>> the mystery deepens over the missing malaysia airlines flight. a new report suggesting the plane could have flown for hours after disappearing from radar. >> anti-government protests take a deadly turn in venezuela. there's no end in sight as protesters vow to stand their ground. >> it was like a bomb or something. like a bomb. we felt the ground vibrate.

>> a building explosion leaves six dead and dozens injured. a gas leak that may have been lingering is believed to be the cause, in new york city. >> colorado reaping the benefits of legalizing pot. an impressive number of jobs have been added to the state's workforce. >> a new theory this morning about what happened to malaysia airlines flight 370. six days after the plane disappeared with 239 on board, there's no sight of it. i'm stephanie sy, welcome to al jazeera america. a report suggests the plane may have flown for hours. it may be why it's difficult to locate the missing jet. a dozen countries adjourned the search mission. >> a lot of new developments this morning. good morning. as you can imagine, there's so

much frustration and concern. there's not been any idea what happened. it seems to have vanished. now there are new reports that are already being discounted by government officials in malaysia raising the possibility of an intentional act coming after what is a sitting or what appeared to be a sighting of debris. >> the mystery of what happened to malaysia flight 370 is deepening. china released three satellite images of what it thought might be wreckage. the aviation chief did not have good news about the photos. >> we went there, there's nothing. >> there's a renewed focus on the malacca strait where authority sis say a review,

hundreds of miles off. but the plane did not indicate distress of any kind. >> there is a possibility that the aircraft turn back. but we are not sure if it is the same aircraft. >> adding to the confusion malaysian officials denied such a detour, and it compounded the frustration. families desperate for answers - it's now been six days. >> there's no news. it's disappeared off the face of the earth. if we could find wreckage or state government. it would be a help probably. >> now a new theory. the plane had been in the air for four hours. "the wall street journal" is reporting that possibility. based on data automatically sent

to the ground as part of a routine maintenance monitoring program. if confirmed, the plane's transponders which stopped broadcasting 40 minutes into the flight will come under scrutiny. they are looking at the possibility that a pilot or someone else on board diverted the plane to an undisclosed location after turning off flight 307 transponders to avoid detection. >> it sounds like a wild theory. of course, anything is possible. this morning, moments ago, government officials in malaysia held a news conference and were asked about the report, whether the plane may have kept flying for hours or whether the data continued to come from the evidence. they are saying it's inaccurate. again, the confusion mounts. this is a mystery, and remains

so. and raises the communication suggestions. i understand meanwhile the airline has retired a flight number. malaysia airline out of respect for the passengers, still missing. it will retire the number. this is something that airlines do after major crashes. >> you'll get her back. the interim prime minister of ukraine is continuing a diplomatic tur. arseniy yatsenyuk will make his case cat the united nations, asking world democrats for economic assistance. his u.n. appearance comes a day after holding talks with the president at the white house. allies are pressuring russia after the ses session vote, warning moscow of further

action. secretary of state john kerry will hold talks with russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov on friday. eight senators will travel to kiev to meet with the government. phil ittner has been covering the story from kiev. phil, arseniy yatsenyuk appears to be doing a good job of garnering international support ahead of the referendum, but will it change your anything? >> to be frank, no. not in terms of what is happening in crimea for the immediate term. what the government hops to gain from the trip to washington is more recognition and assistance past the crisis. the country is in dire straits and needs help moving past what is happening in crimea. what if anything will john mccain and the other senators accomplish by going there. >> first and foremost they'll show solidarity with a new

government, and addition to that, it will be a fact-finding mission about how the west and the united states can help in the country, which is facing a serious situation. >> meanwhile, russia doesn't seem to be backing down in the face of increasing international pressure despite the g7 and the u.s. issuing tough rhetoric. what are you hearing on that front? >> yes, no, this is particularly interesting. we are hearing about more russian troops, the ukrainians say they are consolidating the hold on the peninsula. the ukrainians are saying that they are aeght provocateurs, potentially thousands of them in the east and the south of the country in mainland ukraine, not crimea. the intelligence services say they have information that there are groups planning protests, dissent, disruption during this

meek. again, not in crimea. in mainland ukraine. show they are sending troops and interior officers and split down there to help secure what is a very stressed situation in the mainland part of the county because there are groups who clash, because the decision has not been made, whether they go west or go east. >> phil ittner reporting from kiev. >> syria's president makes a rare public appearance. state tv showed him visiting shelters. he is standing besides his body guards talking to women and hugging children. bashar al-assad as last seen in jan when he attended for prayers at a mosque. >> three have been killed in anti-government protests in venezuela. security yit forces used

water -- security forces used water canons. 25 people have been killed. people are protesting against the lack of basic supply, rising unemployment, and high crime rate. paul beban will report from san cristobal, where troops are stepping up security as the crisis increases. clashes probing out in turkey's largest city. tens of thousands filled the streets of istanbul for the funeral of a 15-year-old, hit in the head by a tear gas cannister during a police crackdown on anti-government protests. the boy, an innocent bystander. many blame the president for his death. >> translation: we don't want to raise our children in the current atmosphere.

trnchs we are standing april against the leadership. we -- standing against the leadership. >> demonstrations are expected to escalate. president obama isn't just pushing for an increase in the minimum wage, but wants more to take home money in overtime bay. for the first time, workers who make more than $450 a week could qualify for ot. we look at who stands to benefit. >> millions of americans are white collar working, not making nearly as much money as most think. the type of work we are doing, they'd qualify as exempt from overtime. these are the workers who might benefit if the overtime threshold is raised, or roughly

$24,000 a year. they are called grey collar workers, people that don't have jobs, that don't earn more than minimum wage. some form of bechtelers receive some for of assistance. government data shows there's more than half a million. they earn 25 grand. they are earning about 31,000. social services are break-inning home 39,000. labour laws are determining if they are exempt. as long as they are performing office work related to a company's business they weren't eligible. >> if an individual is spending

time managing the work of others, they'd be exempt from over time. >> here are a few jobs in the grey collar calorie, where mid level earn less than blue colour workers: >> the list include other workers you expect would earn over $50,000. mental health counsellors and substance abuse workers. news analysts and reporters. $37,000. athletes and sports competitors $40,000. >> today's expected rule change your takes effect in 2015. coming up in the next hour. a dozer look at increasing overtime, for workers, employers and whether the idea could kill

jobs. rescue workers are looking for people in the rubble of twoate partment buildings. a massive explosion levelled the buildings. al jazeera's erica pitzi is in east harlem where the explosion happened. they have been working throughout the night. what is the latest from the scope? >> good morning. with an explosion of this magnitude imagine the situation is constantly changing. in fact, it is a busy scene. dozens of firefighters are on the scene wanting to make sure no embers flare-up. there's smoke. six confirmed dead. three pulled from the rubble. this as they are looking for nine people reported missing. >> i saw the smoke and ran over.

>> new yorkers ran to hope after an explosion took down two new york apartment buildings. the wind worked against them as firefighters tried to keep the flames from spreading. smoke and ash hung in the air paying it difficult to find people. some relatives say they smells gas, no one reported it until the next morning. the energy company responded within minutes, but it was too late. >> this is a tragedy of the worst kind. >> the explosion comes a day after the center tore the urban future released a report showing ageing pipelines are a problem in forkcity. 6,000 files -- k -- are a problem in new york city. 6,000 miles of pipeline are over 60 years old. >> it came home that this is

sometimes what happens when you have infrastructure that can approach 100 years old or more. >> ageing infrastructure is not just a new york problem. the federal department of transportation says 50% of pipelines were built in the 1950s or '60s. a gas leak lead to an explosion, killing one, injuring others. eight people died when another levelled a neighbourhood. we let the infrastructure get old. and the companies that owned the infrastructure don't necessarily have the incentive to invest in upgrading them and doing the upgrades to keep cities safe. the ntsb investigating the explosion acknowledged the need to update infrastructure. it will cost billions.

>> a little girl full of blood. we grabbed her. >> area hospitals tell us they treated 64 people with injuries, tree of them were children, including a 15-year-old boy listed in critical continue. meanwhile, they are looking for the missing. >> erica pitzi in east harlem, new york. another round of snow battered the midwest. they are taking aim at the north-east. three were killed. tens of thousands of homes in northern illinois lost power. storms are expected to hit parts of the north-east. bringing two feet of snow to some. the storm is being followed by a bitter blast of air. let's bring in meteorologist nicole mitchell. >> good morning. most of the storm has moved through, as we get across and

behind the system, it's the cold air that we are having problems with. most of the country is dry. great news from places where they have a rough go. >> temperatures are on the rise. so that's nice as well. >> even the north-east, storms from yesterday clearing out. we have lingering snow. the live look, so you can see the snow on the ground. as i said, this is tapering off. those conditions will improve. let's look at what else we are dealing with. behind that system, strong cold air. it's a low pressure system, and the lower the pressure, the more the winds crank up. that's what we have. that's what this gave us. wind crusting in the 30 to 40 miles per hour, and the cold air that moved in, putting temperatures in the 20s, and you combine the elements and what it feels like is temperature

subzero. feels like minus 4 this morning, after yesterday's mild air. d.c. up near 70, as was philadelphia, to go near the 30s and the 20s it's a 40 or 50 degree drop. the windchill feels like 50 degrees colder. bundle up as you head to the door. >> a new jersey teenager may be mending fences a week after taking parents to court. she's moved home. her lawsuit against them has not been dropped. >> as we grow, we have different departments that we need to feel positions for. >> a booming position creating thousands of the jobs. >> general motors, a company that may have known about the deadly flaw in their cars a decade before the raul. -- before the recall.

♪ what is this place? where are we? this is where we bring together the fastest internet and the best in entertainment. we call it the x1 entertainment operating system. it looks like the future! we must have encountered a temporal vortex. further analytics are necessary. beam us up. ♪ that's my phone. hey.

[ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system, only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm sigh stephanie sy, the business of marijuana creating a

new job center. first, let's look at the temperatures. meteorologist nicole mitchell is back. >> cold into the north-east, especially once you add in the windchills. the cold air has swung southward. we are seeing the windchills up to 20 below, and that's what you need to be careful of, the high wind. where the system moved through, rebounding the temperatures. the warm air returned. the little bit at least tomorrow, for the north-east. >> two people were killed and more than 20 injured when a suspected drunk driver crashed into a crowd outside a texas nightclub. it happened in austin where a lot gathered for the south by south-west festival. the driver ploughed through several barricades before hitting dozens of people. police caught and tasered him. he a facing murder charges. >> marijuana sales are booming

in colorado. the state is raking in millions nd for a variety of professionals. we are shown how the young industry is driving a new workforce. >> consider this denver emporium a candy factory for all things marijuana. canada said laced confection. from marijuana-infused sodas, to pot truffles, more than 100 freen edibility. trip dubbed the willy wonga of weed feels like he scored the golden ticket. >> we have been doubling our headcount. we have 40 full-time team members. >> it's expected to double in the next year. since colorado began legal sales in january, business have

increased 500%. a majority coming from licensed marijuana dealers in state. it can't be shipped out of colorado, because pot is banned under federal law. the green rush is attracting workers like john chambers, a largistic manager who packages the product. >> i would never have managed the number of opportunities that existed. >> there are new opportunities popping up since california first legalized calve. 19 states followed suit. there are roughly 45,000 full-time employees working at dispensaries like this. >> we hire more and more people as we grow. we have different apartments. those jobs include bud tenders. that is the sky walker 25.

licensed consultants that advise customers. there are pot processors and security guards. >> bucky minor acts as a sue chef, grinding up ut cannabis. the demand for marijuana jobs is so high in the states, there are websites devoted specifically to industry. >> when you get into working with patient and how it benefits people medicinally, it's a particular skill set and have you to find people educated in that. >> canada's investors say sales could reach 10,000 in five years. they are investing in a 30,000 square foot facility to keep up with demands. >> and legal marijuana sales are

expected to begin in washington state. sult ants estimate half a billion -- consultants estimate half a billion in sales. >> 18-year-old rachel returned on tuesday night after being away for four months. her attorney said she was pressured to go home. the girl's lawyer says the family leads privacy. she received acceptance levels from several universities, she is home, but the lawsuit has not been withdrawn. >> more information is surfacing on the general motors recall. they may have known about the ignition switch problem. that is three years earlier than what it indicated. the issue was detected in preproduction of its model. the documents filed. gm faces multiply reasons why it

was slow to respond. consumers were able to shake off the winter chill. retail sails were required to rise in january. some were focussing on high income profits. they are purchasing items and paying full price. you look at the retail. they used to have heavy discounting. the hi end consumer is the one willing to pay full price. they are trying to revamp their stores. >> wall street looks set to open higher ahead of the retail sales. dow is up 36 points. here is where we stand as we head into the trading day:

>> the federal trade group is investigate, herbal life. the company has been involved in a public dispute with the hedge fund billion ash, ackman accusing it of being a pyramid scheme. >> anti-government protesters in venezuela standing their ground. >> this will stop when the president quits. >> they continue calling for the ouster of president nicolas maduro, as the protests take a deadly turn. today marks a year since pope francis becomes leader of the catholic church. we take a look back. >> i'm john henry smith, we'll have the latest on the n.h.l. player who put is scare through everyone, when he collapsed on

the bench during the game.

>> it's been a year since pope francis took over as head of the catholic church. his population tripled. a pew poll gave him an 85% favourable rating. we are joined from vatican city. is there anything special planned to celebrate the papacy's one year. >> well, you'd think considering how popular the pope has been, that the vatican would have organised something. do you know what they organised, nothing. not only is nothing planned to park the one year of pope

francis, but the pope is not here. he's gone on a spiritual retreat on a town outside of roam. the cardinals are not in the vatican. some deciders say that it is not a coincidence. it is the length period before easter. it's not uncommon that the pope and other card analyse would go on a retreat. some say he's a little uncomfortable with personality that seems to have sprung up around him. nothing planned. that in no way detracts from a remarkable first year: >> a simply good evening and history was made. it was the first time the catholic church chose a leader from south mrk. it was clear his nationality was not the only thing that would

make pope francis sound out. his popularity was immediate. he practised what he preached. strong statements were matched by a choice to live in a guest house. he witnessed poverty and crime. and one of his first acts was to kiss the feet of inmates at a young offenders shugs institutio institutions. from the rich and powerful to the less blessed. pope francis's appeal seems global. then you have a pope to whom you can identify yourself with. he is in a better position to understand that. when we talk to him, then he - he can connect with us, you know. this is like - he's with us. >> pope francis inherited a church beset by the child abuse

scandal. over the past year, he certainly has been able to change your the image of the church. how much real change your has he achieved behind the scenes at the vatican. his critics say not much. a u.n. report published in february accused the church of failing to deal with cases of child abuse. the vatican bank has been audited. the tone on issues like gay rights and divorce softened, there's no sign of religious reform. >> you don't do this find of thing quickly without making disasters. he is a man that will do things. >> a year on, there's little doubt that the pope has the right intentions to change your the church for the better. as the doves released and attack

by a seagull, best laid plans don't always work out as intended. some see him as a super hero, he's had an undeniablery great first year he hasn't performed that yet. he is popular >> his con year will be interesting. >> malaysia airlines chief says there's no signs. china released satellite images chog that could be debris. officials scoured the area on thursday and found nothing.

malaysian officials threw cold water on the report. after it disappeared from radar. todd curtis is a contributor and is in newt yn mass tuesday et cetera. let's jump into the report that a lot of people are talking about. it suggests the plane could have been in the air for four hours after reaching the last identified location. let's quote from the article. the location is paced on data downloaded and sent to the ground from the boeing company 777 engines as part of a routine maintenance and monitoring program. mr curtis, what do we know about this technology. >> well, this is a technology that has been around for some time. this technology was used in part to get information off that air france jet that crashed in 2009. simply put, how this works is in this case, data from the engines

is broadcast out to the engine manufacturer, malaysian authorities said it didn't happen, but rolls royce is one of companies in malaysia helping. it shows to me that because they are helping, that it makes sense that data was coming off, or rolls-royce is there to figure out why it didn't come in. it's confusing. one side says there is data, one side says there isn't. >> there's potentially evidence that the plane may be in a totally different location to the search area. if it was flying for up to four hours, it could be hundreds of files away from the scenes they've been focussing on. >> so...

>> the range where this aircraft could have gone goes as far as india and australia, indonesia, parts of china and monk owlia. this could -- monning owlia. this could expand the area. >> more than 40 ships have been looking into the sea to find anything. it's been six days, does this report explain why nothing has been found? >> it potentially does. again, it depends on several factors. first, if, in fact, this data, the report is true, they were operating for four hours. if it's true, was it four hours with the aircraft flying in a different direction or in a circle. it's unclear whether the same source of data would give engine operation alt data and navigational data pinpointing where on earth the airplane was.

>> i want to break-in up another focus pt the plane's transponder and whether it was turned off accidentally or on purpose. why is it important. does it tell us anything. >> it's important because the standard operating procedure for airlines keeps an aircraft in flight. >> one would turn it off if there was a malfunction, some sort of other failure were turning off the system. or deliberate action on the part of the crew or else wear it make it not broadcast. >> thank you so much. >> 85-00 russian troops are taking part in exercises. not far from the ukrainian border. tensions threatened to boil over. on whether to ses seed from

ukraine. jennifer glasse is following the situation in sevastopol. what is the status now? >> right now what we have seen - we have taken a righted around, and there are a lot fewer russian troops in evidence. they were standing outside of a number of bases here. they seem to have gone back to wherever they came from or in military bases. there are still russian troops outside the headquarters, and we have seen truckloads of troops outside tom bases. the position is a lot less aggressive than it was a week ago. possibly it was in reaction to international criticism that the forces are here at all, criticism that leads to a lot of countries in the united states, the european union saying that sunday's referendum is illegal,

not least because russian troops are occupying the peninsula. >> what has the mood been like leading up to the referendum? >> you get to see the divide here. there are a lot of people here who believe this sunday's referendum corrects the mistake meat when crimea what given to the ukraine, when it didn't make a difference. ethnic russians thing it was a make and were unhappy when ukraine became independent, and crimea hasn't been a part of russia since then. there's a lot of people there, and we see a lot of billboards spring up before the referendum, equating and staying with ukraine, and calling on people to vote for russia. there are those who are frightened about whatever happens. >> we have crimean tatars, who

say they have been threatened and wonder what their future will be like in a crimea under russia control. >> what is he hoping for? >> he is looking for international support, any international support he can get. obviously there's a military prop problem but ukraine is in desperate straits. it's in default. it was bailed out by russia with a $15 billion loan. that is on hold. it was a big day yesterday. big honour for a brand new leader to meet with president obama. a show of support for the new government and the united nations. he'll be asking the world for that recognition and support. what exactly they can do militarily here.

what they do in crimea. the european union imposing sanctions, and the secretary of state heading to london for a meeting. and secretary of state john kerry heading to london trying to find a diplomatic sol use. >> israeli fighter yet strike a number of targets in the gaza strip. it was in retaliation after 60 rockets were fired to that area. the jihad group claimed responsibility for the rocked. israel's war plane said bombed terror sites. >> security forces in venezuela used water canons, fighting intensified in san cristobal. al jazeera's paul beban reports troops are stepping up security. the protest showed no signs of letting up. >> we were driving into san cristobal, this is where it

begone. it's only 10 o'clock in the morning. we are moving barricades. it was tense from the start. this is where one student was killed in overnight clashes like these, just the night before. we barely had time to get our year out of the vehicle when it got intense. we are in the hotel courtyard trying to get a shot. >> this is the kind of scene played out in this neighbourhood and others across the face. tees are the people that the -- these are the people that the government calls fascist. tear gas was too intense. we had to get into the hotel. we stayed inside for a few hours. >> then things calmed down. we came outside. we crossed over the barricade,

crossed over the street. what do you want the world to know. >> that we are ruled by a dictator. >> how does this end? when will it stop? >> when the president quits. >> you want the president to resign. what about negotiating? >> we don't negotiate with people that kill their own people. >> things settled down, life started to get back to something like normal. we had a chance to look around. there's rebar, like a picket line that you drive over and blow out your tyres. this was knocked over by an armoured vehicle, smashing over here, pursuing the protesters. they re-built it. now, on the street corner, what

we have going on is it looks like a bunch of teenagers sitting around. what they are doing is making molotov cocktails, making memity cases of beer bottles, with a little assembly line. how will this end? >> i don't know. >> then we met marco. >> it's filled with people like marco, these neighbourhoods, that don't necessarily support the violence, but have no other cards to play. >> what's the alternative? they drove us into a corner. in that corner - this is all we have. this is my home. >> he took us to his house. and showed us why he doesn't go to the barricades. >> i have a 10-month-old

daughter. it feels so bad that she's growing up in a country that used to be rich. >> al jazeera's paul beban with an eyewitness account from san cristobal. >> arizona governor jan brewer says she will not seek a third term. brewer became governor in 2009 after the governor resigned to become president obama's secretary of homeland security. governors are limited to two terms. we know more about the collapse of a hockey player this week. john henry smith has the latest on his condition. >> well, dallas star mitch beverley will miss the rest of the the season as he and doctors work to make sure what happened monday night will not happen again. he suffered a cardiac event and collapsed on the bench. his doctor says his heart likely

raced out of control before stopping for 10 seconds. beverley will have a corrective procedure and it's too soon to know if he'll resume his career. the two men held a catholic church where beverley is admitted, as you would expect with a man who cheated death, he's thankful to be eye live and thanking to the supporters. >> i'd like to say thank to you my wife and family for their love and support. i'd like to thank everyone past and present, team-mate, management, coaches, agent, fans and media, and the n.h.l. family for all their support. very much grateful. >> his season for participating in hockey is over. so he's done. the next process is to do the definitive procedure that - and dr rimal can speak to this, that is better at getting them into

norm normal rhythm. >> kobe bryant will miss the rest of the regular season, recovering from a fracture below the knee. while out he's had time to think about the sorry state of his lakers. they are 20 games under 500, and here are his thoughts on righting the ship. >> we have to start at the top in terms of the culture of the team. what kind of culture do we want to have, what system do we want to have, how do we want to play. it starts there, and from there you can build out your team. you cannot be satisfied. it was like 500 games under 500. i can't be satisfied with that. that's not what we stand for or play for. >> did you know miami heat lost four of their last five and lebron james has gone two straight games without shooting a free throw - for the first

time since his rookie year. and the brooklyn nets won two straight. enough questions. chris drives, gets a 3-point play. last chance with 3.5 seconds least. bosch has to bet the ball inbound. time runs out. two n.f.l. superstars found themselves unemployed for five minutes, the same day tampa day released reeve us. signing a deal with the afc became runners-up. >> marcus weir signed a3-year, $30 million deal with broncos. $20 million guaranteed. arevis and weir situation were surprise participants due to expensive contracts that the

former teams didn't think they could afford to pay. >> john henry smith - thank you for having answers for us. >> a colorado man leads police on a wild chase. what caused him to carr jack three vehicles, including one with a little boy in the back seat. >> no one should be trying to figure out the clothes you have to put them in in a basket. >> heroin addiction, how one state is batting the problem.

>> a colorado man is under arrest after leading police on a child high speed chase near denver. ryan stone hopped in an s.u.vl that had a 4-year-old in the back seat and took off.

the s.u.vl hit a mini van. he forced the driver off and forced that driver out. he hit another car at denver airport. he forced that driver out and escaped. then police caught up and captured him. >> meteorologist nicole mitchell with where the snow may fall. >> good morning, you know the within for that is chicago. not only the snowiest for winter from december 1st, but number three or winter, and fm three for the season, and that is not over. the record could get higher. we are seeing snow. most of this system has moved off. no new snow reported right now coming down. the wind is gusting. it may be blowing by. it's feeling like it's blowing.

lingering to new england. behind the cold air, that's is going to warm up into the day tomorrow under the sunshine. with this system clearing out, look at how quiet the rest of the country is. we'll get a bit of a break. for now we'll take it, and a little sunshine towards the weekend. >> i'll take it. nicole mitchell, thank you. >> it's been a budget-busting winter. the pocket expenses added up. final tallies will not be known for month, as ashar quraishi finds out it could climb. >> it's been a rough winters, putting pressure on the pocket book. >> salting and sanding has been used for new york, new jersey, illinois. illinois and chicago spend $100 million on clearing the roads and sanding. >> the bottom line is red for

indiana, louisville and massachusetts. indiana spent $50 million. 20 more than average. in virginia, the cost overruns will exceed the $157 know removal budgets by more than $100 million. in massachusetts, it's been the second most expensive winner at a cost of $103 million. sub zero textures, snow, salting and ploughing battered roadways. >> the city of chicago repaired $250,000 potholes. at $12 a patch, the city has spent 3 million filling holes. >> the airline industry has been hit hard. according to aviation data controller, more than 108,000

flights have been cancel. it's expected to cost airlines half a billion. on the water. the u.s. coast guard had to expand operations. during the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, they were operating twice as much. >> agriculture could be affected. as we move to spring, flooding could be a problem, delaying planting. this could roll over into summer, agriculture. it's not over yet by a long shot. >> it is unclear what the final cost will be, financial experts say it's not likely to cause a dent in there 17 trill yn economy, americans have felt the

freeze. >> it's national elephant day in thailand, to raise awareness about elephant conservation. they are dressed up, and fed thousands of pounds of bananas, pineapples and watermelons. it's often used for ceremonial purposes. >> i get to follow the elephants. at the end of the first hour, here is what we are following. a report adding to the mystery over the malaysia airlines. "wall street journal" reporting that it flue for hour after disappearing from radar. malaysian authorities say there's no proof that that. >> arseniy yatsenyuk will appear before the united nations, appealing for help in the standoff against russia. >> a gas leak blamed for an ex-close. dozens were injured, six killed. >> workers that don't get paid

overtime - overhauling the legislation. >> families who have been shattered by addiction share personal stories and what they are doing to fight it. >> al jazeera continues. del walters and i are back with you in 2.5 minutes. with more news.

>> we will stand with ukraine. >> one day after president obama reassures ukraine of u.s. support, the country's acting prime minister heads to the united nations for help in crimea. >> the funeral for a 15-year-old boy in turkey turns to a massive protest and violent clashes with police. he has become a national symbol of an anti-government movement. >> it was like a bomb or

something, like a bomb. you felt the ground vibrate. >> firefighters searching the rubble for victims last an explosion levels two new york city apartment buildings. >> nobody should be burying their child. nobody should be trying to figure out the clothes they're going to put them in in the casket. >> a father deals with a child's heroin addiction and his fight now to help others. >> good morning, welcome to aljazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> the prime minister of ukraine trying to ramp up international support for the new government. >> he'll ask world delegates at united nations for assistants in

ukraine after talking to president obama at the white house. >> u.s. allies pressuring russia ahead of sunday secession vote, warning moscow of further action fit escalate that situation. >> secretary of state john kerry will hold talks with russia's foreign minister on friday and eight u.s. senators will travel to kiev to meet with the new government. we have more from washington. >> it was a show of solidarity. president obama hosting ukraine's beleaguured interim prime minister in the oval office. >> we have been very firm in saying that we will stand with ukraine. >> the prime minister wants economic aid but first wants russia out of ukraine and he think he is the u.s. and its allies are prohibit to make it happen. >> we fight four our freedom, for our independence, for our sovereignty and we will never sundayer. >> both men rejected the upcoming referendum for crimea

to stay in ukraine or become a part of russia. >> we completely reject a referendum patched together in a few weeks with russian military personnel basically taking over crimea. >> two days after his spokeswoman declared he would not meet with husband russian counterpart without on a apparently reversal, secretary of state john kerry announcing he will meet the foreign minister. >> we will offer certain choices to russia with hopes and i think the hopes of the world that we will be able to find a way forward that defuses this. >> russia has shown no signs of backing down and going too far

with economic sanctions carries its own dangers. >> it can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made, and in multiple directions. so our hope is that indeed, there is a way to have a reasonable outcome here. >> outside the white house, after his meeting with mr. obama, he invoked a phase. >> my percentage to president putin, tear down this wall. >> phil ittner is in kiev. we're learning more of military exercises from russia close to the border, it's defense minister just released a statement. what did it say? >> a very disturbing announcement from the russian defense ministry saying those 8,500 troops just across the border in russia are practicing for unconventional warfare,

deceiving the enemy and taking them by surprise. no doubt, that kind of language will be received here with grave concern. the ukrainians and the government here in kiev are already convinced that the russians have grander designs on their territorial integrity than just the crimean peninsula. they have also said in recent days that they believe strongly that there are fifth columnist, agent provocateurs inside mainland ukraine. as we get closer to this referendum they are fomenting dissent and creating chaos within ukraine itself. this kind of saber rattling from russia just on the other side of the barredder is going to be received here with an awful lot of anxiety. >> there are other signs that the kremlin is not baking down, the economy minister saying moscow will impose sanctions with the u.s. and e.u. move

forward with economic sanctions. >> the russians have said that they will react strongly if the west imposes sanctioning on them. moscow is saying look, you guys need us just as much as we need you, and we can damage you in return. we've heard just within the last day or so the russians saying that even if the west and in particular the e.u. decides to impose sanctions, they've got options. they've got other trading partners and don't need the european june 17 u.s. senators are head to go kiev today. what will that accomplish? i wonder if that makes moscow dig its heels in even more. >> well, that delegation coming from the senate headed up by senator john mccain is really coming here for two main reasons, firstly to show salad art, because very new government here in kiev, but also on a fact

finding mission to try and find out what it is that ukraine needs not only in this crisis, but moving forward, because this country is in dire financial straits as well as facing this political crisis. >> phil, thank you. stay with aljazeera for the latest on the crisis. in 25 minutes, we'll have a live update from the naval patient. >> there is a new theory about what happened to malaysian airlines flight 370. the plane may have flown for hours after vanishing from radar. that may be why it is so difficult to locate it. a dozen countries now joining in the search but six days after that plane disappeared, still no sight. lisa stark is in washington. a lot of new developments this morning. >> there are, but still no answers, unfortunately. there are new reports out this morning from the wall street journal that the plane may have

flown for hours after it appeared to have vanished off radar, but the defense minister in malaysia this morning discounting those claims saying they are inaccurate. meanwhile, the search continues, a very frustrating search for any debris, any sign of the plane which seems to have vanished into thin air. >> the mystery of what happened to malaysia flight 370 is deepening. china released three satellite i am package imagines of what it thought might be the plane's wreckage in the south china sea. this morning, the aviation chief did not have good news about the photos. >> there's nothing. >> there is a renewed focus on the straight where out that's say a review of military radar records shows an unidentified aircraft veered hard to the left, hundreds of miles off the route to beijing, but the plane did not indicate distress of any kind. >> there is the possibility that

this aircraft made a turnback, but we are not sure whether it is the same aircraft. >> malaysian officials denied earlier reports suggesting such a detour, and that is only compounding the frustration of families desperate for answers, now six days since their loved ones disappeared. >> if we could just find some wreckage or something, it would be a help, probably. >> now a new theory this morning that the plane may have stayed in the air for at least four hours after it vanished from radar off the gulf of thailand. the wall street journal is reporting that possibility based on data automatically downloaded and sent to the ground from the engines as part of a routine maintenance monitoring program.

if confirmed, the plane's transponders which stopped broadcasting locations 40 minutes into the flight will come under more scrutiny. u.s. counter terrorism officials are looking at the possibility that a pilot or someone else onboard diverted the plane to an undisclosed location. after intentionally turning off flight 370's transponders to avoid detection. >> just this morning, malaysian's transportation minister is dismissing that report. >> those reports are inaccurate. boeing teams are here and have worked with us and investigations teams since sunday. these issues have never been raised. >> in fact, the defense minister saying this morning that the last automatic data from that system on the plane came at about 1:07 a.m. saturday morning, that's local time in malaysia, and that would have been about 25 minutes or so before the last contact with the plane, so a lot of conflicting information still this morning.

>> i understand the plane's flight number has now been retired. >> it has. the airlines announced this morning that the number 370 will no longer be used out of respect for the families. this is something airlines often do. del. >> lisa stark reporting from washington, d.c., thank you very much. >> three people have been killed in anti-government protests in venezuela. security forces used water cannons on demonstrators in caracas. a month of demonstrations in several cities have killed 25 people. people are protesting against the lack of basic supplies, rising unemployment and high crime rates. >> intense clash breaking out in turkey's largest city. tens of thousands filled the streets of istanbul for the funeral of a boy who was killed,

becoming a symbol or anti-government forces. many blame turkey's prime minister for his death and demand change. we are in istanbul. >> the family had called for a mass gathering. the funeral passed through istanbul, tens of thousand us answered that call. the biggest public demonstration since the getty park protests of last june. earlier, residents of the poor neighborhood where the family lives filled the streets around the house of worship where his body lay. a school mate remembered him. >> he used to play football and volleyball. he was a happy, they'reful boy. >> we want to recognize children with freedom of expression, not oppression. >> we are standing today against the leadership. dictatorship are holding all powers of judiciary.

we stand for democracy and human rights. >> as the mourning family watched, the crowd chanted, you're immortal, blaming turkey's prime minister for his support for police who fired the tear gas canister which hit the boy in the head. murderer was another refrain. >> the family of the boy and residents have his neighborhood, during the nine months that the boy lay in a coma in hospital, they had the time to investigate, find out who was responsible and they failed to do that. that, they say is symptomatic of a justice failure in turkey. >> he weighed only 16 kilograms when he died. he's the sixth young man to die as a result of police violent related to the protests. the people who don't support the

ruling party is growing. turkey's prime minister said they should take their objections to the ballot box, not the street. some businesses closed, university's canceled electures, schools shut for the day and some unions called a one day stoppage, adding to the crowds which followed the coffin to its resting place in a southern istanbul cemetery. this funeral was about more than a young boy hood died too soon. aljazeera, istanbul. >> demonstrations are expected to escalate as national elections begin in three weeks in turkey. >> winter is not over, two people are dead in ohio as snow shuts down a major route between takano and cleveland. storms hitting parts of the midwest and northeast packing two feet of snow. tens of thousands of homes in northern illinois losing power and flights coming into chicago once again have been canceled. >> part of that is temperatures

also plunging. up and down the east coast. >> let's turn to nicole mitchell to mind out how long this latest round of bad weather is going to last. >> winter isn't over and after that, you can see snow into spring. one thing has been impacting both things, the snow and cold temperatures, and that has been the wind. even as the system has passed its way through, we've had high winds behind this system, and that's because when you have a really strong pressure system with low pressure, it increases that wind funneling and that's what we've seen. that was causing problems on the road yesterday, because it was driving, even in the areas that didn't see more than a couple of inches of snow, was really making it white out conditions at times on the roads, making it seem even worse. winds gusting in the 30-40-mile per hour range and with temperatures dropping, making it feel even more brutal. the temperatures are a lot of times in the teens and 20s, that's a big drop from

yesterday. you add in that wind and the wind chills feel sub zero, new york feeling like minus five degrees. when you consider the warm up that there was yesterday, and all that warm air, a lot of 70's, close to that philadelphia in washington, d.c., 50's, then when you go to sub zero wind chills, that's a 50-degree drop in just at over 12 hours, so it really, really feels very brutal out there. we do have a warm up on all the way, a pretty quick one for new york, getting into the 40's by tomorrow. i'll have more of that warm up for the rest of the country coming up in a little bit. we do have another chance for at least some rain with another system, at least this time it looks like for most places, it would be rain. >> feels like one of those ping pong balls in one of those lottery machines. >> one year ago, pope francis was picked to head the catholic church. >> the last 12 months have been marked by a series of firsts.

a look back at pope francis' first year. >> it destroys you. mentally, you're all over the place, it's a roller coaster. >> we'll talk about the battle against heroin addiction and the serious crisis in one state you'll never guess. >> our big number of the day is 26,700,000,000. >> why this has a lot of people smiling on wall street.

>> these are live pictures from new york st. patrick's cathedral, the cardinal celebrating a special mass in honor of the first anniversary of pope francis as head of the catholic church. despite his popularity, some critics question whether this pope has made any significant changes at the vatican. >> a simple good evening and history was made. it was the first time the catholic church had chosen a leader from south america, but it would soon clear his

nationality was not the only thing that would make pope francis stand out. his popularity was immediate, because he practiced what he approached, strong statements against inquality were matched by his living in a modest guest house. he witnessed poverty and crime and one of his first acts as pope was to kiss the feet of inmates at a young offenders' institution. he draws massive crowd to weekly audiences and his modest ways earned him the cover of time magazine and the rolling stone. pope francis's appeal seems truly global. >> then you have a pope that whom you can identify yourself with. he is in a better position to understand us, you know. when we talk to him, then he can easily connect with us.

this is like he is with us. >> pope francis inherited a church beset by the child abuse scandal and allegations of corruption. over the past year, he has certainly been able to change the image of the church, but how much real change has he achieved behind the scenes here at the value ken? >> his critics would say not much. a u.n. report published in february accused the church of failing to properly deal with cases of child abuse. the vatican bank is being out did id, but no results have been released. though the pope's toll on issue like gay rights have softened, there's no sign of actual religious reform. >> you cannot do these kind of things weekly. certainly he is a man who will do things, but in due time. >> a year on, there's little doubt that the pope has the right intentions to change the church for the better, but as

these did yo doves released by m and promptly attacked by hawks suggest, best intentions, he hasn't performed that miracle just yet. >> so just how popular is pope francis? there's a poll finding that 85% of u.s. catholics like this pope. >> residents of a small texas town say they're under assault from a cult. over the last two years, the church of wells have both many homes and buildingses in the small community. dozens of families say they have lost all contact with their sons and daughters. coming up, an aljazeera investigation focuses on the group that calls themselves the

world's only true christians. >> let the good times roll on wall street, today's big number, $26.7 billion, bonuses paid out since 2013. >> the industry has not seen bonuses like this since the financial crisis, the third largest bonus payout ever. >> who den fitted the most? the average cash bonus, $164,531, a 15% increase from 2012. pays to be on wall street. >> more information is surfacing in the massive general motors recall, g.m. saying it may have known about the ignition switch problem as far back as 2001, three years earlier than previously indicated. it was detected, the company

disclosed documents with federal safety regulators. >> the commerce democratic releases its retail sales data for february this morning, expects sales to rise after a january decline. retailers are in a tough spot right now. >> despite the weather, what's going to be key for retailers is to move inventory that has piled up because of the harsh weather. if they don't, we are going to see more discounting, which is going to hurt the bottom line, profits and sales. >> checking wall street, looks to open higher ahead of that retail sales data, do you futures up 26 points starting at 16340, the s&p standing at 1868 and the nasdaq at 4323. overseas, the asian markets

lower, european markets are mostly lower. >> panasonic says it will pay its employees a pollution premium because they have to work in china. employees usually receive hardship pay increases for working overseas, but panasonic is the first company to explicitly compensate employees for being exposed to pollution. it is not paid to staff here. >> i didn't get that bonus when i lived in china, but sure wish i had. >> let's look at temperatures across the nation today. >> we check in with nicole mitchell. >> good morning, it is not a warm morning out there. across the country, so much cold air with the last system, it actually, a lot of these front will stall out once they got to florida, but made it all all the way through. miami was in the 70's, this morning in the 60's, none which us feel sorry for miami in the 60's this morning, but pointing out however south the cold air

went. atlanta is pretty significant. i mentioned the northeast and great lakes, parts of the mid atlantic, some of these wind chills, negative 20 in some cases. a brutal day today, some warmer air for the east coast tomorrow. >> president obama pledges his support to ukraine days ahead of their referendum in crimea. >> that countries acting prime minister is hiding to the united nations looking for more help. what that means for this weekend's schedule would vote and options the international community has for dealing with russia. >> the companies that own the infrastructure don't necessarily have the incentive to invest in upgrading them and doing the upgrades that we need to keep our city safe. >> the important safety questions a new york city building explosion i guess raising for infra structure safety across the country. >> help another person live,

another family save their child. >> one father's fight against heroin addiction. >> he's a leader on and off the basketball court, meet the prince making his presence felt at one american university.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm del walters. >> i'm stephanie sy. ahead, what comes next for ukraine after the acting prime minister's visit with president obama. >> the growing problem of heroin addiction, a father is using a personal tragedy to alert others to the problem. >> in our next hour, bringing attention to a critical health issue facing every young girl around the world. >> 8500 russian troops are taking parted in military exercises not far from the

ukrainian border. ukrainian prime minister continues his four counter the threats, asking for international help. he visits the united nations today after meeting with president obama at the white house wednesday. tensions between ukraine and russia are on edge. voters in crimea will decide whether to secede from ukraine and become part of russia. >> jennifer glass is in ukraine. what is the status of military forces there? >> this morning, the russian forces continue to blockade ukrainian military here in port and at bases. we've seen a less visible presence of troops at those naval bases where they've been across the street, standing outside the gates. there are still troops outside the main headquarters, but a lot of troops have gone back to

wherever they came from, still here on the peninsula, but not as visible in some places. that may be because of international criticism that the referendum is taking plagues at the point of a gun. the united states and european union not recognizing that referendum. >> russian troops less visible. that's an interesting development. what is the mood leading up to this referendum on sunday? >> a lot of people are very excited, believe that this referendum sunday will correct a mistake made nearly 60 years ago when crimea was given to ukraine. then it was all the soviet union and didn't seem to matter, but 23 years ago when ukraine became independent, ethnic russians here were unhappy to crimea became partly of ukraine and didn't maintain its close ties with moscow. they've been looking to moscow ever since and think sunday's vote will correct that. after the vote on sunday if the

crimean people decide they want to be a part of moscow, crimea will declare independence and then soon after that, the new independent republic will ask to become part of moscow. ethic ukrainians make up 40% of the population and are worried about what their place will be here in that new crimea that is a russian crimea. that's a big concern. the airport is closed kept for flights coming to and from moscow. the only way in and out of crimea through the air is through moscow. >> jennifer, thank you. >> richard whites is a senior fellow nor analysis at the hudson institute. good morning. he joins us from washington, d.c., the president issuing a stern warning to russian penalty vladimir putin wednesday. >> women continue to say to the russian government that if it

continues on the path that it is on, then not only us, but the international community, the european union and others will be forced to apply a cost to russia's violations of international law and encroachments on ukraine. >> clearly the e.u. and united states are winning the war of words, but absent putting troops on the ground, nato troops there, is there anything that can be done to stop vladimir putin from effectively annexing crimea? >> no, what the president's trying to do, which is a natural response, is to present the russian president with the equation that he will lose more from annexing the crimea than he would by not doing so. so the idea to build up the incentives for him not to take an action and build up to

distance him, the penalties he would face if he were to do so, but i think that we have not yet come to the point where we've presented a cost so high that he will refrain from doing so. i think still he thinks it's in his benefit to go ahead with the annexation. >> what do you say to people who say this is a done deal, vladimir putin has already done what he was going to do, significance is going to be part of russia and that the united states and e.u. are trying to save face by talking to him? >> i agree with the former part of your statement that this is pretty much a done deal. as i said, i don't think there's anything short of u.s. troops or western troops that's not going to happen which is going to cause him to sway from his plan. we presume it's to accept the annexation from crimea, it's his choice. i think though that the sanctions, the aid to ukraine and so on, is also trying to

address what the next step might be, which might be you wouldn't want russia to follow on taking over crimea to try to take over other parts of ukraine or make claims against other countries, or to have a situation where the countries near russia are so alarmed that they take actions which would not be helpful for anybody. that's where i think what they're trying to do is to minimize and manage the consequences of the act and prevent similar acts in the future. >> we are receiving reports here at aljazeera that there are agent provocateurs entering ukraine, trying to start a fight. do you believe russia wants an armed conflict in ukraine? >> i would point to the fact that the russian military occupation has so far avoided any casualties. it seems to have been very skilled at crowd control, at

managing the streets and so on, so at least the professional military has done whatever it can and very effectively to keep fighting from occurring. the agent provocateurs if they exist may be not russian kremlin control, perhaps the russian communities in eastern ukraine, seeing what's happening in crimea would like to draw in the russian soldiers to come into their cities, and areas and basically occupy them and bring them into russia, so if that exists, that is i would think be the most likely source of any provocation. >> director for the center for political military analysis at the hudson institute, thanks for being with us. >> israeli fighter jets strike target in the gaza strip, saying it was retaliation after 60 rockets were fired into southern

israel. the islamic jihad group claimed responsibility for the rockets with that israeli bombed sites. >> standing beside bodyguards, talking to women and hugging children in damascus, bashar al assad was last seen in public in january. this weekend marks three years since the start of the syrian civil war. >> rescue workers are looking for victims who could be trapped under the rubble of two apartment buildings in new york city. a massive explosion leveled both buildings on sunday. the blast was likely caused by a gas leak. we are in east harlem now. they have been working through the night. what's the latest? >> good morning, firefighters are still spraying down the scene. you can see the smoke billowing from the area here, the fire

department telling us seven people are confirmed dead including three people they pulled out of the rubble overnight, this as they are still searching for several people reported missing. >> i saw the smoke and i ran over there. >> new yorkers hurried to help after an explosion took down two east harlem amount buildings. >> it was like a bomb or something, like a bomb. you felt the ground vibrate. >> the wind worked against them at firefighters tried to keep the flames from spreading. smoke and ash hung heavy in the air making it difficult to find people who needed help. while residents smelled gas the night before the blast, no one reported it until the next morning. new york city's mayor says the energy company, con edison responded within minutes. >> this is a tragedy of the worst kind, because there was no indication in time to save people. >> the explosion comes one day after the center for an urban future released a report that shows aging pipe lines are a serious problem in new york

city. 6,000 miles of the city's natural gas lines are more than 50 years old. >> new york city has an opened infrastructure that is in need of rare, and it certainly came home that this is sometimes what happens when you have infra structure that old. >> abling infrastructure is not just a new york problem. the department of transportation said 50% of the nation's pipe lines were built in the 1950's and 1960's. last week a gas leak in new jersey led to an explosion killing one and injuring several others. three years ago in northern california, eight people died when another leak leveled a neighborhood. >> we've let our infrastructure get old and companies that own it don't have the incentive to invest in upgrading and doing the upgrades that we need to keep our cities safe. >> the ntsb investigating the new york city explosion

acknowledged the need to update infra structure nationwide. this worker rescued a little girl. >> we grabbed her with a blanket and everything. >> area hospitals tell us they treated 64 people injured from the explosion and we're told at least three are children, including a 15-year-old boy lifted in critical condition, suffering burns and broken bones. search and rescue teams going strong trying to find those missing people. >> a car plowed into a crowd in austin. police say an officer tried to pull over the driver at a gas station. the driver took off, heading the wrong way down a one way street,

struck a moped, van and a taxi before hitting a group of people outside a crowded bar. the driver is under arrest and is now facing capital murder charges. >> heroin spreading through rural america and taking a devastating toll on vermont. that state ranks second in the country for people seeking treatment of open yet addiction. vermont's governor actually devoting his entire state of the state address to the problem of drug abuse. we report from a small town at the heart of a new heroin epidemic. >> between the trendy restaurants in downtown ridland is veinty house, halfway home for addicts trying to beat the odds and get clean. matthew and ashley were two heroin addicts now going through recovery. >> how hard is it? >> it advis destroys you. you're happy, your sad, you're miserable, excited, and

physically, everything on your body hurts, everything. >> you deal with it for the rest of your life. there's no -- you're not cured. >> deaths from overdoses doubled in vermont. the number of people seeking treatment has increased 771% since 2000. >> right now, patients tell me you can find heroin on every street corner in burlington. it's in every town. >> the doctor is a leading addiction specialist. she said the current heroin invasion can be trades back to cheap powerful pain killers that were too easy to get. >> in the early 2000, 2001, i started seeing a bunch of 20-year-olds come in with handles of oxycontin. that was sort of the turning point of how things started.

it started with pills. >> pills that were crushable and easy to snort. doctor richter believes pharmaceutical companies could have done more to prevent the epidemic. >> the company chose not to put a coating that would have made it difficult to snort. when the company decided that they were then going to put a coating, the cost of the drug went way up and heroin dealers moved in. >> patrick's daughter, sarah started using drugs in high school approximate with treatment, her parents thought she was out of danger. >> she had turned her life around, and applied to college. >> martin's life shattered one night when police knocked on his door. >> it was devastating. i'd had loss before, but never the lot of my child. nobody should bury their child. nobody should be trying to figure out the clothes they're going to put them in in a casket. >> he said his daughter's body was dumped in a hospital parking

lot. >> this is the bench she used to sit on when she came downtown. this is the bench. >> patrick and his wife started coming by this bench downtown. it was sarah's favorite spot to relax, and where the martin's decided to start a support group for others like them to help families understand and cope, they named the group wits' end. >> if we save one other person, help one other person live, help another family save their child, then her life won't have been in vain. >> aljazeera, vermont. >> vermont is not alone. heroin use is on the rise across the country. according to the government, 669,000 users in 2012 is 20% more than five years ago, in a special series, addicted in vermont, we'll look at whether the efforts to battle this could backfire.

you can watch that at 9:00 p.m. eastern time, 6:00 p.m. pacific time right here on aljazeera america. >> turning to sports, lebron james is known as king james but there's a prince of a player hope to go make it to the nba. >> what con jurors up eddie murphy, james earl jones. >> this is all too real. tayshaun prince, a championship sometimes called a crown, basketball is full of royal references, but there's a star basketball player for new york's st. john's university who's an actual prince in his native nigeria. ross shimabuku has the story. >> he's a royally gifted shot blocker, and he also comes from royalty. chris is a prince of the tribe which occupies central nigeria, his father is a prince, his grandfather the king and his uncle the current king. >> they call him prince.

i just like call me chris or my tribal name, that's it. >> call you chris? >> yeah. >> chris doesn't speak a great deal about the royalty aspect. he does have a regal presence, but also a humility, a sense of humor, the ability to laugh at himself. >> his first love was soccer, but he became a basketball ban through his older brother who lived in the u.s. and he sent chris instructal thames of the game including one from phil jackson. >> he sent a phil jackson tape to me, he sent tapes, a lot of tapes to me and i was watching it. >> he moved to new york city as a junior in high school and it was quite the culture shock. >> it was weather, the weather, i mean weather and the food is totally different. i'll be back home, 80 degrees in my shorts and eating rice or local food, but here, my jacket,

freezing eating plain pizza or something. >> do your friends tease you about the movie coming to america. >> they do once in a while. >> what do they say? >> i've come to find my bride, always. >> the 6'9" sophomore is one of the leading shot blockers in the nation. >> it's defense. to me, defense has made championships. i love playing defense, so whatever i can do to stop the other team from scoring, we do and blocking shots is like one of the big things for me. >> his i.q. or feel savvy court sense is exceptional, and so as he continues to get stronger and refine his skill set offensively, he has a very bright future not just at st. john's, but the next level. >> have your parents seen you play? >> yeah, i think so a couple of times, on t.v., though. >> and what do they say when they see you on the basketball court? >> they're proud of me. i mean, my mom will start

crying. i have to beg her like hey, stop crying. they're proud of me i'm doing what i love. >> he is loving life and hopes to one day meet his idol. >> when i grew up watching olajuwon, he came here and made a name for himself. that's what i want to do. i'm looking at tracing his steps, and that's a dream for me, hopefully comes true one day. >> great story. ross shimabuku reporting. >> st. john's begin play in the big east tournament today against providence. >> if he doesn't make it to the nba, he has a back up plan. >> you always need a 6'9" soccer player. >> the president about to get that pen out. >> he wants to change the rules for low income workers who don't get paid overtime.

who's likely to be affected and what it could cost businesses. >> the heavy snow with this last system is moving out of the. it's what it left behind that's getting pretty significant. i'll have your forecast.

>> we deployed our assets but found nothing. >> a lead in the mystery of malaysian flight 370 turning up empty as malaysian officials reject a satellite image. >> the standoff with moscow in crimea, secretary of state kerry meeting with his russian counterpart. >> a pileup in ohio as a late

winter blast knocks out power and causes travel delays. >> you mike me smile and i'm not supposed to smile. i'm supposed to be down. i think that ripped my heart out. >> one group staking its claim on a texas town, some residents say it's a cult and their families and loved ones are prey. there is a new theory about what happened to malaysia airlines flight, still no sight of it. there is a new report out that suggests the plane may have flown for hours after

disappearing from radar. lisa stark is in washington, d.c., lots of developments this morning, including a contentious news conference, malaysia officials taking issue with a wall street journal report. >> the officials this morning denying this report, saying that there is no indication at least according to them that the plane's engines sending automatic data back for monitoring reasons that the engines kept sending data for hours after the plane supposedly disappeared. this was first reported in the wall street journal. >> whenever there are new details, they must be corroborated. this is specifically about the data. as far as boeing are concerned, those reports are inaccurate.

>> if that data continued coming from the engines, it would indicate that the plane was still flying after they lost radar contact with it. a source told aljazeera this morning that this really cannot be discounted and does remain an active part of the investigation, so it is very confusing, del, at this point about what is accurate and what is not. >> authorities investigating every lead, every tip, there was some hope that a chinese satellite had possibly spotted debris, but what happened with that report. >> there were photos from a chinese satellite that seemed to pinpoint ad objects floating on the ocean. there was disappointing news about that this morning, as well. >> lisa stark reporting live from washington, d.c., thank you very much. >> the interim prime minister of ukraine continues his diplomatic tour of the u.s., will appear in the united nations after a day

of meeting with president obama at the white house. we have a team tracking the cries in ukraine. we are going to begin in washington. during that meeting with the president, did he accomplish anything? >> the prime minister met with president obama yesterday at the white house, that inists symbolic, sending a photographic signal around the world. the prime minister had a couple of of messages, that there may be a path forward after elections in ukraine in late may to address issues that have come up rewarding crimea. we're talking about some of the issues relating to autonomy, everything from taxes to language. now the prime minister, though, also was clear in his message that they will not abide by a split in the country. there is going to be a referendum in a couple of days just this weekend in crimea over whether to secede from ukraine and both prime minister and president obama held firm on

that not being a viable option. president obama saying in no uncertain terms that it would be a slab dash election, that the word community would reject it. the interim prime minister was making a year appearances, by the i.f.f., ukraine looking for $15 billion in loans. he visited congress, but schedule got delayed so he wasn't able to meet with house members. it is integral to see what congress is doing relating to this issue, as well. >> john mccain leading a group of senators to ukraine this weekend. what do they hope to achieve? >> a bipartisan group of senators heads to ukraine. senator chris murphy democratic from connecticut spoke to aljazeera. >> senator mccain and i were in ukraine in december when the population was asking for a new

president. they need support from the u.s. government,i m.f. and europe. we will show our support and for the territorial integrity of ukraine. >> senator murphy is one member of congress looking to see some loan guarantees given to ukraine. $1 billion worth. similar road block in congress. the house approved that over in the senate, a key panel did pass this bill through yesterday but now has to go to the full senate floor and it's getting some republican pushback, debate over caveats related to the i.m.f. republicans want a clean bill. we're watching to see when that bill would hit the is that the. it could happen this week, then the senate goes on recess. it would go into late march if they don't get it accomplished. it looks unlikely that the u.s. congress would be able to pass

this $1 billion in loan guarantees in the short term. look for that to happen over the next few weeks, not a shorter than issue. >> thank you very much. we turn now to phil ittner, in kiev. we're learning of more russian military exercises. its defense minister just releasing a statement, so what did he have to say? >> it put out a statement that they put forward 8,500 troops on the border region with ukraine. in that statement announcing these military exercises, he said that the troops there would be practicing unconventional warfare, how to deceive an enemy and take them by surprise. clearly that kind of language is going to create an awful lot of anxiety here in kiev, because not only do they think here in the capitol that russia has designs on crimea but there is the belief that the russians are also looking at the eastern and

southern regions of mainland ukraine, because there are an awful lot of ethnic russians there, as well. in addition to conventional troops conducting that military exercise, there's information being released by the intelligence community that they believe that there are agitators inside mainland ukraine preparing disruptions as we get closer and closer to that referendum on sunday. >> russia not backing down in the face of this international pressure, the country's deputy economic minister saying moscow will impose its own sanctions if the u.s. and e.u. move forward with its threats. >> that's right. very strong language coming out of the russian side of that equation. they say that if the west does impose these sanction programs in response to what is happening in crimea, russia can respond in kind, they say and as a matter of fact are saying you in the west, particularly in the e.u., you have as much to lose from this as we do. we can hurt you as bad as you

think you can hurt us. not only are they talking about sanctions of industrial goods, heavy metals, natural gas, but the russians are also saying not only will we stop dealing with you in the west, we'll turn to other partners, the world is not just about the e.u. there are other trading partners that russia says they can deal with. >> live in kiev, phil, thank you very much. >> three dead following the latest anti-government protest in venezuela. security forces there using water cannons on demonstrators, the death toll now is 25. people protesting against the lack of basic supplies, rising unemployment and high crime rates. >> intense clashes breaking out in istanbul, turkey. tens of thousands filling the streets for the funeral of a 15-year-old boy hit in the head by a tear gas canister by police. the boy who was just an innocent

bystander has now become a symbol for those demonstrations, many blaming turn key's prime minister for the death and demanding change. >> we don't want to raise our children in the current atmosphere. we want to raise them with freedom of expression, not oppression. >> we are standing today against the dictatorship, holding owl powers of judicial and policy in his hands. we stand for democracy and human rights. >> those demonstrations are expected to escalate as national elections begin in less than three weeks. >> syria's president bashar al assad making a rare public appearance, visiting shelters wednesday in a suburb of damascus, standing beside his bodyguards talking to women and hugging children. he was last seen in public in january where he attended prayers as a mosque. this weekend marks three years since the beginning of that bloody civil war. >> a tougher warning from the top afghanistan commander,

saying a full withdrawal of u.s. forces from afghanistan would mean abandoning the afghan people and handing al-qaeda a victory. that grim assessment comes as the u.s. and afghanistan have no security agreement beyond 2014. the president ordered the pentagon to draw up plans for total pullout this year. >> the navy is qualifying sailors from positions of trust, most lacking training in sexual assaults. >> rescue workers are looking for trapped people in those two apartment buildings in new york, a massive explosion leveled those buildings on wednesday in east harlem. they have been working throughout the night. what's the very latest.

>> they absolutely have. you can see behind me smoke billowing from the area as firefighters continue to spray the area down. they certainly do not want any flare ups today when it is so cold and the wind kicking up. some gusts upwards of 40 miles per hour here. seven people have been confirmed dead, three of those people they pulled out of the rubble overnight. this as search and rescue teams are still trying to find several people reported missing. >> i saw the smoke and i ran over there. >> new yorkers hurried to help after an explosion took down to east harlem amount buildings. >> it was like a bomb or something, i felt the ground vibrate. >> the wind worked against them as firefighters tried to keep the flames from spreading. smoke and ash hung heavy in the area making it difficult to find people. while residents smelled gas the night before the blast, no one actually reported it until the

next morning. new york city's mayor says the energy company responded within minutes, but it was too late. >> this is a tragedy of the worst kind because there was no indication in time to save people. >> the explosion comes one day after the center for an urban future released a report showing aging pipe lines are a serious problem in new york city. 6,000 miles of the city's natural gas lines are more than 50 years old. >> new york city has an old infrastructure in need of rare, and it certainly kind of came home that this is sometimes what hams when you have infrastructure that can approach 100 years old or more. >> aging infrastructure i guess not just a new york problem. the federal department of transportation said 50% of the nation's pipe lines were built in the 1950's and 1960 says. last week a gas leak in new jersey led to an explosion

killing one and injuring several others. in california, eight people died when another leak leveled a neighborhood. >> we've let our infrastructure get old and the companies that own the infrastructure don't necessarily have the incentive to invest in upgrading them and doing the upgrades we need to keep our cities safe. >> the ntsb now investigating the new york city explosion acknowledged the need to update infrastructure nationwide. while that will cost billions, some say it would save lives, like this new york construction worker may have done when he rescued a little girl from the rubble. >> she was saying help and full of blood. we grabbed her with a blanket and everything and got her to the car. >> area hospitals are telling us they have treated about 64 people injured in this explosion. we know at least three of them are children, one a 15-year-old boy in critical condition suffering from burns and broken bones. this as search and rescue teams continue to work through the

cold to find any people buried under the rubble. >> in east harlem, new york, erika, thank you very much. >> all changes are final with the affordable care act, that according to health and human services kathleen sebelius. she said the individual mandate now set in stone. it is the strongest statement yet that the administration is confident about the law heading into the final weeks of the signup period which expires march 31. >> three dead following a series of pileups on the snow covered ohio turnpike wednesday. it happened on a two-mile stretch between takano and cleveland. sixty vehicles involved in this wreck, a state trooper also injured when another driver slid into him, pinning him against another car. it is going to get cold. it's already cold in parts of the country and some areas are seeing temperatures dipping below zero. we go to nicole mitchell for more. >> what's causing the sub zero

temperatures is part of what i think might have contributed to that accident yesterday is the fact that we have high winds. i went back and looked up some of the observations and places did get six inches of snow or more but the winds were gusting 40, even 50 miles per hour along that stretch, so a lot of places as the system moves along has had whiteout conditions and reduced visibility, making it more difficult on the roads. states like maine under that snow especially this morning. the wind behind this system, this is a potent system in terms of pressure change, and that's when we get more dramatic winds, drawing in the cold air from canada. the winds are contributing and still gusting in the 30-40-mile an hour range, contributing to the chilly wind chill, you add temperatures from single digits to 20s with the winds and that's where we get the negative. probability feels like minus 26.

that's not pretty especially when you consider yesterday places along the coastline in the 50's, 60's e.'s, close to 70 degrees for washington, d.c. then tog wind chills in the single digits this morning. that feels like a 70-degree change, just air temperature wise, 40-50 degrees in about 12 hours. so, we're going to recover quickly. i'll have more on that temperature story coming up in just a little bit. >> if that was not enough, more wintery weather, meaning more headaches across the country, the high price tag coming with cleaning up and shutting down all because of this harsh winter. >> the demand for legalized recreational marijuana is help to go provide an economic boost in some states. the plan companies have to keep businesses on a roll. >> a former follower of charles manson convicted of murder granted parole, why his freedom may be short lived. ♪

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only from xfinity. tv and internet together like never before. >> g.m. saying it knew of safety defects in its cars earlier than once thought, the ignition

problem detected in 2001. the company disclosing those new findings in documents filed with safety regulators. g.m. faces investigations aimed at determining why it was so slow to respond. >> j.c. penney is lee launching its home goods department today. the former c.e.-reduced the space and replaced it with trendier plans, the stock upgrading this week, expecting those new sections to boost sales. >> we'll see if consumers were able to shake off the winter chill. economists expect sales to rise slightly after declining in february. one analyst says the next few months will be tough for retailers. >> retailers have been warning us, you know, it's beginning, it's only the first month of the first quarter, but don't expect too much for the entire season, already lowering expectations for earnings, and that's

worrisome. >> wall street poised to open higher, dow futures up 16 points, starting at 16340, the s&p at 1868 and nasdaq at 4323. overseas asian markets ending mostly lower, shanghai posting a 1% gain. european markets are mostly mixed. >> it has been a budget o. buster, terrible winter across the country, the out of pocket expenses are adding up for states. the final tally won't be known nor months, but costs could climb as another storm roars across the country. >> it's been a rough winter, putting a chill on pocket books across the country. >> municipalities and states are feeling this at every level. the saltedding and sanding has been huge for states like new jersey and illinois.

illinois and chicago alone spent $100 million on clearing the roads and sanding. >> indiana, virginia and massachusetts, throwing through snow removal budgets at lightning speed, indiana spending $52 million, $20 million more than average. in virginia where the department of transportation maintains most county roads in addition to interstates, the cost overruns will likely exceed the snow removal budget by more than $100 million. massachusetts has been the second most expensive winter since 2007 at a cost of $103 million with more snow set to fall. the sub zero temperatures, snow, salting and plowing has battered roadways. >> chicago has radar $250,000 potholes since january 1, 100,000 more than this time last year. >> at $12 a patch, the city has already spent $3 million this year filling holes. the airline industry has been

hit particularly hard. according to aviation data, 108,000 adjustment flights have been canceled, expecting to cost airlines a half billion dollars. on the water, near record amounts of ice cover in the great lakes stressed commercial fishing and shipping businesses. the u.s. coast guard expanded ice breaking operations to help ships. ice breaking was operating at four times the average for the last five years. >> of course time lost, work lost, construction industry's been affected, now agriculture could be affected, because as we move into spring with late snows, flooding could be a problem, delaying planting. this could roll over into summer, into agriculture and the growing season. it's not over yet by a long shot. >> while it's unclear the final cost, financial experts say it's not likely to cause a major dent in the $7 trillion u.s. economy, americans have without question

felt the freeze. aljazeera, chicago. >> for those of you who have had enough hoping for some relief, the official start of spring is approaching, set to begin in just about a week, but until then, let's find out about the temperatures across the country with nicole mitchell. >> mother nature doesn't go by that spring clock. it doesn't mean it's over. i've seen snow well into the spring. the cold temperatures this winter in general have helped keep it around. not only snow seen around longer, the temperatures we've had this winter, this last system all all the way through the south the cold air has gun. sometimes it stalls out near florida, but nope. nobody feels bad for miami with those temperatures, but atlanta 60 degrees, now 34. you can see how widespread that cold air is. in the northeast, the

temperature drops 40 or 50 degrees from yesterday afternoon, but then you add in the wind and wind chills are well below zero from the northeast mid atlantic to the great lakes. you want to have that winter parka handy if you're heading out. cooler this morning for the east coast. we do have relief. everyone's looking forward to this. by the time we get into friday as the system moves out, the winds die down and temperatures start to nudge a little warmer, 10 or 15 degrees warmer already by tomorrow. back to you. >> residents in one texas town losing patience with a religious group that's moved in. >> they begin telling everybody that they were going to hell, that they were in the bondage of religion and these sorts of things. >> they are saying their community is under attack from a cult. israel approving a measure forcing some citizens once exempt from military service to serve. the motivation and emotional debate over it. >> life lessons hundreds of

millions of girls on becoming a woman, the program educating them about puberty. >> we'll have an update on rich peverley.

>> good morning, ahead in our next hour, israel approving a measure that would let me nate exemptions from service young orthodox men. >> puberty education recognized as a serious global issue. one group is looking to change that. >> in three days, crimea voters deciding whether to secede and become part of russia. ukraine's interim prime minister is trying to prevent that,

looking for support at the united nations today. yesterday, meeting with president obama at the white house. aljazeera's jennifer glasse has been following the run up to the vote in crimea. what is the status of military forces on the ground there now? >> there are thousands of military forces here across the peninsula, but here we've seen in the last day or so, thief taken a less public stance. when we first saw the military forces come in here about 10 days ago, there were war ships at the entrance toar tilly bay and war ships aggressively patrolling the peninsula seem to have gone away somewhere. there are fewer troops on the streets. they still blockade military bases, but less of a public stance, perhaps in response to the international criticism russia has garnered bringing troops here. >> what is the mood leading up to this referendum scheduled to

take place sunday? >> a lot of preparations underway, obviously a very quick time to get a very big vote done. the ballots are being printed up. many sympathy as a correct to 60 years where crimea was given to the ukraine. it was all the soviet union then, but many ethic russians here believe that it never should have been given away in the first place, having close ties with moscow, home to the russian black sea fleet here. they feel this will be a correction on sunday. they expect the vote to go their way and most of the campaigning here has been pro russian campaigning, bill boards springing up around town, again, mostly pro russian, despite the international condemnation here, the united states and european union saying the vote will be illegal. >> as we have been reporting, the interim prime minister meeting with the president and

today going before the u.n. security council. what does he hope to achieve? he's looking for international support. he wants recognition of his government, that's part of the problem, moscow doesn't recognize the new government in kiev. he needs money, as well. his government is desperately poor, about to default, they have had expected money from russia, the $15 billion loan given to the previous government, obviously on hold for now. the question is what can be done about this referendum on sunday. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is heading to london today to talk with his russian counter part in a last-ditch effort to get something done about this referendum. here, that is seen as a done deal. >> israel fighter jets striking a number of targets in the gaza strip after 60 rockets were fired there from southern

israel, the palestinian islamic jihad group claimed responsibility for those rockets. israeli war planes bombed what they call 29 terror sights. the israeli parliament phasing owl blanket exemptions for mill tears for orthodox students. hundreds of thousands of ultra orthodox jews holding protest in israel and new york city, exemptions from military service was given when israel was created in 1948. a journalist for an israeli newspaper joins us now in the studio. that law passed 65-1 out of 120 members. after all of these years of debate, why is it still so controversial? >> it's controversial because the problem has gotten bigger and bigger. when they first gave exemptions, 400 orthodox people have exemptions, now 65,000.

it's been a festering wounds between the secular and allot at a orthodox and now there's a coalition that does not have the ultra orthodox in them. this was a chance to legislate laws and the ultra orthodox are up in arms about it. >> when we see the number of people that took to the streets in israel and new york, some say these are people that just don't want to serve. >> i think there are probably a fair amount of people among them who don't want to serve, but many among them sincerely believe that by studying the torah, they are the ones actually saving israel and allowing it to exist and there are others, there's an anti sky onist faction and they just don't want to serve under any

circumstances. you can not but be impressed how heartfelt the prayers were against what they call this cruel decree. >> this law kicks in 2017, does exempt some, and when i say some, it says more than 1,000 students deemed especially gifted will be permitted to continue their studies, 2,000 students required to perform civilian national service and because of the delay, all 30,000 students now of draft age will be exempt, and then another 20,000 students 18-22 years of age will be exempt in my the age of 24 provided they stay in studies until then. are we talking about major legislation or window dressing on something they wanted to do just to make it look like they were getting tough. >> it's in the eyes of the beholder. one can't underestimate the

symbolic words for this, the ultra over the docks understand that that kind that's why they're reacting. some will refers to go to the army, and be liable to be put in jail. that's a situation which has not existed until now. it will be a major change. what the cynics are saying is that by 1917, the political situation might change, the ultra orthodox get into legislation and demand to cancel this law. >> is this something israel can take page from the united states history and muhammed ali who converts to islam and says i will not fight, but i will go to jail, and he went to jail, lost his title. should it not be the same in israel where if you don't want toified, look at sending people to jail where they can serve as conscientious objectors? >> we have an issue with that,

but these are coming for political reasons. this is a completely and uniquely jewish category where people say they have to study the torah and study the jewish law. >> muhammed ali had the same arguments saying he was doing it for islam. >> i understand, i'm saying it's a separate category, because we have conscientious objectors not doing it for religious reasons. these people think by going to the army, they will be stopping their studies of the torah for three years and they won't be able to get back to being the scholars that they want to be. >> thank you very much, a newspaper writer here in new york. >> a california correction board has approved parole for former chars man son follower bruce davis, the second time in as many years. governor jerry brown denied his parole request saying he is not convinced that davis has been straight forward. he was sentenced to life in prison for aiding man son in 1969 in a double murder.

he has 30 days to approve this latest request. >> residents of a small texas town say they're under assault from a cult group. over the last two weeks, the church of wells has brought businesses to the community, but desperate families say they've lost all contact with their sons and daughters. the group calls themselves the world's only true christians. >> it was new year's eve, 2011, the night dark and chris myers was worried about the r.v. broken down in front of his house. two men stood outside. >> i asked them where they are headed. they said they are headed here. >> the group was the beginning of the church of wells, founded in 2010 by three waco college students. the leaders all in their 20's traveled the country, recruiting members through street preaching before landing here. >> within days, the group had settled in the town of wells and over the last two years systematically buying house

after house in this small community. it's gone to the point where the towns people have spray painted their doors to keep this group out. >> the church now numbers 100 members, owns a gas station and grocery store, wimp many residents boycott. >> impasse stores a small church next to church of wells properties. he said the communal type living and message of dammation have earned it the reputation of a cult. >> they begin telling everybody that they were going to hell, they were in the bondage of elidgen. >> according to their recorded sermons, the church believes salvation requires cutting ties with one's own family. patty and andy grove say their 20-year-old daughter joined the group and no longer speaks to them. they say when they tracked her down in wells, she appeared to be brainwashed. >> she goes mom, you make me

smile and i'm not supposed to smile. i'm supposed to be down. i think that ripped my heart out. >> pastor said they are just one of many families from around the country who ever come looking for loved ones who joined the group. >> most all of these people are very intelligent, come from very good, strong family backgrounds. >> what would make someone like that break? >> keep them weak in their body, weak in their mind. >> the f.b.i. says the church of wells is on the agencies radar. local police have investigated the death of a three-day-old in factual born to a church member in 2012. according to a statement from the child's father, he and other church members did not seek medical treatment for the baby, because they believe she would be resurrected. a grand jury did not press charges. >> that's not faith. that's not godly. >> what was it?

>> i would almost call it murder. >> we tracked down the church of wells recluesive leader sean morris. >> we want to let you guys explain some of perhaps the false assumptions about you guys. >> no, i don't want to. thank you. >> a church member who did not wish to be identified said the allegations against leaders are false. >> they make these people look like they're monsters and they're not, you know quarterback they're just regular people like you and i. >> they can come across as very poll light, but also the most judgmental and at times hostile people i've ever met. i hope they leave. >> for now, the church of wells is staying put while distraught families continue to search for answers. wells, texas, aljazeera. >> we have it you to tune in tomorrow for part two of our special series. we follow the path of catherine groves, her family said she

disdisappeared from her home in arkansas later traced to the church of wells. >> arizona's governor jan brewer said she is not going to seek a third term, announcing her decision at a school near phoenix. she became governor after janet no pal tan know resigned. >> looking at ending the death penalty, the house voting wednesday to repeal capital punishment. the bill now heads to the republican led senate, the democratic governor supports the bill. the vote took place in the same day that the house rejected an amendment which would ever spared the state's only death row inmate. >> kentucky could soon legalize marijuana on him as a treatment for kids with uncontrollable ceases's seizures, unanimously proving a bill sunday. anyone enrolled in an a. trial can be treated with extract from

can bass. it is given orally and contains low amounts of t.h.c., the chemical which creates the high that marijuana users experience. >> marijuana sales are booming in colorado, big business fueling a growing demand for a variety of professionals and entrepreneurs. we look at this new workforce. >> consider this denver emporium candy factory or all things marijuana. in fused sodas, truffles, it offers more than 100 green he hadbles. the founder dubbed the willie wanka of we'd feels like he scored the golden ticket. >> we have 40 full time team members. >> it is expected to double in

the next year, since colorado began legal sales of recreational marijuana in january. business here has increased 500%. the majority of that he is sales come from licensed marijuana dealers in state. edibles that contain t.h.c. content can't be shipped because pot is still banned under federal law. the so-called green rush is attracting workers like john chambers, a logistics manager who packages all of their products. >> i was formerly in the technology industry, and i would have never imagined the number of opportunities that exist here. >> there are new opportunities popping up every day. since california first legalized medical marijuana two decades ago, 19 states have followed suit. >> today, there are roughly 45,000 full time employees working at dispensaries like this. >> we keep hearing more and more people, as we grow, we have different democrats that we need to fill positions for.

>> at this dispensary in los angeles, those jobs include bud tenders. >> that is the skywalker 25. >> licensed consultants who add advise about different marijuana strengths. there are pot processors and security guards. bucky minor acts as a sous-chef. >> there is where we put our plant material. >> grinding up all the can bass used in edibles. the demand for marijuana jobs is to high in these states there are even websites devoted specifically to the industry. >> when you get into actually working with patients and working with marijuana and how it benefits medicinally, it's a really particular skill set and you have to go find people that are educated with that. >> can bass investors and entrepreneurs say sales could reach $10 billion in five years and dixie elixirs is preparing for that, investing in a new

facility to keep up with demand. aljazeera, los angeles. >> legal marijuana sales are set to begin in washington state this summer, estimated at a generate half a billion dollars in sales. >> we're finding more about the cams of that hockey player last week. this had a lot of people concerned. >> things are looking. you. dallas star rich peverley will miss the rest of the season as doctors look to make sure it doesn't happen again. he suffered a cardiac event and collapsed on the bench during a game with the columbus blue jackets. the doctor says his heart likely raced out of control before stopping for 10 seconds. the doctor says peverley will have another corrective procedure and that it's too soon to know fell be able to continue his career. the two men held a press conference wednesday at

st. paul's hospital where peverley is still admitted. he is thankful to be alive and thankful to his supporters. >> i'd like to say thank you to my wife and family for their love and support. finally, i'd like to thank everyone from past and present teammates and management, coaches, my agent, fans, and media and the entire nhl family for all their support. it's been very much grateful. >> his season for participating in hockey this year is over, he's done, and so the next process is to do this definitive procedure. it's usually fairly effective at getting them back into normal sinus rhythm, keeping it there. there's a risk that they can bounce back into ate trial fibrillation. >> kobe bryant is going to miss the rest of the regular season, recovering from a fracture just below the knee. while he's been out, he's had

plenty of time to think about the sorry state of his lakers, the team 20 games under .500. here's his thoughts on righting the ship. >> i think we have to start at the top in terms of the culture of our team. what kind of culture to we want to have, what kind of system, how do we want to play. it starts there, you build the team accordingly. we're 100 games under .500. i can't be satisfied with that. this is not what we stand for, what we play for. >> l.a.'s good nba team has one again behind 30 points and 15 rebounds from blake griffin, beating golden state 111-98. the clippers have a nine-game win streak, their third longest ever. the record is the best in team history. >> from the penthouse to the out house. the philadelphia 76ers were once

a proud franchise, featuring dr. j and winning championships. this is not a proud franchise anymore, losing wednesday night to the sacramento kings 115-98. that is their 18th loss in a row. that is not the nba record for futility. the cavaliers lost 26 in a row a couple of years back. after wednesday, coach brown said it's not doom and gloom. we will have another good day tomorrow. another? that's sports for this hour. >> that's usually the last words of the coach before he's not the coach anymore. >> that comes right after the owners hey, he's fine, we're not firing him. >> i have 100% confidence in him. >> exactly. >> a majority of girls around the world still in the dark about how their bodies work. we'll talk to a group looking to shed new light on puberty. >> pope francis celebrating one

near as the leader of the catholic church. >> just talking about futility, you might think that shoveling is futile at this point. i'll tell you when the snow finally tapers off. >> this is a live look at farmington maine cleaning up after another round of snow.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. straight ahead, we'll talk about a new four educate girls about their bodies. >> first, where it's going to rain and snow across the country. >> we still have some areas into new england, the system moved out, most places clearly out, sunshine moving in behind this. it tapers off and more into

maine in the afternoon hours. this storm heaviest amounts one or two feet, where chicago only got a couple inches. it added to the season total, the whole season that we can get snow, now close to 80 inches. that's almost seven feet of snow through the winter that we've seen and that gets us less than a foot away from the all time record through all of history for being a snowy winter. if you feel about to surrender in shoveling the snow, it's not your imagination. >> somewhere in chicago, somebody is saying it will melt. >> today the u.n. form ally recognizing puberty as a serious global issue, educating girls. they want to make sure no girl is left behind when their monthly cycle begins. now the u.n. is teaming up with proctor gamble educating millions of girls about what really happens when their bodies begin to change.

chris castle is with the u.n. each year, 50 million girls worldwide go through puberty but 50% don't know about menstruation where it happens. in this day and age with so much information available, how do we get here? >> it remains unfortunately a topic that in many places is still taboo and communities find it still very difficult to raise and discuss, including in schools. >> i was also surprised that it is a situation that varies from country to country. ghana, 95% of the school miss school because of menstruation, ethiopia report problems at school. it's not only an issue of ignorance, it's an issue of under educating girls in a lot of developing countries. >> that's right. in recent years, we've seen countries where there's been a fantastic progress toward supporting girls' access to

education. countries have been doing a lot to make sure girls realize they have a right to education. we now know girls don't always have education. >> not only do they not have education, they don't have supplies. >> water is an issue, separate toilets between boys and girls so they have privacy and safe disposal. it's a whole range of things. we're delighted to team up with proctor and gamble that has a program reaching 20 million boys and girls every year with puberty education. >> when we say there are a lot of countries still in the dark when it comes to the issue of puberty, there are some places in the globe where they force women to go into dark rooms,

small houses and wait for their monthly cycle to end. which countries do you believe specifically need to be targeted? >> it's a challenge in many place. we have a continue to work speaking out both in terms of gender equality and power of women in girls and the importance for countries and ministers of education to work with young people, students, girls and boys, young men and women to make sure we're making progress so they understand puberty, so they're prepared for changes, particularly for girls, penetration can be a challenge to manage. >> how do you break the taboo? >> we believe education is a key part of that. if we can reach young people, make sure educators are trained and comfortable to teach about the issue. parents expect schools to provide this education. they want schools to provide

accurate, scientific information. >> you are going to be passing this information along, it's a difficult issue for some countries people to talk about. they have all of these big words and educated language. how do you get that done? >> well, we don't advocate sending in doctor from the sufficient. we work with minute cities of education and we believe teachers and education professionals themselves are best placed to be trained to deliver this in a way that will be relevant to the culture of each school and country. >> we appreciate you being with us, because it is a very important issue. once again, 50 million girls worldwide, 60% of them still in the dark. >> while women develop diabetes while pregnant, many face health

risks later in life. women are more likely to get heart disease later in life if they get gestational diabetes. the risk of clogged arteries is high. doctors are looking into whether this could be an early warning sign for future heart problems. >> one year ago today, pope francis becomes the leader of the roman catholic church. the pope has enjoyed enormous popularity around the world, even gracing the covers of time magazine and rolling stone. the pontiff rejecting many trappings, focusing his light on the polite of the poor. pope francis has an 85% favorable rating among u.s. catholics. as the pope moves into his second year on the job, we take a look back at moments from his first year, as always, there is

more news straight ahead in two minutes.

>> welcome to the news hour in doha. our top stories, more israeli air strikes in gaza after palestinian rockets are launched from southern israel. >> an audio tape leak reveals one of egypt's most famous politicians predicting the next election will be a far as. crackdown in the drc,