today, i'm ali velshi. we will be specifying our efforts to locate the missing aircraft. >> reporter: 48 hours since it dropped from radar and no sign of the plane and heart break from an american on board. new prime minister drawing a line in the sand and what he says the country will not do as he prepares for a trip to the white house. stage freight at a california

high school, the accident that sent two dozen people to the high school. >> i walked down the aisle of any supermarket in the country and you will see how much of the food that is part of our diet is grown in california. >> reporter: you don't have to be a california farmer to feel the pain from the worst drought in the state's history and walk down the aisle of your local supermarket. ♪ search and rescue crews from nine countries including the u.s. are scoring the south china sea and looking for the jet that vanished between malaysia and vietnam and it has been more than two days since malaysia airlines 370 went missing with 239 people on board. it was supposed to be a routine

flight from kuala lumpur to beijing and whereabouts still unknown and no block box signal since it disappeared and debris found off the tip of vietnam does not belong to that plane, 34 planes and 40 ships are part of the widening search and an american patrol and u.s. navy helicopter are in the gulf of thailand and the chop -- chopper is coming and there were three americans on the plane from texas and says he works for ibm in malaysia and his parents say they are praying for him. >> how it feels to lose a son at the age of 50, it's devastating. but i know in my heart that phillip is with god. >> reporter: two australia planes are part of the multi-national search team, an australian citizen on the flight and wife says she is struggling with what to say to their son.

>> when he has dodd, so he has been with his friends because it's just too hard. it's a big bridge to cross at this stage. >> reporter: malaysia authorities say they are investigating all possibilities with the missile plane including terrorism and two people on the flight were using passports stolen in thailand several years ago as scott reports intelligence officials are also checking the identities of two other passengers. >> in their only press conference on monday they intensified and expanded the search for this aircraft. as for a couple of reasons, they have not found definitive proof and there is reports of debris and oil slicks on the water but have not found definitive proof where it went down and expanded the search because they had indications of radar that the plane might have turned around not coming from the airforce but

no definitive and hard evidence and the officials say is their top priority to find any indication where, how and when this aircraft went down. now on the other side, the investigation into the two gentleman who boarded the aircraft with fake and stolen pars ports, they are still investigating that and saying they are looking through closed circuit television footage from the kuala lumpur airport and documents and immigration documents to see how they got on board and who they are and that is going on. other nations are involved in the investigation and consulting with the united states f.b.i. in the report. >> reporter: and scott is reporting from kuala lumpur asia and 227 passengers on the plane and 12 crew members and among the passengers 154 people were from china or taiwan and 38 malaysia and indias and u.s. citizens and a few were under

five years old. russia is coming under pressure to back away from ukraine. in a call with western leaders sunday vladimir putin says he blacked the succession referendum and says the decision aligns with the majority russian population and u.s. continues to back ukraine's new government and new prime minister travels to the white house on wednesday and meet president obama and vice president joe biden do discuss the standoff and going to the referendum in ukraine and they attacked people in sevastopol on sunday and comes russia is sending additional troops and seizing more ukraine bases. and jennifer glasse is in sevastopol now and jennifer and clashes [ing out there on sunday, what is the situation like there today? >> well, stephanie, it's a

monday, it's the last of a three-day weekend here and the streets are quiet and yesterday we saw some scuffles at the pro-ukrainian demonstration as pro-russian supporters came in and attacked some of the demeanor stra demeanor -- the demonstrators and they are printing the ballot and trying to get the election stations ready for the ballot where crimea will decide to stay in ukraine or become part of russia. >> reporter: intense discussions between putin and german chancellor merkel on sunday, what are you hearing? >> that's right. we know the europeans would like to see moscow form a contact group and trying to get moscow to talk to kiev. moscow and vladimir putin does not recognize the government in kiev and european and the united states does and the new prime minister will be heading to washington on wednesday for

talks with president obama to try to resolve this situation. but angela merkel the german chancellor had very strict words for putin and does not recognize the referendum and thinks it's illegal and putin disagrees but german says if they go ahead with this a legal referendum germany might impose sanctions including travel restrictions and asset freezes on russian nationals connected with the referendum and connected with the russian troops here, that is pretty significant because germany is one of the biggest trading partners and that could bite and not talking trade sanctions yet but the fact that angela merkel is getting more forceful with russia might bring more level ridge to the situation because so far vladimir putin has not listened to anything that the europe and united states has to say and says the troops are protecting russian speaking people here from any intimidation by what he calls fasists and thugs and

ukraine proper. >> reporter: what about allegations that russia is putting more troops on the ground there in crimea? . >> we definitely have seen troops come across the border and think there is 16,000 troops in addition to the troops already in crimea and seen a lot of troop movement. it was out this morning and saw truck loads of troops at bases and moving around quite a lot stephanie and a clear presence over the weekend. so yet another border guard base and surrounded at least 11 bases and have a lot of the air fields, the russian flag flies over the air field including the one outside of sevastopol here. so they very much have a grip on what is going on in the military bases if they have not gone into military bases and have not taken over military bases or ships and ukraine ships in the harbors here and around

sevastopol and the ukraine military out numbered cannot move and the russians have a very firm grip on the crimea peninsula there. >> reporter: a tense situation and jennifer glasse reporting from sevastopol in the ukraine and thank you. the white house is warning russia it could face international pressure if it allows sunday's vote to move forward and nick in crimea where the majority is decidedly pro-russian. >> in crimea capitol under the watchful eye of vladimir lennon they wave the flag of what they want to join and praise the city they hope will be their capitol. the song is one the old soviet union that might have send the children to war and the russians are ready to enlist. from the youngest and the smallest of camafloge or willing

to go to war in a motorcycle helmet >> i have to keep peace and is spare no effort and i'm 50 and no longer that young and the man who goes back to the 40s he and his 7 brothers fought in world war ii and seen enough war to think this one is already won. >> translator: putin helped us and the people did not fire a single shot he says, it's calm here. in one week we will vote and be with moscow. >> reporter: after the soviet collapse most of crimea never wanted to be part of ukraine. this crowd hopes next week esreferendum is their independence day from a government they consider illegal. >> translator: in kiev power was taken by former bandits robbing people at the point of a gun and we are against them. >> reporter: they mourned a national hero who voted for a

united ukraine and it threatens the unity they feel their ancestors died for. >> translator: our parents and grandparents spilled their blood for the land and will not give up a centimeter of ukraine land and he doesn't have to look to history to agree. last month next to his father he fought the old government in independence square and this morning he says his father was kidnapped by a pro-russian malitia and no word on his whereabouts and sergei fedorov wants to fight that. >> translator: we will not give a centimeter of our land and not going anywhere he says and keep fighting for crimea to stay inside ukraine. >> reporter: both groups are digging in and ready to fight for land that each side feels belongs to them. nick with al jazeera, ukraine. >> reporter: this is a live look at a pro-russian rally in

moscow occurring right now. the u.s. continues to condemn russian president vladimir putin who continues support of the crimea separatists and says he is defending the russian speaking majority there. people were killed from a suicide bomber in eye rock and happened south of baghdad and the bomber detonated a mini van with explosives at the city's northern entrance and the blast set at least 50 cars on fire and injured 160 people and the attack comes weeks before iraq's general election. mexico said the leader of a powerful drug cartel has been killed again, the crazy one was killed sunday in a shoot out with federal forces and mistakenly reported killed back in 2010. his body was never recovered and the leader of a cartel which

morphed into the tempar and it comes two weeks after another drug lord guuzman was captured. violence in venezuela cacacus this weekend. antigovernment. protesters clashing with police and national guard, through rocks and started fires and latched out at the vice president joe biden who blamed them for the unrest. >> translator: joe biden arrived in chile and the first thing he was to do is attack us and h is an abuser and comes to attack the people of venezuela and we do not accept it and reject his attack. >> reporter: middle class venezuela say they are fed up with inflation and food short

adjust and crime rate and we are there with more on the political fall out. >> when the sun goes down the streets of caracus go up in flames. this is tacow, an upper class neighborhood rocked by violence virtually every night. but in the morning the barricades come down, life goes on and the mayor here, the member of the main opposition party hears from his concerned constituents. >> translator: we need to keep the streets on fire. >> translator: we cannot use young people as human shields. >> translator: we need to break this as soon as possible before the cycle breaks us. >> reporter: just up the road is another world, the quiet neighborhood of la casta leona and the rich and the fences keep the outside world out, off the

fairway. ♪ head west and you are in 23 arrow and a progovernment and protests are drowned out by rukus sell celebrations for a leader who died and buried on top of the hill and they have divided loyalties and overlapping alliances. >> translator: oscar gave me a bird's eye view of the city and a history lesson. he points to patari, one of the biggest slums in latin america, this former chavez stronghold dominates and defies stereotypes. >> translator: he did not do enough. >> reporter: it tilts opposition and that rift runs through families. jose is loyal to the government. his nephew's wife votes opposition. these days tempers flair easily.

>> translator: you cannot act sanely with the building. >> what did they do with the building? >> shot it. >> through molotov cocktails at it. >> reporter: a journalist and opposition suppor supporters he afraid to come down and go to protests. >> translator: it's not worth marching or protesting if i'm going to get killed. >> we see why he is worried and residence of the tower show the mayor of the district, another opposition party member, damage they say was done by progovernment thugs storming the building. >> translator: we condemn the use of force against citizens and reject the idea that this is a struggle a brother versus brother. >> reporter: for now it's a stalemate. the opposition vowing to stay in the streets until the government resigns. the government vowing to crush protests and neither outcomes seems likely and i'm paul with

caracus venezuela. >> the president maduro claims student-led protests are trying to over though them, in ohio they are investigating a nightclub shooting that left three dead in the last call bar in fremont southeast of toledo, no arrests have been made. two dozen high school students were hurt when a stage collapsed during a musical performance and happened at a private catholic school in california and they were performing in an annual musical theatre challenge when the stage gave way. >> every one is jumping around like crazy and the very front row completely fell under and we

were all in shock and realized what happened. >> reporter: there were bruises, scrapes and some broken bones but no life-threatening injuries, investigators believe there was too much weight on the stage and trying to determine exact cause of the collapse. ♪ and we're going to start off with weather and looking at a weekend of hef rain that caused severe flooding across the northwest and washington the rain prompted flood warnings and caused mudslides and streets were closed off and cars were submerged because of rising rivers and billings, montana they shut down the zoo after more than 3 feet of water covered the paths and zoo officials say they are ready to relocate the animals if conditions get worse and hopefully you are off for a better morning than that and i'm nicole mitchell and start with the west coast because that is where we have abundant moisture

causing problems and more flood concerns through the day today and you can see as we take the larger picture across the country, how much more cloud cover there is on the west coast and kind of "the stream" of moisture coming in and another system back behind that so it's something they will have to monitor and the current system will plague us a few days because as this moves across the country developing into the midsection of the country with more moisture and tuesday and wednesday we will have to watch for the potential of strong and severe storms and could possibly bring some rain and maybe even snow to parts of the northeast as we get into wednesday and thursday. a lot going on and results will drop the temperatures an a lot of people have been enjoying recently. this is the west coast for today and you can see in some mountain areas heavy periods of snow but mild enough in other spots that that combined with a new rain and some of those totals could be 2, 3" isolated spots even more and causing with the

temperatures snow melt, those flood concerns that we are watching for today. otherwise as you head out a little bit of moisture in the northeast this morning and one last tip as you head out the morning, the morning after we do that daylight saving things people more tired and accidents and be careful. >> i hear that and thank you. it's a life-changing disease known as the long good-bye. >> this turn of events doesn't mean i'm going to stop loving her and stop caring about her. >> reporter: a new tests could detect alzheimer's long before the first signs and adam lanza responsible for one of the worst mass murders in history we will hear from his father since sandy hook and you may feel the pain no matter where you live. ♪

♪ a british sailor trying to

circumnavigate the global and the second time and forced to radio for help when the mast of his yacth broke at the tip of chile and he was rescued but in 2006 he had to quit because of health problems. malaysia shares hit a low after the disappearance of a plane over the weekend and dragged the stock index lower and the boeing 777 thrown on the missing airlines, the flight has a strong safety record and the incident should not effect boeing unless a mechanical flaw is linked to the crash and boeing discovered hair-line cracks in some 787 jets and inspecting 40 planes they will be effected and could be a delay in some of the aircraft and hitting drivers in the pocketbook and finds gas prices jumping 10 cents in two weeks and they say the uncertainty

over ukraine contributed in the price of ethanol used in gas and it's a major corn exporter and ethanol in the u.s. is made from corn and the price for unleaded is $3.50 and prices likely to go higher. >> this is the time of year where gas prices are in a continued up ward trend and expect it to continue for several more weeks yet and motorists out there facing higher prices and will likely see the higher prices march up more over the next, say, four to five weeks. >> reporter: california drought is taking a toll on farmers because they don't have enough water and unable to feed the animals and nourish the crops and chris says it could send the price of the food through the roof for the rest of the country. >> scientists say it takes 53 gallons of water to produce just one egg, 37 gallons for a cup of coffee and call it a product

water foot print. >> that is the amount of water required to produce the item so for instance a typical hamburger requires 660 gallons of water. >> reporter: hamburger that comes from american cattle herds that are the smallest they have been since 1951 all because of the drought but conditions in california are especially troubling, america's land of milk and honey is running dry. >> i walk down the produce aisle of any supermarket in the country and you will see how much of the food that is part of our diet is grown in california. >> reporter: that's why environmental advocates like kyle at grace communication foundation are urging consumers to urge cutting back on the stuff with the big foot prints but more importantly cutback on waste. >> average american throws out $30-$40 each month and not just throwing away money but water.

>> reporter: water disappearing in parts of the country at a rate not seen in over 100 years. >> that was chris reporting. industry groups say the drought could cause as much as $5 billion in lost revenue for farmers in california. let's look at the temperatures in california and the rest of the country and metrologist nicole mitchell is back. >> good morning, we are talking about the western region san francisco and in the 60s and the warm has exacerbated it and drying things out more. and the rest of the country and mild air for parts of the midwest and northeast and temperatures in the 30s and the next couple days will remain mild, but the temperatures really drop in the middle and end of the week and a short reprieve and back to you. >> reporter: ukraine's new prime minister making a bold statement about the crisis in crimea. >> translator: we will not give up a single centimeter of ukraine land. >> reporter: drawing a line in the sand and headed to the white

house to meet with president obama plus adam lanza's father speaks for the first time since his son killed 26 people at an elementary school and what he said about his childhood and his son's mental state before the sandy hook shooting. >> reporter: i'm john henry smith and are you shocked by the shockers, a look at the rare accomplishment by wichita.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are the top stories we are following now, search and rescue teams from nine countries are looking for a missing malaysia plane and flying from kuala lumpur to beijing had three americans on board and 237 others and they have no indication of where the plane is and debris found off of the sea

do not belong to the aircraft. this happened on sunday near the city south of baghdad and dozens of cars caught on fire when they set off a van of explosives and 160 people were injured and they want to know what caused a stage to collapse during a high school performance injuring 24 and 250 students were performing in california when the stage gave way and scrapes, bruises and broken bones but no life threatening injuries. ukraine interim prime minister is coming to the u.s. to meet with president obama and he will arrive wednesday this washington and biden is cutting a trip short to latin america to attend the meeting and we are in washington with randall and what is the white house trying to accomplish with the visit from the ukraine's prime minister? >> for one thing the obama administration is sending a

blunt message to moscow which recognizes the ousted president yanukovych and rejects the new ukraine government. the white house is signalling strongest support yet for the new ukraine government and on wednesday president obama will host the new prime minister of ukraine in washington. the support comes at a critical time as a vote is scheduled to take place this weekend that could pave the way for crimea to rejoin russia. >> if there is a referendum and votes to move crime yeah out of ukraine and to russia we will not recognize it and neither will the world. >> reporter: as he vacationed in florida he could not escape the crisis and on the phone with france president he worked with allies and setting the ground work for economic sanctions and isolating russia politically. last week the administration imposed travel restrictions on

those they believe contributed to the instability in ukraine and the white house said they are ready to go further if russia doesn't back down. >> if russia makes the wrong choice going forward we have the ability to expert pressure on russia as do our partners. >> reporter: critic of the president says it's not working as russia exerts grip over the crimea peninsula. >> i think this president has not projected enough strength and hasn't shown a priority to national defense. >> reporter: that echoed by those who dealt with vladimir putin before but unable to stop him from invading neighboring georgia in 2008. >> i worry when we begin to address a crisis by the first thing we do is take options off the table. i don't think the administration should do that. >> i have that done that? >> they have no military. he seems to operate that way most of the time. >> reporter: the effort to separate crimea from ukraine pushes forward with pro-russian

leaders declaring the vote will not be stopped by the prime minister claims to keep the country intact. >> translator: our parents and grandparents spilled their blood for the land and will not give up a single centimeter of ukraine land. >> reporter: despite the criticism of the president's strategy some republicans do support financial aid for ukraine. >> randall thank you. warning shots were fired at a team of unarmed international observers trying to enter crimea this weekend invited by the government and the third time observers from the organization for security and operation in europe or osce were forced to turn back and the first time shots were fired and adam head of the conflict prevention center for osce joins us from vienna this morning and thanks for your time and good to know none of your colleagues were hurt and were you and were you

anticipating this response landing in crimea? >> no, they did not and tried to enter and denied four times and last time they tried to enter four shots were fired. >> reporter: what is the protocol for when they encounter resistance on the ground, what do they do? >> there is no protocol. everything depends on the people in the team and escort and in case the escort is a ukrainian one military officers and it's up to them to decide what to do. they decided not to try to continue trying to go to crimea because they were denied the four times. >> reporter: would you try to renner again because the referendum is this sunday and i presume you would like to get in team in there before the referendum on sunday. >> the current team who tried to enter crimea is more military

than civilian because it's a visit to dispel concerns about military activities. i don't think military presidents would serve any monitoring purpose for civilian referendum but since day when not allowed and not in a position to enter crimea our participating states may want to put another referendum team but not that team. >> reporter: was there an attempt made by you or the team to make contact with separatist authorities in crimea? >> a few days before or last week the special person or representative for the organization, was in crimea and had some meetings there. so there were some comforts. but if you ask whether the team itself, well, they tried that, it proved impossible because

they were denied entry and i do not exclude that ukrainian escorts may have tried to contact in crimea but not the team as a group. >> reporter: on saturday president obama had a phone call with world leaders including french leader and ukraine and baltic leaders and agreed on the need for russia to pull military forces back to bases and allow for deployment of international observers and human rights monitors to the crimea peninsula. there has been a lot of reference made to the authority, your organization holds the osce but without russia's agreement are you hopeful your monitors will eventually be allowed in crimea to assess the situation? >> there are ongoing negotiations on this issue as we speak. we in the organization would prepare everything we are ready to deploy the moment and next hour we are -- will be given a

green light. so the efforts are on the way. i have no idea, i mean, i can't prejudge what would be the outcome. for the time being there is no green light for us to deploy. >> reporter: you have quite an extensive diplomacy record and if the foreign ministry in poland and served in nato, i want to hear your particular insights into the geo political complexities in region what you think the stakes would be if russia were to be allowed to have its way in crimea. >> well, i cannot speculate as a bureaucrat but i can say a few words as a person, as a former i mean polished diplomate and working for a news organization. >> reporter: i appreciate that. >> first of all i would not go in the history of crimea problem because this is centuries and not something that is now becoming difficult. second, there is always a tension between two fundamental

principles of international law, territorial and unfortunately and dramatic as it is crimea is not the first case where we have tension resulting from certain contradiction between those two principles. what will be the future no idea. the only thing i can say once more without going into speculation we actually have some experience and expertise in dealing with so called disputed territories. which are not recognized by all participating states by by some in the oc region. >> reporter: there is an interesting dynamic of putin talked about cosovo as an example where the u.s. was on the other side of his, analysts looked at russia's own separatist movement including chechenia and are there

parallels? >> these are the kind of arguments we keep hearing always when there is an issue between once more this contradiction between the right to the integrity and sovereignty and it's not just crimea. what might be the conclusion from that no one really knows. the problem is at the moment to stop certain developments there, to stop violence going on there. and the exchange of legal or political arguments as long as it serves this purpose is okay. time for broader consideration, what could be the future of crimea should come once the violence is stopped and there is some kind of international monitoring presence there. >> reporter: adam, head of the conflict prevention center for the osce we appreciate your time this morning, sir. this weekend is three years since the syrian civil war began and the nonprofit save the

children says in the time period syria's health system has nearly collapsed and thousands are dying because of lack of healthcare. in a new report the group says some patients unable to get anesthesia for surgery ought to be hit with a metal bar so they lose consciousness and children get amputations because of lack of staff and equipment and newborns are dying in their cribs because of constant power outages. half of syria's doctors fled and 60% of hospitals are damaged or completely destroyed. syrian rebels released 13 greek orthodox nuns they captured three months ago from an ancient christian town, after they disappeared rebel fighters said they taken them as guests and release them soon and the release was a deal between syrian government and opposition and released 150 female prisoners in exchange for nuns. tomorrow is the third anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck japan and killed 15,000 people and

damaged the nuclear reactor and u.s. scientists say low levels of radiation could reach the waters off the west coast neck month, according to the ocean graphic institution the radiation will be low and not enough to cause harm for humans or environment and they are monitoring the situation and see no federal agencies sample the water for radiation. details emerging about sandy hook shooter adam lanza from the killer's father, he tells the new yorker at the time of the shooting had not seen his son in two years and asked to meet with him and son refused and said he was weird and at 13 he was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and lanza said his son would not accept the diagnosis and resisted therapy and refused to attribute his actions on sandy hook to aspergers saying

aspergers makes people unusual and doesn't make people like this. but lanza said there were early signs there was something wrong adding it was crystal clear something was wrong with awkwardness and anxiety and unable to sleep and stress and you could see the changes occurring. hundreds at washington state are on hunger strike, about 330 of them are calling for better conditions at the immigration center since friday and demanding better food and treatment and pay for jobs there. it holds 1300 immigrants in the deportation process. a california man is under arrest following a six-hour standoff at f.b.i. headquarters in san diego. a swat team fired off a flash bomb sunday before swarming the roof and the man identified as 36-year-old william durant was seen pacing back on forth on the roof talking on a cell phone and sitting on a building and despite the security in place he

still managed to get inside. >> one of our security officers tried to stop him and in the course of doing so the man indicated that he had a weapon. i'm told that weapon has not been seen. >> reporter: several area news outlets say the suspect called him during the standoff asking him to put him in touch with a federal agent. a possible breakthrough in alzheimer research blood tests could be the key in pinpointing a person's risk for disease long before they are diagnosed and al jazeera arc ka pitsy is here and the test although experimental is highly effective. >> it seems so, at least again from a preliminary at least ap researchers worked with 500 over 70 years old and had such success with the testing method they believe they found a way to predict who will develop alzheimer's and as you can imagine this could be game changing for the medical world and game changing for millions

of people and families struggling with the disease. when sylvia started to forget where she was on a daily basis her husband mort realized something was seriously wrong. >> you watch your loved one slowly deteriorating in her mental faculties, in her physical abilities. in time it takes in almost all aspects of the person's existence. >> reporter: no true crew, no treatment plan and no early warning sign until now. a new study out of georgetown medical center and published in nature medicine describes a blood test to correctly identify those with future memory problems 90% of the time. researchers identified 10 blood fats that signal when brain cells are starting to degenerate, out of 525 seniors studied researchers were able to accurately predict who came down with dementia a couple years later and could be a game changer if they can find a treatment that slows down or

stops the disease. >> talk to anyone involved in developing drugs for alzheimer's and say you have to treat somebody before it begins and gives hope of being able to identify the people who will develop dementia. >> reporter: in potential medical breakthrough may not help sylvia and the other 5 million americans living with alzheimer's right now but could help a growing number of people diagnosed in the future as well as the millions of family member whose also suffer through the sickness. >> for good or bad and married to love each other and the turn of events doesn't mean i will stop loving her and stop caring for her. >> reporter: it will take a couple years to develop the blood test for the general public. this all comes as surprising new numbers released last week show alzheimer's could be the third leading death in america behind hard disease and cancer. >> erika, thank you. ♪

it's less than a week from selection sunday but there are a few teams who already know they are going to the big dance and john is here with more on the ncaa tournament. >> the critics say they fattened up on a cup cake schedule and supporters say whatever, the rest of us sit back and marvel at the wichita stake shockers, at the final the only thing between the shockers and undefeated season going to the dance was indiana state and he gets it to put them up 15 and later cotton goes for three the easy way, the launch from behind the arc splash down and 20 points and three triples and took a 2-0 lead and wichita state never trailed again and player of the year fred led the scorers at 22 points and led 83-69 and 34-0 and the first time since unlv to go in the

tournament undefeated. two conferences punch their tickets to the dance in the atlantic sun conference mercer 68, florida gulf coast 60 and mercer the first bid since 1985. and coastal carolina will represent the south and beat winth are rop and james lit up charlotte to the tune of 61 points and lebron has been out of tune and since the 61 lebron scored 58 and shot less than 40%. the bulls noah shot well on sunday, 20 points and 7 boards and 7 assists and blocks and gave the heat a two-point lead and pass from noah and kurt drove and tied the game in the final seconds and sent the game to over time and over scored the heat 9-2 and lost three straight after falling chicago 9 r5-88 and king james seemed ready to

talk to noah. >> one of the best guys we have on our league especially his motive. he is constantly moving defensively and makes so many plays for their team and a great player for the team. >> reporter: in los angeles you can buy gas for $3.41, less than the national average but there is a catch, you have to stop the car to buy the gas and dale earnhardt junior didn't think he had time to stop for gas as the fuel ran out in cobalt and what do you do in las vegas, you gamble and that is what dale junior did with 11 laps to go and 10 1/2 laps of fuel to get there, the gamble did not pay off and he was passed on the final lap for the first sprint cup win of the year and the nationwide race on saturday and earnhardt and he have two top three finishes to start the season. >> i'm not the fan favorite after beating dale junior but

that is okay and more races and one in daytona and glad to be with the miller light car and huge day for us to get a win early in the season and lock in the case and we got six months of having fun and just racing for wins and not sweating the pressure and that is something i'm really looking forward to. >> reporter: he is a happy guy. soccer is opening for the 19th season and ended with a tilt between usa and chicago fire bobby birlnng and in 88 minutes and give them 3-2 win and coming up, next hour we talk about how major league soccer expanded in resent years and plan force the future and that is sports for this hour. >> thanks so much. it's called the most grueling race on the face of the earth and who is leading the pack in the iditarod and public transit and what is behind the spike in

writership since the advent of the suburbs and end of an era for the auto maker who started it all and the end of a chapter in the ford motor company.

♪ americans are taking buses and trains in greater numbers than ever before, last year riders took 10.7 billion trips and the highest number since 1956 thanks to expanding bus and train networks across the country and new york saw the greater spike in rider ship and 1-3 nationally and la, 478 million trips in 2013. welcome back to al jazeera america, straight ahead the iditarod heading in the home stretch and people leading the race and first let's look at where the snow and rain may fall

across the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> the system in the west is to watch and causing problems and more on that in a second. a couple other areas seeing precipitation and this looks more impressive on the radar than the ground and cities like new york it would be more likely if it did make it to the ground it would be rain because of temperatures and also enough of the disturbance along the coastline and you could see rain along the gulf coast today and the bigger system that could spread across the country and more on that later and back to you. >> reporter: the end of an era, the last grandson of henry ford died on sunday, william clay ford senior died in his home from pneumonia and he was 88 years old and spent six decades as an employee and board maker but ownership in the detroit lions that made him popular especially with his players. >> it was a no-brainer, i had a

lot of guys wanting to but he was the one and said he would be honored and said, no, mr. ford i would be honored and he said no, charlie i would be honored. >> reporter: the billionaire list said he had $1.34 billion. dog sleds are closing in on the iditarod in alaska and 1,000 mile race and it's a huge physical and low gue -- logisti challenge and trying to keep their edge. >> reporter: pilots carrying food, medical supplies and feed to the 23 checkpoints along the trail and the dog teams couldn't race without air support. >> you name it, it's in there. >> is there room for you the pilot? >> i squeeze in and i'm small, you light small and light

pilots. >> reporter: the race passes through remote, rugged country, from above the land dwarfs the dog teams and human handlers called mushers and run all night through all weather. scattered hamlets have the checkpoints and rest for humans and dogs alike and the father who won last year is reviving a tired team and keeping up family traditions of type flight mushing and bravado. >> i don't care, i'm having the time of my life running the best dog team i have ever run and love doing it and rather competitive in the race, that is awesome bonus. >> reporter: taking a break on the ukon dogs and there are several mushers and 6 and 7 countries including jamaica

making it an international race and the home front and the finish line looms in a few days' time and he has been runner up twice and this year setting records along icy rutted trails with very little snow. as one of the last important checkpoints nears half the town is out to welcome her. first her dogs need some attention and then she talks about her amazing run so far. >> i don't think i have a secret, i have a really good dog team and i made some strategy moves that worked so far so they have to work another 300 miles. >> reporter: not far behind are veteran mushers who won before and one four times and determined to use the challenging terrain and remaining days to press to victory and on what they like to call the last great race, alaska. >> reporter: the compu they win

on tuesday. the first to reach the end will take home $50,000. and dale walters is what we are following at the end of our first hour. >> dozens of planes and ships still searching for the missing malaysia passenger plane and 239 passengers and crew vanished traveling from kuala lumpur to beijing and a deadly bombing in iraq leaves 47 people dead, the bottom ner detonating a mini van with explosives at a security check point and ahead in the next hour we will talk to former ntsb investigator about the safety record of the boeing 777, the same plane as the missing malaysia airlines flight and a study says parents distracted by phones and tablets with meals with kids and explain the findings and effect it could have on families. >> and i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and a storm only the

west coast will be disturbing other parts of the country. >> and al jazeera news continues and we are back with you in 2 1/2 minutes and leave you now with a live picture from mosquito and calling for crimea to be part of ukraine.

>> we will be intensifying our efforts to locate the missing aircraft. >> two days after a malaysia airlines plane disappeared, still no wreckage or black box signal. the effort to find the missing plane and the 239 people onboard. >> president obama welcoming ukraine's new prime minister this week as russia pushes the

secession referendum for ukraine. >> so engrossed in technology they miss opportunities to talk to their kids. what the results mean for parents and children. >> i have a really good dog team and i made some strategy moves that have worked so far, so they've got to work another 300 miles. >> the mushers in the home stretch of the iditarod dog sled race. >> 40 ships, 34 air crafts from nine countries looking for the one plane that went missing. >> there is no sign of the flight. welcome to aljazeera america. same stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. search and rescue krauss be searching the saw the china sea for the flight. >> 239 people were onboard.

there has been no black box signal since the aircraft disappeared. debris found off the southern tip of vietnam does not belong to the plane. >> a navy ship and helicopter are on their way to join in for the search and rescue mission. >> authorities are investigating all possibilities with the missing plane, including terrorism. >> as aljazeera explains, two people onboard that flight were using stolen passports. >> in their only scheduled press conference here monday, malaysian officials say they've intensified the search for this aircraft. they have not found "definitive proof. there have been reports of debris and oil slicks on the water but they have not verified or found any proof where the aircraft went down. they've expanded the search because they've add indications of radar that the plane might have turned around. they have not gotten any definitive and hard evidence,

and that they say is their top priority, to find any kind of indication where, how and when this aircraft went down. on the other side, the investigation into the two gentlemen who boarded with stolen passports are still being investigated, looking through television footage from the airport as well as documents. most likely, the immigration documents will show how they got onboard and who they actually were. we know that other nations are involved in that investigation, they're actually culting with the united states f.b.i. >> there were three americans onboard the flight. one of them is phillip wood from texas. he works for i.b.m. his parents are operating for him. >> if he want to know how it feels to lose a son at the age of 50, it's devastating. i know in my heart that phillip's with god.

>> five of the passengers were younger than five years old. >> stay with aljazeera america for continuing coverage of that missing plane. in 15 minutes, we're going to talk to a former nts board member and what will be focused on. >> in a call with western leaders sunday, russian president vladimir putin said he supports crimea's secession referendum, saying the decision aligns with the majority russian population. the u.s. continues to back ukraine's new government. he traveled to the white house monday and will meet the president and have the to discuss the crimea standoff. discussions are increasing heading into this weekend's referendum in crimea. several supporters were attacked sunday. there are allegations russia is sending extra troops and seizing

more ukrainian bases. jennifer glasse is in the area. what's the situation like today? >> stephanie, on this windy afternoon here, it's the third day of a holiday weekend, so the streets are quiet, a lot of the shops closed, but local officials are getting ready for this referendum settled for march 16. that's when people will go to the polls here and decide whether the remaining part of ukraine was expanded autonomy or become part of russia. so, we see a quieter day, the russian troops are out at surrounding bases here, but the streets are very quiet after minor scuffles yesterday where pro ukrainian sporters clashed with russian supporters here. >> some intense discussion between putin and the german chancellor angela merkel sunday.

>> we saw her a little more forceful than in the past. the american ambassador speaking in kiev said they believe this referendum is illegal, she echos that in a conversation with russian president vladimir putin and saying if russia went ahead on this same path with the referendum that germany could impose sanctions, asset freezes and travel restrictions. that will certainly make an impression to vladimir putin, because germany is a big trading partner. the real question is will vladimir putin listen. we haven't seen him make any changes, the russian troops have gone full steam ahead here. he believes that this referendum is legal under international law and that he is protecting the interests of the russian speaking population here in crimea. >> what about the allegations that russia is putting more troops on the ground there?

>> we certainly have seen troops come pouring in over that border with russia. they seized that ferry position about a week ago. we've seen troops moving around town, large convoys of trucks and the russians are very much dug in across the country, sunday they took another border post and hold most of the airports here, the military bases, ships in the harbor, even bases they don't control they have troops outside of. we went to two military basis this morning that had truckloads of troops outside those bases, keeping the ukrainian military from moving at all. the demands from the russians to the ukrainian military is that they surrender their weapons or change allegiances, the military has stood its ground. we've got sailors on ships out in the bay behind me who are standing their ground, saying they remain loyal to ukraine until they get orders otherwise,

will remain part of the ukrainian military. >> jennifer glasse, thank you. >> ukraine's new interim prime minister is coming to the u.s. this week. he will meet with the president at the white house on wednesday. randall pinkston is in washington. what does the white house expect when they meet with him? >> it's a high profile visit, the obama administration sending a blunt message to russian president vladimir putin, who continues to recognize ousted president viktor yanukovych and rejects the new ukrainian government. >> the white house is signaling its strongest support yet for the new ukrainian government. president obama will host the new prime minister of ukraine wednesday in washington. the support comes at a critical time, as a vote is scheduled to take place this weekend that could pave the way for crimea to rejoin russia. >> if there is a referendum and it votes to move crimea out of

ukraine and to russia, we won't recognize it and most of the world won't, either. >> as the president vacationed in florida this weekend, he couldn't escape the crisis. seen here on the phone with france's president, he continued to work with european allies, setting the groundwork for economic sanctions. isolating russia politically. travel restrictions were imposed on those they believe contributed to the instability in awe ryan. the white house is prepared fog further. >> if russia makes the wrong choice going forward, we have the ability to exert significant pressure on russia as do our partners. >> but critics of the president say that strategy isn't working, as russia exerts its grip over the crimean peninsula. >> this president hasn't projected enough strength or shown the priority to the national defense. >> that sentiment echoed by those who have dealt with vladimir putin before but unable to stop him from in voiding

neighboring georgia. >> i worry by addressing the situation by taking options off the table. >> has the president done that. >> no military. he seems to operate that way most of the time. >> meanwhile, the effort to separate crimea from ukraine pushes forward with pro russian leaders declaring the vote will not be stopped. ukraine's prime minister vows to keep the country intact. >> our parents and grandparents spilled their blood for this land. we will not give up a single centimeter of ukrainian land. >> russia insists its actions in crimea are legitimate while europe and the united states say russia should pull back military fatherses. >> the economy on the agenda, can the prime minister expect to leave with economic aid? >> the obama administration has signaled support for providing at least $1 billion in financial

assistance to ukraine in the form of oh a loan. secretary of state john kerry is working with our allies and international monetary fund to provide more. >> aljazeera has continuing coverage of the crisis in ukraine. in our next half hour, we'll be joined by the former u.s. ambassador to latvia to talk about what's at stake for on you crane and russia's other neighbors. >> more violence erupting in caracas, venezuela this weekend. anti-government protestors clashed with police and national guard troops. they threw rocks and set a bus shelter on fire. police responded with tear gas and water cannon. the venezuela president lashed out at joe biden who blames the venezuelan president for the unrest. >> the murder trial of oscar pistorius is now resisted, the judge deciding whether photographic testimony from the autopsy can be broadcast.

the chief prosecutor is asking the judge not to broadcast the testimony, saying he had the university of pretoria's forensic department. a witness was claiming he spoke with oscar pistorius after the shootings and is to be cross examined. >> adam land is a at 13 was diagnosed with as bergeres syndrome. his father said his son would not accept the diagnose and reversed therapy. he refused to attribute his actions on asberg gear's, saying it doesn't make people like this. he said there were early warning signs, adding it was crystal clear something was wrong.

the social awkwardness, uncomfortable anxiety, unable to sleep, stress. you could see the changes occurring. >> major testimony is expected today in the trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law. the trial is entering its second week in new york. federal prosecutors say he acted as the al-qaeda spokesman after the september 11 attacks and helped recruit and train terrorists at training camps in afghanistan. in new york city, john joins us, the star witness for the prosecution will be testifying by video from london. what do we expect to hear today? >> the prosecution is putting up its star witness, a 33-year-old and he is a convicted terrorist. he's already served time in the united kingdom for his part in the shoe bomb plot, richard reid

is serving time in the u.s. right now. the witness has turned into what the british call a super grass, an informant, telling the authorities about what's been happening in al-qaeda and what was happening in the build up to 9/11, 2001. the prosecution is seeking to prove that he knew about the job he was doing and worked with him. the defense is going to say that they think that the appearance of the witness could well be their trump card, because the jury will see that he is a very different kind of person. >> can you give us some more background on this case and how it's playing out? >> the case is now into the third full day, two and a half days old, this case, the jury got it last wednesday, and the

prosecution took the jury back to 9/11, 2001, saying that sam bin lot was looking in from afghanistan where he was and he was pleased with what he had done in new york and washington, and he needed help and he needed help in getting recruits for al-qaeda and as the prosecution put it, getting his murderous decree to the world so everybody would know it was al-qaeda and him behind it. he turned to this man for help in doing that. they held up a picture of the burning 9/11 world trade center site and said while our buildings were burninging, this man was agreeing to help osama bin laden. the defense said the prosecution's been looking at too many movies, this simply isn't true, he is a kuwaiti, father, imam, idealogue, he may well have said some dumb things says the defense but challenge the prosecution to prove that what he says amounts to conspiracy to kill americans and

protecting a terrorist organization. >> all of this playing out in a civilian court in new york. john, thank you. >> that missing malaysia airlines plane had a very good safety record. >> a former ntsb board member will explain what that means to the investigation. >> parents having a hard time tearing themselves away from smart phones and tablets. it could affect your relationship with your kids. >> our big number of the day is 10,700,000,000. >> the represents more than a half century in the making. you're looking live at the nation's capitol as the sun startsstarts to rise this monda. that is because you missed an hour's sleep.

>> all aboard, our big number of the day, 10.7 billion is the record setting number of passengers taking public transportation last year. >> the results are from the american public transportation association, the last time this

many people took mass transit was 1956, the same year elvis presley made his television debut. >> thank you very much. ridership is up 37%. that number out pacing population growth, up 23% over the same period. >> the biggest growth, new york. >> obviously. >> of course. >> welcome back to aljazeera. >> coming up next, a look at the safety record of the plane that is now missing from malaysian airlines. >> lets look at temperatures across the nation today, nicole mitchell is here. >> some of the places that have struggled finally mild, temperatures in the 30's, close to 40 through the northern tier of the country, billings at 43. it's going to be a mild day overall. denver at 71. enjoy it while you've got it. some temperatures like minneapolis at 42 and 50's and

60's on the east coast, with that next system are going down. you already see that in the midwest tomorrow and then minneapolis as that system goes through into the 20's. we'll watch for that. enjoy it while you can, because it is going to be a short-lived warm up, like mother nature is teasing up this time of year. back to you. >> ok, nicole, thank you. >> the u.s. is send ago navy destroyer to search for the missing malaysian airlines passenger jet. it is near south china expected to reach the coast of vietnam in hours. it carries two helicopters used for search and rescue. the bowing was carrying 239 people when it disappeared two days ago. john is an air safety consultant and former board member of the national transportation safety board, joining us from miami

this morning. we're glad to have you and your expertise this morning. there are so many questions. the preliminary theory seems to be there was a midair breakup of this flight on its scheduled route between cool la lamb poor and beijing. >> this airplane has proven to be a reliable platform, sprocket you are ally sound. >> let's take a closer look at the bowing 777 also known as the triple seven. it has flown 5 million flights

and 18 million flight hours, it was the first twin engine airplane to fly the distances it flies. if you were investigating this incident, what signs would you look for? >> well, all the investigators worldwide follow a protocol. it's governorred or recommended by the international civil out ofation organization, an arm of the united nations based in montreal and there's a protocol. we go in and follow the plan, and they will look at every single aspect. this is like a puzzle, so you need all the pieces in the puzzle to identify the puzzle, so they will do things -- >> the plane lost contact about two hours into flight, there was no distress call. from there, what would your gut

tell you? >> well, investigators are trained not to use their gut. the first thing that comes to mind is we're going to have to run to ground the potential possibility of a terrorist act, either an attempted highjacking that went bad or something like that. >> let's devil a little deeper into that. interpol confirmed that two of the passengers on this flight had stolen passports. how big of a red flag would that be to investigators? >> that's a very big red flag. >> that is a rare occurrence, i assume. >> well, you know, how many people -- how many criminals travel, drug dealers or others, travel on forged passports every year we don't know, because they're successfully moving around, so interpol and the other agencies are going to have to dig into this to see just who these persons are, and what their intentions were if we can

tell. >> but you clearly seem to think mechanical failure is a far-fetched theory at this point? >> it's further down on the totem pole right now, but let's let the facts drive the investigation, not our feelings. >> absolutely. >> they're going to talk to the people who loaded the airplane, what went on the airplane, what was the catering, what was the passenger agents, what were people carrying on that they could tell. i mean, there's so many things that have to be done separate from looking at the wreckage and i'm confident that they're all going on right now, and again, they're all going to give a little piece to the puzzle, so at the end of the day we can see clearly the whole picture. >> john, air safety consultant and former ntsb board member, thank you, sir. >> the crisis in ukraine affecting your pocketbook, the latest survey finding gas prices jumping 10 cents over the past two weeks. the uncertainty contributed to a

rise in the cost of ethanol, used in making gasoline. ukraine is a major exporter in nearly all of the he got not made in the u.s. is from corn. $3.51 is the national average. the effects should be temporary according to one expert. >> really not something that should stick around too long, more of a psyche lind an uprising occurring again in the spring time months, which are driving oil prices higher, so certainly not a lasting impact. >> gas prices have been moving higher for the past month. >> wall street will continue to monitor the developments in the ukraine, do you futures down 13 points. here is where we stand as we head into the training day monday. the dow jones and s&p.

airline and insurance stocks taking a hit after the disappearance of that malaysia airline plane over the weekend, european stocks higher. >> at&t cutting prices object wire loss for individual customers with no annual service contract. the new plan lowers the monthly cost of unlimited calls and texts to $65 a month. it's the second time this year the wireless carrier has slashed pricing to compete with rival t mobile. t mobile increased the price of its unlimited data plan. >> ukraine divided over the vote in crimea to secede. >> some feel it's pulling the country apart, others rallying for a return to russia. what does it mean for the neighboring countries? >> a growing number of parents engaged with their smart phones instead of their children. the results of a new study.

>> racing the iditarod, mushers talk about what gives them the winning edge. >> there are big bets being made on the success of soccer in the united states, one of the most popular sports in the world seems to be getting a foot hold state side.

>> good morning. >> how technology is distracting parents and other caregivers at dinner time. there's a new study on its impact on children. >> you don't text while you eat with your children? >> of course not. >> we'll talk about a new blood test that can predict who will develop always homer's disease.

it will predict it earlier now. >> it has been three years since an earthquake and tsunami hit japan. more than 15,000 people were killed as a result of the natural disaster. for many who survived, the loss of loved ones is still felt every day. >> japan's northeastern coast is marked by what's missing, houses from dozens of neighborhoods, loved ones from thousands of lives. this man is doing what he can to rebuild. a carpenter, he's putting up a memorial, play ground where his house once stood where a day after the disaster, he found his mother cradling the body of his youngest dear. all three of his children died. >> there are three arrows pointing at the sky symbolizing my children, as children come here to play, i think my children will be happy.

>> they were 13, 10 and eight. their loss plunged he and his wife into what they now call a living hell. in the three years since, he has thrown himself into volunteer work. he senses that his children have guided him. >> you might think it's strange, but when my wife is sitting here and me over there, eating, drinking, sharing together, sometimes we feel something, someone looking through the glass. when i notice it, so does my wife and she'll say they probably came home to play again. >> a 20 minute drive from his home is where the sea reared up 20 meters. more than 800 people were killed. >> the communities up and down this coast are slowly changing, the rebasketball process underway. three years on, they're still marked bay terrible feeling of absence. >> like that of the bank that

once stood here and the 12 staff members swept to their death. this woman was one of them. her husband carries her picture and thinks about her last email saying that she wanted to come home. last month, this 57-year-old bus driver qualified as a rescue diver. he won't system until he finds her body. >> she needs to come back home and be buried, her bones, i mean, so we can pay tribute to her. if i continue like this, she will continue to be where she fell at the bottom of the ocean. that is too sad to bear. >> the weather is turning, but endo wants to show us an earlier memorial he made. he spends time on each seat, one for each side, so they don't get jealous. he said he will always be their

father. >> u.s. scientists say very low levels of radiation from fukushima could reach the waters of the west coast next month. >> crimea has to choose whether to leave rue crane and face russia. russia will face international pressure if it allows the referendum to move forward. >> in crimea's capitol, under the watchful why of len, in, they praise the city they hope will soon be their capitol. the song is one the old soviet union might have used to send its children to war and these ukrainians who are ethnic russians are ready to enlist. from the youngest and smallest

of camouflage to one ready to go to war in a motorcycle helmet. >> i have to defend our land to keep peace, he says, i'll spare no effort, even though i'm 50 and no longer that young. >> or the man, yea 9-year-old and his seven brothers fought in world war ii. he's seen enough wars to think this one's already won. >> putin helped us. he deployed people who didn't fire a single shot, he says. it's calm here, in one week we'll vote and be with moscow. after the soviet union collapsed, most of crimea never wanted to be part of ukraine. this is their independence day, from a government they consider illegal. >> in kiev, power was taken by former bandits who are robbing people at the point of a gun. we are against them. >> today, that pro western

government mourned a national hero who fought for united ukraine. for this crowd, the referendum threatens the unit they feel their ancestors died for. >> our parents and grandparents spilled their blood for this land, he says. we won't give up a single centimeter of on you craneian land. this man doesn't to have look to history to agree. last month, he fought the old government at independence square. this morning, he says his father was kidnapped by a pro russian militia. there's been no word on his whereabouts and sergei wants to fight that kind of lawlessness with force. >> we also won't give a centimeter of our land. we're not going anywhere. he says. we will keep fighting for crimea to stay inside ukraine. both groups are digging in and ready to fight for land that each side feels belongs to them. >> nick shiffrin, aljazeera,

ukraine. >> the u.s. is condemning russian president vladimir putin who continues to support the crimean separatist. charles larson is the former u.s. ambassador to latvia in des moines, iowa, this morning. good morning, mr. larsson, what is at stake for latvia, estonia and lithuania, even poland when it comes to the crisis? >> i can tell you from my experience in 2008, when russia invaded parts of georgia, that it strikes a real fear throughout the baltic states. they have become very, very concerned. latvia in particular was the crown jewel of the former soviet empire. there's always great concern when we see russia take these types of steps. again, we're seeing the u.s. step up its presence in the baltics, as well. >> you saw the package just a second ago in which you can see

how delicate of a balancing act this is in ukraine. in one sense, you have the u.s. representing a government that the soviet, the russians say is illegitimate. you have the russians supporting a government that the u.s. says is illegitimate. how are the nuances affecting the foreign policy debate? >> the ukrainian government is legitimate and recently approved by the parliament, the new president was by 87%. this is a legitimate government that has a constitution. i would say that the referendum, the proposed referendum is illegal under the ukrainian constitution. the acts that russia is taking now in crimea are very, very similar to what sheaf seen in georgia. we've seen arguments raised in the bag particular about the need to protect ethnic russians, what not, these are very, very typical tactics that they take in order to push forward with

their foreign policy. >> i want to show you something that your former colleague senator john mccain said on the floor of the senate, it is time we woke up about vladimir putin. it's time this administration got real. we are on the verge of possibly seeing a move to reassert the olds russian empire, which is mr. putin's life long ambition. do you agree with your former colleague? >> i think senator mccain makes and excellent point. we know that vladimir putin has said repeatedly that he would like to see the russian sphere of influence to use the language that he has used and that they also used prior to world war ii, brought about and that the down fall of the soviet union was the greatest tragedy as he described it of the 20th century. clearly he wants to play on a world stage, restore russias power and this is just another step in that direction. i think it is critical to

recognize, and to move swiftly to help ukraine, oh stabilize the government, help with aid. we know historically that russia is going to use economic attempts to halt their economy, whether that be using energy as a political tool, as well. we should expect all of that and be ready to help. >> former vice president dick cheney took to the air waivers this weekend saying that the administration is week and that it was week in syria and now week in ukraine, but others argue that is it possible because of the war in iraq that the u.s. is so war worn that no president has the possibility of even getting involved in an engagement overseas such as syria and ukraine because they lack public support and will has handy cop future presidents? >> i don't believe our actions in the middle east have made us not ready to move forward if

required, but i believe appropriate steps are being taken within the international community, as we move forward with economic sanctions and we're seeing the international community organize against russia and their actions, they're clearly illegal. the newly formed government in ukraine has agreed to support -- >> the reactions we have seen so far are words. there is nobody talking about putting boots on the ground which russia has done. is the international community now war worn? >> i don't believe the international community is war worn. the president has not committed to putting troops on the ground. there are a number of steps underway to pressure russia to stop any movement within crimea. i believe those are the appropriate steps. i don't believe anyone has advocated from the republican side that troops should be put on the ground. there's a number of steps that can be used to provide aid and a clear family lon station of the

u.s. commitment in eastern europe. >> these passions that we're seeing on both sides, you were there on the ground, they don't appear that have been manufactured by the east or the west. >> it's important to remember that in many of these countries, there is a very large ethnic russian protection, in latvia and they are organized, russia actively organizes these communities, and to the extent in latvia that they were issuing russian pat ports to latvian citizens, all done with the in tent to destabilize the area and make it easier for russia to organize. we're seeing the same tactics in crimea right now and we should all fully understand what is occurring. there have been been violation of minority rights or what not, you talk to any reporter in the area and there are no legitimate reports whatsoever. number one, ukraine has a

constitution. they have a dully elected government and that constitution needs to be respected. as he watch the e.u. community reach out, the nato community reach out in support of the partnership with ukraine, we must pursue that. >> charles ekman-larsson, former ambassador to latvia, thank you very much. >> the bitterly cold winter is going to affect spring vacations. >> we turn to nicole mitchell to deliver the news that no student getting ready to take that spring break wants to hear. >> we have good and bad news. if you are heading south trying to escape the cold winter, it is spring break season in some cases, florida, 80's, across the gulf coast, many 70's, so that's great if you're outside on the beach. what if you want to stick your toe in the water? the dips in the graphs is from 2002, coldest water ever.

this year issue matches that. the blues are temperatures in the 50's. you get more out into the water, because water is shallower near the coastline, it's been allowed to cool a little more. out in the water, it's in the 70's still but near the coastline where we've had the cold winter, places like galveston, that sometimes get into the 60's this time of year or corpus christi, sometimes in the 70's, a lot of those water temperatures are now in the 50's. near the mississippi river, bringing the cold water from the north, into the 40's. it is definitely going to be much colder water than normal, even though air temperatures are not too bad. back to you guys. >> new research suggests some parents are spending more times on their phones than with their children. researchers watched how parents interacted in restaurants, found

people object associated in technology had more negative interactions with their kids. they hope to shed light on the problem. the lead author of the study and fellow with the pediatric medical center in boston joins us. >> as a pediatrician, there's decades of child development research that suggests face-to-face interactions between parents and kids especially ones that are sensitive and responsive to the child's express needs are important to child development. it develops skills like language, empathy, social skills or basically self regulation. we were concerned that maybe excessive device use could actually be impacting some of these important interactions, if it was really pervasive throughout the day. >> what did you observe watching parents or guardians with children? >> well, we saw a variety of

things. i think it's important not to take a fully negative view of device use. it was a small, explore atory study. we went into fast food restaurants and took field notes that we suggested to qualitative analysis. we had a bunch of researchers and experts read through these field notes and come up with the most recurrent behavior themes that we saw. the most was this idea of absorption. the lowest degree was probably most when no device was in use or caregivers using them briefly our intermitt edge, looking at them, texting and putting it away to reengage with their kids. the highest degree of absorption appeared to be when the device was used through the entire meal, had it in front of their face texting or scrolling and really was less engaged with the child. most of their attention was focused toward the device.

>> did you find that people that were more absorbed with their devices always had more negative reaction with the kids. >> it seemed to be. there were more children that entertained themselves. others seemed to make very attention seeking behaviors, some would try to stop conversation, some would get silly or crawl around on furniture. some really almost seem to go provoke their parents. we were making these interpretation based on our training, but in those situations where children seemed to be doing more attention-seeking behavior, the care givers seemed more flustered or irritated and sometimes would react with scolding or more negative types of reactions. >> is there an obvious take away for parents from this small study? >> i think the most obvious take away is not to say that all

device use around kids is bad. we all need to be connected to friends or work or other thins through our devices. it's important to note if we're getting in the habit of using devices during our every day routines with kids where we might be replacing some of these really enriching face-to-face interactions is where it would concern me, if it was an excessive use throughout the day. happy parents are good parents, and if we are more relaxed being more connected to others through our devices, then it's important to have a kind of balanced or measured approach to this. >> i know a lot of parents would like to see more research on this topic. thanks a lot. >> something to think about. a lot of parents really can't put down the devices and the kids are just going crazy. >> soccer, the most popular sport in the world exempt pour here. >> except for here. john henry smith, will you get off your phone, please? >> oh, sorry, sorry.

>> apologize. apologize. it's important, but i like the human touch, as well. >> talk about soccer. >> the u.s. first petitioned to host the world cup in 1994, fifa agreed under the condition that a professional soccer league be created in the states to help grow the game on american soil. fast forward 2014, major league soccer is alive and well, as aljazeera's ross shimabuku reports, americans are increasingly embracing the sport the rest of the world loves. >> 20 years removed from its inception as the league built on the promise of a world cup, major league soccer is giving the world's game a presence in the u.s. by attracting international stars and cultivating new rivalries with the help of league expansion, the future is very bright for the beautiful game. >> that's part of the whole equation, right, and so it's continuing to grow the league, and also developing enough

players so that the quality of league is good, bringing in players so the quality of the league is good. we are certainly on the right path and it's fun to be a part of. >> homegrown players will be credited as the forefathers that grew the game here while helping to give the united states and the soccer league credibility, credibility that both agree is paramount to maximize potential of the product on the field. >> we have a guy trying to make the english world cup team that has chosen to come to toronto. we have julius caesar now trying to get to where he can play games and be sharp, to go into a world cup with his home country where now they're expected to win and he's chosen major league soccer in toronto. >> a 90-year-old phenom has chosen to stay in the u.s. that means getting to play alongside players he grew up idolizing while becoming something of an idol himself.

>> you can't complain. great players to be around. i was not expecting this to be playing against some of these players. it's just exciting. >> when you have someone like david beckham arguably one of the most popular people in the world that wants to continue being a part of our league, that speaks well. when you have a team like manchester city investing a lot of money to be in new york city with the yankees, that says a lot about our league, so we're very proud of what's going on, and the more, the merrier. >> with the joint venture set to kick off play in 2015, the mls will have three major power players in two of america's biggest markets. five cities will view for two franchises to be added in 2016.

attendance is projected to grow 250%. >> so far, a couple of the cities on the short list for potential expansion are atlanta and minneapolis. >> john henry smith, thank you very much. >> in the middle of a 1,000-mile journey over dangerous terrain. >> iditarod mushers talk about the race. >> i'm having the time of my life, running the best dog team i've ever run. >> aljazeera tracks the teams from the air and on the ground.

>> so many people at such a high level had a stake in al megrahi's guilt. lockerbie: what really happened? on al jazeera america

>> british scientists identified four new man made gases they say are contributing to the hole in

the ozone layer. they are not sure of the origin. the ozone blocks u.v. rays which cause cancer. >> 50 dog teams are closing on the finish line of the iditarod race from anchorage to nome. >> they call it the iditarod air force, dozens of pilots with their own aircraft, carrying food, medical supplies and people to the 23 check points along the trail. the dog teams just couldn't race without air support. >> you name it, it's in there. >> is there any room for you? >> i squeeze in. fortunately, i'm small. you like small pilots, light ones, too. >> the race passes through

remote, rugged country. the mushers run off anyone all night through all weather. scattered ham lets, havens of food and rest for the teams. his father won last year's race and is reviving a team while keeping up family traditions of bravado. >> i'm having the time of my life, running the best dog people i've ever run and that's when i love doing. >> taking a break here on the river, along with his dog, one of the norwegian competitors. altogether, six or seven countries are represented this year, including jamaica, making it one of the most international races so far. >> it's a home state favorite at the front, as the finish line

looms in a few days' time. ally has won twice, this year runs in areas with little snow. half the town is out to welcome here. first, her dogs need some attention and then she talks about her amazing run so far. >> i don't think i have a secret. i have a really good dog team, and i made some strategy moves that have worked so far, so they've got to work another 300 miles. >> not far behind are veteran mushers who have won before, one of them four times. they're determined to use the challenging terrain and the remaining days to press their own claim to victory in what they like to call here the last great race. aljazeera, alaska. >> the competitors are expected to reach the finish line tuesday, the first to reach the end will take home $50,000.

>> dozens of planes and ships are searching for that missing malaysia airlines plane. 239 passengers and crew were onboard. the new prime minister of ukraine meeting with president obama at the white house wednesday, and we'll tell you about a british man who admits plotting the shoe bomber richard reid is expected to testify in the trial of cam bin lad's son-in-law today. >> the head of the republican national committee joins us following the meeting known at cpac. we'll talk about the winner of the straw poll. >> a major step forward in the fight against alzheimer's. a new blood test that could predict at an earlier age who will and will not develop the disease. >> i'm meteorologist nicole mitchell. a storm plaguing the west coast will soon spread changes across the country. i'll have that nothing forecast. >> the aljazeera morning news continues. dell is back with you in two

minutes. i'm stephanie sy. have a agreed monday morning.

>> ukraine's new prime minister drawing a line in the sand. what he says his country will not do as he prepares to visit the white house. >> we will be intensifying efforts to locate the missing aircraft. >> it has been more than 48 hours since it disappeared from radar and still no sign of the missing jumbo jet. the international effort underway to find the plane and 239 people onboard. >> early in sight into 2016, an

important straw poll. who republicans want to see run for the white house in 2016. >> getting one step ahead of alzheimer's, the break through that could predict whether a person will develop the disease. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. more fighting across ukraine over the weekend comes days before that vote to determine whether crimea joins russia. rallies between pro russian and pro ukrainian supporters turning violent, protestors supporting ukraine were attacked in an eastern city. a government building was stormed, a russian flag replacing the ukrainian flag.

the president of ukraine will meet with president obama. we have team coverage tracking the crisis in ukraine. randall pinkston is in washington but we begin with jennifer glass. there are moor russian troops on the ground, how is this affecting ukrainian soldiers? >> there's a standoff here in ukraine. the russian sole he jeers are virtually in control of everything here. this morning, we saw a couple of truckloads deployed outside of bases. they've been coming and going outside some of the smaller bases, keeping the ukrainian military gisting, locked in their bases and their ships, sailors are stuck, ships can't move at all. it's been very calm. over the weekend, the russians have changed troops around.

they were at a ship yesterday and the russian ship that had been blockading was switched out, because obviously the russian officers felt the russians and ukrainians were getting too friendly. at one base, we saw russians going to get a hot kettle of tea from the ukrainians at the gate. while the russians have been blockading, the soldiers in the ground are communicate, each other. this is a very tense situation just six days before the referendum where crimeans will decide their future, whether with moscow or crimea. >> the tensions between vladimir putin and angela merkel on sunday, what can he tell us about that. >> merkel giving putin a strong line, saying that the referendum is illegal. vladimir putin disagrees, saying it's in line with international

law and he's protecting the russian population here. angela merkel for the first time saying to vladimir putin, we're going to if you don't back down, if you don't back away and pull troops out, we're going to talk about sanctions. they're talking now about a freeze on assets and travel bans on russian officials, not talking trade sanctions yet, that is something that russia and germany are very, very big trade partners, far bigger than with the united states and that would hurt them. the real conviction whether vladimir putin willis at all. the russians have been very stubborn, sending thousands of troops in here, 15-16,000 in the last week. they've taken over, blocked the air bases. they're a factor on the ground here. they say the referendum will show that people want to be part of russia. >> jennifer, thank you very much. >> ukraine's new prime minister is coming to the u.s., he will

meet with president obama at the white house. randall pinkston is in washington. what do they expect when they immediate wednesday? >> they expect a lot of gratitude, because this is a very important symbolic and blunt percentage the u.s. is sending to moscow and president putin. russia does not recognize the ukrainian government, whereas the u.s. says these are the guys, these are the people we support. >> the white house is signaling it's strongest support yet for the new ukrainian government. on wednesday, president obama will host the new prime minister of ukraine in washington. the support comes at a critical time as a vote is scheduled to take place this weekend that could pave the way for crimea to rejoin russia. >> if there is a referendum and it votes to move crimea out of ukraine and to russia, we won't recognize it and most of the world won't, either. >> as the president vacationed in florida this weekend, he

couldn't escape the crisis. seen here on the phone with france's president, he continued torque with european allies, setting the groundwork for economic sanctions and isolating russia politically. >> last week, the administration imposed travel restrictions on those they believe contributed to the instability in ukraine and the white house says they are ready to go further if russia doesn't back down. >> if russia makes the wrong choice going forward, we have the ability to exert significant pressure on russia as do our partners. >> critics say that strategy isn't working as russia exits its grip. >> this president hasn't projected enough strength and hasn't sheen priority to the national defense. >> that sentiment ecod by those who dealt with vladimir putin before, unable a stop him from invading neighboring georgia in 2008. >> i worry when we begin to address the crisis by taking options off the table. i don't think the administration

should do that. >> have think done that. >> in a sense, no military. he seems to operate that way most of the time. >> meanwhile, the effort to accept operate crimea from ukraine pushes forward with pro russian leaders of the referendum declaring the vote will not be stopped. ukraine's prime minister vows to keep the country impact. >> our parents and grandparents spilled their blood for this land. we will not give up a single centimeter of ukrainian land. >> russia continues to insist its actions are legitimate while the u.s. and allies are saying russia should pull back military forces. >> ukraine's economy also on the agenda. can the prime minister expect to walk away with economic aid? >> in advance of the visit this wednesday, the u.s. announced efforts, the obama administration to provide at least $1 billion of financial a saysance to ukraine and secretary of state john kerry is

working with the international monetary fund to come up with even more money for that strapped country. >> thank you very much this morning. the fate of that missing malaysia airlines flight remains a mystery. authorities say there have been no black box signals. debris found does not belong to the plane. all possibilities are being investigated, including terrorism. >> in their only scheduled press conference monday, officials have intensified and expanded the search. they have not do you understand any definitive proof. there have been reports of debris and oil slicks but they have not found proof where the aircraft went down. they expanded the search because they've add indications that the plane might have turned around, that coming from the country's

air force. they have not gotten hard evidence and that is their top priority, to find any kind of indication where, how, and when this aircraft went down. on the other side, the investigation into the two gentlemen who boarded with stolen passports, they are still investigating that, looking through television footage from the airport as well as documents, most likely the immigration documents to see how they got onboard and who they were. that investigation's going. other nations are involved in that investigation. they're consulting with the united states f.b.i. in that effort. >> that is aljazeera reporting from malaysia. there were 227 passengers onboard, 12 crew members. 154 passengers were from china and taiwan. there were three u.s. citizens onboard.

five passengers younger than five. >> 47 people were killed when a security checkpoint was attacked in iraq sunday south of baghdad. the bomber detonated a minivan filled with explosives at the northern entrance to the city. more than 160 other people were injured. that attack came just week before iraq's general election. >> the e.u.'s foreign policy chief doesn't know if the west will be able to reach a nuclear deal with iran before the deadline in july. catherine ashton saying there is no guarantee that iran will be able to reach a deal. iran's foreign minister is confident that deal can be reached in four or five months and perhaps before then. >> this weekend marks three years since the syrian civil war began, the non-profit group save the children saying syria's health care system has collapsed and thousands are dying because of the lack of doctors and medicine.

reports say some patients unable to get anesthesia for surgery ought to be hit in the head of a metal bar to black out. many newborns are dying because of the power outages. half of syria's doctors have fled, 60% of hospitals have been damaged or destroyed. >> major testimony is expected in the trial of osama bin laden's son-in-law, the trial is now in its second week in new york. federal prosecutors say he acted as the al-qaeda spokesman after the 9/11 attacks and helped cree throughout and train terrorists in afghanistan. the star witness for the prosecution will testify via video from london. what do we expect to hear today? >> good morning from lower manhattan. this is the star witness for the prosecution, a britain and he is a convicted terrorist.

you remember the shoe bomb plot where he tried to light explosives in his shoes, richard reid is serving time and the witness was convicted of conspiracy in the plat. he served six years in the u.k. but authorities let him out, because he became a super in former, telling authorities everything they wanted to know around al-qaeda around the time of the 9/11 plot. the prosecution is seeking today to prove that he knew the defendant on trial here and also that the defendant spoke in videos with and i was of aircraft coming to the united states as bombs he meant it and the shoe bombing plot was one example you could tie to his words. the defense is going to say they think the jury will see that the defendant on trial here is no terrorist like the witness.

the witness has been tapped to appear in two other high profile terrorism-related court cases here in the united states. one would be the radical cleric deported from london to new york and the trial of two guys who have admitted, pled guilty to terrorism charges in connecticut. this witness is going to become very familiar in the future in new york. >> give us more background on this case and tell us how things are playing out so far. >> essentially, this is the sort of third full day, two and a half days, the court didn't sit on friday, so two and a half days since the jury got the case. the prosecution's case is that on september 11, 2001, when sam bin das was in his cave in afghanistan looking at what happened in new york and washington, he was pleased and needed help to get his murderous decree out and turned for help

for recruiting supporters and spreading the message. the defense says the prosecution has been looking at way too many movies and say the defendant's words may have been dumb but he challenged the prosecution to prove that it was conspiracy to kill americans. >> john, thank you very much. >> mexico's government says the leader of one of the nations most powerful drug cartels has been killed, again. known as the craziest one has been reported to be killed. authorities thought he was killed in 2010, but his body was never found. he was the leader of the la famia cartel. another wanted drug lowered, guzman was captured, as well. >> for a few brief moments this weekend, it seemed spring break, the flowers were blooming, birds

chirping, but if you booked your tickets for spring break, you're in for a surprise. >> it's that time of year where mother nature teases us with warm temperatures. this morning, spring break seems a little early but has started in some places. in the north, you're thinking let me get out of this cold. the air warms much more quickly than water, so these air temperatures are great. new orleans at 74, a lot of florida in the 80's today. that sounds great. what if you want to stick that toe into the water? a little different story. these graphs are put out into the weather service. 2002, we've been warm with our water temperature. with all that cold air, it's shallower near the coastline so has been able to cool that water down. a lot of the darker blues, those are 50's, even a couple 40's. here's what they actually are.

if you're in the air, new orleans in the 70's today, but near the mouth of the mississippi where the cold water is coming from the north, temperatures are in the 40s in the water. texas, 60's and 70's, in years prefers, this year 50. tampa, 67 is the water temperature. that is still on the cool side, versus more normal this time of year. the other thing we are watching, the system in the northwest, a lot of rain with it. this will eventually move across the country, bringing colder weather. we'll have more on that later. >> the government has agreed to extradite joran vandersloot to the u.s. he is serving 28 years in prison in lima for murder. after he serves that sentence, he will be sent to the u.s. where he is accused of extorting natalee holloways mother. natalee holloway disappeared in a trip to aruba in 2005.

no charges were filed, but he was a suspect in the case. five years later, he was convicted of killing a 21-year-old in his lima hotel room. >> new details are emerging about the sandy hook shooter adam lanza, his father hadn't seen him in two years. lanza repeatedly asked adam to meet with him. he said he was a weird kid growing up and at 13 diagnosed with as percentager's syndrome. he said it was crystal clear something was wrong with the social awkwardness, uncomfortable anxiety, unable to sleep, stress, you could see those changes occurring. >> it is the second year for the

sandy hook bike ride, cyclists are making their way to washington, d.c. in memory of the sandy hook tragedy. residents sending them off on the 26 day, 400-mile trek. most of the riders wear base lets with the names of the victims. they are riding in the effort to change the nation's gun laws. >> conservative republicans wrapping up their annual meeting of the minds. the communications director for tha.r.c. laying out future directions. >> communities and even families, how some find themselves now caught in the middle.

>>, to aljazeera america. tuesday marking the third anniversary of that either quake

and tsunami. the radiation will be at low levels, extremely low, not enough to cause harm. the institute is calling on the federal government to closely watch the situation, saying right now, pacific coast sea water is not examined for signs of radiation. >> california's drought is taking a serious toll on farmers. the price of fresh foods could go through the roof. >> scientists say it takes 53 gallons of water to just just one egg, 37 gallons for a cup of coffee. they call it a product water footprint. >> that's the amount of water required to produce that item, so for instance, a typical hamburger requires 660 gallons

of water. >> hamburger that comes from american cattle herds that today are the smallest they've been since 1951, all because of the drought. conditions in california are especially troubling. america's land of milk and honey is running dry. >> walk down the produce i'll of any supermarket in this country and you'll see how much of the food that's part of our diet is grown in california. >> environmental activists urge consumers to consider cutting back on food stuff that have the biggest footprints. more importantly, cut back on waste. >> average american throws out $3,240 worth of food each month, and that's not just throwing away money, they're throwing away water. >> water disappearing at a rate not seen in over 100 years. >> industry groups say the

drought could cause $5 billion in lost revenue for farmers in california. >> >> a very large earthquake in northern california, 6.9 tremor about 40 miles northwest of ferndale, california was followed by 13 smaller aftershocks. several were much closer to land. there are no reports of damages or injuries, but plenty of people felt the earth move. there was no danger of any tsunami. >> a lot of people enjoyed the weekend with the warm up that the northern tier of the country has seen. minute at applies this morning at 35. california, los angeles at 58 degrees. really some mild air through the day today, denver up at 71. there's going to be a bubble of warm air through the midsection of the country. that's before that next weather system comes in.

it's already starting to cool the northwest as we get into the day today and tomorrow. we really start to see temperatures dip, still mild for the northeast on tuesday, but then the bottom falls out. you can watch that come in wednesday to thursday. temperatures near 60 could go back into the 20's, so don't put that winter coat away just yet. del. >> nicole, thank you very much. >> bowing will be the stock to watch this morning, the missing plane flown by malaysia airlines was a 777. a technical team is investigating the crash. one aviation expert said the plane has a strong safety record. >> proven to be such a reliable platform. it has been structurally sound. they have not found any serious problems with this airplane in the 20 years that it's been

flying. >> bowing discovered hair line cracks in the wings of dream liner jets. they are inspecting 787 planes that could be affected, leading to a delay in the delivery of some of those aircraft. >> wall street watching the developments in ukraine, do you down the 35 points at this hour. asian markets ending in the red. airline and insurance stocks taking a hit after the disappearance of the airlines plane over the weekend. european stocks are mostly higher. >> the bad weather keeping customerses away from mcdonald's, bigger than expected drops in sales last month. stiff competition they say is hurting sales of the big mac, as

well. >> cars.com selling morn cars, the wall street journal reporting the website is for sale. the asking price is $3 billion. cars.com is owned by a group of newspaper publishers. >> conservative republicans weigh in on who they want to see in the white house in 2016. who could top the ticket. >> taking to the streets against florida's controversial stand your ground laws. the changes demonstrators want. >> getting an early warning that you could have alzheimer's, the new test that could provide everyone with that useful information. >> a tie is a great fashion accessory, but as the ending to a championship game, not so much. why these two teams had a call it a draw.

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

>> good morning, welcome to aljazeera. >> florida's controversial stand your ground law and new discovery in predicting alzheimer's. >> the republican winning c. pack annual straw poll of potential 2016 candidates had a victory for rand paul. the communications director for the republican national committee joins us this morning. good morning. >> good morning. >> cpac ending yesterday, rand paul taking the first place in the straw poll with 31% of votes cast, ted cruz second at 11% that dr. carson, nine percent

and chris christie coming in fourth. why fourth for chris christie? >> well, i think frankly, it's very early, del. the cpac is an organization that has a lot of attendees come, a lot of young people come, and there isn't really active campaigning at this point. i look and saw three big take aways, one, there was huge enthusiasm up and down the ticket, and two, i mean, you walk around and there was a buzz, an excitement among attendedees and speakers. two, the depth of the bench, whether rand paul, ted cruz, chris chris key, marco rubio, rand paul, you saw three, four, 5%, there's a lot of enthusiasm for a lot of different players out there. that's going to create excitement for 2016 which will

start in earnest after the 2014 mid terms. the one thing that permeated was a desire for republicans to take back the white house. each gave their own pitch, but all were united about the desire that we need to take back this white house. >> there has never been denial that the republicans want to take back the white house, the issue is always how they get there. moderate republicans like jeb bush and chris christie did not fare well with cpac. one speaker almost declaring war on the way things have been done in the past saying there is no president mccain or in the dole. does he not have a very legitimate point? >> i think you're referring to senator cruz and he does have a point that number one, there's a lot of question as to why those occurred and each were separate cases. >> conservatives say it's because they were not conservative enough, that they ran too far to the left.

>> i would argue there are a multitude of reasons. obviously we spend time looking at the 2012 elections, putting together an entire report. i don't think there's a singular reason. we're working to ensure that we lay better ground for 2016, but that's up to if someone lake ted cruz wants to run for president, that's a paint he will make. he has to speak to the grass root and decide the best angle. i think there is no singular reason we lost. there's a multitude of reasons, some which they were trying to address here. >> one of the criticisms of the republican party has been that it is a party of angry white men that talks about what it doesn't like in government but offers very little in the way of solutions. based on what you saw, did that change last week? >> no. well, first of all, i do disagree with that. i think a lot of what is covered about the republican party is

the opposition. i think you have seen a lot of our -- we have a huge alternative to health care, we've got 150 bills in the senate to get our population back to work. i don't think this we get our due coverage, because it's easier to cover republicans saying no to the white house, but never any coverage about harry reid not passing any of the bills. >> 50 votes now taken on repeeling obamacare, but the democratic push you know i guess that the republicans want to get rid of obamacare, but 40 million americans wouldn't have insurance without it. how are republicans going to give them insurance? >> that's a great point. it's a false choice. republicans were left entirelyout pros when they crafted obamacare. there wasn't a single vote for it, because they didn't need it. they changed the rules in the senate to ensure that before then senator scott brown was sworn in that they passed it so

there wasn't any republican opposition even in the senate. what republicans have talked about are trying to keep costs down, insure things are covered and covering preexisting conditions. we talked about allowing people to buy insurance across lines. >> how do you provide insurance for 41 million americans that don't have it right now? >> three things, one providing to the poor, which is a lot less number -- a lot more people covered by medicaid. there's a lot more team on the lower end of the spectrum who choose not to be covered who are eligible for it. we have to look at that population. middle class, people who could afford it but are not getting it. we can look at lowering costs and increasing portability, taking it from job to job, lowering the cost and increasing

accessibility. when you start allowing community based pooling, so that small businesses get the same breaks that big businesses do and people can buy across state lines to lower the cost and increase quality, those things are proven to work but left out of the negotiation. >> during the eight bush years, why didn't republicans do that? >> there was a lot of dissent about what to do and how to do it. it's a point well taken. i think it's just the desire to get it done was a lot less of an imperative at this point than having obamacare jammed down our throat. >> one final question. do you believe that republicans can win without a citrus candidate, rand paul on one side, chris christie on the other side. does it have to be somebody in the middle? >> frankly, i would dismiss the idea that chris christie or anyone, i don't think any of these guys are sent wrists. i think that chris christie, if

you look at cpac, there's a degree to which they varied on issues, maybe a little different, but no one i would call a centrist or moderate. >> mr. spicier thank very much. >> proposing a significant change to the tax code, tripling the child tax credit. the average family spends 10 to $15,000 a year per year but receivers only $1,000 per child for tax benefits. >> a six hour standoff at the f.b.i. headquarters in san diego, a swat team firing splash

bombs before swarming the roof. the man, william durant was seen pacing back and forth talking on his cell phone and sitting on top of one of the buildings. despite the security, he did manage to get inside. >> one of our security officers tried to stop him and in the course of doing so, the man indicated that he had a weapon. i'm told that a weapon has not been seen. >> several area news outlets saying the suspect called them during the stand your, asking for them to put him in touch with a federal agent. >> hundreds of etainees at an immigration center are on a hunger strike. 300 are calling for better conditions in tacoma, demanding better food, treatment and better pay for jobs. that center houses 1300 immigrants who are now in the pros of being deported. >> you're familiar with trayvon martin and jordan davis, both teenagers casualties of

florida's stand your ground law. today, the reverend al sharpton and parents of those teens are going to take to the streets to try to overturn the measure. the rally begins in tallahassee. this law has gotten lots of attention. what do the protestors hope to accomplish? >> the main focus here in tallahassee that is protestors and those leading the group want to keep attention on the stand your ground allow, signed into law in 2005. attention on that law, giving citizens the legal right to stand their ground rather than retreat if they reasonably believe that making that decision will prevent death and bodily harm. this has come to the forefront because of the 2000 death of trayvon martin.

his parents are expected to be here as well as the parents of jordan davis. the 17-year-old was shot and killed my michael dunn. dunn claims he fired in the teen at self defense. a jury convicted him only of attempted murder. incidentally, another participant in today's rally, family members of emmet till. you may recall that that 14-year-old was killed back i have not 1955, accused of whistling at a white woman, so a large gap in years here, but his death helped spark the civil rights movement, so an interesting mix of people who will be here at the rally. >> where exactly do lawmakers in florida stand right now on stand your ground? >> well, it seems to be split, because today's calls for the repeal to the law are not the first. adam williams sponsored a bill to repeal the state allow, defeated in committee.

florida governor rick scott supports the law. twenty other states have enacted similar laws since florida did, to sides rally to bring more attention and bring it in the forefront. >> we see the buses arriving, julia, thank you very much. >> more violence erupting in caracas, venezuela this weekend. >> anti-government protestors clashing with police and national guard troops again. police responded with tear gas and water can nance. the president lashed out at vice president biden who blamed him for the unrest. >> joe biden arrived in chile and the first thing he did was to attack venezuela and latin america. he is an abuser, joe biden, comes to attack the people. we reject his attack. >> the middle class are fed up

with inflation, food shortages and rising crime rates. paul beban is in caracas and following all the political fallout. >> when the sun goes down, the streets are caracas go up in flames. this is an upper class neighborhood rocked by violence virtually every night. in the morning, the barricades come down, life goes on and the mayor, a member of the main opposition party hernandez from his concerned constituents. >> we need to keep the streets on fire. >> we can't use the young people at human shields. >> we need to break the cycle as soon as possible before the cycle breaks us. >> just up the road is another world, the quiet neighborhood. in this mecca for the megarich, security fences keep the outside

world out, off the fair way. head west and you're in a poor, pro government barrio. here distant protests are drowned out by celebrations, honoring the leader who died over a year ago, now buried on top of the hill. caracas is a sprawling landscape of divided loyalties and overlapping alliances. urban planning professor gave me a birdseye view of the city and history lesson. he points to one of the biggest slums in latin america, this former chavez strong hold dominates eastern caracas and defies store yo types. >> it now at this time opposition and that wrist runs through families. jose is loyal to the government.

his nephew's wife votes opposition. that's days, tempers flair flare easily. >> what did they do to that building? >> i don't know, shot at it. >> they threw molotov cocktails at it. >> a journalist and opposition supporter said that like many here, he's afraid to come down to go to the protests. >> i think it's not worth manner org protesting if i'm going to get killed. >> we see why he's worried. residents of this tower show the mayor of this district, another opposition party member, damage they say was done by pro government thugs storming the building. >> we condemn the use of force against citizens and reject the idea that this is a struggle of brother versus brother. >> for now, it's a stalemate. the opposition vowing to stay in the streets until the government

resigns. the government vowing to crush the protests. neither outcome seems likely. paul beban, aljazeera, caracas, venezuela. >> venezuela's president continues to claim that he is stand led protests are an attempt to overthrow him. >> the polls have closed in colombia, the vote viewed as a referendum on peace talks with the opposition. the president regaining control of congress and will run for reelection in may. he is a strong advocate for a peace deal with rebels who have fought the government since the 1960's. his iffel, the former president won a seat in the senate. >> el salvador's presidential election too close to call, both sides claiming victory. former rebel leader has a slight edge over conservative candidate. more than 99% of polling stations reporting, leading by

less than 7,000 votes. >> north koreans electing a new parliament there. elections are held every five years and are mandatory in north korea. the vote is more political than election. >> these are carefully controlled images, filmed by agencies under the strict watch of the north korean regime. this elect day here, people have little choice, they must vote. >> i just cast a vote of approval for our candidate. i will devote all my intelligence and strength to strengthen the system. >> the term election is deceive. only one candidate runs, so there is no choice. what you can do is vote yes or no. if you vote no, you need to very

publicly enter a separate booth and that is something very few here are willing to risk. >> the last elections were head in 2009 under the late leader kim jong-il. he received 100% of the votes, and turnout was reportedly 99.98%. these are the first elections since kim jong-un took over and the results widely believed to reflect similar numbers. >> with this election, we will show the might of the single hard unity of our army and people firmly united. >> observers say these elections are really about two things, for the regime, it's used as a census and check to see who might have escaped and made it across the border. if you don't vote, you will be investigated. this gives the world a peek into who is in favor. the candidates are believed to be hand picked by the party and approved by the man they call their dear leader.

aljazeera. >> the stroam people's assembly usually meets only one a year, the new parliament expected to meet next month. >> talking about spring break and warmer temperatures, john henry split talking about march madness. >> it's a great time of year. with apologies to andy williams and lovers of the holiday season, march might just be the actual most wonderful time of the year if you're a basketball fan. four tournaments crowned champions over the weekend and three more today. delaware takes on william and mary. the south final is tonight. the metro atlantic conference championship is tonight. every winner will get a big dance ticket and that is something everyone plays for all year. >> second ranked wichita state in the big dance and they've

gotten there in style. at sunday's missouri conference final, only indiana state and the shockers stood before them. the hard way to put the shockers up 15. goes for the easy shot, cotton had 20 points. after indiana state took a lead, wish take you state never trailed again. fred vanvleet scores with 23 points. >> one week ago tonight, lebron james lit up the charlotte bobcats to the tune of 61 points. since then, his game has been somewhat out of tune. he has scored just 58 and shot less than 40% in the next three games. chris bosh's triple gave the heat a 2 point lead late but off

the pass from noah. curt hinrich at 86. in the final seconds, the game went into o.t. where the did you also outscored the heat. the heat have fallen three straight to chicago. king james seemed ready to crown joakim noah. >> he said justice a very good player, one of the best guys that we have in our league especially with his motor. you know, he's constantly moving. he makes so many plays for their team, he's a great player for them. >> besides the heat, the other team on top of the east is struggling, too, the pacers have lost three straight coming against the mavs. spin cycle jumper, mavericks send the pacers to their fourth straight loss. >> if a championship game ends

in a tie, is there really a 19 that's just a question hockey players are grappling with in ohio. couldn't resolve things a3 periods and seven overtimes. officials thought declaring a tie made more sense than asking exhausted young athletes to press on. there is no provision to end a game with any sort of shootout. the goalie made 77 saves. that's sports for this hour. >> they say a tie is like kissing your sister. >> they got badly out shot, that's a win for them. >> end of an era. the surviving grandson of ford founder henry ford dying sunday. he died in his home from pneumonia. he was 88 years old. he spent 68 decades as an employee, but it was his ownership of the detroit lions that made him popular especially with the players. >> it was a no brainer.

i had a lot of guys wanting to, but he was the one. he said i'd be honored, so we went back and forth, no, mr. ford, i'd be honored. >> he said no, i'd be honored. >> he had a net worth of $3.5 billion. dates back to that generation that made his money in one city, kept his money in one city. >> he was a michigan man, born michigan man, raised and certainly loved that football team. william clay ford, his legacy will go down in two ways, number one over 50 years of ownership, his team had 52 losing seasons. everyone who worked and played for the man said he was a tremendous human being and great person to work for. >> i think things have not changed, nameanged, name the tes that grew up in the town where their team was located these days. >> detroit has had a good run of that, mike eledgo.

>> a first of its kind tool in the battle against alzheimer's, a blood test that can predict who might develop the disease. >> a british man fails attempting to sale the world alone. the chilean navy had to perform a rescue. >> the system is spreading across the country. i'll have your forecast.

al jazeera america. >> welcome back to aljazeera america. just ahead, we'll talk about a new break through in the fight against alzheimer's disease, but first let's find about where it will rain and snow across the country today. >> our biggest area of precipitation is the northwest, the higher elevations it is

snowing, enough warmth is melting some of the snow pack already out there. combining that with the rain and saturated ground, there are flood concerns. this system is on the move. tuesday, starts to pick up gulf moisture, could see tuesday into wednesday, severe storms. moving through the northeast, the northern edge of this, there could are more snow in the forecast. today, watch for flood concerns into the northwest. before you head out the door, after we switch the clocks for daylights saving and lose that hour, a lot of people tired monday morning. more accidents on the road this day, so be careful. back to you. >> nicole mitchell, thank you very much. >> a british sailor had to be rescued. it was his second attempt. 54 years old, he was forced to radio for help when the mast on his yacht broke off.

he was rescued by the chile navy. he had to quit in 2006, because his health was declining. >> a possible break through in alzheimer's research. a blood test could find a risk for the disease before they're diagnosed. it is proving to be very effective. >> they had so much success with this testing method researcher's believe they have found a way to predict who will develop the disease. the disease has no cure, no treatment plan or early warning sign. this could be game changing for the medical world. a blood test is able to correctly identify people with future memory problems and works 90% of the time. researchers found blood paths that signal brain degeneration.

research herbs predicted people who came down with always i'mers later. >> you have to treat before the dementia begins. >> this all comes as surprising new numbers released show alzheimer's could be the third leasing cause of death in america behind heart disease and cancer. >> how soon can people get the test. >> it's going to ache a couple of years to develop this for the general public. >> what do other researchers and medical experts say? >> some say there need to be more studies using this approach in people of different ages and racial groups. really to so many, they say these results are intriguing. >> so many fascinating discoveries on the medical front these days, last week we were talking about aids, this week alzheimer's, so clearly a lot of progress is being made. we only keep our fingers

crossed. that will do it for this edition of aljazeera america. we want to show you now some recent images from the on going protest in venezuela. there is more news straight ahead in just two minutes.

>> hello, and welcome to the news hour. i'm stephen coal i cole in doha. these are our stories. families wait for information about the flight from malaysia. fighting to release a group of nuns. looking for victory, there can only b