welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters these are the stories we are following for you. the crisis in ukraine takes a nurn with a number of russian troops in crimea on the rise. >> we're not going to follow lukewarm so-called leaders anymore. >> the g.o.p. looking to head to the next presidential election. and could there be a silver lining in this long-cold winter? a look inside the ice caves of wisconsin. ♪

the number of russian troops in ukraine is on the rise. intelligence sources telling al jazeera, that number now stands at 30,000 in crimea. today the russian parliament saying it welcomes the annexation of the area as well, and western powers are calling that move illegal and ill legitimate. phil what is the feeling on the streets of kiev at this point? >> del, an awful lot of anxiety obviously on the streets tonight. a lot of things concerning them not the least of which are the numbers we just discussed. we have spoken to the ill tell against officer about other issues regarding russian troop positions and they tell us that the ukrainians are very well aware of where the russians have poised troops just on the other side of the border inside

russia. they say those russia troops are in the north and east. if you combine that with those troop numbers in crimea, they could very easily if the decision is given to move into the mainland of ukraine, move very quickly. we are told there about tank units about 150 miles away from the capitol of kiev. given the fact that when vladimir putin asked for permission to use military force here, he gave him the ability to use military force in ukraine not just crimea. >> these moves by russia pushing it further and further away from the international community? >> well, that's absolutely right, and that's the other issue at hand here.

there has been an awful lot of talk about the economic situation. now the eu is still very much looking at punitive measures against russia, but we are hearing word from certain economic sectors. certainly the germans expressing concern about what an economic trade war, if you will, could have on the global economy. we have heard that there are a number of concerns that the europeans have as they try to form late a sanction program, and there's some divide within the european union on how to do that. when the germans say that they are concerned about the ramifications of economic -- an economic trade war, they are looking at it both ways, and the europeans are doing that very much so, was there are trade agreements with russia, but russia supplies an awful lot of hard minerals, and goods to the

west. for example, nickel, there is a huge plants in the north of the country that provides vast amounts of nickel. they have almost a monopoly on that. if the russians reciprocate and start cutting off trade and sending goods back to the west, this could quickly spiral into a very precarious situation, so the europeans are very much aware of that and trying to work out how to deal with the european situation. the europeans are very much concerned about what is happening here in ukraine, but they are looking at what could happen if they cut off sanctions, they being the europeans, and the russians respond in kind. del, this is a delicate situation and something that a lot of people here in kiev and around the world are deeply concerned about. >> phil, thank you very much.

members of the crimean parliament receiving a warm welcome when they arrived in moscow today. peter sharpe has the latest. [ applause ] >> reporter: a standing ovation for the crimean deputies arriving at the russian parliament. their overwhelming vote to join the russian federation on thursday was applauded here, seen almost as a declaration of independence, their message from their russian brothers, welcome home and a promise. >> translator: everything is clear from this side of moscow, no hesitations. if we see you are ready to make this kind of decision, i assure you our total support. everyone is just excited about this, because this is a festive occasion. >> reporter:festtiveties extending to red square and no doubt here that the crimea will be welcomed into the federation when the bill speeding um

integration goes before the due ma next week. and if it fails, crimea could become the first territory to join russia since the break up of the soviet union in 1991. but among political observers concerned at the pace of change and the direction that president putin appears to be leading russia as this crisis unravelled hour by hour. >> if he sees himself as a political figure, as the father of nation, staying several heads ahead of the general public. >> reporter: there's no doubt that president putin regards ukraine's westward drift as a grave threat to the long-term security of russia. but is there more to it than? kremlin watchers here in moscow believe that the successful uprising, popular uprising against this government in the ukraine sets a dangerous

precedent for vladimir putin's presidency. peter sharpe, al jazeera, in moscow. russian president vladimir putin meeting with his country's para-olympic team today. despite ukraine's chief threating to leave the games. he now says his team will remain in place. theta tars are one of the oldest ethnic groups in crimea. and turkey a close historic ally is also keeping a close watch on represents. anita reports. >> reporter: the new blockbuster on turkey's tv starring a famous turkish actor. he plays a muslim soldier in the

russian army who ties lead him to switch sides and help turkey. the historic reality for theta tars was grim. fighting with the russian empire for centuries and subject to massive deportation in the 1940s. nearly half dying from starvation and disease. >> translator: they had 15 minutes notice. just time to grab a piece of bread and the koran and flee. >> translator: we are not suffer oppression again like the 1940s. we are receiving calls and emails every day from them. we are a very different group here in turkey. we are educated, and we will not behave like the russians. >> reporter: and the crimean tatars have the backing of turkey's government. the foreign minister jetted to

kiev last saturday. he stressed the importance of crimea to turkey, and called for stability and the preservation of the territorial integrity of ukraine. but everyone is worried about an escalation of force. the crimian turks association came here to make sure they had not changed to support russia. europe is that way, and ukraine, crimea, and russia are that way. it's up with of the world's historic highways, and peoples memories around here span centuries. this man along with these other descendents warn russians to be careful. >> translator: there are muslim soldiers in the russian army.

russia needs to keep this fact in mind. >> reporter: hour turkey's support, crimean tatars believe their people would have been almost wiped out. they say they have learned from their history. for the latest you can follow us on twitter. we're getting positive news on the jobs front today. the labor department reporting 175,000 jobs created last month. that's better than economist estimated. but the unemployment rate ticked up a bit. and those working or actively looking for work stayed the same at 63%. but even with the better than expected increase in payrolls the gains are still below the monthly average in 2013. tom perez talking to ali velshi

saying things need to get better. >> we need to pick up the pace undeniably, that's where the president has investments in infrastructure, investments in skills, helping to double the number of app preadvertiseships in america. raising the minimum wage,al of these things will help to pick up the pace of growth in our economy. >> you can see more of ali's interview on rael with ali velshi at 7:00 pm eastern time right here on al jazeera america. a tepid reaction to the jobs report. the dow up 24 points. investors not seeing today's numbers as giving much incite into what is happening in the overall economy. cpac is underway right now in maryland. the speakers include rick perry, rick santorium, and rand paul.

>> reporter: rand spaul going to be somebody to watch today because his libertarian views are very popular among this crowd. but we're not seeing mitt romney here this year, del, and a fair number of speakers have been critical of center mccain and john boehner, some feel he is pushing too far towards what the white house wants, that he's not holding enough of a strong conservative line, and he should be willing to blow things up politically to find the path forward for the party. governor rick perry spoke. and we are seeing a lot of governors speak. and people say they like what governors are doing around the country. and rick perry talks about what other republican governors are up to. >> what is the common denominator in these states?

it's conservative governors who cut taxes, who control spending, who invest in jobs. it is conservative governors who trust the people more than the machinery of government. it's conservative governors who know the freedom of the individual must come before the power of the state. >> reporter: and they are pointing to people like scott walker, republican governor of wisconsin who stood up to unions, fought with unions, and they say that's an example of a republican governor doing a good job. >> libby the republican party these days has been divided over how conservative it should be, so how noticeable was that today? >> we are seeing some interesting divisions emerge. one over social issues and how important those should be to the direction of the party. a lot of young people manage to get to cpac, a lot of college students who get here by bus, and a lot of older people who are retired and have the time to

come to cpac and the young people say we have conservative social values, don't necessarily believe in gay marriage or abortion, but they are not as important to us as the economy, and looking at some of the other big picture questions of can i get a job? >> and there is always that one person who manages to win over the hearts and minds of the crowd. so who has gotten the most applause so far? >> interestly enough, even though a lot of people are saying we need a positive message, a lot of the negative rallying cries have gotten a lot of big applause. like oliver north who was critical of the obama administration, had a lot of zingers, and that got a lot of applause. and governor perry was pretty fired up. so the big lines that get a lot

of attention are anti-baum -- obamacare, what happened in benghazi, so a lot of different panels going on here today, and people are getting a chance to have a lot of conversations. libby casey for us at cpac in suburban maryland. libby thank you very much. when we return on al jazeera america, refugees fleeing the violence in the central african republic. taking up lives now across the river in the democratic republic of congo. we'll tell you why.

a congolese war lord has been coon verdicted of being an accessory of war crimes.

he has been found guilty at the international criminal court in the hague. he was convicted of having a role in on attack on a village. he faces up to 30 years in prison. sectarian violence in the central african republic has caused many people to flee to the democratic republic of congo the drc. malcolm webb has their story. >> reporter: 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 made it to safety. >> translator: there was a lot of gunfire. that's why we fled. i don't even know where my children are, or my parents. >> reporter: the un says nearly a million people have fled the violence, and for over 60,000

their escape route has been here. on this side is the central african republic and on the other side is the democratic republic of congo. since december, thousands of people have fled from the central african size to the congolese side to get away from the violence. the refugee settlements can only be accessed using boats like this. >> this deceased factory is a landing site. the velages on the other bank were sderted weeks ago. they wait for un trucks to take them to a camp. this man's back was full of gunshot. he says a group of militia came for him. >> translator: i managed to get up and run away, as i was running they shot me in the back with a shotgun. >> reporter: he was lucky to get away, thousands have died in the

violence. this man says he left when his brother was killed. he says he was targeted simply for not having a traditional air style. >> translator: we ran into some anti-militias, they said because of his haircut he was a muslim, so they killed him >> reporter: he and his friends are in a band. they insist on showing us a dance routine. ♪ >> reporter: they used to perform for hundreds of people back home, but they say the music scene stopped with the violence. along with thousands of central africans they are about to begin new lives in exile, and it won't be easy. but this, it seems is there way to forget for a moment, the pain of what they left behind.

malcolm webb, al jazeera. turkish prime minister is threatening to ban facebook and youtube. files first posted on youtube were said to expose corruption in his administration. i'm kimberley in bayfield, wisconsin, coming up, i'll tell you why record-cold temperatures have transformed this small town into a booming western destination.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are your headlines at this hour. a ukrainian intelligence official telling al jazeera that russia now stepping up its military presence with 30,000 socialeds on the ground in

crimea. and a russian energy company is now tlenting to cut off the tap to ukraine. cpac now in full swing in maryland. rand paul is the featured speaker this afternoon. a bit of good news on the employment front, the labor department saying more than 175,000 jobs were created in february. the great lakes have frozen over, meaning that thousands of visitors can walk on water, or ice as may be the case, to some stunning ice caves. >> reporter: it's a trek more than a mile long through deep snow across a now frozen lake superior, but for those who make the journey to the national park they say it is worth it.

>> it is beautiful out here. >> yeah, even though it is freezing. >> a chance to get in and under and around all of these things it is just tremendous. >> reporter: tucked away is a display of ice formations rarely seen created by the lake's own wave patterns and colored by the miner minerals. 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, but because of record-cold sub zero temperatures, you can get here by walking across this frozen lake. and thousands are doing just that, but most would have missed out on this natural phenomenon if it hadn't been for kelly, who happened to post pictures on twitter >> that post almost immediately went viral.

the next morning when i vehicle up we were at almost 85,000 views. bayfield has a population of just 487 people. since the twitter post in mid-january, its businesses have been overrun with visitors. it will be weeks before the only hotel in town has a vacancy. >> game changer. there are stores in bayfield that are opening up that are typically closed in the winters. i know it has down right saved some businesses. i think it may be the biggest exposure potentially ever. >> reporter: at this restaurant they can't keep up demand. at night it is the only restaurant in town open to feed the visitors that started showing up. >> i'm pretty sure we almost tripled last year's numbers. >> reporter: no one is sure just

how long the skuptures will last or whether they will return next year. >> climate change is decreasing the amount of ice on lake superior. the polar vortex has made this one of the coldest on record, but we know this is not going to be typical. this is an endangered national park experience, because we don't know if your kids or grandkids will be able to do this. >> reporter: more than 80,000 have braved the temperatures to get to the caves. on weekends they are attracting 10,000 a day, more than ever in history. and by the way, just in case you are curious, i checked to see if hell froze over, hell, michigan a balmmy 36 degrees >> that's nice. if you want to see these caves

make reservations now. right now a beautiful shot, there's the lakes, 90% at least frozen over. an unusually high amount of ice over the lakes for this time of year. and 90% or more of the state of california still under that severe drought. speaking of these temperatures, there they are, these are the lows tomorrow morning. down below zero, the actual air temperature, those storms across the southwest, it is dry for now. it's the southeast that is the focus of this next storm. big area of sleet and freezing rain. there is warm care coming in falling in to cold air that is trapped in place by the ocean and the mountains. this is where you are getting that freezing rain, accumulating ice with a little bit of snow mixed in there. just west of this it is down

below freezing, temperature farther west up to 50, so the warm air does try to return. here is the rain coming down, it's a chilly cold rain with the temperatures stuck in the 30s. 7:00, 8:00 tonight it will start to move out. you could see a little mix of sleet or freezing rain as the cold air moves in, but the coldest air looks to be staying up across new england. coming up from the south this is where the rain and snow could be falling. this is picked up by the computer forecast, showing the rain across the midwest, the mississippi valley pushing to the east, a little bit of snow in ohio, but that's followed by that cold air. >> thank you very much. finally returning from the dead, news week is back in print. this is the cover, featuring a

controversial story about the creator of bitcoin. thanks for watching, i'm del walters in new york. "the stream" is next. >> they are the face of the epp dimmic, black women testing positive for hiv at alarming rates and now some are looking at the prison system. in infections that has some now looking at the prison system. ♪ my co-host, wajahat ali is here, bringing in all of your live f