problems certainly continue. >> thank you both for hanging out with us for the hour. we'll stay on the story for a while to come. >> the show may be over, the conversation continues on the website aljazeera.com/consider-this. you can also find us on twitter. see you next time. >> good evening everyone. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. power may from putin and president obama as the ukraine crisis turns into a diplomatic showdown. >> i think the strong condemnation that it's received from countries around the world, indicates the degree to which russia is on the wrong side of history on this. >> senator john mccain tells al jazeera america why president obama's diplomacy is failing

with russia. >> the united states has no idea what the kind of person putin is and what his intentions are. >> most of the country is bracing for another round of bracing temperatures. world war ii, camp in idaho, what this discovery tells us about the japanese americans who were held there. >> and we begin with ukrainian showdown and the latest developments in this escalating world crisis. this evening president obama met with senior military and national security advisors at the white house. this is a photo of that meeting in the situation room. at the same time, the united states is suspending trade talks and putting all military negotiations with the country on hold. at andrews air force, secretary

of state john kerry is on his way to kiev, will meet with ukrainian officials tomorrow. all this as troops have been streaming into the southern ukrainian area. they have been given a deadline, that has just passed. russian officials say they got involved because they were asked by the ousted ukrainian president. on tuesday nato will hold an emergency meeting. right now there's no telling what putin will do. our coverage begins with nick schifrin, live from the capitol of crimea, simferopol. what's happening on the ground there now nick? >> the resistance as far as anyone can tell is nonexistent. in reality, the russians don't

escalate. we spent all day going to bases around this capitol and you see the same thing, russian flags flying over what should be ukrainian bases. russian troops inside what should be ukrainian bases. outside an armory, wh where we spent about an hour this afternoon russian troops are digging in. they are going to stay here as long as it takes, apparently. on the east on the border they are increasing their presence there. in the last few hours we have been talking about that threat that you mentioned john that just passed about an hour ago or so. russian troops near the port where they had been basically blockading ukrainian ships. local journalists who were there this afternoon say that from those russian ships they used megaphones to tell ukrainians that they had only a few hours

to off-bode those ships. it seems like that deadline has come and past and nothing has happened. at the end of the day, they really do have control of any important government institution. all of the military institutions and the ukrainian military, the ukrainian government simply has not resisted at all and that's why john you are seeing a huge diplomatic push from the west. because the ukrainians can't seem to resist this russian onslaught. >> nick, thanks very much. from crimea to kiev, we are focusing on fixing the troubled economy. a national unity deal. phil itner from the ukrainian capital. >> john, kiev is a very troubled

city. the army that russia has on ukraine's border to the north and to the east. as a result kiev has sent security forces along those borders and certainly to the border crossing. the fear that kiev has is that russia may try to send in agitators, a kind of fifth column to set things up should there be an escalation of tensions. they've also been speaking to business leaders here. even though there's a threat of war there, there is a real understanding in keybank that they have to get the government functioning. -- in kiev that they have to get the government functioning. to try to get them to chip in. all the wile the international community is looking to what they can do. there's talk of travel restrictions for the russians. and there's the expected arrival

of secretary of state john kerry who many ukrainians hope will be carrying with him a stimulus package. >> many say it's the american foreign policy who shares in the blame. john mccain, a vocal critic of the policy. >> secretary of state john kerry has no idea what the kind of person putin is or what his intentions are, which is to build a near abroad, and ukraine is the crown jewel of that, and the president has played right into putin's hands. >> president obama says russia is violating international law and the white house is considering several options including sanctions to get president putin to pull back. mike viqueria reports. >> well, according to president obama, now is the time for

russia to decide. he says there are two paths that cruz take. continuing this road to confrontation which he says over time will be a costly proposition. or the president says vladimir putin and cruz take the off ramp if they're really as concerned about the welfare of ethnic russians and russian speakers in eastern, southern and in the crimea portions of the ukraine, then the united states will work to put international monitors to look after their interests. nobody really expects vladimir putin to go for that. the united states has been scrambling over the last 72 hours ever since it looked like this is how it would unfold, all the talk is about trying to get the europeans on board about economic sanctions against russia. the israeli prime minister previously scheduled in the oval office, benjamin netanyahu, the talk would be all about the iranian nuclear program or

prospects for peak in the middle east. but today inevitably the president was asked about the crisis in ukraine. here is part of his response. >> what cannot be done is for russia with impunity to put its soldiers ton groun on the ground violate basic principles around the world. i think the strong condemnation that it's received from countries on the world indicate the degree to which russia is on the wrong side of history on this. >> secretary of state john kerry is traveling overnight, he is expected in kiev on tuesday. the temporary caretaker government, remember there were elections set for may 25th there. there was word that secretary kerry could be meeting with his russian counterpart, the russian

form minister sergey lavrov. as well as the military crisis there, ukraine has a dire economic situation as well. meanwhile on capitol hill, the democratic leader after president obama today called on congress to immediately take up sanctions this week, as soon as congress is back in town. harry reid says he wants to europeans on board first. >> mike viqueria at the white house. let's look at possible economic sanctions. russia is tied to europe through appliance that carry national gas. what happens if the critical supply is cut off? ali velshi has that story. >> the peurch gets hal -- europn gets half of its natural gas supplies from russia. if the cost of german factory output increases because of a

sustained increase in natural gas prices or production were to fall because of a shortage, that would rock europe, and ripple across the globe. disruption to russian gas supplies could happen in one of two ways. russia could shut off supplies preemptively in response to the threat of sanctions or russia could step things up mill tailor, sending troops into eastern ukraine which is part of the natural gas train to europe. >> effected isn't really on the transit route . however the east of core ukraina lot of russian speakers there, fireworks in terms of energy prices in terms terms of energy prices in europe. >> europe depends on the infrastructure, tried to diversify a way away from

russian energy, through the cast pecaspea sea. >> because the domestic supplies from these critical producers are dhoining, that really -- declining that really the pipeline supplies at a will be available for europe will be -- that will be available will be largely from russian gas. >> european leaders understand that, that's why they are calling for dialogue with, not sanctions against, russia. ali velshi, al jazeera. >> warren hogue, and from providence, rhode island, thomas nichols, professor of national security affairs. gentlemen, welcome. >> thank you.

>> warren, let me start with you if i might. angela merkel suggested that the russian president is out of touch with reality tonight. is that just rhetoric or they have just lost control? >> i think what she said was he was from a different planet. i think exactly he is from a different planet. the russians view this differently. in the context of this there is nothing the west can do by way of punishment, economic isolation that sort of thing that's going to matter to putin. because ukraine matters to him much more than any consequences or any cost that the west can come up with will matter to him. so he is on his own planet. >> did he get caught off guard here or is this all a part of the grand plan? >> i don't think it's part of a grand plan. but i think the people that got caught off guard were people in the west who didn't realize he

would ask as brusquely as he has. and they had reason he would because in 2008 did he the very same thing in georgia. >> thomas, whit comes to the utterurgency of this matter, whs russia going to do? >> putin is going to run out the clock, he wants this to be the new normal and he can do it at hehis leisure. you mentioned russian troops digging in. the more it goes without conflict from the west, the more they should get used to it. >> is the president seeking an end to cold war border agreements? >> i think that's a big -- i think that's exactly what's going on. 20 years since the end of the cold war putin is now saying that all those deals that were

made either explicitly or implicitly, those deals are off. that he wants to renegotiate those. if by force, if necessary, but that the understanding, that brought the cold war to a peaceful end are as far as he is concerned null and void. >> warren give us a little background in history here. we heard senator john mccain come out very strong with tough words for this administration suggesting this administration is in some ways to blame for what's going on in ukraine. how -- has that happened many times before with other presidents? >> i think it's more apparent now that people get to be more partisan than they used to be about foreign affairs. but i don't think it really makes sense in the end, because i think vladimir putin is acting for his own reasons. and i don't think he's weighing whether the west or obama is becoming particularly weak. he knows what he wants and he's going to go after it and get it.

>> let me stop you there. what does he want? >> he wants to reinstate russian dominion over the ukraine. he wants to make sure it is part of his world, not the western world. >> can he do that by taking it over? >> by staying where he is in crimea, without going to eastern ukraine, it is the hope of the west that he doesn't do that. going back to georgia in 2008 that has now become the normal as your other speaker said a moment ago. russians are still there. they carved out two little puppet regimes of georgia, the world acted with outrage when he invaded there in 2008. but now, it's accepted it. >> thomas, would you compare him to stalin? >> no, absolutely not. stalin was a psychopath. vladimir putin is a lot of things. i wouldn't compare almost

anybody to joseph stalin. he does live in a different world in the fact that he doesn't accept the international status quos as the rest of us as the rest of the civilized world accepts it. what happened here is he felt personally humiliated by what happened in ukraine. you ask what he wants? some of this is to soothe a significantly bruised ego after his client, his man in kiev was run out of town. it may be, my hope anyway is that he has gotten enough revenge for that act and may pull back. but i fear as mr. hogue points out that it may just be that now he's going to leave this to create a new status quo. i hope that's not the case. >> thomas nichols and warren

hogue, thanks for being on the program. >> thank you. >> what is his and russia's reaction. let's go to rory challenge in moscow. what are you hearing on the ground there? >> well, it's early morning here in moscow so the diplomatic activity, the political activity is yet to get underway and we'll have to see what the day brings before we can call that one. there is unlikely to have been a shift in the russian position overnight, and the russian position has been, is i think, still, that what it is doing in crimea, what it is doing in ukraine, is merely protecting russian-speakers, merely protecting the crimean black sea fleet that is centered in crimea. that is a perfectly legitimate thing to do because the government that is now in power

in kiev is illegitimate, according to the russians, according to moscow, sphawld essentially in a western-funded western fueled coup. they are fascists, bandits, and they are putting lives of russian compatriots they east of the crimea at risk and therefore, what russia is doing is the only right thing to do given the circumstances. do russians themselves on the streets believe that? well, it's difficult to know for sure because trustworthy polls, independent polls aren't done very often and quite difficult to come by. i haven't seen one on this issue yet as i can verify as being sort of a trustworthy source. anecdotally, russians in the main do beef what the governments are saying because there is the message going out

on state tv and in the newspapers that are supportive of the view that i just put there, the view that the russian government holds is largely a view that's shared by russian people. >> all right, rory challenge in moscow, thank you. this season brings more misery to tens of millions. plu tearing apart, the deadly issue in venezuela, what happens next? our paul beban is there.

>> half a world away in ukraine another volatile showdown in venezuela where weeks of daily protests are bring things on the brink. leopoldo lopez asking his people to keep demonstrating in the streets. paul beban, what have you been seeing and hearing today? >> well, john, as you pensioned, the leopoldo lopez that jailed

protest leader has been calling for continued protests and the protests have been continuing l there were more violent protests in crack caracas today. here in san cristobal, in the western part of the country, is where this all began, a sexual assault became a protest, the police cracked down on that. that opened the flood gates about the number of grievances, about suppression of free speech. in san crif christobal, to prott them from roving bands of thugs, tensions are running very high. we're out on the streets earlier today, had to come back to a

more secure location as night fell. pots and pan pans banging out, tensions running very high in san christobal and in caracas. >> heard they were not peaceful demonstrations but vandalistic criminal behavior. is that the way the government is framing this there? >> that's right, john. the government is blaming this on the protesters. what they are doing is marching through the streets causing disorder. they are blaming many of the deaths seen as many as 18, on the protesters, on government violence, the clashes are being fueled by heavy handed repression of free speech, calls again for reform to the economy,

end to corruption, end to shortages. so back and forth not looking -- not seeing any resolution here any time soon, john. >> paul beban in venezuela, paul thank you. now we turn to the winter weather that just won't let up in some parts of the country. this is a stunning image from niagra fals from american side today, frozen in subzero weather. another storm hit the east coast, in washington, d.c. the weather shut down federal offices many schools, and the house and senate cancelled votes an debate. five or 600 flights were cancelled or delayed today. washington, d.c.'s reagan airport was one of the worst hit. more than a million flights were cancelled or delayed since

december 1st. this year's weather has cost airlines half a billion dollars including to data collection mass flight. walt disney says it will stop donating to the boy scouts of america. last year the scouts allowed gay boys and goirls join its ranks. -- girls to join its rank. the scouts told al jazeera america, we were disappointed in the decision because it will impact our ability to serve kids. there are 32,000 in america who cannot read, staggering numbers. but there's another report at a says it's not too late to learn. diane eastabrook reports. every friday, harold travels for a date with the same woman. >> it had been two -- two -- good in a quiet corner the

71-year-old reads sally may brooke a story he wrote. barnes grew up in poverty on a farm, never attending school and never learning to read. >> i want to read my mail. my wife passed away. then i got to go from relative to relative, trying to get them to help me read my pail. i said, this ain't going to work. >> doorgaccording to proliterac0 million can't read beyond a third grade level but only three million are getting tutored. they say literacy often needs to be tied to some sort of a goal, like getting a high school diploma or getting a job. this literacy class for low income adults provides tutoring in reading math and social

studies with the goal of preparing students for high school equivalency exams. >> programs like this are mostly funded by federal block grants to states. >> paragraph 10. >> literacy advocate becky raymond says grants pay for the classes only. >> do they need transportation, childcare, addressing some of these barriers so that they can go back, build their foundational skills. good barnes didn't have those barriers. he started learning to read after he retired from a job at a hotel. still being an older student was a challenge. >> when i first started to learning with ms. sally. it was hard, it was hard. but i said this is what i wanted to do. >> barnes now reads at about a third grade level and is maybrooke's most inspiring student. >> he appreciated everything he

learned, every week was a new adventure. >> an adventure that has changed barns' life. >> i ain't where i want to go and i ain't where i used to be. it makes you feel so good. >> diane eastabrook, al jazeera chicago. >> we'll have a live report from crimea. plus middle east peace. president obama meets with israeli prime minister, i'll speak live with former ambassador allen pinkus in a moment.

>> be welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. a lot to cover this half hour. tightening his grip, russian president vladimir putin takes almost complete control to the

ukraine crimea region. the world war ii internment camp. and it's the world's longest dog sled race, a thousand miles through snow and ice in alaska. the crisis in ukraine. russia has denied reports that it's issued an ultimatum to ukrainian forces in crimea. giving them an ultimatum. the troops are there said the russians at the request of the former president. secretary of state john kerry on his way to kiev to talk to the new ukrainian government. tonight president obama met with top security advisors to talk about the ukraine. a picture from the white house situation room. the pentagon has suspended all military to military engagements

between the u.s. and russia. the chief of the u.n. met to talk about a diplomatic solution to the crisis. ban ki-moon talked about quieting the incident with diplomatic discussion. nick schifrin at simferopol. what's the latest? >> john we are in as you just said a ukrainian capitol. the building behind me is the ukrainian parliament led by a ukrainian prime minister but as you can see the small flag that flies above it is russian. we are in the ukraine but some parts around the city especially certainly don't feel like it. >> this is a ukrainian base on ukrainian land but those aren't ukrainian soldiers. that's not a ukrainian flag.

and the welcoming committee doesn't pledge allegiance to ukraine. we're here to support the russian peace keepers he says. they are the only means to stop the violence in ukraine. in this area of rural crimea the russian opposition is growing and the rin resistance seems nonexistent. they brought 50 caliber machine guns and in the windows heavy typier weapons that could be -- sniper weapons that could be used against helicopters. through the fence as we watched them, they watched us. these troops don't seem to be going anywhere, any time soon. >> can i ask you a question? can i ask you a question, plea please? i guess not. >> just down the road some

crimeans welcome their occupiers. we think they protect us, she says. they protect our village and they protect crimea. these residents repeat a government claim, they protect from a place 350 miles north. >> you say they protect you from the independence square in kiev. have you seen them? >> no, we haven't seen them, but we heard. tv watched by the vast majority of crimeans, the battle for crimea isn't on bases, it's also on the air waves and it depends who you watch. 21-year-old arji is the anchor

for crimea's most popular a ta tatars, they are quietly resisting the russian invasion. nationalities that were not united before are coming together against one enemy, the russians. that night they gather to guard their own neighborhoods. uri is one of the first tatars to move back after invasion. he invited us in his home for him the russians aren't peace keepers, they're invaders. history might be repeatin repeag itself he says. growing and becoming more entrenched and they don't have to look far to find support. and u.s. officials continue to say they are trying to

deescalate the situation. but it does seem that president putin and russia is completely ignoring any american threat. and john they seem intent to escalate. >> nick schifrin reporting, nick thank you very much. reaction from this story from around the world is pouring in. our randall pinkston is here. randall. >> they are talking about anyway tow and focus is definitely on ukraine. president obama and german chancellor angela merkel did have a conversation today. apparently chancellor merkel called putin out of touch. pro-russian protesters in ukraine, no shots fired, obviously, there is a cheer danger of conflict. at the -- clear danger of conflict. 16,000 russian troops have moved into crimea the past week, 6,000

this past we'll weekend. those soldiers are surrounding airports military bases, black sea fleet apparently blocking ukrainian naval vessels from the black sea and demanding ukrainian sailors lay down their arms. the the security council, ambassador vitaly cherkin sent a letter asking to protect ethnic russians who live in ukraine. >> it is the people of ukraine who ultimately are going to restore peace and political process and democracy in ukraine. our concern is the possibility which we fear can be quite real of the violence which we have seen in the past two or three months in kiev and in southwestern and southern

regions of ukraine can spread to the eastern and southern parts of ukraine and to the crimea. >> reporter: earlier, america's ambassador to the u.n. samantha power issued a wit the withering reply. >> so many assertions made this afternoon by the russian federation are without reality. russian bases are secure. the new government in kiev has pledged to honor all international agreements dlug those -- including those over russian bases. >> it is unlikely that the council will be able to take any action against russia because russia, as a permanent member, holds veto power. the u.n. secretary general has

sent monitors to russia, russia has not said whether those monitors will be allowed into crimea. john. >> israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu, the leaders talked about peace talks, apparently at a standstill. the white house says israel is doing its part. >> when you look at what we got in return it's been scores of suicide bombers, thousands of rockets in our cities fired from the areas we vacated and just insaysant palestinian incitement against israel. >> says he will not compromise on israeli security. president obama peet meet with h

palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. >> good to have you with us. >> thank you for having me. >> discussion about peace in the middle east. what was the prime minister, what was the main message he was trying to convey today? >> i think there's an anticlimax, ukraine was dealing with the anticlimax. mr. abbas scheduled trip in the next week or ten days, it was supposed to draw the president into this process. now what is this process? the process is a framework that john kerry has been working on, asking both sides to subscribe, if not ambassadors -- endorse at least subscribe.

what mr. bowm is going to do, each is going to say that the other is being recalcitrant and intransigent and reluctant and stubborn. and this was showmanship. this trip, this visit, i mean mr. netanyahu came for the apac annual policy conference. it was not just a drop-by at the president's. i think both sides are going to have to sign at some point the -- or at least subscribe to the kerry framework, that piece of paper that none of us have seen until now. but to tell you there is a process going on or tell you that president obama is going to be actively involved i don't i t know. >> signing that piece of paper means what? >> in short, nothing. it's like a rerun of mash or seinfeld. you've seen it, you laugh you cry whatever you do, we've been there before. there's one thing here, though. there is a silver lining, and the silver lining understand

that the u.s. involvement is not eternal and is not going to last forever and it's doubtful any secretary of state, beyond john kerry, any secretary that succeeds john kerry is going to be actively involved like kerry. >> what about his involvement has been different? >> he surprised everyone, he surprised the pun did pundits ae leaders in the middle east. the chances of making progress was so dim and slim, that shifting u.s. foreign policy to the far east and everyone has been muttering and mumbling that out of sleep, that he's not going to invest efforts, energy, time and u.s.-american capital, i'm sorry u.s. political capital in the middle east yet he did. and he did it in a very forceful very voa vocal way. his involvement is very interesting, in that it is -- he

is trying to bridge gaps that have been, by both sides, admissions, almost unbridgeable. which is why i'm saying if he fails, i mean it's our failure in the end, it's not his. but if his mission fails i doubt that a future secretary is going to invest that much time and energy. >> and is ukraine a distraction? and does it really impact these talks? >> it impacts in terms of attention, of world attention, it impacts in terms of john kerry having to fly to kiev rather than dealing with mr. netanyahu planned abbas. it affects the president's attention span or his focus on foreign policy, it also does another thing, it attracts and draws criticism to president obama. justified or not. >> why is that? >> you no the ukraine -- >> the ukraine? >> because it is bon temps -- >> i thought you were saying it

attracts attention for failures when it comes to israel -- >> it does, in the sense of it's kind of fashionable in vogue now to attack obama on foreign policy. i think it's unjustifiable but arguably there's a case to be made. if he fails to act in ukraine, if he fails to act in syria according to the critics and he fails to act on the israel-palestine thing, then a lack of success, i think that's unfair judgment and unfair criticism but in terms of distracting attention, definitely ukraine has done its job. and mr. netanyahu may be very pleased with this distraction, by the way. he's been sort of off the hook. >> interesting discussion. always good to see you and actually have you in the studio. thank you very much. night new discovery from a dark part of american history.

internment cooksey labor camp. there's an unusual archaeological dig there. >> step out at canyon creek and you'll step out of history long gone and buried. mary ann yakabe reads her father's words about his time at the end of that tbrafl road in north idaho. it housed 265 inmates all male mostly volunteers from other camps. there was no bashe -- no barbed, no guard towers, jut wilderness in every direction. >> i worked on the road, the road ran from kooskie to

missoula. i was paid $55 a month. >> it was an experiment, was this going to work? >> the men were of japanese dissent not american citizens, prawt to this country after the attack on pearl harbor. arturo yakaba was from lima peru. >> i tried to learn a couple of words of english. >> these men were considered prisoners of war. they had geneva convention rights, they knew it and they exercised those rights. >> their food was better, their accommodations were better, the inmates could even get beer. >> artifacts unearthed by university of idaho staff and students showed they got them. there were movies, musical instruments available a baseball field and equipment for the fields. that's mary ann's father in the

white hat. summertime digs produced thousands of details. first walked the site in 2010, certain it had been largely untouched for 65 years. >> we looked around and there were whole bottles and thousands of artifacts on the surface. >> artifacts include pieces from gambling games, art carved from local river rock, candy wrappers and so much more. >> he would have loved, if he could have gone to see the dig site and all of that that would have been awesome for him. >> did he try, decades ago before he died, father and daughter drove the 200 plus piles of highway 201 12 that he helped build. the buildings had been dismantled before the war. >> he was free to have all that

experience. isn't that ironic, he was free to have that experience, my father liked it. >> he wasn't free, he was a prisoner in a different kind in a different kind of world war ii camp. allen schauffler, al jazeera, idaho. >> carnival, we'll take to you brazil for the incredible sights.

>> ice and snow for north carolina up through d.c. finally is moving off shore. we have a series of storms continuing to track into the northwest. northern california continuing to get plenty of rain coming down. we'll be watching for the potential of mudslides around california mainly from san francisco up into southern oregon. we've got a series of storms that will continue to hit the coast for the next couple of days. to the east we are going into a cold blast. temperatures are going to be so

cold, we are still looking at the records we have been hitting. by story the chicago winter 2013-2014, the third coldest and third snowiest. december january and february the meteorological winter, is over, all time cold temperatures in march hilt new records for omaha, lincoln and norfolk. 40° lower than normal. in those areas as we got through the last few days. more news and weather coming up right after the break.

>> it's one of the most grueling sorting events in the world. dozens of sled dogs running through the grueling cold of alaska. daniel lack, at the time start of the race. >> once a year this city goes to the dogs. sled dogs. hundreds of them. they can hardly wait for the i dit rod. iditarod. they can hit the trail or in this case the street. >> three two one, go. >> one of the biggest names in mushing.

ladies and gentlemen. >> i race because i have -- i was born with a competitive spirit and i like to see how i can be the best i can be. but it's, you know i'm racing ultimately with myself. >> and she's been doing it for four decades. a frequent top 10 finisher in the iditarod, dee dee johnson, challenges for her. in i have dedicated my life to her. because it's the ultimate relationship between dog and man. this race is the opportunity to hone them and bring them and that relationship to the table. and repeat what it is that you know, god gave them the desire to do. >> the race began 40 years ago. as a way to revive a dying dog sledding tradition in alaska. one time, the state relied on

the sled and dogs to stop the epidemic in nome where the race ends. >> i'm glad more teams are coming from norway because sled racing is really big there. it's nice to show the people in alaska that we can keep one them. >> keeping the dogs healthy is critical. making sure that the dogs can withstand the 1600 kilometers, the relative heat is hard on the dogs who sweat and lose more energy. >> weather is always a concern. this is alaska and it's huge. it can be too warm or it can be really cold. it can be really snowy or it can be parts of the trail this year virtually little snow. it is what it is.

and that's part of having preparation to be able to deal with those situations. >> just looking at these dogs before a race, you can see that the animals love to run. it's what they're born to, what they live for and what makes them happy. the teams are now making their way through the north american highest mountains, the alaska range, they will be battling the elements and each other in inhospitable conditions. the last great race, the iditarod. daniel lack. al jazeera, alaska. >> 12 years a slave, the tale of solomon northrop, kidnapped and sold into slavery. he was rescued in 1853. details of what happened spread

widely in the weeks and months after. the article tells the story of how northrop was unable to sue his aggressors because at the time black men could not take the stand. now to brazil where revelers are celebrating ton streets of rio. gabriel allesandro reports. >> the only thing competing for attention are the colors. welcome to rio de janeiro's carnival parade. locals say it's the biggest parties on earth. the parade is one of the biggest spectacle. the floats some of which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. elaborate costumes most of which take months to make.

but ttys people who provide the -- but it's the people who provide the energy to fuel the party that goes all night long. >> all of our family are samba loves. we are having fun. >> i like everything about carnival. it's good, pure happiness. >> some have said the parade have taken them to new, better places in life. >> i'm super-happy. this is the second time i've 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 makes the people. taking them at least for one night into an other-world fantasy. they haven't even entered the stadium yet to parade in front of the 75,000 people but already the passion is incredible. they've completely lost themselves in the song and dan

dance. this is rio's night where nothing else in the city, the country, or even the world, matters all that much. here, problems don't exist. at least not for a night, this fight when the people of rio tell the world, this is how we throw our carnival party. gabriel allesandro, al jazeera, rio de janeiro. russian president vladimir putin looked over military exercises. a snapshot of president putin in the middle of a global crisis. the headlines are coming up next. >> 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 next only on al jazeera america

>> this is the real deal man... >> you're watching al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. here are the top stories. an important deadline has passed and now ukraine waits for russia to act.

russia's black sea fleet apparently issued an order for ukrainian ships to surrender by 10:00 p.m. or they would be seized. crimea is a peninsula in southern ukraine. it's a vital base for the russian navy. the u.n. security council meets for the third time since friday to talk about the crisis in ukraine. the ukrainian ambassador says that russia sent troops into the crimean peninsula last week. they say they are just following orders from ukrainian president yanukovych. demonstrators are also demanding the release of venezuelan protester, leopoldo

lopez. some took advantage of the weather in washington, d.c. with a snowball fight. "america tonight" with joie chen is coming up next and you can always get the latest news on web. russia. >> on a special maircht: "ameria tonight,": putin's play and america's power. >> he will be able to show russia's force. >> vladimir putin is an old kgb colonel that wants to establish the old russian empire. >> president obama's critical diplomacy as the divide deanens.