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 >> >> secretary of state john kerry is heading to kiev. the white house now weighing its next steps in ukraine. russia shows no signs of pulling troops out of the country. digging out again - washington forced to shut down as another winter storm cripples parts of the u.s. memories uncovered from one of america's darkest chapters. the findings by archeological crews at an internment camp.

>>. dog mushers open their sleds for a nearly 1,000 mile trek. . hi, everyone, welcome to al jazeera america. good to have you with us. i'm thomas drayton. new developments overnight, president obama met with the national security team to discuss the crisis in ukraine. secretary of defense chuck hagel, secretary of state john kerry and susan rice were in the meeting. secretary of state john kerry boarded a plane at andrew's air force base, headed to kiev to meet with the interim government on tuesday. kerry's trip coming as russia shows no signs of backing off from crimea. they received a deadline to lay down arms or face a full-scale

assault. russia de nice making that call. they say they were invited by president viktor yanukovych. nick schifrin is in the crimean peninsula with the latest. >> this is a ukrainian base on ukrainian land. those are not ukrainian soldiers or that's not a ukrainian flag. the welcoming committee doesn't pledge allegiance to ukraine. >>. translation: we are here to support the russian peacekeepers. they are the only means to stop the violence in ukraine. >> in this area the russian occupation is growing and the resistance seems non-existent. the russian soldiers occupied the base without firing a shot. visitors brought sandwiches and a teapot. soldiers relax and ate in crudely fortified positions. they brought 50 calibre

machine-gun, and 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, please. can we ask you a question, please? i guess not. >> just down the road some crimeans welcomed their occupiers. >> translation: we think they protect us, our village and they protect crimea. >> these residents repeat a russian government claim - crimeans are threatened by protesters from kiev, 350 miles north. >> you say they protect you from the people in independence square in kiev. have you seen any of them here? >> translation: we haven't seen

them but heard rumours that they could storm kiev. >> this is where they get the rumours, russians tv. watched by a vast majority of crimeans. the anchor suggests that it will spread to crimea. the battle for crimea is not only on base, it's on the airwaves, and it depends who you watch. 21-year-old archie is the anchor for the popular tatar station. they are crimea's largest ethnic minority. under communist rule they suffered mass deportation. their allegiance is to the west and they are quietly resisting the russian invasion. nationalities that were not united are coming together against one enemy - the russians. at night they unite to guard their neighbour hoods. this is one of the first tatars to move back after deportation. if ukrainian soldiers will not help, he says he'll defend his

family. he invited us in his home. for him the russians aren't peacekeepers, they are ipp vaders. history may be repeating itself. russia wants crimea back. at the end of the day the russian presence is growing and becoming more entrenched. they don't have to look far to find support. >> once again nick schifrin reporting. ukraine officials say moscow adds occupation of crimea is a declaration of war and they vowed not to give up the region. president obama is repeating a call for russia to enits military action in ukraine, saying the country is on the wrong side of history and violating international law. the white house is considering several options including economic and diplomatic penalties. >> according to president obama now is the time for russia to decide. there are two paths - continuing the road to confrontation which he says over time will be a costly proposition or vladimir

putin and russia can take the off ramp if they are concerned about the welfare of ethnic russians and speakers in russia and in the crimea portions, then the united states will work to put in international monitors to look after their interests. no one expects vladimir putin to go for that. the united states has been scrambling over the course of the last 72 hours. ever since it become apparent for them to come up with a reaction. no talk of military action. all the talk is about trying to get the europeans on board for economic sanctions against russia. the president hosted the israeli prime minister scheduled behind me in the oval office. binyamin netanyahu is here, and the talk would be about the iranian process and talks in the middle east. the president was asked about the crisis in ukraine. here is part of the response. >> what can not be done is for

russia, with impunity, to put its soldiers on the ground and violate basic principles that are recognised around the world. and i think the strong condemnation that it received from countries around the world indicates the degree to which russia's on the wrong side of history on this. >> secretary of state john kerry is travelling overnight and is expected in kiev on tuesday. a show of solidarity with the ukrainian government, the temporary care-taker government. there were elections scheduled for may 25th, and the possibility that secretary kerry could be meeting at a separate location there or on his way back. the russian counterpart sergei lavrov. they are trying to stablilize the situation, and the military cries of ukraine has a dire economic situation as well.

meanwhile, on capitol hill, the democratic leader, after barack obama called on congress to immediately take up sanctions this week, as soon as congress is back in town, harry reid, the democratic leader says he wants the europeans on board first. >> a reminder with the changing situation, stay with al jazeera america for the latest on the ukraine crisis. >> israel's prime minister is pushing back against u.s. diplomacy in the middle east. binyamin netanyahu and president obama met at the white house on monday. the u.s. and israel are committed to reaching lasting peace with the palestinians. >> it's my belief that ultimately it is still possible to create two states, a jewish state of israel, and a state of palestine in which people are living side by side in peace and security. but it's difficult.

it requires compromise on all sides. >> binyamin netanyahu says israel has been making the compromises but the palestinians have not. >> we look at what we got in return, it's been scores of suicide bombers, thousands of rockets on our cities, fired from the areas we vacated, and just incessant palestine incitement against israel. >> president obama meets with the palestine president mahmoud abbas later this month. the u.s. is hoping for a framework deal by may. >> parts of the east coast are recovering from a powerful winter storm. the latest in a series of storms dumped rain and snow from the great plains of the mid-atlantic. the weather shut down federal offices and schools on monday. the house and senate cancelled votes that were scheduled. more than 3,000 flights were cancelled.

washington d.c.'s regan airport was one of the pors -- worst hit. more than 1 million flights have been delayed or cancelled costing airlines billions of dollars. >> areas of freezing rain expected again in parts of texas this morning. otherwise the story will be all the cold air in place in the midwest, in the northern plains states, stretching across the north-east. finally getting rid of the snow and ice falling on the east coast. as we get rid of that we are not going to warm up very fast. with the thaw not happening for a couple of days, expect icy roads to be in mace. the morning is starting out -- in place. the morning is starting out looking at temperatures. now with the coldest winter in place, it's the third snowiest.

the good news is meteorological winter is over. it's not going to start the warm up. it will be cold through w wednesday, and finally a bit of a warm up. coldest record-high temperatures in march for parts of the nebraska, lincoln. north alaska. minor flooding. 40 degrees below normal when it comes to high temperatures. not just nebraska. a lot of the midwest has cold weather in place. now, as we start the morning, across a large portion, we have temperatures getting near cold record temperatures in march. you can see how the low temperatures are forecast to be in single digits and below. >> now, forget the lowest temperatures and the morning hours, it's still in the 50s in the west.

single digits all the way down to atlanta. high temperatures cold through the day on tuesday. >> still ahead - the u.s. and other allies, raising the possibility of sanctions against russia. the leverage moscow could use to prevent it happening. >> oscar pistorius on trial for mudder. what witnesses heard the night his girlfriend was shot to dress. a new discovery from the dark times. what's unearthed from a past internment camp in 1942?

welcome back. there has been talk in the west about possible economic sanctions against russia. russia has critical leverage, pipelines that supply national gas to europe. ali velshi reports on what could happen if the critical supply is cut off. >> the european union gets a quarter of its natural gas

supply through russia, half routed through ukraine's network. any disruption will hit germany, which depends on the gas to run its factories, especially hard. if the factory out put increases or for example falls 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 in response to the threat of sanctions or they could set things up militarily, septembering troops to eastern ukraine, part of the national gas transit use. >> the transit area is not on the transit route, but the east of ukraine, if the kremlin seeks to broaden into the transit routes, there could be fireworks

in terms of energy prices. >> europe depends on natural gas and pipes that brings in through russia and the ukraine. europe tried to diverse vi away by investing in pipelines to the caspian see and north africa. growth in europe's demand for the natural gas eats up much of the new participation supply. >> europe is primarily pipeline gas market. because the domestic supplies from the critical producers are declining, that really the pipeline supplies that will be available for europe will be largely from russian gas. >> european leaders understand this, and are calling for dialogue with, not sanctions against russia. >> the threat of economic sanctions is taking a toll on russian's currency, hitting a

record low on monday. >> the murder trial of former olympic blade runner oscar pistorius is under way. oscar pistorius is accused of the valentine's day 2013 shooting of his girlfriend model reeva steenkamp. the first witness told the court she heard a woman's blood cu curdling screams, and then gunfire. oscar pistorius said he mistook his girlfriend for a burglar. >> during the forced internment of japanese americans in world war ii some were held at a camp in idaho. we report on the findings of a dig, what it has turned up. >> drive highway 12, turn up a gravel road at canyon creek and you step into history - overgrown and buried. >> i took the chance to get out of that prison camp and with others went out to work in another camp. >> marianne reads her father's

words about his time at the end of the gravel road. here, at the ipp ternment camp in north idaho. it housed 265 ipp mates, male, mostly volunteers from other -- inmates, male, mostly volunteers. no barbed wire, one road in and out. >> i worked on a road along the river. it went from kouski to mi [s]soula. i was paid $55 a month. >> it was the only camp of its kind. it was an experiment. >> the men were of japanese dissent but not american citizens, some kidnapped by the u.s. government out of latin america and brought to the country after the attack on pearl harbour. this man was from lima, peru. >> during the free time i played ball, learnt the fun of fishing and tried to learn a few 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, accommodation better. the attorneys could get beer. >> they demanded their own doctor. staff and students showed they got them. there were movies, musical instruments, a baseball field and equipment for the players. that's maryan's father in the white house. summer time digs produced thousands of objects. project leader first walked the site in 2010, certain it had been largely untouched for 65 years. >> we looked around. there were whole bottles, and thousands of artefacts on the surface. >> artefacts included pieces from gambling. art carved from rock, faded candy wrappers and more. >> he would have loved there's

more studying, and if he could have gone to see the dig site, and all of that, that would have been awesome for him. >> he did try. decades ago before he died, father and daughter drove the 200 plus miles of highway 12 that he helped build. they never found the camp. the buildings were dismantled after the war. >> he was free to have the experience. isn't it ironic. he was free to have the experience. my father liked it. he was not free, of course, a prisoner of a different kind, in a different kind of world war ii camp. >> archeologists say it could take them a decade to put all the pieces together at the site. they want to create an accurate picture of what the life was like for a detainee. >> still ahead - learning to read. later in life, the battle to help millions of illiterate

adults. >> it's a race not for the fapt of hearts. as we take a break - this is a live look at mardi gras, all the celebrations in new orleans, where it is a chilly 40 degrees. we are coming right back.

welcome back. read across american day was this past weekend to encourage children to enjoy books. there are 32 million adults in the country that are struggling to read. it's never too late to learn. >> every monday and friday harold heads to the cultural center for a date with the same woman. >> it had been too - too... >> in a quiet corner the 71-year-old reads sally may brook, a story he wrote. she's been his tutor. barnes grew up in poverty on a

farm, never attending school and never learning to read. >> i wanted to read my mail. my wife passed away. i had to go from relative to relative asking them to help me read my mail. >> according to pr literacy, 30 million u.s. adults can't read beyond a third grade level. only three million are tutored. getting an adult to read can be a challenge. literacy needs to be tied to a goal like getting a high school diploma or getting a job. this literacy class for low income adults provides tutoring in reading, maths, and social studies, with a goal to prepare students for high school equif lense exams. before you read... >> programs like this are funded

by federal block grants to states. >> paragraph 10. >> literacy advocate says money pays for the classes only, but not other services that might get more stupid to attend literacy classes. >> do they need transportation, childcare, addressing barriers so they can go back, build skills. barnes didn't have the barriers. he started learning to read after he retired at a hotel. being an older student was a challenge. >> when i first started, it was hard. it was hard. this is what i wanted to do. >> barnes reads at about a third grade level, and he is an inspiriing student. >> he appreciated everything he learnt, every week was an adventure. >> an adventure changing barnes'

life. >> it's a legacy. >> an adventure he'll continue. read across america day was created to honour dr seuss, he would have turned 110 on sunday. it is one of the most gruelling sporting events, dozens of sled dogs running almost a thousand miles through the ice at alaska. we have more at the start. >> once a year this city goes the dogs, sled dogs, hundreds of them. they can hardly weight for the ceremonial start. the real start is a day later, closer to the wilderness. this is meant to be fun, sharing the biggest sporting event to the city. they bring the snow in by truck so these dogs can slide and the dogs and their handlers can hit the trail - or in this case,

street. >> one of the biggest names in mushing... >> 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. you know, i'll racing ultimately with myself. >> she's been doing it for four decades, a frequent top 10 finisher, didi treats her dogs as family. they race hard, put up with challenges and hardships - all for her. >> i have dedicated my life for this, 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 sled position. once the state defended on

sleds, famously in 1975, when dogs and mushers combined to prevent a disease spreading. now it's a tough competition, and attracts teams from around the world. >> i'm glad more teams are coming from norway. dog mushing is big there. it's nice to show people in alaska that you can keep up with them >> keeping the dogs healthy is crucial. each has a medical and ecg, making sure its heart can endure the 1600km run over snow, ice and bare patches of rock. a warm winter means less snow. the heat is hard on the dogs and weight and lose energy. >> weather is a concern. this is alaska. it's huge. it can be too warm or cold. it can be snowy or virtually

little snow. it is what it is. that is part of having preparation to be able to deal with those situations. >> just looking at the dogs before a race, you can see that the animals love to run. it's what they are born to, live for and what makes them happy. >> the teaming are making their way through north america's higher mountains. they'll battle the elements and each other and inhospitable terrain. pushing themselves, dogs and humans together in what is known as the last great race. >> it's a fascinating race. there's 69 in the id. >> -- idit e.r. od. >> that will do it for this edition. check out the live blog on the

website for breaking news and information about the kiev crisis at aljazeera.com. we leave you with a look at the mardi gras celebrations in new orleans, going strong into the night. ♪ hi, i'm lisa fletcher. and you are in the stream. is misinformation complicating the crisis in ukraine. what is happening on the ground in crimea that is going widely unreported but could have significant impact? ♪ our digital producer, wajahat ali is here bringing in all of your live feedback throughout the show.