his other remarks, the glimmer of hope that there might yet be some sort of negotiated solution between moscow and ukraine and the west. >> well, still ahead on al jazeera america, the strange stand-off that could destroy a north korean oil tanker docked in libya. libby casey is in washington conservative star sarah palin is on stage. a live report with libby casey is coming up next.

♪ conservative political action conference or cpac is wrapping up with closing remarks by former vice president candidate sarah palin. libby casey joins us from the

kong intervention in national harbor, maryland. what is palin's message from the party faithful today? >> a lot of bashing of president obama, everything from healthcare to nsa, as she calls it, government intrusion, getting a lot of applause from the audience here tonight, jonathan. >> who else has been speaking, libby? talk to us about some of the highlights from this conference. >> you know, it really is a moment for conservatives to come and speak to a base that loves them. it's a chance for republicans who want to burn issue their image, who want love from conservatives, wants to prove themselves. they can come like governor chris christie. he was shunned last year for being too cozy with president obama. he showed up, spoke and was given a standing ovation. it was an opportunity to connect with that conservative base. you can hear the crowd behind me. they are loving sarah palin and the message that she is giving. interestingly enough, though, governor palin did not move the

meter in the cpac straw poll. now, the cpac straw poll is a measurement of who the folks here like for the 2016 presidential race. the big winner was senator rand paul of kentucky. he blew it out of the water with more than 30% of the vote coming behind him, ted cruz with 11% and ben carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon from maryland. he came in next with 8%. following him were folks like governor chris christie but you get get a sense there from the rand paul group in the audience it's a young crowd, jonathan, young crowd in that more than half of the folks here, over 60% are 40 years old or younger. >> that's who is voting in the straw poll. i want to give you some flavor of what sarah palin has had to say tonight. take a listen to them. >> something happened. >> hope and change, it went from a catchy campaign slogan to a

reality. and along the way, hope and change, yes we can, it became no, you can't. no. you can't log onto the website. noooo, you can't keep your healthcare. noooo, you can't main a phone call without michelle obama knowing. this is the third time this week you have dialed pizza hut delivery. [applause.] >> so you get a sense there of what she is saying. she is really talking to a lot of issues that concern young people, jonathan. she is talking about young people finishing college, worried about things like healthcare, worried about the economy and the crowd really loved that because, as i was telling you a moment ago, it's a lot of young activists here, a lot of college

>> dealing with a lot of rain on the west coast. the good news is, our meteorological winter is over. >> ends as we hit march 1st. but here we have a week and a half to go before the official start to spring. feels like spring in lexington.

59 degrees is your high temperature today. richmond hit 67 and 69 degrees for atlanta. boy, it feels good outside. but as we go to the west coast, it feels fairly mild here, too. 50s and 60s are the common temperatures. the problem is, you've got a storm track that has passed into moisture from the sub tropics. also, this particular storm track has sucked in the remnants of a typhoon's moisture. this storm is so wet. we are calling this an atmospheric river because there is a stream of just heavy moisture that's associated with the storm track focused right into washington state now through the day and into the night tonight, it will be sagging down to oregon and hitting northern california. great we are getting all of this rain. the problem is, it's coming down as rain in the mountains at fairly high levels, 8,000 feet is the snow level. and because we have had such a cold, cold winter in idaho, montan a as well, we are getting

ice jams and all of this ice is starting to break up and cause our rivers to flood. and so, in the clear waters and mainly seeing the streams and small creeks initially for parts of western montan a as well, but we will get this rain into the cascades in washington. the top 10 snowiest winter for billings montana, 91.5 inches of snow. wind gusts are beginning to build with the storm. strongest in the washington oregon coast gusting to 60 miles an hour. so, now jonathan, all of this beautiful weather we have in the east, we want to hold on. but, you know, we are going to get colder by mid-week. >> of course. we are trying to hold on. thanks, reb hecca. the search for a missing malaysia airliner. and fukushima and international women's day marking the progress made and the challenges left for women around the world. you are watching al jazeera america.

♪

>> 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

welcome back to al jazeera america. here are the top stories this half hour: warning shots were fired as european military observers tried to enter crimea. the u.s. says russia's annexation of crimea would close the door to diplomacy. the annual republican gathering cpac is closing tonight. rand paul coming out on top of the straw poll. sarah palin speaking live right now. senator ted cruz of texas came in second in that poll followed by retired neurosurgeon ben carson. a new day brings a renewed search for a missing airliner. three americans were among the 239 people aboard the flight headed to beijing. as the search for that plane continues, the search for answers is getting underway. today, we learned two of its passengers were traveling with stolen passports. for the latest on the investigation, we go live to

scott highland in malaysia. scott, what can you tell us? >> reporter: jonathan, we know in about 90 minutes from now in the building behind me, there is going to be another press conference with the airline representatives as well as with the civil aviation board. there have been no major developments overnight we have heard yet that might come through in this press conference. right now, everything is focused on that search and rescue operation. we know now that five nations are contributing, that the united states being one, there is a destroyer that was on routine duties in the south china sea. it has been diverted ho help along the coast of vietnam to look for any signs of this 777-200 that went down early on saturday morning. we also know that they have set up the government here has set up a special coordination center in a government complex about 12 miles from where i am standing from the airport. there, they are going to have the operations for the search

and rescue, but then ultimately, the investigation into what exactly happened on this aircraft. it disappeared from radar screens am there were no distress calls. there are questions surrounding this. as you mentioned, there were two passengers on this aircraft with false passports, with passports that were stolen, one from austria and one from italy. so they are focusing that, the investigation no doubt on that. but they haven't made any real details or breakthroughs on exactly how they are able to use these task forces to get on the air -- passports to get on the airport. this is a code share up to beijing with china southern airlines. we know those tickets were purchased, these two passport holders that had false documents, they were purchased through this code share agreement, not directly with the malaysian airlines. we will probably hear as sunday unvomits and then any updates. any time there is any update, they will tell us. >> scott, if you can, help us

understand why authorities have had such trouble finding where this plane went down >> reporter: >> reporter: it's a very big area that, you know, disappeared from radar. there were no distress signals or calls. they have no clues as to where it could have gone down other than where it disappeared from radar. a big area. it didn't make contact with vietnamese air traffic controllers. so, it just kind of dropped off the face of the earth, if you will. so, we know that one vietnamese search airplane saw two oil slicks in the water. >> could indicate possibly where the plane went down but that's obviously going on now. the sun just rose here in this part of the world. you can imagine they were out there, the crack of dawn, trying to find any more indications where the plane went down further investigating these two oil slicks, any kind of debris in the water. >> that's where the search and rescue will be focused on sunday. now, again, they are calling it rescue, search and rescue

because they have no indication of where the plane went down. they have no way to determine if there could be survivors. but again, early indications are that it fell from a very high cruising altitude, so most likely, there probably are no survivors. >> scott, you also mentioned the two stolen passports. i am curious to know how much of a focus that will be. do you get the impression officials are concerned about that revelation? >> absolutely. the only real comment we have seen over the last hour is kind of late saturday night going in to the early sunday morning hours, was a malaysian official who wasposed that question exactly. he brushed it aside saying that part of the investigation, that investigation, i should say, is on the government officials here in malaysia. they haven't really said -- made any announcement what body within malaysia null government is going to head that investigation. we know they have established this coordination center just about 12 miles from where i am standing. probably later on today, we will

get a little bit of indication of that. but because that word came out so late on saturday night, there really wasn't any definitive response from the government here. >> okay. we will look forward to that news conference coming up. scott hieightler, thank you. the libyan government is threatening to blow up an oil tanker. it is controlled by rebels who stand to profit from the oil sale >> reporter: this is a day to remember, says the official of the port of sidra in eastern libya. they are llooading oil on thouo north korean flagged tanker. if successful, this would be the first known shipment of ail under the self-declared government of barka. it's members demanned greater autonomy for this oil-rich region. but the central government in tripoli describes it as an act of piracy and has threatened

bomb the ship. it's a threat that the prime minister of the self-declared barka government dismissed. >> we don't accept any tanker or ship that we are dealing with or are contacted with. we are not making threats, and we don't want to use force. if i didn't know attacks us, we will be prepared to defend ourselves >> reporter: this isn't the first time that armed groups have challenged the government's control of oil exports. last summer, armed men shut down most of the country's main oil terminals. >> caused libya's oil exports to drop to a record low and cost the country billions of dollars in losses. struggling with lawlessness, libya's interim government is under growing pressure to restore order and rein in the armed militia, al jazeera. a ship israel suspects of trying to smuggle weapons to gaza is

docked at an israeli port. forces seized that ship days ago in the red sea. on monday, they said they will display syrian made rockets. officials in iran and gaza deny those claims. united nations is concerned about egypt's crackdown on protesters. this after renewed clashes killed at least seven and hurts dozens across the country yesterday. opposition protesters hurled molatov cocktails. 48 people were hurt nationwide including four policemen. he script has been in turmoil since the army ousted president mohammed morsi last july. >> sautés i arabia has declared the miss lum brotherhood a tir rift group. anyone who joins that group could face 30 years in prison. since morsi was ousted, several gulf nations have labeled the muslim brotherhood an extremist group. the muslim brotherhood said it is surprised by saudi arabia's

decision. >> three al jazeera journalists are being detained in egypt after their trial was pushed back. they have been in prison for the 70 days. they are accused of having links with a terrorist organization. al jazeera denies the allegations. violence in the central african republic has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and into neighboring countries. malcolm web visited ref eugenia ease in the democratic republic of congo. everyone in this refugee camp left their homes because it's become too dangerous in the scent tral african republic. every time a truck comes, there is excitement. even here, people can joke. i-u means you fled. a way of mocking each other for a bit of fun. back homes, things have got worse. thousands have been killed and many more are missing.

lapua unese managed to hold out until now. >> my mother and father left on the 5th of december. i don't know if they are still alive. >> she is one of nearly 3,000 central africans who fled to neighboring countries. over 60,000 have registered here in the neighboring dem katie republic of congo. meanwhile, people already living here wait for food to be distributed. they depend on what they are given to survive. it gets heated t. >> we have been suffering here in these refugee camps for one month now. >> the amount of food we get is small. it's not enough. >> everyone gets given two small bars of soap and a bag of salt. over here, they get some cooking oil tied off in a plastic bag. next, everyone gets two kilos of beans. over here, people are given a bucket full of rice. it's not very much food, but the

u.n. says it's enough for each person to survive for two weeks. the u.n. also says it wants to avoid mass dependency on food aid. they have arranged lands so people can state farming. it is difficult to bring any supplies here the camp is isolated. roads are being cut off by the complex. so supplies have to be transported by river. >> now, because it's a dry season, the water is very low. and it's very difficult for big boats to navigate on the river. so we are facing quite a number of logistical challenges to bring the food and to bring the goods here to the refugee camps >> reporter: there is already over 9,000 people in this camp and more people arriving. the village of shelters is becoming a town. the situation back home isn't getting any better. so people here don't expect to go back any time soon. malcolm web, al jazeera, refugee camp in the democratic republic of congo.

>> demonstrate organs were blocked from marching on the food ministry today. 5,000 people protested crimming inflation and chronic shortages of basic supplies. the government is touting what it calls a deposit plum attic victory. he will salvador's ruling party says everything in place for the vote. troops have been employed. from a marxist guerilla head of the poles, he is campaign okay popular social programs. >> japan's prime minister visited the fukushima power plant today a few days before the country will mark the third anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that triggered widespread contamination. japan's leader said elgin taking steps to revive an area devastated from that disaster. >> for yokamomo, the journey has

become an almost daily routine. he i and his colleague lived in at a time touch adjoining fukushima power plant. >> translator: just because we are retired doesn't mean it's not our business anymore. we need to do all we can to keep this place alive. >> so thins men and their volunteer colleagues monitor the radiation levels, clear the waterways, maintain a stake in their town. their personal radiation exposure isn't a problem, they say, before admitting it amounts to two miliciver trchlt s a year, twice the recommended limit s a year, twice the recommended limit. >> people prepared to live on the doorstep of fukushima with its three crippled reactors and regular water leaks. >> with all of this optimistic activity, there is a sense of realism and acceptance that bringing anybody to live here at a time when a nuclear disaster continues to unfold just over there is going to be very, very

difficult. reviving okuma is a task they will have to pass on to the next generation. >> a few kill meters out of town, we come across a different group, no masks or hazard suits here this is all about confidence. at the center of the scrum, japan's prime minister here to assure locals of continuing government efforts. tight security prevented us from hearing from him. earlier, he visited nearby new housing for evacuees. for these areas government is part of the problem where they feed migratory swans, there is plans for a storage site. >> it's not the first time our town has suffered hardship. think what our ancestors did to build the paddy fields. we have to do the same for our future generations. >> now, nature is in the ascend ant and the guardians admit a number of their neighbors willing to cover ever coming back here gets smaller every

day. harry forcet, al jazeera, japan. >> let's talk about this with arnie gunderson, the chief engineer as an engineer consulting family and a former executive in nuclear industry. thank you for being with us. i am curious to know when we see the pictures of the area around fukushima, what does the future look like for them? how long will it be before things are truly back to normal? >> i think for the people within 20 miles, they will never get back to normal. you see people walking around with these little hand held radiation detectors and they are not really measuring the worst of the radiation. what we are finding are very, very small micro scopic pa particles that are lodging in people's lungs, and the japanese government is not taking that exposure into account. the health consequences within 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers

out are really significant and will be for decades. >> so do you think the japanese authorities are moving too quickly in trying to move in people from the outlying areas of the fukushima plant? >> absolutely. you know, there are realthey ar really forcing them to move in because they are taking away the money that they had been receiving to live remotely. and the only way they can continue to be on the stipend is to come back into that radiation. so, it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't. it's uncomfortable to live far away. on the other hand, it's worse to be in a high-radiation area. >> when you look at this disaster, what do you think other nuclear plans around the world have learned from this? >> there has been a lot of lessons learned. unfortunately most of the changes are not being implemented. we learned about this huge wave that cannot out the cooling systems of the plant.

there are plants in the united states that have that problem but we have given those power plants as long as 10 years to make the required fixes. he merge emergency planning was proven to be a joke. indian point, 20 miles from new york city, which continues to operate. so while we know the problems, we are really not getting to the meat of solving them. >> but solving and fixing those problems, as you know, can cost extremely large amount of money. how do you balance the need for changes with the practicality that it takes a long time and a lot of money to fix these issues? >> you know, i guess i get back to what part of fukushima don't you understand? if you don't maids make these modifications, you run the risk of destroying the fabric of a country. it happened at chernobel and it's happening in japan. it's moneywell spent top make these modifications to present

this from happening on our doorstep. >> we have heard about fish contamination across the ocean from the fukushima disaster. how real of a issue is that really? >> the nuclear plant on the japanese side of the pacific is bleeding radiation into the pacific every day. about 400 tons of radioactive water every day forev over a thousand days now has been pouring into the pacific you. as that plume crosses the pacific >> it die lights because the pacific is a big place but we are beginning to see low levels of radiation in the water. i have to tell people i wouldn't mind swimming in the water. i wouldn't mind walking along the water. but until our government, whether it's states or national government, tell me what is in the fish, i remain very concerned about eating the fish that are coming from the pacific. >> meanwhile, health officials say the fish is completely safe.

arnie gunderson, thank you for your time today. >> thank you for having me. today is also international women's day and women around the world are focused on the theme: equality for women is progress for all. large gatherings highlighted the need for equal rights, increasing health for all communities. caroline malonly tells us how all of these things are tied together >> reporter: going for a record in the philippines, more than 10,000 people turned up to sporty quality for women. they are hoping to make it into the again it's world record book by forming the symbol for a female. the participation of men was crucial to the stunt. it also helped highlight the fact that the philippines was ranked the 5th most gender equal country in the world last year. the u.n. says that men's help is important in changing global attitudes. >> one of the things that we are doing, when we long to see is a campaign we call he for she

where we are going out to recruit men to participate actively. >> afghanistan is one place where women's rights have improved in the last 12 years. >> after all, what happened during to the woman during taliban, that they were deprived of money, basic rights, citing a woman issue as a national kind of agenda. we need to look at this from a national need >> reporter: giving women more rights such as an education is important in and of itself but it could change everyone's lives. on average, one in 10 children die before reaching 5 in afghanistan. studies show educating women leads to lower child mortality and wihen women with an educatin joined the work force, they helped reduce poverty. over in the gaza strip, hundreds of women took part in a march to the u.n.

people there all too well how women suffer in poor and deprived societies? >> when women and girls thrive, entire societies thrive. just as women's rights are human rights, women's progress is human progress. >> earlier in new york, a group of high profile women walked down the streets of the city. ebb in the worldts most developed nations, more can be done to encourage gender equality and men, whether they are fathers, sons, husbands or friends of women are needed to make a real impact. caroline malone, al jazeera. returning to one of our top stories, the crisis in ukraine. today, we have seen warning shots fired at european monitors trying to enter crimea and diplomatics efforts of president obama reaching out to allies. this is professor at fordham university specializing in eastern europe and the former soviet union. thank you for being with us.

i want to talk about these firing shots at the european monitors. three days in a row, this has happened. this seems to be an easy thing that russia could allow, that might please a lot of western powers. so why have the pro-russian forces not allowed it? >> well, i think they want to make sure the world gets one point of view from the crimea and they might be concerned that they would realize and reveal to the rest of the world what the real situation on the ground is because by and large, the russian government still denies the magnitude of russian presence, russian military presence on the peninsula. >> across much of the west, it seems like indeed russians forces are in control and in absolute control, it looks like, of much of crimea. why continue to hang on to that nairav if a lot of people, including western leaders aren't

buying itrrative if a lot of pe including western leaders aren't buying it? >> it's difficult to explain, but maybe to some extents it justifies them in the crimea because they don't want their side the western world seeing it as enforced by russian. they want to see it as a grace roots i knowitiave. if they recall the russian groups on the ground, it would be more problematic. >> how much is a grassroots initiative since crimea has a lot of people that align with russia, they speak russian. so is there not something there that perhaps the people of crimea want to separate from ukraine? >> there is a large percentage of the residents of the crimea who want to join -- who want to live in russia and who want to be a part of russia. but at the same time, this is refer endum is going to be held

in violation of the ukrainian constitution and in defor instance of a substantial minority of the residents of the crimean tartars who certainly oppose it. >> if the people vote to separate from ukraine and if it's a majority of the people and if the elections are free and fair, i know it's a lot of ifs, but why would the west have an issue with that since it seems to be the people of crimea voicing and doing what they want to do? >> well, according to the ukrainian constitution, the national referendum should be held to determine if a region sus seeds. >> isn't it illegal to throw out the president from a protest movement. russia is saying this is r ridiculous, an elected president thrown out by street protests. >> the international parliament.

so, i think that, of course, the protesters pushed for this move but the national parliament followed certain legal procedures and, you know, there are a lot of western powers and china who does -- and russia, itself, does not allow its own citizens to follow the same procedure because otherwise, the chechnya republic would be independent a long time ago. >> which is why it is a sticky issue. thank you, olina with fordham university. thank you for your insight? >> thank you for having me. >> on al jazeera america, the little team that became the big story last year and the results of that tournament's success. e.

and we are back with sports. ncaa tournament is right around the corner. >> it is. we are a week away from selection sunday. >> that's where we get to find out which basketball teams get to punch their ticket to the big dance. last year's darlings were florida gulf coast university. they earned the next name dunk city. al jazeera rasha buka traveled to fort myers. he will tell us about the team and show us how they are handling the success? >> they came from nowhere.

seemingly dropping out of the sky. and on to the college basketball scene. during a magical run last season, florida gulf coast university used the ncaa tournament to put dunk city on the map, becoming the first number 15 seed to each the sweet 16. now, dunk city is a coughetted destination, more than a college campus where basketball players step out of their apartments and on to the sand? >> everything is like a resort. the palm trees everywhere, the big new pool with the full court basketball court in the pool. at the beach out there, it's amazing. it's something you can't put anywhere else really. >> people who have never been here, a recruit comes in. how do you sell fgc? >> take them out to the beach. >> that's how they got me. >> but their sinncinderella tea their coach took the same job at

usc? >> i get a phone call after i see saying, he signed. i get a phone call about 11:00 o'clock, we are going to meet in the locker room right now. everybody, come on. then he told us what we already knew by then. >> the open ball. ball screen defense. >> florida gulf coast hired joe dooley who executed and came up with a game plan to stop the eagles. they were managed to be in the ncaa tournament. >> mark and the post. everybody understand that? >> we had a tape, stuff on my desk. >> dunkcity is not going anywhere. four players returned from last year's squad. coach dooley wants his team to entertain the crowd and leading the charge, junior point guard, brett col member? >> i think i am crazy to be honestmer? >> i think i am crazy to be hone honest. i throw a lot of paces. i am emotional when i play, very intense. >> colmer wears his heart on his

sleeve. >> i was never going to get tattoos. my mom talked me into it. he has a tatoo to honor his late father who passed away from lung cancer? >> clouds around it, the lung cancer symbol because that's what my dad passed away from. i build up everything for my dad. i have it on my sleeve. >> he honors his father before every game. >> yeah. yeah. i tap the inside. it's paying respect for him, you know, because without him, i wouldn't be the person i am today or the player i am today. you know, he coached me growing up. he was tough on me, you know, which, you know, you hate it at the time, but kind of realized how much i missed that, you know, having him not here at my games. so, i kind of play for him and myself, also. >> what makes brett col member happen? >> winning. i eat, breathe, sleep this. having a good time with my teammates, that's what makes me happy. >> tomorrow eagles can punch their ticket back to the big dance. they face mercer in the

atlantatic conference team. >> march is coming. do you have your braventh ready? >> you can't until selection sunday. this is why i am here to tell you these things. them we can work on the brackets together. >> next sundays? >> yes. >> thanks. >> that's our show. headlines after this break.

this is al jazeera america. i am jonathan betz in new york with today's top stories. we continue to follow the breaking news out of asia. there is still no sign of a malaysian airliner that disappeared overnight. a 12-mile oil slick suggests it

crashed into the south china sea. three americans were among the 239 people on board. warning shots were fired as european military observers tried to enter crimea. the u.s. says russia's annexation for crimea would close the door to diplomacy. a libyan port is held by lickian rebels. it bought oil from a rebel group controlling that area. the libyan government man dates total control over all oil sales. senator rand paul of kentucky comes out on top of the cpac straw poll. the early list of presidential hopefuls for the g.o.p. t in a republicango sarah pal inwas selected to give closing remarks. protesters battle police in the streets in venzuela today. it began as a student-led demonstration billed as the empty pots march before it could reach the food ministry offices.

>> international women's day, many are highlighting the need for equal rights, reducing poverty and increasing health for communities. those are the headlines on this saturday night. re "real money weekend" starts right now on al jazeera america. sass >> credit ukraine is in vague financial trouble. we'll take you inside venezuela where toilet paper is tough to find but gas is practically free. plus the multibillion dollar commodity that literally falls out of the sky every day. i'm ali velshi. this is "real money."