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tv   News  Al Jazeera  March 13, 2014 11:00am-11:31am EDT

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conversation continues. aljazeera.com/considerthis. we'll see you next time. >> welcome to aljazeera america. i'm del walters and these are the stories we're following for you. the latest on the search for malaysia flight 370. newly discovered engine data showed that the plane could have been flying for four more hours after its last known location. the intercession of crimea. and there are concerns, u.s. border patrols are going too far. people taking matters in a their own hands.
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the search continues for that missing malaysia airlines flight its way to china, and the mystery at this hour is widening. a wall street journal investigator says that they are looking into the possibility that the plane flew four more hours after it last made contact with air traffic control. this investigators is growing each day, and what are you hearing from your sources? >> it's complex and confusing and the tensions are high as you can imagine. with the plane gone for six days, no sign of it, and no idea where it went. as you mentioned, the wall street journal is reporting that possibly system that's monitor the engine health and send it back to the company for engine manufacturer, rolls royce, those systems may have continued operating after the plane
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disappeared from radar. it's something intriguing but it's something that was denied today by malaysian officials. >> whenever there are new details, they must be crab rated. specifically about [ unintelligible ] as far as they are concerned, those reports are inaccurate. >> despite that, the two aviation officials that i talked with this morning said that they are surprised by the comments from the defense minister. they said this does remain an active area of investigation, and still a lot of information and data to go through, and it doesn't mean that they're confirming this, but this isn't entirely ruled out. and a lot of questions this morning. >> they're looking into the tip that there were chinese satellite images with possible debris that came. >> it looked like a couple of large pieces of debris floating
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on the ocean where the plane was seen flying, and unfortunately, disappointing news about that today. >> -- dispatched this morning to investigate potential debris. we deployed and found nothing. >> adding to all of this uncertainty, the chinese are saying that they didn't mean to release those satellite minimals, and it's unclear what that's supposed to mean. continuing with 40 ships and aircraft combing that widened search area, still looking for any sign of the plane. and today on washington on capitol hill, the ceo of bong will be testifying before a congress subcommittee. and it wasn't related to this accident b. you i wouldn't be surprised if he gets asked about it. >> lisa stark for us in washington d.c. and thank you so much. with so many questions
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unanswered about the police night, experts are trying to figure out how far off-course it might have flown. cod curtis joins us to talk about how wide the possibilities are. >> the range where this aircraft has gone goes as far as india, australia, indonesia, and parts of china and mongolia, and this could greatly expand the search area. >> elsewhere, the ukrainian prime minister, addressing crimea today. earlier today, russia's defense ministry saying that it had posted 8500 additional soldiers on the ukrainian border, and add that to the troops already inside of the ukraine. phil, what can the u.n. do at this point in time? >> well, probably not a lot, del, frankly. we have to keep in mind that
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russia handguns a seat on the u.n. security council, if there's any talk of a resolution, they can veto it. and if they talk of course, there's still consolidation going on on the ground in crimea. and nobody is going to ship those soldiers through any means unless the kremlin basically agrees to it. so de facto, they have annexed that territory and waited for the vote on sunday of course. but as far as what prime minister yetsin hopes to achieve with his talks with the u.n., other than getting support and legitimacy on the global stage. del? >> and in the meantime, the international community refusing to accept crimea joining russia, and we're hearing that non-russian supporters are already getting out of the country. >> reporter: yes, we have heard the reports out of crimea,
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there are a lot of people running for the exit space before the referendum. many people who are pro kiev are coming out and coming back to kiev, and there are an awful lot of those minority muslims very concerned about this referendum. and we hear that they're leaving, and of course the tuta community itself, calling for a boycott of that referendum. but with all of the presence of troops, it's an intense area of the country, and a lot of people are getting out just to see where the dust will settle after that referendum. but certainly, it's a very tense situation out there in the country and the peninsula, and a lot of people want to avoid it altogether. >> meanwhile, in washington, u.s. lawmakers are pushing back against russia for its aggression in crimea. and the senate looking at a bill that was approved by the senate
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relations committee yesterday. that would authorize the $1 billion aid package for the government of ukraine. libby casey is on capital him. and despite all of the tough talk on capitol hill, i understand that the bill is having a tough time making it through congress. >> it passed the foreign relations committee 14-3 with a tre use of republicans voting against it. and it includes the $1 billion for ukraine, and sanctions talking about the revocation of passports and visa, and also assets for officials who are accused of committing gross human rights abuses against the anti-government protesters. what's controversial about the bill is it also changes how u.s. money is sent to the ins, the international monetary fund. and it says that the u.s. can move billions of dollars from the crisis account into the general fund. and republicans fear that could
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diminish u.s. influence at the ims. imf. senator jim rich of idaho, this is what he told aljazeera. >> we all want to pass a bill to support the ukraine and the unfortunate thing they have done is brought into this a political issue, and that is the structure of the imf, which is an entirely separate issue. and they know this can't pass. >> he says that the issues should not be lumped together. another senator who voted against this moving forward is rand paul from kentucky. and he has concerns that any money sent to ukraine in loans will end up in the hands of the russians as a passthrough. here's where it gets sticky. the house republicans have passed a bill on their side relating it to the loan
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guarantee for the ukraine and they're not likely to go for the imf aspect of this. and here's the sticking point, it may get pushed back until later this month and congress has to hammer out what to do with this imf issue that has crept into things. >> meanwhile, another group of senators led by republican, john mccain, headed to ukraine, and what do they hope to accomplish? >> a bipartisan group, there you see both sides of the aisle represented, those gentlemen were last in ukraine in december when a lot of the tension was bubbling to the service. and they want to get there on the eve of the referendum of crimea, whether they should split off. and they want to be there to
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show that the u.s. government, including president obama, don't support any breakaway or secession of crimea. they will get back this weekend. >> libby casey on capitol hill. and thank you very much. and meanwhile, crimea's future could rest in a small seaside town. the history books where joseph stalin and others grew up after world war ii yalta, it could change again. >> a hint of spring in yalta, he looks out over the black sea. but if he lost his battle in the end, all of the signs here are that russia is about to strike back. they read, why they should vote yes to crimea rejoining russia, but they don't seem to need much persuading. [ speaking russian ]
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libya says if only we had more leaders like putin, those in kiev are just fascists. maria said this land was given away to ukraine, but it has always been russia here. and olga joins in. we are russians, but they call occupants. what occupants? whether people want to belong to ukraine or russia, they have to make a living, and on this stretch of coastline, people rely on tourism. and now they're worried ta all of this uncertainty is going to destroy their livelihoods. >> it's a very unique atmosphere. >> i was shown around one of yalta's finest hotels. pre-aristocracy, but right now, sadly empty. as everyone calls their holidays, the hotel lays off it's staff. >> we have 300 people in our
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team. and we fired 60% of them. they have kids, they have families, you know, and so most of them are local. and especially here on the south coast, 90% of the families, they somehow depend on the hospitality industry. so yes, we're a little bit afraid. >> up the hill, the czar's summer palace. site of a famous meeting between these three men that you might recognize. in 1945, they came here to redraw the map of europe. and now it seems that russia might be doing redrawing of its own, and this time, there's no agreement with the western palace. aljazeera, yalta in crimea. >> three people are dead following the latest anti-government protest in venezuela. and that brings the death toll from months of demonstrations to 25. and meanwhile, latin leaders are
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in chile trying to diffuse the crisis. >> in venezuela, continued una baited. in chile they held an emergency meeting to help diffuse the crisis before it spirals out of control. >control. >> interpreter: of course we want the region in peace, and if there's conflict, as is the american brothers, we have to sep. >> reporter: the block says that it will send a commission to venezuela, no later than april 1st, to promote a dialogue and to advise all sides of the conflict. [ speaking spanish ] >> if you told me to sign the resolution and the battle we have under ever taken for democracy -- >> reporter: in fact, it was venezuela that proposed the machine meeting in the first
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place. while venezuela's government may welcome his involvement, many of the opponents view the south american block with suspicion, many seem far more interested in defending venezuela's institution al order, that he was elected rather than the way the government abuses it's power. as the meeting ended, some foreign ministers did not shirk the issue. we propose a way to build peace in venezuela with respect for freedom of expression. so far the opposition forces in venezuela refuse to negotiate with the president, until the protesters and political leaders are released. the attempt to bring all sides to the table may be a long shot,
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but in a conflict that's taking more lives by the day, they at least offer a glimmer of hope. santiago. >> the new york police department says a 7th person has been found dead from yesterday's building collapse in east harlem. rescue workers are looking for at least five others still missing. they tried to contain the five alarm fire. fire witnesses said they smelled gas a day before the blast. it has been a year ago today since pope francis i became pope. he said pray for me to millions of followers in nine languages this morning. the argentinian-born pope rejecting many of the trappings of the papacy. we have agents to monitor their borders but who watches
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them? a group of activists saying that the border patrollers are abusing their power.
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>> today, president obama is taking another step to reduce income inequality. changing the overtime laws. he wants to make more workers eligible for extra pay for extra work. today change which jobs are classified as overtimex empty because they're considered to be supervisory or because they pay more than $55 a week. and the justice department wants to reduce prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses. this morning, if shorter sentences would be fair and reduce costs. the proposal is voted on next month, and if approved, senses would be voted on for about a year. and also asking congress for
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$52 million to put fences on the u.s. border everybody thinks that the money would be rel spent, including residences in a tiny town in arizona. >> it's early morning at the border patrol checkpoint in arizona. agents with sniffer dogs check each vehicle, but at this border checkpoint, there's something unusual. minor this is a newer model sedan. >> a group of citizens monitoring the monitors. many people here are fed up by the disruption caused in their daily life by the checkpoint and the heavy-handed presence of the border patrol in the area. >> many people in this community believe that our communities has been treated as if we live in a war zone. >> the customs and border patrol agency told aljazeera, "checkpoints are a highly effective tool in our efforts to secure our nation's borders." >> i have to go through two
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border patrol checks every day of my life. >> stacy is a nurse who works 50 kilometers away. >> i don't think this is what any of our american soldiers fought for. this is not freedom. this is not the right to move around freely. >> people here in aravaca are monitoring not only what's going on at the border checkpoint, but finding ways to help desperate migrants without breaking the law. it's illegal to drive migrants anywhere or shelter them, but it's not illegal to help them survive. >> this is a short-term emergency food pack. >> volunteers stock water and food packets, and they keep a cabinet full of basic medical supplies. >> blisters are always a factor. if you get severe blisters, which many travelers do, you can't walk. you get left behind. if you get left behind in this desert, you die.
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>> more than 2,000 migrants have died crossing the desert in this area since 2001, according to local officials. and it's only human to help people in need. >> when they come to your door, and at the haven't had water for a long time. and they haven't had anything to eat, it's just i think a person's responsibility to do something. >> about one-third of the people in aravaca have signed a petition asking the government to dismantle the checkpoint, but border patrol told aljazeera that the checkpoint isn't going anywhere. >> right now, another down day on wall street. the dow down 32 points, earlier gains evaporating. not enough to keep wall street
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in the green. the winter weather didn't stop shoppers in february. retail sales rising for the first time in three months. consumers buying everything from cars to clothing to furniture. and gm saying that safety defects in the cars earlier than indicated. the problem was detected in saturn ions as early as 2001. documents filed with safety regulators. gm faces a number of regulations to determine why it was so slow to respond. coming up on aljazeera america, the more snow we get, the more headaches that cities and towns have to deal with, and now they're struggling to pay the bill.
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>> i'm del walters and here are the headlines at this hour. newly discovered engine data indicated that the malaysian airliner could have flown for hours after losing contact with air traffic control. ander but malaysia quickly missed the reports. and the chinese satellite pictures released yesterday are not from flight 370. security concerns about the crisis in ukraine. earlier today, russia said that it posted 8500 soldiers on the ukrainian border in addition to
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the 30,000 troops already in crimea. pope francis marking a milestone today, a year since becoming the leader of the catholic church. he has 12 million followers on his twitter page. the pontiff is in his first year on sweeping reforms for the church. creating a headache for a lot of transportation deposits. some exceeded by millions to keep it pothole free. >> it has been a rough winter, putting a chill on pocketbooks across the country. >> this is at every level. almost all of them are over budget. the salt is used for states like new york, new jersey, illinois and chicago alone. we spent $100 milliona alone. >> for indiana and
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massachusetts, plowing through budgets at lightning speed. indiana has spent $52 million this winter, more than $22 million than average. in addition, the cost overruns will likely exceed the $151 million snow removal budget and in massachusetts, it's the most expensive insurgent since 2007 at the cost of $103 million with more snow set to fall. subzero temperatures, snow and plowing has battered roadways. city of chicago has repaired 250,000 potholes since january 1st, 50,000 more than last year. the city has spent $3 million this year filling holes. the airline industry has been hit particularly hard. according to aviation data compiler, more than 800 u.s. flights have been canceled since december 1st. it's expected to cost airlines
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nearly half a billion-dollar. on the water near-record amounts of ice cover in the great lakes has stretched commercial shipping businesses. the u.s. coast guard has had to expand ice breaking operations to help ships. in the first quarter of 2014, ice breaking was four times the average of the last five years. >> of course time lost, work lost, and construction industry has been affected and now agriculture has been affected because as we move to spring and we have the late snows, flooding and agriculture and growing season, so it's not over yet by a long shot. >> while it's still unclear what the final cost of this year's polar plunge would be, while it's not likely to cause a major dent in the $17 trillion u.s. economy, americans have without question felt the freeze. aljazeera, chicago. >> and it ain't over yet. we have had so much snow this
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winter, i was thinking about kareem abdul-jabbar wouldn't be able to see above the snow totals. >> a number of cities have set a snow total for the winter record, but now more cities like chicago, the snow west season, that's one summer to the next, and out now, we have had almost 80 inches of snow, and that's 7 feet high. and we're 11 inches away from the all-time snow west winter ever. at this point, i don't think you want to break it, but shooting distance, we have more to go. here's what we're looking at right now, it has tapered off for chicago, and now the east coast, still anywhere from massachusetts up through maine. and it is with the wind heavy enough at times, we reduce visibility up to a mile. and that's one of our problems causing accidents but it's hard to see the roads at times. otherwise, for the rest of the region, that cold air has sunk
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into canada and the system has a dramatic pressure change, and that channeled all of the wind, and easily in the 20 to 30-mile range, sometimes gusting to 40 miles per hour, and what that does, you have the cold air and you add in the wind gusts to the temperatures in the 20s all the way to the single digits, and it means some of the windchills are below 0 right now. and that's not comfortable, especially when you compare it to yesterday. the bottom kind of fell out for us, and as we look to the northeast, we had anywhere from the 50s to almost 70° in washington d.c., so the temperatures dropped in some cases 40 to 50°. 20s and 30s, colder air down to atlanta. and only 53 today. but the midwest already had this, and look at how nicely they're warming up. 64 for denver, dry skies, and not really anything significant on the horizon. on the east coast, the
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temperatures will rise, and in the one section of the country, dry and with the wind, watch for the fire danger. back to you. >> somewhere under all of that snow is spring. thank you for watching aljazeera america. i'm del walters in new york, and "inside story" is next. >> the acting crimean president is in washington to see the president. what can he ask for and what will he get. that's the "inside story." into hello, i'm ray

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