gathered in moscow's red square to support their president. we'll continue to follow those stories. i'm richelle carey, "america tonight" with joie chen is up next. >> on "america tonight": the blade runner's toughest challenge. stunning testimony in the trial of olympian oscar pistorius. a case that raises new questions about the shocking level of domestic violence in south africa. also, tonight, new worries in crimea. the crisis in ukraine threatens to explode in a new round of clashes. and he can pass cheese burger. the cats, cars and more than a

few failed log entries on a fast ride to success. >> disney started with a mouse. i started with a cat. >> would you be as big as disney? >> i would love to. >> and good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm joining. it is an international murder case, very strong echoes of the strongest controversial trials in this country ever. accused of killing his long time love in a rage. in the trial of south africa

olympian oscar pistorius. accused of killing reva steincamp as she cowered in a bathroom. brought forward serious questions about women's rights in that country. >> make way, make way. >> reporter: giant mobs pushing and shouting paid it difficult for olympic star oscar pistorius to make it in and out of the courtroom for his first week of trial. the double olympian is best known for what he can do on his carbon fiber blades. becoming the first amputee runner to compete at a olympics game just weeks before. but his athletics abilities mean

little. locked bathroom door he thought he was aiming at an intruder. >> the accused unlawfully and willingly killed a person to with it, reva steinkamp. >> the prosecutors read graphic descriptions of his girlfriend's death. it wasn't just in court that he showed his emotions. >> oscar is crying tall time. he prayed to god to please hit her live. she must not die. >> a security guard also testified. saying he didn't believe the athlete when pistorius told him everything was fine shortly after the shooting. >> not everything have been in order as mr. pistorius was telling me.

>> other facebook told the court they believe they heard the tragic end to steinkamp's life. >> just after her scream to my lady, i heard four shots. you could hear it was blood curdling screams. >> pistorius's defense attorney suggested it might have been the cricket bat that pistorius used to break down the door after the shooting. he also questioned whether the screams neighbors heard could have belonged to president' pis. but a former girlfriend remembers his screams and remembered when he was startled out of bed from a noise. good he asked me if i heard it. i said it was from a storm, there might have been a storm that night. and he got up with his gun and walked out of the room.

>> outside the courtroom. women dressed in green marched with support of the african national congress women's league and saying against violence towards women's, a cause for which steenkamp was an advocate. >> abusing a woman. >> a recent south african study shows south african women are most often killed by an intimate partner. pistorius stands by, it was all an accident. steinkamp's mother says she is ready to forgive him. >> it's important for me to forgive him.

it's going to turn itself into my being and i don't want this. >> and joie the reason why steinkamp's mother was in the courtroom, she wanted to look him in the eye. she couldn't care whether he wins or losses, it's not going to bring her daughter back. >> i'm struck by the emotions around this. this is really, the case of the century in south africa. >> oh yeah. you think of all the people, the huge crowds that were out there. you listen to the reporters' accounts, and people that have come from all over the world, they're following this on twitter, making comments left and right and of course following this on live tv which was completely reminiscent of the o.j. simpsonson trial, the incredibly gorgeous woman, the

girlfriend, of the athlete. this is going to be very interesting when it does come down. >> lori jane gliha. thank you. at the black sea resort reminders of how difficult it can be to separate sport from politics. in a familiar scene, russian president vladimir putin was on hand to welcome the athletes. but there were reminders of conflict. the conflict in ukraine so chose by. >> translator: we sincerely from the depths of our hearts wish you success and we will watch each of you stars, and await your victories. we are proud of you. russia forward, good luck. >> a symbolic protest all but one ukrainian athlete boycotted the games. and a list of foreign competitors has dwindled,

against the backdrop of the ukraine. >> not just for ukrainian people, for ukrainian politicians and citizens also, this is a big problem because the question of security not just only ukraine. it is security for whole european region. >> only 300 miles from the black sea resort town the standoff in crimea presents different and difficult challenge. forces loyal to russia appeared dug into their positions and ukraine's new leaders are keeping up a firm line, too. >> i want to be very clear. crimea was, is, and will be, an integral part of ukraine. no concessions. full stop. >> in moscow, russia's parliament is ready to welcome it into its federation but president obama says the split from ukraine would be illegal. >> we're far from the time when

borders can be placed over leaders. >> the situation on the ground remains tense. >> we support crimea with two hands, to let them join russia, both sevastopol and crimea. >> while about 60% of crimea's population is ethnic russian not everyone on the peninsula is demanding independence. >> translator: we came because we want peace in ukraine. we want ukraine to stay united. white is the color of peace and we don't want anyone to know we are part of some difficulties here. >> still under siege although no shots have been fired. when we return, you might not recognize him. >> we're place you go to, to get your five minutes of happiness. >> but the faces he brings to

the web puts a cheese in cheese burger, and cats and other critters too. >> that is stupid. >> that's funny. >> meet bee ben huh and find out what he has in mind for your digital future next.

>> i'm ali velshi, the news has become this thing where you talk to experts about people, and al jazeera has really tried to talk to people, about their stories. we are not meant to be your first choice for entertainment. we are ment to be your first choice for the news. >> twenty five years ago, pan am flight 103 exploded in the skys above lockerbie. only one man was convicted of the attack >> the major difficulty for the prosecution, that there was no evidence... >> now a three year al jazeera investigation, reveals a very different story about who was responsible >> they refuse to look into this... >> so many people at such a high

level had a stake in al megrahi's guilt. lockerbie: what really happened? on al jazeera america >> if you are anybody in the tech industry, cans are you are in austin, texas, for south by southwest, where a major part of the lineup is also the chance to connect with big thinkers and sessions with titles like biohacker meet-up. at the intersection of tech and talent you will find a rock star of the digital age. a guy who started out with a cat and a cheese burger but wants to change the way we see news content. >> there's nothing wrong with wrecking your car. that's what insurance is for.

>> to understand ben huh, you got to take a leap. >> whoa! >> you got to jump. >> i don't want to let life pass me by and tbret i regret it lat. >> as something that makes no sense whatsoever. >> your brain's screaming at you, don't do this, you're going to die. >> or at the very least? >> it's about not traveling the same road twice. >> you got to be willing to go with him or the the ride and hang on. >> it's a fun part of the curve. good it's bound to be a fast one. because even compared to other high-stakes tech entrepreneurs -- >> hi, i paid it. >> -- the 36-year-old south korean born geek superstar is in it all the time.

what makes him do the things he does? good i made it. >> you could call him a little bit crazy which is good. you know, to be a successful entrepreneur you have to be a little bit crazy in a good way. >> you want some coffee? >> i think he is just a person that's always striving to be do something better. always curious. >> ben, with his brain emily, is the brain trust behind this, arguably the dumbest images on the internet. from the jie no ginormously lare images on the internet, these are the cheese burgers, cats. lest you think the cheese burgers discriminate against certain species -- >> that's stupid. >> that's funny. >> there's the block where

stupid humans have time too. cheese burger owns 50 humor websites. half a billion page views per month. the kind of digital real estate advertisers line up to throw money at. >> business is very simple. you want to make one dollar of profit because if you lose a dollar, if you are unprofitable every single day, there is an ex prays date. if you are profitable every day, you will never go out of business. what is hard is making your luck over and over and over again. >> what does emily have to do with your success? good part of the weirdness of being a cree a ceo of an internt company, you do whatever you want. it's a privileged life and she keeps me in check. she's that person.

>> in 2011 she asked a venture exalt focapitalist for $30 milld noadmits he's more than that. >> disney started out with a mouse, i started with a cat. >> are you more successful than disney? >> would i like to. >> at the tender age of 22, huh faced his first epic fail. >> i lost half a million dollars of people's opinion. it was more than that. when i was younger and closed out that company it was super-hashed. i felt like i was worthless. >> huh went back to his apartment and thought about

suicide. >> it's rarely talked about and something the more you talk about it the more acceptable to talk about it, the fewer people will take their own lives. it was depressing because 9/11 happened right afterwards. imagine the shock of going through the depression of just closing down your company, and pain wonderful fi i if you are d anything and your world crumbles. >> the realization that fame your could always be a companion to success and it didn't have to define him. >> a lot of people equate their life with success and failure. who you are is not the job you do. >> huh's business gyroscope was put to the test again last summer when he laid off one-third of his cheese burger staff. was this another epic fail?

>> we are a startup. the runway runs out. you got to take off. meaning you got to become profitable or you got to find another extension, or reduce the amount of burn. we felt it was a good thing to cut. >> that hurt? good it was absolutely painful. >> today the northwestern university journalist grad is facing more than just cute kitty faces. with his new endeavor, circa, he wants to face the mobile news. >> shoes horning into a mobile experience, our writers, staff, actually producing news specifically for mobile phones and mobile context. >> circa, delivers its news in

mobile tbhawlt bullets at a youn pusmcustomize with a swipe. >> we believe we have the ability and the ideas to change something that's been around for hundreds of years. >> this is ballard, which is kind of a hip nice area of town. >> and yet for all his high speed, high technical know-how, this entrepreneur goes to full retro, when it comes to music. >> why vinyl? >> it's slower. >> wait. you're a guy that just had me out riding at 155 miles an hour. >> yeah, it's kind of the same thing, the 155 miles an hour. on records. it's like not enjoying the speed, you have 20 minutes per side and if you do anything in

that 20 minutes, you're going to miss it. i want to experience things in the real way. >> mr. ben huh. >> he may not be a musician himself but he has his own rock star status complete with groupies. and to think it all began with a picture of a cat. apropos, perhaps for a man so far at least has landed on his feet. >> i mean if you think about it, anybody can start a business, anybody, there's no barrier to entry, and if you think of the business we're in, we're in the entertainment business, we are competing with anybody who is -- >> do you have a cat? >> i am allergic to cats. what you do need is to understand what your customers want. that's business.

>> the cheeseburger people know that your photois really the best. fans send in as many as 15,000 pictures every day. and that is a lot of stupid cat tricks to choose from. another story about the crazy things some of our species will do for a good time. one we'll feature next week on "america tonight." from minnesota correspondent adam may asks, why in the world would anyone do this? >> what is it about ice fishing in minnesota? why are people so into it here? >> it's something to do in the winter. trust me. we would be fishing year round if we could. people love fishing in minnesota so we keep doing it. >> okay, makes sense. braving subzero to catch the big one or anyone. "america tonight"'s adam may meets some extreme issue fishermen. even tries to reel in one on his

own. ahead on our final thoughts, a miracle in marijuana, can the drug in liquid form help children with epilepsy? "techknow" explores that question, next.

you need me and i need you. you make this work, you buy some sashimi. you wouldn't buy your sushi from this guy, why would you buy your marijuana from him? >> first tv adds, medicinal marijuana, put out by marijuanadoctors.com. new jersey legalized medical marijuana four years ago. 20 states in all have legalized marijuana for medical reasons. among the treatments a cannabis based oil that parents say is

somewhat of a miracle for children with epilepsy. crystal dilworth reports. >> more than 400,000 children in the u.s. suffers from epileptic seizures. makai is one of them. >> he has a rare form of epilepsy known as doza syndrome. by the time he was 5 years old he had had 500,000 seizures. don't usually start crying this early, actually. it's an emotional day because he's 16 months seizure free today, so i'm happy. it's a happy emotion. >> today zakai is talking walking and being home schooled.

his mom heather jackson is convinced it's due to an extract found in this controversial plant. joel's family runs one of the largest marijuana grows in the state of colorado. it's a family owned operation. the five family brothers went into business in 2008 under the medical marijuana state. >> people call it the hippie disappoint. you could smoke it all day, and you wouldn't become high. >> her disappointment could really help people. >> once we started it, the first day, seizure free, no seizures. a week went by still no seizures, and then we were on to something.

>> renaming their plant ncv, charlotte's web. first the plant is soaked in food grade alcohol to draw out the canabbinoids. >> how long do you soak it for? >> a couple of hours to overnight. >> then you leave it overnight. that liquid is again heated and diluted with olive oil to preserve the cbd and allow for patient dosing. >> i think for some people, giving any type of marijuana extract to a child might seem kind of extreme. so what would you say to those naysayers or those skeptics? about i would say holding your child, praying for them to take their next breath is pretty extreme. >> as you can see crift explore the first -- scrift explore the

first clinical trials, on sunday, 7:think, on "techknow." we'll have more of "america tonight" next week, have a good night. >> it's christmas eve, and us soldiers are preparing for their last months in afghanistan. about forty thousand are still here - by the end of the year, there'll be just eight thousand. we traveled to afghanistan in the midst of this transition. but on the base we found a story that isn't being told. the people doing the day-to-day work here are mostly civilian contract workers - men from