some of which cost hundred was thousands of dollars. there are the elaborate costumes, most of which take months to make. it's the people who provide the energy to fuel the party that goes all night long. >> all of my family are samba lovers. we are here playing and having fun. >> i like everything about carnival. it is good, it's pure happiness. >> some even say the parade itself has taken it to new better places in life.

>> i am super happy, this is the second time i have participated in the carnival parade and the parade cured my depression. >> after watching the spectacle for a while, it's hard to know if the people make the carnival or the carnival experience itself makes the people, taking them for at least one night into an other-world fantasy. >> we haven't entered the stadium yet. the parade in front of the 75,000 people, already the passion is incredible. they've completely lost themselves in the song and dance. >> this is rios night where nothing else in the city, country or even the world matters all that much here, problems don't exist, at least not for a night, this night, when the people of rio tell the world this is how we throw our carnival party.

aljazeera, rio de janeiro. >> israel's prime minister set to arrive in washington just a few hours from now. we'll tell you why a speech the president decided not to make could create tension when the two meet. >> children in the central african republic cheering the arrival of peace troops. >> california was the first state to establish a medical marijuana program 20 years ago but california's governor saying not so fast. >> the world's number one golfer that major issues that could affect him the rest of the season. that's coming up in sports.

>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america >> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters.

updating our top story this hour, ukraine saying it will never give up crimea despite russia surrounding military bases there, saying they are protecting the human rights of russian speaking people in that region. secretary of state john kerry on his way to kiev to meet with the new ukrainian government. we will follow those events in ukraine. you can always get the very latest news by going to our website, aljazeera.com. >> president obama meeting with israel prime minister today trying to convince him to agree to a framework for negotiation with the palestinians, the window is closing for a peace deal. two later will address the issue of iran. alan fisher live in jerusalem, netanyahu vowing to stay loyal with israeli interests. what can we expect from today's

meeting? >> we know the prime minister and barack obama did not get on terribly well. there have been incidents where the two butted heads and benjamin netanyahu berated barack obama in the white house itself. what we're going to hear we're told is barack obama saying to netanyahu now is the time to push forward with the peace deal and if you don't, there's a possibility we can't protect you from international repercussions. he's talks about the growing campaign internationally for sanctions against israeli if they don't agree to a peace deal and continue with settlement expansion in the west bank. there's not going to be any major break through for this meeting in the white house. it's really a taking of the temperature. barack obama is going to meet with the palestinians later this month, as well. you can be rest assured that netanyahu is going to make his

point forcibly, because he's done it in the past. >> the president has left the negotiations up to secretary of state john kerry. what does it say that he has decided to take this time to get personally involved in the negotiations? >> there's also going to be a point in the process where barack obama had to use the office of the presidency to push this along. i think he's realizing that now is the time he's got to try to do something. he's going to speak to netten yahoo, outline the u.s. position, we can't protect you from international sanctions, you've got to do something and he's going to speak to the palestinians, this is the best chance for peace. get a framework deal agreed. he think john kerry has done a good job, briefing barack obama on a weekly basis and asking for help when he needs direction. barack obama is going to become much mr. engage would in this process.

he knows this is a legacy issue. he wants to say look what i did in my second term, because at the moment, there's not a great deal to point at. >> this conflict has been going on for decades, why are we seeing increased pressure now to get something done? >> there is the real politic of it all, of course, because there's no immediate prospect of any sort of settlement in syria. egypt is not going terribly well as far as the americans are concerned. if you look around the middle east, if is fictionable in the view of some in the administration. we can perhaps get some sort of deal. there's a deal that netanyahu can bring right wingers to the table and understand why there has to be a deal with the palestinians. they think the palestinian leadership is the most moderate in sometime and who knows how long that will stay in place. if replaced, it could be something much less inclined to do a deal with israel.

of course barack obama wants a legacy in his second term. everything's coming together at one time. they hope that they might be able to get a framework deal in place by april from what we understand from the palestinians and israelis, that is unlikely but barack obama will be pushing for that date. >> we should point out that the president will hold a similar meeting with the palestinian president in two weeks. during his visit to washington, prime minister netanyahu will be speaking to the israel public anniversary conference, a gathering of pro israel community, 14,000 people expected to be there. we are live in washington, d.c. what can we expect? >> despite the snow, people are going to gather here in just a couple of hours. today on the docket, members of congress will be speaking, including senator john mccain. we'll hear from secretary of

state john kerry. we heard from alan fisher that of course, the israel-palestinian peace talks process is something that will be discussed today. another big issue, iran and the question of whether or not congress should move forward and impose some sort of preempt active sanctions against iran if iran does not abide by terms in the process going forward to try to get to a nuclear-free iran. the president and the head of apac wrote an op ed in the new york times urging congress to move forward on imposing some sort of sanctions, the purpose of that will be because iran will feel something should happen if it does not make good. iran should feel like something would happen, a shoe were to drop if this process doesn't move forward in an effective way. now, we won't be seeing

president obama speak today and that is of course of significance. last time he was here was in 2012. it should be noted that secretary kerry has been the lead person on both the question of iran also the peace talks, so the administration is letting secretary kerry continue to be the forefront of their push today. >> libby, the fact that the president is not speaking, what does that say about u.s.-israeli relations? is it affecting them, having an impact? where does that leave things? >> president obama did an interview with bloomberg yesterday and talked about the meetings he'll be having with netanyahu and talked about that u.s.-israel relationship. there were interesting nuggets, including that he did urge the prime minister to seize the moment on making peace. he said that time is really running out to negotiate any israeli-palestinian agreement. the penalty said he does believe

that the palestinian authority president is sincere about his willingness to recognize israel and its right to exist, the pot recognizing that this is a key moment for any peace talks. expect that to be a theme today, as well. >> libby, thank you very much. >> the death toll from a sword attack in china at 33, people lighting candles for those killed in the attack. it happened at the city's main train station, another 143 people were wounded. police fatally shooting the attacker, now looking for ears. members of the chinese top political body holding a moment of silence for the victims, authorities tightening security on the streets of beijing, saying this is an act of terrorism. >> thousands of international troops are in the central african republic trying to coin the sectarian violence there.

their personal experiences with the genocide there are helping connect with people in ways other soldiers can't. >> this is a patrol with a difference, rwandan peace keeper want to use words as weapons of persuasion to help end the violence. it means taking to the street armed with memories of an experience no one wants repeated. many were personally affected by the slaughter of 800,000 nearly 20 years ago. three of lt. colonel's family were killed. >> we share our experiences and maybe hope they can understand our problem. >> he's hopeful because the violence in the central african

republic is nowhere near the rwandan genocide. muslims are bearing the brunt of the violence. >> yesterday, selica came out of their base. they should be disarmed. they are revolutionaries. >> we started all the selica are in garrisons, you have to differentiate muslim citizens from selica fighters. >> the message gets through to some. >> people understand. when we see the people from rwanda, they lived through similar situation. they are here to bring us peace and people appreciate that. >> this is more than just a job for the peacekeepers. because of the experience of a genocide in their own country, they can connect to people at a deeper level. >> rwandan peacekeepers must

escort this convoy to cameroon, providing security. on the way, muslim families desperate to leave the town climb onboard. it is every man, woman or child for themselves. they're scared of people they used to live beside peacefully. men drink homemade alcohol to fuel the spectacle some people are clearly enjoying. for all the peacekeepers efforts, right now, it doesn't matter what anyone says. their message of reconciliation haven't reached here. >> nearly a thousand people have been killed, hundreds of thousand us displaced, after that fighting broke out between muslim and christian groups there. >> moving to sports, problems right now for the world's number one golf player. >> when you say tiger's back, you don't mean he's playing better, you're talking about a

medical point. tiger woods on saturday seemed to be getting his mojo back, checking in with his best round of the year at the honda classic. sunday, he tweaked his back and had to withdraw. he tried to get through his final round. if you've ever had back problems, you can feel his pain. the 38-year-old woods was slicing and dicing his shots all over the course. tiger decided that's it, he walked off the course. it's the sixth time in his career that tiger woods has had to withdraw from a tournament. >> where asked about if he'd be well enough to defend his championship starting thursday, he said" it's too early to tell, i need treatment every day until thursday to try and calm it down." we'll see how it is. >> rory mack elroy had a two stroke lead, but having issues. he bogeyed and double bogeyed down the stretch and that loft

the lead for him, putting him in a four man playoff opening the door for russell henley. for the win, he captures his second p.g.a. title and pockets $1 million in the process. >> when debate in a sports bar turns to the hardest thing to do in sports, i think you'll win if you bring up sinking a 75-foot putt on the links. that shot that a 1% suction rate on the p.g.a. tour. maybe paula kramer didn't know how impossible that is. from 75 feet away, for an eagle, for the win, look at her make that ball make the sharp turn. >> i can't tell you how good it really does feel.

this is a big win, a huge win. i'm shaking, oh, my gosh, has has been such a long time coming. i wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for collin, my caddy and best friend. >> you sink a putt like that, you smile like that, too. >> number eight villanova looking like a tournament team, winning three in a row. they were taking on marquette. don't let their unrest stat susfool you. early on, derrick wilson finds gardner for the easy two. marquette held the wildcats leading scorer scoreless, letting daryl hilliard go wild. he scored, ending on a high note. second half, takes the rock and buries it, nova wins 73-56, 26th win of the season, that's a wildcats regular season record. >> number three arizona speaking of wildcats, hosting stanford

early in the first half, arizona three off the turnover intrants i guess. t.j. mcconn tell to lay it up and in, arizona up five. jefferson's going to throw up the alley and gordon the two handed slam. more from gordon in the second half. he drives behind the pack and lays it in. if gordon goes pro, he notches 19 points in 15 boards. arizona bead stanford to win the pack 12 title. >> that's your look at sports for this hour. >> you told me you sank 75-foot putts all the time. >> don't believe everything you hear. [ laughter ] >> the first team, let's see her do it again. >> california voted to legalize marijuana in 1996, but the governor saying he's not sure about legalizing possibility for recreational use, saying he wants to see how it plays out in colorado and washington state

before signing off in california. the governor saying it is ok in moderation but still expressing concerns about legalized marijuana. >> for the first time in decades, boston st. patrick's day parade will allow gay rights group to march opinion i understand there is a sticking point this time. >> there are conditions to the participation and lbgt groups are not onboard. boston is not the only big city dealing with this issue, new york city also fighting this fight. both mayors say they are standing up for equality. >> it's 2014, far beyond the time we should be having this discussion. >> spearheading negotiations with the leaders of the st. patrick's day parade said he struck a deal to allow gay veterans to participate in the 100-year-old city tradition. >> it's about celebrating our veterans and we shouldn't be excluding veterans out of the parade. >> now they are included, but

under certain conditions, the marchers will not be allowed to wear clothing or carry signs referring to sexual orientation, the group representing the veterans say at this point, it's still an on going conversation, they have not accepted any invitation to march and will only consider allowing l.g.b.t. people to march openly. year after year, gay rights groups pushed to march openly in st. patrick's day parade that been lbgt participation. tens of thousands in boston and new york participate every year and hundreds of thousands more watch the parades in both cities. both mayors are refusing to march unless their parade lifts the ban. nor new york's new mayor, it's a first in 20 years. sunday, the mayor marched in the st. pat's for all parade in queens, an annual tradition the past 15 years.

both of these parades have a long history, new york's traditional st. patrick's parade to 762. >> these parades are big deals in chicago, boston, new york, when these mayors make these decisions, they are felt in a lot of places. >> i'm from boston, we never miss the parade, you're talking a million people just in that one city watching it on t.v. and on the streets. this is a huge celebration. it will be interesting to see how it pans out. we've still got a little more time here. >> hundreds of thousands of ultra orthodox jews rallying in west jerusalem over the weekend, protesting a allow being debated requiring their men to be drafted into military service. they've always been exempt from military service. the government saying that they

should serve like every other citizen. protestors want the exemption to stay in place. >> it's important to tell the state of israel that we are opposed to their political philosophies, that we feel the contribution being made will help the army and through hour contributions on the relingous spectrum, we are arm in arm with the army, helping the state of israel. >> that new legislation is expected to pass in the next few weeks. if anyone refuses to join the service, they could face prison time. allot that orthodox views make up 10% of israel's population. >> coming down to just one night. >> 12 years a slave. >> 12 years a slave, taking the top prize at the oscars. the rest of the big winners and how mother nature had a role this year. >> maybe you went to sleep,

maybe raiding the fridge. did you see john travolta's big flub at the oscars? >> tracking a winter storm in the bitter cold air that follows. where rain changes over to freezing rain in your forecast.

on al jazeera america >> this historic hotel in alabama destroyed by fire gutting the hotel over the weekend. it was built in 1884 and on the national register of historic places. it was on "the new york times" list of 1,000 places that you should visit before you die. >> welcome back. we'll tell you about the big winners on oscar night, but the big losers this morning are waking up to a major winter storm. here's the details. >> much colder temperatures, as well. our numbers have been falling

throughout the day and with the moisture in place, we've seen a switch from rain to now just all plain snow from parts of ohio all the way into new jersey and of course much of virginia has seen that switch over, as well. baltimore, d.c., you will come out on top as we could see up wards to seven inches or more in localized areas. we still have the mild air in place. you can see the frontal boundary lies here. we have all rain across the carolinas even around atlanta where tonight temperatures are expected to drop below the freezing point. we are going to be dealing with freezing rain possibilities, so keep that in mind there. into the midwest, it's cold, not seeing as much snow here. we got that yesterday into the overnight hours, waning a bit around southern areas of indiana, into kentucky. it is a mixed bag which precipitation, lots of rain from seattle to portland southward to northern california. >> the stars came together for

hollywood's big night. there was one uninvited guest, the weather, rain soaking the red carpet so bad, they had to keep up a tent to keep the stars dry and statuteettes as well. >> 12 years a slave. >> the historical drama won oscar's top prize, the first time a film from a black director won pest picture. >> i dedicate this to people who endured slavery and 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. >> it made a star. >> cate blanchett. >> best actress ors went to cate blanchett. >> as random and subjective as this award is, it means a great deal.

>> matthew mcconaughey took the prize for best actor, paying tribute to his late father. >> i know he's up there right now with a big pot of gumbo, a lemon meringue pie with a can of miller lite and he's probably dancing right now. >> this is for the 36 million people who have lost the battle to aids. >> gravity finished the night as the top award winner, seven oscars including best director. the night's other big winner, ellen degeneres, her star-studded selfie during the show retweeted more than 2 million times in two hours. >> that is mark reporting. that is not sunshine in l.a.,

that is our art critic. you got them all right. >> did i really? i think so. it was a lot of this was for or gone this year. it was gratifying to see the awards. >> the big prize to 12 years a slave. the academy liked gravity an awful lot but 12 years a slave was the conscious decision yes, there was business to be done. we've seen a lot of movies about the south from the academy most notably gone with the wind and driving miss daisy. this is what went on behind the scenes and that movie was not a pretty sight, but it was a great piece of film making. i think everyone thought it deserved the top prize. >> gravity not the big winner of the evening but cleaned house in the technical division. there was controversy with regard to that, the fact that the technical group was based in london and not in the u.s. and

some people saying hey. >> exactly. this is a tough thing for the film making industry to understand or deal with, because there's nothing more exportable than this digital work in all these movies. it can be done a lot cheaper overseas and other countries, new zealand to where everybody is is subs dieing the work. it's easy for hollywood to outsource it. there's a lot of protest about it and good luck with that, because no one's going to give subsidies at home particularly the state of california and the movie industries are not going to do anything that raises the cost of film making. gravity was an extraordinary piece of film making. this is what movies are going to be like in the future. >> it didn't pick up the top prize of best film. is that tough for a film like gravity, a sci-fi film. >> say that one more time. >> is it tough for a film like

gravity for skyify films to take the top nod? >> yes, it is. we saw lord of the rings a breakthrough for fantasy. gravity was really making a point to give best director. i think there were essential circumstances with 12 years a slave and it was very self conscious to give it to him. they gave them every award they could. everyone agrees this is movies of the future. they had to in vent the technology to make the movie they wanted to make. >> bill, thank you very much. >> that is going to do it for this edition of aljazeera america news. thanks for watching. we leave you now with those live images out of pretoria south africa where the olympian as osr

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>> breaking news in the crisis in ukraine. putin is asking to use the russian military in crimea. the troops are arriving to the region since friday and it is trying to protect the pro russian people already there. for the new government in kiev they are calling it an illegal invasion. phil, is this a provocation of war? >> well, we have a lot of fast moving events going on here.