tv Consider This Al Jazeera March 7, 2014 9:00am-10:01am EST
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secretary of state john kerry. within the past fewer hours, ukraine's interim prime minister says he is still willing to speak to russia in an effort to avoid future conflict. the region of crimea appears to be out of the government's control. some areas taken over by russian and pro-russian forces. the ukrainian border guards say there are more troops in the region than had been previously thought. the prime minister is insisting they withdraw before any dialogue can take place. >> our russian neighbors who should be our partners have to withdraw troops, stick to bilateral agreements. russia should state careukraine russia are ready to build a new relationship. >> tell us about the buildup of
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troops. >> as you were mentioning, border guards in ukraine are reporting there are 30,000 russian troops in crimea. previously the figure given by the interim government much was 60,000. it is a big jump. adding to the pressure, adding to the stand-off between ukraine and russia, russia's gas produc producer, gasprom is now saying ukraine has failed to pay for february deliveries and its total arrears amount to nearly $2,000,000,000 u.s. dollars. interim prime minister has been repeating what he said in bru brussels, that they are illegal and nobody in the civilized world will accept them. most of the western powers are pitting their hopes on ukraine and russia talks. but with those conditions that the prime minister has put on
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talking to his counterparts, i don't think the world is holding its breath right now. >> thank you, nadeen. politicians in crimea are trying to push the region toward a closer alliance with russia. russian forces are present. it's unclear which areas they control. from crimea: >> reporter: russian soldiers come and go leaving everyone to guess their next move. a few imagined they would abandoned some of their positions. >> they left at midnight. we don't know why or where they went. they are still in some bases, and in others, they are being replaced by so-called "self defense units quits. >> . >> they were near sieevaposil. there are so many questions about who these men are, well, this might give a crew. it's a food-ration box.
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it says, "russian army with a flag of the russian federation. behi behind, it says, "military trade" and on this side "not for sale." one can say russia is at least putting its full weight behind these men. >> moscow is backing the new regional government. >> this scenario was not written in crimea. it was written in moscow. the region nal government is li a new born kitten. they are told what to do but they don't know the plan. the mps didn't know they would be voting for the cessation when they went to parliament >> reporter: the new government is rushing to gain legitimacy, it has to do it under protection of its allies. these are kosacks deployed near parliament t >> translator: they have to right to decide on their
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destiny. we were invited here by the kosacks of crimea to help maintain order. >> major madison said he was ashamed when the soldiers entered his base. his unit is building new defenses. whether they can build a defense for a yes, vote for crimea to join russia is a different matter. >> russia's foreign ministry said it will not accept the threat of sanctions from nato countries and describes travel restrictions as unconstructive. more sanctions could follow if russia doesn't withdraw forces from crimea >> translator: if there are not swift results there will be new measures aimed at russian businesses. it could be freezing assets, cancellations, refusing visas. if another attempt is made, we enter into another phase with
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serious consequences for the relationship between russia and europe. >> let's bring in peter zamif with an organization strengthening ties in the west. he joins me from new york. there is clearly a complete political shambles if kiev, and europe is divided about how much pressure to put on especially germany to put on putin. so why not leave the diplomacy to some of the new politicians and putin? why is the west involved? >> well, the west is involved because, false the west is and has been involved from the very beginning in crain. let me take you back to 1994 when the budapest memorandum was signed between ukraine, russia, britain and later joined by the u.s. and china. >> memorandum guaranteed
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ukraine's integrity, territorial integrity in exchange for that country's decision to give up its nuclear arsenal. >> wasn't it the fact that the european union went to kiev offering all kinds of incentives for ukraine to turn towards the west and away from the east that began this crisis? >> well, certainly, i would not pin the blame on, you know, the aspiration of millions of ukrainians to join the european -- >> the point is the european union must have known the kind of diplomacy and the incentives they were offering if indeed they were incentives would divide ukraine. >> well, ukraine has been divided already and had been divided. i think part of the significant part of the blame lies with the
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extremely sculpt former government of the viktor yanukovych who did nothing to unite the country and further exacerbated the country's regional, historic and linguistic divides. >> if you say a starting point for policy is to recognize reality, however, perhaps, unpal at able, why not give crimea to russ russia? >> it's not a matter of giving crimea to russia. right now, russia has ruled out, you know, direct annexation, right now into the parliament has voted to hold a referendum on march 16th. but what is really at stake here for russia is that it would set a dangerous precedent should
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crimea secede at russia's instigation, it would set a dangerous precedence for russia with its own number of entities, autonomous entities, which are very distinct linguistically and culturally and religiously from, you know, the majority of russians. >> thank you for the joining us. the enter the national criminal court in the hague has found former con congolese war lord guilty of crimes against humanity related to a village m massacre in 2003. he emerged as a 7 ario commander of the frpi malissumalmalitia. he was 1 of 6 former malitia leaders as part of a peace
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process. he was arrested by the acog golese authorities in 2005 in connection with the killing of nine u.n. peace keepers. he was held without charge until his transfer to the icc in october, 2007. lee baka has more from the hague >> reporter: throughout court proceedings here in the hage, he remained somewhat relaxed, smiling occasionally. he was asked to stand for the verdict, and he remained impassive throughout. the court here found him guilty on two key charges of being an access occur to murder and both of these have to do with a massacre in the village that borders uganda 13 years ago in which go 00 people were killed. some eyewitnesses of that massacre say that people were hacked to death from machetes, others dragged from bed and
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killed. he found guilty of recruiting soldiers under the age of 15 being forced to be part of the armed malitia. he has been acquitted, also, of rape and sexual violence as well. we now know that he will remain in custody. the court will the now decide on a sentencing date, after which we will have a clear idea of what his full sentence will be, how many years he will remain behind bars. >> maylasian court has sentenced eastbou eastbou ibraham's. he intends to appeal to the country's highest court. his supporters say it is designed to end his career as a politician. >> ibrahim had a falling out with the leadership. he was first charged with sodomy in the year 2000 and sentenced to nine years i am prisonment.
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in 2004, the conviction was overturned. he became the leader of the coalition of opposition parties in malasia. he led them to the strongest ever performance in may of 2013 >> reporter: ibrahim supporters expressed shock and dismay at the decision. they said all along that the government's decision to appeal the acquittal was politically motivated. >> human rights watch said it was to remove him from the political scene t comes before he is due to take part in a local election. if he wins that, it would have potentially allowed him to lead malaysia's richest and most popular state. he is disqualified from running. his lawyers say they plan to appeal the conviction. it could effectively mean the
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end of his political career. he is 66 years old. if he does end up serving his full sentence, he will be 71 years old by the time he is released from prison. the bugger issue, the bigger question is: what does this mean for malaysia's opposition parties. he is seen as the strong man who has been able to hold this coalition of three parties together. you have an islamic party. on the other, you've got a party that is seen by some as pro-chinese with largely more secular views. it's only his leadership ability, his charisma that he has managed to hold this coalition together. it was also under his leadership that the opposition made their strongest show in national elections last year. >> well, coming up on al jazeera, the refug fleeing the central african republic to what they hope will be refuge but in war-torn acog go. plus >> reporter: i am in bay field,
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congoloes. war lord found guilty of crimes against humanity. a court has sentenced ibrahim for five years in prison for sodomy. he plans to rule against the ruling. u.n. high commissioner for refugees is warning of worsening conditions as the foreign minister called for a large peacekeeping mission to be deployed. james bayes reports from the u.n. >> reporter: there have been repeated security council meetings on the central african republic over the last year. but the situation on the ground has just got worse and worse. now, for the first time, it seems there is a broad agreement on sending u.n. peace keepers, almost 12,000 troops and police. >> there will be no quick fix in
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the central african republic. sponding to the vases wi--spondg to the crisis will require resources. the scale of the needs is daunting. >> central african republic's foreign min sister made this plea: >> please. we need your help. if ywe delay it, it will be too late. we may lose the country. >> african peace keepers encourage in the country will form part of the u.n. force. a vote on a resolution to authorize the next won't take place for a matter of weeks and the new force won't assume control for about six months. >>reporter: >> one senior u.n. official who was there says what happens on the ground now is critical. >> many of the terrible scenes that people talk about, the cleansing of the muslim community being completed, the risks of the emergency of
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terrorists could happen if this is not done immediately. >> the western part of the central african government has been virtually cleansed up of the muslim population. they hope what they are authorizing will start to stabilize the situation. james bayes, ears of the u.n. >> as the cycle of retaliatory violence escalates, so too does the number of people leaving. there were 700,000 people internally displaced because of the fighting. another 290,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries since december, 2012. half of that total, about 150,000 people have fled the violence in the last three months. around 62,000 refugees are currently receiving food aid in
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a democratic republic of congo markum webb is there in zongo with the border with the central african republic >> reporter: almost everyone on this boat has had relatives killed or gone missing. they have been hiding in a church in the central african republic for weeks fearing for their lives. now, they have made it to safety. >> translator: there was a lot of gunfire. >> that's why we fled. i don't en know where my children are or my panrents. >> the u.n. says nearly a million people have fled the violence. for over 60,000, their escape root has been here. >> on this side of the river is the central african republic. on the other side is the democratic republic of congo. this december, thousands of people have fled from the central african side to the congolese side to get away from the violence. the refugees are in such remote
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locations, they can only be axed use boats like this. >> a landing site, the villages on the other side were deserted weeks ago. a steady trickle keep landing here they wait for u.n. trucks to take them to a refugee cam he has arrived here he said his girlfriend had an affair with a militia mer. they ordered him to leave her and started beating her up. >> i managed to get up and run away. as i was running, they shot me in the back with a shot gun. he was lucky to get away. thousands have died in the violence. pumango said he left when his brother was killed. he said he was targeted simply for not having a traditional hair style. >> he ran into some anti-balaka militias and they said he was a muslim. so they killed him. pumango and his friends are in a
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band. they insist on showing us a dance routine here at the landing site. ♪ >> they used to perform for hundreds of people back home. they say the music scene stopped with the violence. it will probably be a long time before they can perform again. along with thousands of central africans, they are about to give new lives in exile. it won't be easy. this, it seems, is their way to forget for a moment the pain of what they left behind. malcolm web,ays on the river ubange in the democratic congo. >> egypt says it's with drawing from congo. the three gulf mon archies accuse qatar of it failing to go enforce the packet.
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the relations have soured since egypt carried out. the trial of three access journalists will resume on march 24th. they have spent 69 days in prison accused of having links with a terrorist organization and spreading false news. al jazeera rejects the charges. abdullah, al shalmi has been detained for more than six months. >> syrian forces are continuing their assault on one of the last rebel strongholds near the border with lebanon. abrud which lies north of damascus is a strategically important town. fierce fighting continues between government troops and forces to the north. >> a senior north korean official has made an appearance.
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seen here on the left is said to be the second most powerful person after kim jog un. he hasn't been seen in public several weeks fueling rumors he may have been executed like kim jong un's uncle. >> calls to put the clock forward an hour t officials say it's having an impact on economic development and lifestyle. from assan, here is fiaz >> reporter: this is what 5:30 in the morning looks like while the rest of india waits another hour to see the sunlight. the day has begun here and in other northeastern states. for hazaraka and his family, that means getting the kids ready for school and himself ready for work starts early? >> my office starts at 7:00.
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my kids have to go from 6:00 onward. my day started at 5:45 when we all wake up. >> by 7:00 a.m., the morning is already in full swing. >> it's 7:30 in the morning. the sun has already been up for about two hours. like the sunrise, things start earlier here in the northeast of india. >> comes with its own set of problems. >> his office work ends by 3:30 in the afternoon. >> doesn't give him much time to enjoy the rest of the day. >> we have lights on. so we have to struggle to finish. >> this senior government official says having a new time zone will not only benefit people here but overall productivity. >> if they are related to the time zone, it is more product, following a different time zone. >> critics of the idea say having another time zone will further isolate the northeastern
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region and make one part of the country out of sync with the other. >> the u.s.a. uses different time zones. >> doesn't mean... >> but bono disagrees? >> time zone has nothing to do with this concept. it is more related to the economic development and the linkage. >> back at his home, he says there would be some adjustment in having two time zones in the country. just after 5:00 p.m., the sun starts to set. people here feel being able to enjoy the day when there is still daylight out will be worth it. jamil, al jazeera. >> u.s. scientists are reporting a warming of the sentence tral pacific when they say could result in an el nino phenomenon. it will others every four to five years. it's unclear why it happens but when it does, it does have a dramatic effect on weather in various parts of the world. it results certainly in warmer
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average temperatures in fact, two of the hottest years on record, 1998 and 2010 were both during el nino cycles. it usually triggers drought. part of the u.s. and south america get heavy rain or flooding. in the past, el nino has caused billions of dollars of losses to crops, damaged fish stocks and infrastructure. the pacific may be in a warming trend, but the great lakes in america are frozen over. >> extreme weather is giving tourists rare access to some unique ice caves. kimberly halka reports from the national lake shore in wisconsin >> reporter: the small summer resort town of bayfield, wisconsin, isn't accustomed to hosting many winter visitors. when hundreds of people started showing up each night at the town's only dinner restaurant, she have paul's son says it was
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somewhat unexpected? >> i am pretty sure we almost tripled last year's numbers. >> bayfield is located on lake superior. during the winter, it's typically shut down but social media changed that when a photo of one of bayfield's best-kept secrets was posted on twitter. >> that post almost immediately went viral. with be two hours t had about 10,000 views. the next morning when i woke up, we were at almost 85,000 views. we knew something big had really happened. >> this is what she posted: majestic images of ice caves from the national park, the unseasonably cold weather along lake superior's shore has created a gallery of ice formations and the minerals from the porous sandstone cliffs have created a display of color rarely seen. it's not just the natural beauty that is attracting so many. it is also accessibility. typically, you would only be able to get here by boat.
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but because of record cold sub-zero temperatures, right now, it's mine us 25 degrees celsius, you can get here by walking across this frozein lake. >> it's beautiful out here. >> even though it's freezingn l. >> it's beautiful out here. >> even though it's freezing. >> to good in and under and around all of these things. it's tremendous. >> the ice displays are weather-permitting. no one is sure how long they will last or whether they will ever be seen again. >> this is unusual because climate change is decreasing the average amount of ice on lake superior. obviously, this is a very unusual year. the polar vortex made it one of the coldest years on record. but we know this is not going to be typical. we are describing this as an endangered national park experience because we don't know whether your kids or your grandkids are going to be able to do this. since mid january, more than 80,000 have braved sub-zero temperatures to get to the apostle island caves.
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on weeks, they are attracting 10,000 views a day, more than any other day in the park's history. it's a rare glimpse of a natural phenomenon that may never be seen again. kimberly helkut, al jazeera, lake superior, wisconsin. military muscle, the u.s. shifting more assets towards ukraine as the white house and moscow do battle over who said what. a phone conversation between president's obama and putin. anti-government protests in venzuela turned deadly again. now, the u.n. is asking for human rights monitors to be allowed into that country. sexual assault within ranks. congress blocking a bill to strip military commanders of pour in cases involving sex
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crimes. >> the bit coin, i don't know anything about it. >> a magazine exposes the mystery man they say is behind the digital currency bit coin. why he says it is a case of mistaken identity. good morning and well, to al jazeera america. i am divisional winnel walters. russia is stepping up. it comes as some states are taking a hard line against moscow. foreign ministers from cents tral europe along with baltic countries are condemning russia's military presence in ukraine. they are asking the european union to take action and send a mission to kiev. tensions are heating up between the u.s. and russia one day after washington threatened sanctions, moscow is now hitting back. meanwhile, a u.s. navy warship is headed to the region as reports surface of 30,000 russian troops now on the ground
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in crimea. we have team coverage of the situation in the ukraine. lisa stark is covering all of the developments in washington, d.c. we begin with phil it ner who is in kiev. phil, russia's neighbors now joining the eu den on thissing its actions in ukraine. how significant is this? >> well, del, we are hearing this condemnation and call for action from the baltic states and nordic states. it's most interesting to talk about the baltic states because those used to be soviet republics. nobody nodes better what it's like to live under the thumb of moscow than those baltic states. there is no love lost there. what they are calling on the eu to do is step up to the plate. finally, get their sanction program worked out. and there is a growing sense within europe that there has to be some sort of reaction. the problem is what. >> that's still the lingering problem. it's not a matter of should there be sanctions.
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it's what kind of sanctions. there are eu members who want to see sanctions on individuals, those oligarchs who are worth a lot of money and e.u. member states who want to see sanctions against entire industries but they can't seem to come to a common sense of which kind of program they want to install. so, there is pressure. there will be some sort of reaction from the europeans, but we have to see what it is they actually work out in the end. >> we are hearing from russiasponding to the across the street in crimea. what is the latest on that front? >> reporter: that vote in crimea was mostly symbolic, the crimean parliament saying they want to return to the russian federation. they sent a delegation to moscow to meet with members of the russian parliament. when they did, the house speaker of the upper house said that when they -- when they do vote to come back to the russian federation, that's a presumption but when they do, they would be
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full members of the russian federation. i say, "when they do" because we have to wait for a general ref rendum. >> will happen in about nine days' time. every single citizen on the peninsula will be able to cast their vote. there is obviously some groups who don't want to do this. but the support that's coming from the russian parliament, the duma, the upper house as well, shows that if they do decide to go east, they will be welcomed. del? >> phil itner, thank you very much. lisa stark is in washington, d.c., and lisa, the u.s. beefing up its military presence in the black sea and there are reports that turkey has given a u.s. warship the green light to pass through. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: this is a u.s. naval guided missile destroyer, the uss truxton. this ship that left greece is approachingi istanbul and will o through the straits into the black sea.
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the navy says this is not related to the crisis in crimea and ukraine, that this was already planned. it's a routine deployment. the ship will be taking part in naval exercises with romania and bulgaria. routine or not, this sends a message and it it comes one day o after the united states announced it is beefing up f-15 flights over the nat -- the nato flights over the baltic region. tension times in that part of the world. >> the phone conversation between president obama and shanelling president vladimir putin taking place on thursday but taking place after the president came into the briefing room and announced those sufferings against russia. what can you tell us about that conversation? >> well, the conversation lasted about an hour, according to the white house. it was the second conversation since this crisis began. the white house says that president obama kept insisting that this was an illegitimate for russia to be in crimea. they want them to bring their troops back to the basis in crimea. they want them to talk to the
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new ukrainian government and to allow international monitors into that region. the president, in a statement in the briefing room, was also talked about this ref re referendum supposed to take place in crimea, people voting on whether to secede from ukraine and rejoin russia. the president said that would be a violation of international law. >> lisa, thank you very much. the united nations is asking venzuela for permission to sends in human rights observers. >> the u.n. is responding to this, reports of excessive force being used on demonstrators and journalists. the u.n. human rights council sending a written request to the government of venzuela. they want to investigate the charges that protesters have been beaten and tortured by security forces. tensions are running high following the first anniversary
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of the death of hugo chavez. two people were killed on thursday as protesters clashed with security forces. >> violence continued throughout the night >> reporter: we heard reports of intention fighting in the kachow neighborhood. there has been fighting night after night. we found people running. we found people on motorcycles, groups of young men throwing rocks in the direction of where security forces had been massed and lobbing tear gas canisters. you could smell it in the air. these guys were waiting for a rush by security forces. when the motorcycles came do you know the street, that's what they thought it was. it was probably just people on taxis, on motorcycle taxis but they were agitated. it was hard to have a conversation with anybody. >> we have been talking to protesters here they say they are fighting the government, that the government is the fascists. the government is calling them
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fascists. they are throwing it maltoff cocktails and there is a crowd of people on the balcony watching it like it's the evening's entertainment, like it's a baseball game. >> let's go. >> and that's when the mood started to shift. you could hear shouts ofcam camera. we decided it was time to put distance between our cameras and this mob. this kind of mob violence seems to be increasingly the face of this protest movement, at least here and concern is this is how this is going to play out across the country as this crisis continues to unfold. >> that's our paul beban reporting from caracus. 21 people have been killed since those protests began last month including a national guard soldier and a motorcycle taxi driver who died on thursday. the international criminal court in the hague convicting a congolese militia leader, found guilty for his role in the
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deadly attack on an eastern congo village back in 2003. 200 people were killed, but he was acquitted of other serious crimes, including rape, sexual slavery and using child soldiers. this is only the second time in its 12-year history the international criminal court has handed out a guilty verdict. >> new jersey governor chris christie hoping to rebrand himself after bridge gate, the hurdles he faces in reaching out to the conservative g.o.p. >> too many members of the senate have turned their back on these victims and survivors. >> a bill to reform how the military handles sexual assault cases. what one whistleblower says about the failure and sex crimes in the armed forces this man identified as the create offer of bit coin says it ain't him. he says he has never heard of the virtual currency.
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>> tafficked labor on the front lines? >> they're things...they're commodities... >> we go undercover... >> it isn't easy to talk at this base... >> what's happining on u.s. bases... >> the taxpayer directly pays the human trafficker. >> fault lines... al jazeera america's hard hitting... >> they're locking the doors... >> groung breaking... >> they killed evan dead. >> truth seeking... >> they don't wanna show what's really going on... >> breakthough investigative documentary series america's war workers only on al jazeera america
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welcome back to al jazeera america. spring is around the corner. has it sprung just yet? let's turn to nicole. >> everyone wants it to end, it seems like, this winter that keeps going and going, even rumors of a little warm-up this weekend have everyone kind of salivating. we have a system off of the coastline. as that moves out, it will allow warmer air up into the eastern section t it will funnel until cold air mostly for tomorrow. some of those temperatures drop today. temperatures this morning, like minneapolis were in the 20s. tomorrow morning, single digits, even be some negatives for cities such as fargo. i will spring ahead. we have so many areas where the ice is so thick, biggest ice pack in lake superior in about 35 years. >> will help keep that in place. this will help improve it, springing to sunday because the
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temperatures flipflop in the midwest pretty quickly. minneapolis, 45 degrees. denver, seventy degrees. even into the east coast, the 40s and 50s. >> that's only a little bit above average. it's been such a cold winter, most people will take it. the good news with all of this, other than the northwest, most of the country will be dry by the time we get to sunday. if you have those out door plans, milder, dryer, not a bad end to the weekend. not dry everywhere as we head out today. we get the little brief break in the northwest after the soggy stuff. because of that and the snowpack, we are starting to see a little flood concern. >> will abate a little over the next couple of days with dryer weather. the storm system that brought thunderstorms to florida has moved to the mid atlantic. most of the areas that have freezing rain and snow getting warm enough that this is rain. it lingers with us through the day. del? >> thank you very much. republican presidential hopeful undergoing an early test this week. the political action known as
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cpac kicking off its annual meeting, front runners like palm ryan and senators marco rubio and ted cruz all there. so far, it's new jersey's governor, chris christie getting the most attention. >> let us come out here resolved not only to stand for our principles, but let's come out of this conference resolved to win e elections again. >> christie wasn't even invited to cpac last year. poles showing 3 in 10 republicans would definitely not vote for him. >> that's the worst odds of any republican so far. the new jersey governor coming under fire after e-mail showed his top advisors may have orchestrated lane closures on the george washington bridge all part of a political ven dedettv rand paul is expected to speak later today. the kentucky senator has not decided whether he will run in 2016 for president. >>, by the way, is the same year that his senate term ends. he could perhaps run for both president and senator from kentucky if republican state legislators have their way. there is a bill before the kentucky senate that allows
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anyone to run for a number of federal offices. a close vote, the senate rejecting a bill designed to deal with sexual assault in the military. ericat pitzy joins us. >> it was definitely close. this was a bi-partisan bill here liberals conservatives backed the bill introduced by new york senator kirsten jillibrand. >> she had the support of the majority of the senate, new york democrat could not beat the filibuster that blocked her bill. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> the measure garnerred 55 votes in favor including conservatives like rand paul and ted cruz. but the bill needed 60 votes to bring it to the senate floor. >> we know that the deck is stacked against victims of sexual assault in the military today. and today, sadly, we saw the same in the halls of congress.
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for two decades, every secretary of defense has said zero tolerance for this crime, but all we have seen for nearly 25 years is zero accountability. >> senator jillibrand pushed for changes. according to the pentagon, there were 5,400 reported cases of sexual assaults last year, which is a 60% jump from the year before. opponents do not doubt there is a problem. what they are up in arms about is the idea of changing the chain of command. this bill would have stripped senior military commanders of their authority to prosecute all sexual assaults, giving the power to independent military prosecutors. claire mccasktil led the charge to shoot down the bill. >> the argument was posed as victim versus commander. whose side are you on? it's not that simple. if you take the time to get into the complexity of the military justice system and how these cases are handled, i am
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confident that the choice the senate made today is the right one. >> republican senator john mccain agreed. >> you take the responsibility from that commanding officer, then you are eroding his ability to lead. >> jillibrand said the military turned its back on victims of sexual assault? >> we will work harder than ever to strengthen our military. >> just as the senate was vote okay this bill, the army confirmed the suspension of its top sex crimes prosecutor because of a groping allegation. on the same day, a former army general accused of forcing a female captain to perform oral sex pleaded guilty to lesser charges back in. back in december, congress made it a crime for the military to retaliate against victims who report abuse. there is certainly some actions that they are taking, but some
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people think it's not enough. >> a long way to go. erica pitzy thank you very much. the inventory of bit coin has remained a mystery since it's inception since 2009. newsweek says it has cracked the case. thomas dra deny reporting on yd says it's a case of mistaken identity. >> can we ask you about bit coin? >> the so-called father of bit coin may have been outted by newsweek. in a front page story hitting stores today, the magazine claims this man is the crater of the digital currency valued at $7,000,000,000? >> i am not involved in bit coin. >> since its birth in 2009, the currency's creator has remained a mystery, a faceless person known only as nakamoto. thursday, outside this modest house in southern california, this man named dorian nakamoto
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told the throngs of reporters, they got the wrong man. >> "newsweek" said it is standing behind it's story that sparked a media frenzy and a backlash on social media. facebook and twitter were flooded with comments criticizing "newsweek" for possibly revealing someone who has fought to the remain so private or for potentially outing the wrong man. he specially at a time when bit coin is under close scrutiny due to some heavy losses in the bankruptcy of mount gok. costing investors up to $500 million. >> main reason i am here is to clear my name, that i have nothing to do with bit coin, nothing to do with developing terror. >> in an interview with the associated press, nakamoto who said he is an engineer who has worked for the u.s. government. he offered proof, including his
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driver's license and a timeline during the time bit coin was in development. >> when it was supposed to be developed, i wasn't there. i was working for the government through contracting company. >> he says when he was approached by the newsweek reporter about whether he helped create bit coin, she misinterpreted his answer. thomas drayden, al jazeera. >> bit coin is popular because it allows people to make one on one financial transactions digitally without involving banks, credit cards and those fees. users can remain anonymous, which is one reason that bit coin also appeals to criminals. tennessee could become the first state in the southeast to offer in-state tuition for students who live in the country illegally. it's not a done deal yet. independents could quash the tuition bill before the legislature. jonathan martin talking to people on both sides of this issue. >> graduating at the top of her high school class, 19-year-old
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jasmine ramirez hoped to attend tennessee state university and major in business. but because she is an undocumented immigrant, jasmine learned she doesn't qualify for in-state tuition. for her, that means college is unaffordable. >> a week before all of my friends left to college, i cried myself to sleep so many times because i saw them pursuing their dreams and i was going to be stuck at home. >> when she was 7, jasmine and her mother left central mexico and moved to minnesota and later tennessee where children in the country illegally wanted to attend state colleges must pay out of state fees, which is three times more than in-state tuition. attending tsu would cost more than $20,000 a year. >> you are preparing students to go to college, but then at the end of the day, you are not allowing them to go to college. not everybody has the same access to a college education, paying in-state tuition. >> a bill before the legislature could change things by allowing undo you think immigrants who came to the state as children to
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qualify for in-state tuition if they have lived in tennessee at least five years before graduating high school and meet certain academic requirements. >> whenever people have college degrees, they usually make more money in their lifetime. well, that's more taxes. you know, that's more productivity for our economy. so, i think there is a good economic argument for this legislation. but there is also a good practical argument around fairness. and now, undocumented students deserve an opportunity to pursue their dreams just like all students do. >> we got a lot of positive feedback yesterday from all of these representatives and senators. >>ias jasmine and others in her situation are meeting with lawmakers, sharing stories and asking them to vote in favor of the bill. >> 19 states already offer in-state immigration to undocumented immigrants. here in tennessee the bill is receiving support from top democrats and republicans but there are also some vocal opponents. >> to me, it's just crazy. i mean why would you give a reward to someone for an illegal
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activity? actually, what we are doing is we are giving them a reward for an activity that we are not even giving to people who are legally in the country, people from kentucky who may be just over the border. >> she was a yes, that turned into a no. >> she would find out if the bill faces the first hurdle, a vote from the senate education committee. until then, she continues to walk the halls of the capitol to put a human face on what she considers an urgent issue. jonathan martin, al jazeera, nashville. >> so far, only the house education subcommittee in tennessee has taken up the tuition equality bill. today is national tun plugging day. >> we have become very hyper connected as a culture. >> that may be the understatement. it is the time to shut off you're smart phones and computers but keep on the t.v. for some, though, it is as difficult as kicking a drug addiction.
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an el nino watch. some saying it will not be repeated next year. it means fewer hurricanes in the atlantic. el nino could provide rain for southern california and south. both have been suffering through droughts. they issued an el nino watch two years ago. it never materialized. >> in case you did not see it on you're smart phone, it is the fifth day of national unplugging. those behind it are calling for everyone to disconnect with your devices and reconnect with all of those nice people -- people in your lives. alan store talked to some people who have checked into rehab to break their device addiction? >> we do all kind of things. >> we met cozette ray. i had been unplugged for 24 hours. no iphones, no computers, no texting, e-mailing, facebooking or tweeting, no google maps. no television.
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i was feeling a little disconnected. >> i am a little worried maybe possibly about what's out there, what's happening, what's happening at work, what's happening with your friends, et cetera, family. yeah. >> fairly normal. i mean we have become very hyper-connected as a culture. >> breaking that hyper connection is the goal here, at one of the country's first internet addiction treatment centers, a 45-day live-in session costs $23,000. they say the waiting list is long. >> the point is to, like, rediscover the things that make you human. >> for andrew fulton and others, unplugging is a chance to get their lives back. there is counseling, intense physical workouts, daily chores, connecting withnate. an objection sessive video gamer, he flunked out of college in one semester after spending weeks alone in his room online. >> it is like a drug. it's like you don't have to think about the real world, and once you are out of that virtual world, it world, it's just depression. >> but the virtual world of
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competitive gaming, social media and endless video options became reality. >> there is nothing wrong with entertainment unless we are entertaining ourselves to death. >> health insurance doesn't cover this treatment. the american psychiatric association says the concept of internet addiction still needs more study. but in countries like china and south korea, it's seen as a major public health threat. >> it's similar to like an eating disorder meaning that, you know, just because you might have a problem with food, you can't say, i am never going to eat again. >> andrew has rediscovered music, a connection he abandoned on online binges. it's hoping it can reorder his life. >> there is that part of your brain that says go on the internet, see your friends, watch youtube. the real world doesn't matter. >> as everyone relearns the real world does matter, they have simple advice for people like me and you, unplugging for a mere 24 hours. >> advice: do it.
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>> for one day, be present. and then i invite you to bring more of those days in to be present. it will really change your life. >> consider giving it a try. it's really just that easy. alan schoffler, seattle. >> a 250,000 dollar viper caught -- i was checking my e-mails. it's between chrysler and a washington state community college. the red car was given to the school by chrysler for educational purposes. the company says the 92 dodge should be destroyed because it's a liability. two other cars given to other schools, they were later involved in accidents that cost chrysler millions. a contract between chrysler and the school requires they be destroyed if the company says so and it said so. the school has two weeks to comply. >> will do it for this edition
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of al jazeera america. i am del walters. thanks for spending time with us. >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello and welcome to the news hour, i'm in doha with your top stories. [ applause ] >> russia welcomes the crimean vote to join its federation and rejects sanctions by the west. i here with the other news from europe. foreign dignitaries are staying away from sochi. and a war lord becomesnl
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