thanks for being with us. in washington, i'm ray suarez. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. a call to secede, crimea parliament voting to join russia. all of this on a day when the u.s. imposes sanctions against russia as diplomats try to talk it out and find a peaceful solution. and the farming technique that is giving hope to

drought-stricken areas of africa. ♪ in ukraine a symbolic vote widening the divide between east and west, crimean parliament voting to become part of russia. now russia and the rust even further apart as america has decided to impose sanctions. phil ittner is live in kiev. and phil this vote won't be official until the people approve it later on. what does the vote by the parliament mean? >> it's mostly symbolic, the crimean parliament suggesting that they want to reunite with the russian federation. they will of course debate whether or not to rejoin.

there's a lot of minorities on the peninsula who don't want to, but the majority are ethnic russians, and crimea was part of the russian federation up until 1954. so there is a history where it was part of russia previously. >> phil if the people vote yes, what does that mean for kiev? >> well, it means a lot for kiev. we are talking about loosing a huge chunk of territory from the integrity of ukraine. there is also issues in financial terms. it is direct access to the sea, there are maritime assets there, and more important than anything else, del, it is the shattering blow that will do to ukraine and

kiev. they are losing a huge chunk of their country, and there is a serious fear that this is going to be a domino effect that moscow has designs on the peninsula and the territory east of the mainland of ukraine where there are also a lot of ethnic russians, and we have heard vladimir putin say he is concerned about those ethnic russians, the same pretext he used to go into crimea. so it may be the start of moscow easterer toal grab. meanwhile here in the u.s. a busy day in washington. the white house announcing it will levy sanctions against any accused of intervening in ukraine's democratic process. mike viqueira is at the house with. mike what exactly will these ang shuns mean when they take effect. who is the target and what do

they entail. >> let me start with some late breaking us in. secretary of state john kerry traveling in europe. yesterday he met in paris with his russian counterpart. no progress there on the ukrainian situation. today they are in rome, lavrov and kerry 40 minutes meeting, no progress to announce. the state department releasing a statement saying kerry made clear of russians talking directly to ukrainians. secretary kerry also pressed the importance to lavrov of allowing international monitors i crimea. this is something president obama and secretary kerry have been talking about over and over again. if polonium is so -- vladimir putin is so concerned, then let

in these monitors. and visas adding on to earlier sanction, also the president signing an executive order that will allow u.s. government to sanction russian and ukrainian officials responsible for the crisis. jack lew is the secretary of the treasury, he testified before congress today. >> as the president announced this morning, he signed an executive order to authorize sanctions on individuals and entities that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of ukraine. >> and lew was there to testify

later today what do you know about that? >> he said authorized sanctions. today we were treated to a background call by senior administrations. they stressed that sanctions had not yet been imposed. and theous of representatives within the next hour and a half is going to be voting on a billion dollars worth of aide to help ukraine pull out of its doldrums. >> mike thank you very much. a deputy to nato's supertreatment ally commander joins us live from london, and general jackson this has been described by many as an international game of chicken. you have been in the belly of the beast so to speak, so if you were advising the white house and nato forces right now, what would you tell them? >> well, i think i should restrict my comments to the

military dimension. i know we're in a very highly charged political situation, but it seems to me that the west's military options are not really credible. short of something, i think, which could well result in catastrophe. so i'm very careful about the voices saying that we should consider some sort of military action, although, that perhaps -- >> yes, absent any military option -- >> well, if i may -- well, i was just going to qualify that by saying there will be concern in the baltic states in hungary, poland, the czech republic, which bordered on the old soviet

union boundaries, some sort of gesture of support, perhaps, and i see reporters in britain was that the united states put i think level four fighter aircraft into the balder states on top of a small contention already, that seems to me to be sensible, but within the ukraine itself i would be cherry. >> the russian president vladimir putin has been described by some as being unstable, others think he is losing his grip of reality. what is the chess move that you see vladimir putin making? >> well, when you hear descriptions of the non-russian population of ukraine being fascists and anti-semiticks and all of that, it doesn't really add up, given what we saw

happening on the main square of kiev only so recently. it seems i think to any server and there were many western correspondent present that this was genuine public outrage at the previous government. and so one does wonder about some of the statements that have been made by moscow as really do they expect anybody to believe them? >> i have got 30 seconds and this is a very hard out, today it is ukraine, yesterday it was georgia, what next if vladimir putin is not stopped? >> you ask that very sensitive and difficult question. i have made the comments i have made about the first while eastern european members of what was then the warsaw pact they

must of course be guaranteed their independence, and the majority of them are now members of nato with its article five guarantee. yes, you are right, russia used the same pretext in georgia. >> i'm going to have to cut you off. yes, our satellite window is about to expire -- >> so be it. >> thank you very much for your comments. that is retired general jackson joining us from london. later on tonight what you didn't know about russian president vladimir putin why he is worth billions, his work with the kgb, that's tonight at 8:'30, and 11:30 eastern time. accidental bombings by

friendly fire has driven a rift between argan president karzai and the us. niger extraditing one of omar gadhafi's sons back to libya. libyan officials say he is now in a prison of tripoli. one of seven sons. he is best known as the head of libya's football federation. coming up on al jazeera america, when detroit filed for bankruptcy, it affected people all around the city, including this man who is trying to get his life back on track after he was wrongfully convicted. i'm libby casey live at cpac, the conservative political action conference, where new jersey governor, is on the stage.

>> 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. president obama will be

speaking at a townhall meeting shortly in washington, d.c. it's part of his efforts to boost enrollment of latinos in health care. the administration is pushing to raise enrollment in states with large hispanic communities before the deadline for enrollment expires on march 31st. the dalai lama delivering the opening prayer at the u.s. senate this morning. he is no stranger to state legislatures, giving the opening prayer at the new york state senate. in february he met with president obama for a third time. thousands of republicans are meeting today in the suburbs of washington. they are in town for the annual conservative political action conference, otherwise known as cpac. some of the biggest names in the republican party are speaking

including those with an eye on the presidency in 2016. libby casey is there, and libby at least year's event new jersey governor chris christie wasn't even invited. >> last year he was snubbed. he was seen in photographs with president obama right before the election right after hurricane sandy. the republicans were very unhappy to have supported president obama. the crowd welcomed him warmly. it's pretty packed because a lot of people wanted to hear his message. he has been under a lot of criticism in the last couple of months because of the bridge gate scandal.

but some feel like he has been maligned. so we had very eager audiences here at cpack. he said we have to talk about what we're for, and not just what we're against. he emphasized the roll of governors. he gave a shout out to a range of conservative governors. that was a lot of the tone of what he has to say. cpac is a chance to prove yourself, and those who want support want to come here to gain support. so i'm looking at talking to folks. a lot of attendees had their boughts about chris christie and i want to hear what they think now. we are hearing from a range of people who would like to make a splash in 2016.

ted cruz was the first to speak and he really got the audience fired up. he also talked about supporting values. >> we can choose to keep our head down, not rock the boat, not stand for anything, or we can stand for principal. they say if you stand for principal, you lose elections. don't stand against nothing! i want to tell you something, that is a false dichotomy. >> center cruz said listen to your values. he got a lot of criticism from the broader republican party this fall because his all-night talkathon let to the government shutting down, but ted cruz is still standing by that and he got a big reaction from the crowd when he said let's repeal

obamacare. so a lot of the same talking points you have been hearing for the last couple of months. >> libby thank you very much. ♪ we could be on the way to another record-setting day on wall street. the s&p 500 on track to a new high, and the dow up as well, up 84 points. investors seemed to be encouraged by positive news on employment. announced corporate layoffs declined more than 7% last month. the 42,000 planned reductions were the lowest since any february since 2000, and we'll have live coverage of that jobs report tomorrow right here on al jazeera america >> americans are planning to cut back on their restaurant tabs this year.

as many as one third polled say they will spend less when they eat out. overall diners will reduce their meal cost by 9%, tips not included. and now there is an app for bacon lovers. wakes you up to the smell of bacon. when paired with the app, releases the smell of bacon just as the alarm goes off. oscar meyer calling it, yes, wake up and smell the bacon. detroit's bankruptcy effecting all of its creditors, even a father who is suing the city for being imprisoned for nearly ten years wrongfully. >> reporter: it was 2004 when this man was convicted of killing a neighborhood drug dealer. he was sentenced 32 years to life behind bars, but he was innocent.

>> for the first couple of years i was real angry, you know, confused, you know, don't know what direction to turn in. >> reporter: after nearly ten years in prison, he found a way out with the help of the university of michigan's innocence project he was exonerated of all charged and freed, and a new battle began. >> when i walked out of the county jail, it seemed like all nine and a half years was like a big nightmare, a big dream, and i woke up now. >> reporter: he sued detroit in civil court. next a settlement panel proposed he get a $5 million payment. the city then had to either agree to pay or go to trial, risking exposure of police misconduct and possibly a larger damage award, but then detroit filed for bankruptcy, and province's lawsuit along with hundreds of others were put on

hold indefinitely. >> me personally, it's like the little man is getting screwed in the end. >> reporter: he was dealt yet another blow when detroit emergency manager kevyn orr released a plan to dig the city out of billions of dollars in debt. province could receive just $0.20 on the dollar. he says under those terms a payout from the city wouldn't be enough. >> i don't believe i should bare that burden. >> reporter: he believes the city owes him. >> i think that will be a form of apology to me and my family, because, you know, when i got out of prison, it wasn't no apology, that, you know, we so are for what had happened >> reporter: province planned on using the settlement money to put himself and his older children through college.

while his case has been put on hold, he says he is still forging ahead with his plans. bisi onile-ere, al jazeera, detroit. and when we come back, on al jazeera america, an ancient form of farming, now the model in kenya, why a growing number of people using hydroponics to feed their families. and a meal made up of a grain of rice, one restaurant's itty bitty tiny sushi offering. ♪

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welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are your headlines at that hour. in the south of ukraine, the crimean parliament voting in a symbolic gesture to become part of russia. and in europe international talks wrapping up once again without resolution. the white house orders sanctioned of those disrepping the democratic progress in

ukraine today. the president hosting a townhall meeting hoping to raise enrollment numbers within the latino community or the affordable care act. one in four hispanics are uninsured and eligible. the united nations says family farming is see to fighting world hunger. at a global forum this week in budapest, farmers are using creative techniques to fight food shortages. >> reporter: this farm the plan she planted two weeks ago is growing well. he is going to start harvesting in a week. he plants vegetables, strawberries, and food for his animals in troughs, trays, and pipes, using only water and nutrients. it's an ancient farming that is becoming popular here.

>> we don't have to buy the vegetables. we don't use chemicals, so we know we are growing nutritious vegetables pesticide free, and we are able to get them [ inaudible ] >> reporter: this family farm they use this valley for their animals. it has cost effective and has freed up their land to plant other crops. they only use a tenth of the water that they used before. >> because it is contained in a small area, you are able to manage your crops well, and there are no many external [ inaudible ] and liking other modes of farming. >> reporter: we're in the highlands of one of kenya's food-producing regions. the problem here is the population is growing fast, but there's not enough land to sustain it. roughly 1.3 million people in

kenya don't have enough food to eat. those in air raid and semi arid areas have to rely on food aide. >> you are not automatically implying nutrition security. there are still very high levels of malnutrition. in the other areas, a focus, really on, agriculture practice, but also how family farms are one. within kenya's high potential area, farmers are being broken up in smaller and smaller sizes. >> reporter: training of the farmerers in this area to adopt the technology that he believes will be a solution to their land and water problems, and ever-changing climate. ♪

i'm meteorologist dave warren problems in the southeast again. this storm in florida will intensify in north and south carolina. a lot of rain with this storm. no snow expected, but there will be some mix when you get the rain falling into the cold air which is held in place with this high-pressure to the north. so sleet and freezing rain, and then it warms up. we're just getting a lot of rain here, but temperatures barely above the freezing mark. so a cold raw rainy day. there is the cold air, field temperatures trying to return here to the midwest, but not for long, brief -- or another shot of cold arctic air saturday and sunday. focusing on this area getting the freezing rain.

north carolina and virginia, that's by 3:00 in the morning. so by the time you wake up it could be a coating of ice in this area. it will switch over to rain but the temperatures just barely above freezing. here is this old arctic air. 29 in chicago, not even above 30, warm weather trues to return in texas, oklahoma, and kansas. there is another storm across the northwest. we're getting periods of rain and snow. in that will lead to flooding, and the heavy snow could lead to an avalanche danger. >> dave thank you very much. take a look at this. a japanese chef has been making a sushi dish to fit on a single piece of rice. he came up with the technique about 1 years ago. he makes it with some of the

more popular fish. the check is much bigger, though. thanks for watching al jazeera america, i'm dell in new york. "the stream" is next. ♪ >> hi, you are in "the stream." a military career use dz to be stability and now with the food stamps rising, is there a trend toward poverty in the armed forces. >> our digital producer, wajahat ali is here. he's bringing in all your live