>> good afternoon, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city. here are the stories we're following right now. with two hours of voting left, the world awaits the outcome of the referendum in crimea. >> intense fighting in syria leads to a government gain against the rebels. >> they're smarter than your average bear, a zoo showing campers what nod to do on a trip to the great outdoors.

>> it's historic day in ukraine on the peninsula of crimea where people are voting on whether or not to join russia or to become more independent from ukraine. the polls there close in two hours and officials say this is the highest voter turnout ever. the country's interim government in kiev along with the u.s. and european union have called today's votes illegal. russian president vladimir putin said the referendum complies with international law. jennifer glasse joins us live. with polls closing in a couple of hours, do people know which way this vote is going to swing? >> here they certainly do. they didn't even wait for the polls to close here. they've been partying all afternoon on the streets here. you can hear the music behind me. that's a regular weekend thing

here on this walk way by the sea, but over in the central square, they were literally dancing in the street, flying the russian flag, a clearly indication of what they think the outcome will be. it's in that square later this evening we expect the exit polls to be announced, but nobody here in this city is in any doubt how this vote is going to go. it's going to go in moscow's favor. this city that the majority ethnic russian population much like the rest of crimea, the russian black sea fleet is here with a strong russian connection. many here think it's correcting a mistake made 60 years ago. one woman told me the celebration today is just as big as when the soviets went into space, however long ago, she said a huge celebration here. people have been really very much, very, very june land here. >> you mentioned how happy they are. if crimea votes to join russia, what happens next?

>> well, the crimeaen parliament will declare independence then petition russia to become independent. there are a minority here, ethnic tartar population very unhappy, they boycotted the vote today as well as a number of ethnic ukrainians who don't know their future place here in a crimea that's part of russia. the fleet is called to be turned over to crimea once the results of made public. how the transition will happen, we've seen the last couple of days, people lining up at banks trying to get money out. if this becomes part of russia, the ruble will become the currency here. what that will take place, how people will pay their bills and

all the sort of practicalities of modern life become an uncertainty. while people are very, very happy, many here are happy about what happens, i think the transition will be the next interesting step. >> jennifer, thanks so much for being with us this afternoon. >> aljazeera's jacki roland reports from crimea's capitol. >> despite the cold, despite the rain, they were waiting in line even before the voting station opened. there's been an enthusiastic turnout in this neighborhood where many people believe they will be better off with russia. it is like a holiday for us. i was born in the soviet union as part of russia and we want to go back there. >> i would work for ukraine but because of that self-proclaimed government and all the mess, i will vote for russia. >> the referendum was organized in a hurry and without an up to

date electoral register. some people didn't get their voting cards. >> people have to choose between two alternatives. union with russia or greater autonomy from ukraine. keeping things all the way they are is not an option. >> the prime minister of crimea cast his ballot early, in favor of union with russia, but insists there's no pressure to vote in a certain way. >> there is no pressure on the people. you can see for yourself, people are free to vote. personally, i don't feel or see any pressure. >> the security forces who are staunchly pro russian and never far away a reminder of who controls crimea right now. the first results will be announced shortly after the polls close, but among the people we spoke to, there was little doubt about the outcome. jacki roland, aljazeera, crimea. >> let's go now fill itner, following the developments in

kiev. how are people there where you are in kiev reacting to this referendum? >> well, you know, here in kiev, it's pretty clear cut as far as the government is concerned that this referendum is not legitimate. they will not recognize it no matter the result. they also say they intend to take russia into the international court system to contest their backing of the referendum. now, you know, here in kiev, there's also a real sense of anxiety. while the world is paying attention to crimea, the feeling here is this may just be the start, that russia may have designs on more territory within ukraine. now, it being sunday, we went to a church and attended an orthodox service there. we saw people operating, of course operating for peace, but

also trying for their young men who they feel may soon be in a war footing. they're also of course operating for the future of their country. >> we hope the russian people will look at the ukrainian people and become free. from the regime, from putin, we hope for help from the americans. we love america a lot. we want the democracy you have. we want to live in a free country. >> there's a real sense here, morgan, of fear and anxiety. we saw that at church, a very large turnout around the city. they are also saying things like these russians, they're also christian orthodox. we share so much together, why is it that we're so, you know, conflicted. why are we at ends? let's put the politics away, we're one people, brothers in a lot of ways, so we saw that today, as well, but, you know, there's just this major sense of

concern, not only about crimea. it must be reiterated, not just about crimea but how this crisis might spiral into something much larger. >> let's go back to competing perspectives that you just mentioned. according to the government in kiev, is it that bad? >> it's very interesting the point about conflicting perspectives. sergey lavrov and secretary of state kerry had a phone conversation today and both the state democratic and russian foreign minister both touched on the same subject, the issue of the east, but looking at it from very different perspectives, one issue, two perspectives. the russians say you've got to

control those nationalists coming out of kiev. the state democratic says you've got to stop the provocations that are going on out in the east. they blame russian agent provocateurs and that is the line kiev follows. both sides looking at the crisis, at the potential of this getting bigger, but looking at it from their own prism. >> phil ittner, as always, a pleasure to have you from kiev. >> the european union and u.s. are detailing their plan to impose sanction honest russia. e.u. members met to hash out details of who would be targeted. according to an e.u. official, russian president vladimir putin and foreign minister sergey lavrov will not be on that list. let's go live to our correspondent, dana lewis joining us from don don. you've had some pretty interesting insight to this all day. who is the e.u. going to be

after? who is going to be on that list? >> i wish i had the list, but we know there's about 130 people and there are going to be people very close to president putin, including his right hand man, who was the head of the presidential administration, he's long been the right hand of president putin. also now one of the world's largest publicly traded oil companies and the head also of gas prom, alexei miller, one of the largest companies in the world. they carry the gas from russia through ukraine to europe. they are part of this list of 130 people or so. doesn't mean that there's going to be owl of the 130 people targeted, but certainly that is the list they've been looking at on the e.u. list of prominent russians to be hilt by asset freezes and travel bans on monday. some of the others on that list include rich oligarch, members of russia's parliament, the duma and army generals. will it work?

from the inner circle, knowing it well, it will work if the right people are targeted. >> the people calling themselves part of the inner circle. it will be absolutely untouched and effective measures. >> i think if you listen to the interview a bit further on, i was struck by he said that putin wants to return to the soviet union, that he sees any sort of compromise as weakness and he's not willing to compromise at all. >> you mentioned the duma,

oligarchy, the generals. what's the fallout of the economic sanctions going to be, how is that going to hurt putin and russia economically? >> they're going to take action also against american and european firms in russia, but clearly russia is much more exposed and isolated, so it's going to cost them billions of dollars. already in the falling market, businesses will have trouble getting credit and those with credit are having american banks and banks like credit swiss restructure lending now including possible margin calls. some of the russian money is moving back to russia, some going to asia, singapore and hong kong. this week $105 billion in u.s. treasury bond holdings mysteriously moved away from the fed and it was likely the analysts in the know saying it was the russian government moving its u.s. treasury holdings offshore. the russian economy is going to get bruised and battered in

this. >> reporting from london, take that thanks so much. voting is underway in serbia where 6.5 million people are heading to the polls to elect a new parliament. the ruling party is widely expected to maintain power thanks to its popular antti corruption campaign and efforts to join the european union. >> syrian rebels and assad forces continue to fight over the city of yabroud just north of damascus. rebels have been using yabroud to move weapons from lebanon into syria, making the city strategically important. we have the latest and a warning, some of these images in this story are graphic. >> rebel defenses are crumbling in yabroud, short of ammunition and reinforcements, major armed groups have left the city north of the capitol of damascus, leaving behind the bodies of

dozens of fighters who were killed in the intense fighting that has been going on for weeks. now, if the syrian army backed by hezbollah fighters who are in control, seen here clearing areas and moving to the center of the city. most of the rebels are believed to have retreated to neighboring towns. >> most of the city has been destroyed, all kinds of rockets and rash bell bombs have been used. the town has been turned into a pile of rubble. the world has left us alone and the situation of the civilian is catastrophic. >> yabroud was a major rebel strong hold in the mountains. it was also a crucial weapons transit route. war in syria is shifting in president bashar al assad's favor, his army backed by air force hezbollah fighters, militia's from iran and iraq are launching a major offensive across the country.

by recapturing yabroud, they control most of the border areas with lebanon. the army is also consolidating grip on hopple's province and the a battle underway in a major supply route for the army. a wave of air strike and shelling could be a sign that the army is determined to win the war in the north. the opposition says without advanced weapons from their western and regional backers, fighting will continue for many years and more people will die. aljazeera. >> the search for the missing malaysia airlines plane has expanded, with 25 countries helping in the search. investigators say the flight was deliberately steered off course with all 239 passengers onboard. we report from kuala lampur. >> inside this gated community is the home of the airlines

captain of malaysia. police ever searched it, interviewed his family and examining the flight simulator the captain kept in his house. his friends were quick to defend him. this is a tribute posted on you tube. most of the comments say they don't believe he could have been involved in the plane says disappearance. >> because i know him as a person that cares for people and was responsible in his job, and if anything were to happen to the plane, he would make sure that everyone else, crew and passengers, their w welfare's taken care of before he took care of himself. that's the captain that i know. >> the co pilot's home was searched by police a day earlier. they say the captain and co pilot did not ask to fly together. he was also alleged to have invited female passengers into the cockpit on a flight in 2011, and was said to be smoking onboard. a neighbor, who only wants to be

known at ms. n. describes him at courteous. >> i just can say that i hope all the news doesn't want to expose how bad the pilot, no, because i think this is not because of the pilot. i think no one wanted this to happen. >> one of the passengers onboard the missing flight is an aircraft engineer on his way to beijing for work. his father said he hasn't been questioned by investigators, and pleaded for an end to all the speculation about who might be behind the disappearance. >> give time to the government to investigate all angles of this case so it can bring all passengers and the plane back safe and sound. >> investigators are now waiting for other countries to furnish them with background checks on non-malaysian passengers. >> police are looking closely at the crew and passengers onboard the flight, and engineers who

may have had contact with the aircraft before it took off. >> this means the list of potential suspects has grown and there's still no indication of who may have come to command the plane and why. >> naval officers are scanning the ocean for debris for missing malaysian airlines flight 370. each item they see is scanned and investigated to see if it might have come from the aircraft. two helicopters are aiding in the search, but nothing has been found. >> as the search enters its ninth day, fatigue is a factor for the search crews. we asked commander marks with the u.s. navy how concerned he was that they may never find this plane. >> i'm very concerned, first and foremost for our sailors out there.

we have about 700 u.s. navy sailors and we have to watch very carefully the fatigue level. we sent out grief counselors and chaplains to make sure that mentally they're doing ok and physically, too. you can't operate equipment 24 hours a day and you can't push people to work 24 hours a day, so we're very concerned about the fatigue level, watching it closely. that's where we are right now. >> you may not people it right now, but spring is in the air. how little investment and hard work is changing lives in the northwest.

>> a unique program in portland, oregon trying to bring out the soul of the city. we introduce you to the city's

creative laureate. >> it's about concentration and creativity. this class of seven and 8-year-olds have been handed some very expensive cameras and taught to have fun. all are helped by julie who holds the grand title of creative larr i can' laureate. this is the first place to have a creative laureate. the portland experiment is being watched closely across the country. >> this is just one initiative pushed by keith to stand out for the creative community. she receives just $5,000 a year. she insist it's not just about the arts, creativity can spring from anywhere and benefit the entire community. >> i hope that the role of the creative laureate is to talk about why creativity is important in a community, why

art matters. >> portland is a thriving creative center. the northwest city passed a new $35 tax to help fund and promote art in schools. at a time of budget cuts, that's normally one of the first things to go. the idea for a creative laureate came from sam adams, former mayor. he wanted to leaf a legacy, something that would outlast him. >> i hope every city, states, the united states steals the idea and appoints and names their own creative laureate. i think that all boats rise when every community has an advocate for the creative pursuits, for artistic pursuits. >> for the children at the school, they may not be sure of the political argumentive benefits or funding arts on the cheap. they're enjoying themselves and

parking an interest for the future. >> i've been taking pictures of doggies. they're my favorite. >> i like that you get to see some things that are interesting to you. >> they can see the results that can develop their skills. that's something they'll never lose, the creative laureate creating a legacy. >> spring is in fact just a few short days away. let's turn to julie for more on that. >> i'm ready for it. it feels like spring in the southeast. they have severe weather. april and may is when we see that ramp up. across portions of alabama yesterday, the target area was louisiana, into eastern texas, but this front continues to slide along the i-10 corridor bringing heavy, saturating train southern pores of georgia, also southern portion of alabama

where we have a tornado watch in effect all all the way into the florida panhandle. you can see these storms, that line of storms, that's a squall line, indicative of the fact that we've already seen damaging winds over 65 miles an hour. that is certainly enough to bring down frees and power lines. this tornado watch is in effect across southern alabama, far west and south portions of georgia and florida panhandle until 5:00 today. we'll monitor the chance to see damaging winds and tornado witness and hail. conditions are favorable to see tornadoes develop, but we're looking at warnings right now, severe thunderstorm warnings right around the tall hat see area. you need to seek shelter and stay off the roadways if you can. the rain will continue to push across the eye 10 corridor, make its way across the corridor later on. the ping band is ice. there's colder air to the north.

if you're traveling tomorrow, 7:00 in the morning, we're going to have a slow go around i-95 around washing don d.c., baltimore, into portions of the virginias. be careful traveling there. we're talking about three to six inches of snow, so it's probably hard to believe if you live in this area, but again towards the south, the severe thunderstorms are what we're going to be monitoring throughout the afternoon and day, so be careful if you're traveling there. morgan, back to you. >> coming up on aljazeera america, a look at our top stairs plus a hungry bear, a camp site full of food and a tent filled with sleeping campers. a zoo puts one of its most popular attractions to work. look at him go in a very powerful demonstration.

>> good afternoon, and welcome to al jazeera america. polls in ukraine's crimean planes close in two hours. russian president vladimir putin told german chancellor angela merkel that he is not backing down. the lebanese army said syria conducted multiple air strikes where the government is going after rebels. they've been battling over the town of yabroud for the past few days. authorities of investigating the

backgrounds of pilots and passengers in that missing malaysian jetliner, international teams expanding the search as the data suggestion the plane flew for seven hours after its last radio contact. i did could have reached the indian ocean or southern asia. >> grizzly bears did a pretty quick demonstration of their power, demolishing a mock camp site. they knock down the tent, there goes the sleeping bag and then the cooler are all destroyed in a matter of seconds. the point was to show of destruction can be prevented if a camp site is set up safely. >> i would suggest having your camp site spread out a little bit, store your food at least 100 yards from where you're cooking and another 100 yards from when you're sleeping. >> food should be hung higher

than 10 feet in a tree and campers shouldn't even leave food out. thanks for watching aljazeera america. you can follow us on line at aljazeera.com or on twitter. hi, i'm lisa fletcher, and you in "the stream." chocolate made in a 3-d printer, food innovations are everywhere. are they going to catch on? find out. ♪ i'm casey cap listen, and i'm keith caplin, and we're here