think as we go out towards 2050, my question is what happens? do they stay there or move out >> good afternoon. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford and here are the stories we are following right now. moscow could be facing sanctions in the coming day. smashing the door of the prosecutor's office and replacing the ukrainian flags are russian flags. an hour of voting is left in crimea. the investigation into the missing jumbo jet is focussed on the pilots and what is found

inside of their homes. >> the u.s. is moving towards and posing sanctions on russia and this is coming as the polls are closing in an hour in crimea and the people are voting on whether or not to join russia and pro russian demonstrators stormed a government building. the white house warned russian president putin that moscow would face sanctions in the days ahead. we are joined from the white house with details. mike, secretary of state john kerry spoke just a few hours ago and tell us about the conversation. >> this is the latest of a series of phone calls with the

russia and seech time they are speaking a different language and two different interpretations of what is happening on the ground in crimea and the results of the referendum a fore gone conclusion and that there was certainly no doubt about the outcome and the question is what is going to come next and how are russia react and move to legally try to annex crimea. there are two outcomes from the phone call,er is ri is theying that the united states the considering the referendum illegal and what are the

consequences for ukraine. kerry raising the takeover of the natural gas facility outside of the borders of crimea in southern ukraine and they are toeing the russian line and calling what is happening there and the people in the streets and elsewhere, the radical forces, lawslessness and speaking of a working with the united states and the international community on constitutional reform within ukraine. so a lot of people are looking at that as a glimmer of hope. >> mike, you told us about the white house and say said today that it is a violation of law with the referendum. >> well, one of the top advisors

to the president appeared earlier this morning. >> the united states is not recognizing the results of the rev run dem and we are working with our partners around the world and putting the pressure on russia in the forms of sanctions. >> so we have heard the white house and the president announce the fact that they had sanctions ready to go, in the gate, if you will, and now they are willing to name the names. another person on the ground, chris murphy, a democrat in connecticut and he's reaccounting the conversations that he had with people on the ground in ukraine. >> the people in ukraine the folks who were really the people driving the movement are clear that the ukrainians are not

going without a fight. it is going to be bloody and the fight could be long. >> the question is what is next, the sanctions, are they going to be enough and so much defends on what the european union does and there is a trip scheduled to europe in ten days time. >> that is right, strong words from murphy and fifer. thank you. >> we are joined where the locals are voting right now in crimea. jennifer, with the polls closing within the hour, how are the people feeling now and do they know which way that the vote is go ng to swing? >> well, no question that this is going to go moscow's way and they don't care what washington or the international community thinks.

you heard they are looking at it from two different perspectives. think they see as liberation and a correction of a mistake from 60 years ago when ukraine was given. crimea this port city home to the russian black sea fleet should belong to moscow and they feel today is a day of celebration and a woman saying it is more important than when they went into space. we expect at the exit polls to come out in three and a half hours time and everybody here is certain what the outcome will be and the vote is headed to russia. >> jennifer, we are seeing the pretty powerful images of people waving flags, standing outside

as night falls, there we go, but the tensions are mounting in eastern ukraine and what can you tell us about that? >> that is a concern. the tensions are running in ukraine. we had pro russian supporters going to the prosecutor's office and put up the russian flag. this is a big concern. it is a red line. we have seen the russian troops along the eastern border and the russian foreign ministry saying that will be alarming words, obtaining the right to keep the ethnic rush russians in the eastern ukraine and kiev is not in trouble. kiev is accusing moscow of planting the russians there and

bussing them in to start troubles like this and a pretext to go into eastern ukraine and things are terribly tense and as mike mentioned the russian troops last night going into a gas depot, a pumping station in ukraine proper and continue to hold that property and saying they are protecting it because it is a pump station into crimea and ukraine is saying it is a provocation. >> jennifer glass joining live. thank you for being with us. >> now going live to phil that is following the developments from kiev. phil, we just heard jennifer say that the tensions are rising and kiev is accusing the russians of planting the russians in the east to cause trouble and putin is saying it is within the bounds and complying with the international law and how the people where you are in kiev

reacting to all of this? >> well, morgan, the people are deeply concerned about the incidents and the referendum. it is interesting to note that we have been spoke speaking to intelligence sources within the ukraine intelligence agency and they have been expecting this and russia has designed on more than just crimea and if that is the truth and the russian troops are coming in that is a line to be crossed that the ukrainians are not going to accept and they'll fight the russians if that is the case and coming to the mainland of ukraine. this is getting many of the people in kiev deeply concerned and it being a sunday, we went to a church and watched, watched a service here and praying for peace and also praying for the future of their country.

>> we hope that the russian people look at the ukrainian people and let them free and we hope for help from the americans. we love america a lot, we want to live in a free country. >> now, those christian orthodox share a religion with the russians and they are hoping that the russians will keep the ukrainians in their prayers and we are one people and share a lot in culture and other terms and it is a shame that the leaders are drawing us into a crisis and very bizarre development, morgan, furthering this kind of talk of the divisions today and tonight, there will be a soccer match between the ukrainian capital kiev and the capital team from crimea. >> wow, what a time.

>> yeah, very bizarre timing, morgan. >> okay, phil, going back to something else, the russian foreign minister is urning to stop massive lawlessness and let's pull up the video of the people storming the government building. phil, we are understanding he's calling it massive lawlessness and aggression to the russian populations and are they being target and is kiev seeing this as bad? >> absolutely not. kiev is seeing it is as a result of instigators sent there my mos -- by moscow. they are saying it is a pretext to disruptions and stoke up the tensions between the pro western and pro russian and some sort of incident that will then give the

russians the excuse to march in and protect the ethnic russians and moscow is denying all of there. there are these conflicts and the fights and the instability in the east and has everybody deeply concerned here in kiev tonight. >> thank you, phil, for being us. >> in venezuela, the president is warning the protestor he's soon using the arm to clear out the demonstrations. >> just hours after issuing that very ultimatum the clashes breaking out between the antigovernment demonstrators and the police and the anger over unemployment and crime and lack of goods and services is fuelling the venezuelian divide.

>> syrian rebels and forces are continuing to fight over the city north of damascus and removing the weaponing and making the city important for the opposition. now the government is conducted air strikes against rebels fleeing the city and killing civilians. we have the latest, a barning, some of the images are graphic. >> rebel defenses are crumbling, short of reenforcements, major armed groups left the city north of the capitol damascus and leaving behind dozens of bodies that were killed in the fights that has been going for weeks and syrian army are in control. seen here clearing areas and moving to the center of the city. most of the rebels believed to have retreated to neighboring

towns. >> most of the city has been destroyed. all kinds of bombs used. the town is a rubble. and few are trying to resist and the world has left us alone. it is catastrophic. >> it was also a crucial weapons transit route. war in syria is shifting in the president's favor and his army is backed by the air force and the militias from iran and iraq are launching a major offensive across the country. the asset controls are to the west and the army is consolidating the grip on the province and a battle is underway along a major supply route. there is a sign that the army is

determined to win the war in the north. the opposition says without advanced weapons from the western and regional backers fighting will continue for many years and more people will die. >> the search for that missing malaysia airlines jet is now a criminal investigation. why the focus is shifting to the pilot and what was found inside of their homes. that story and more when al jazeera america returns. >> this is what we do... >> america tonight weeknights 9et / 6pt only on al jazeera america

>> twenty five years ago, pan am flight 103 exploded in the skys above lockerbie. only one man was convicted of the attack >> the major difficulty for the prosecution, that there was no evidence... >> now a three year al jazeera investigation, reveals a very different story about who was responsible >> they refuse to look into this... >> so many people at such a high level had a stake in al megrahi's guilt. lockerbie: what really happened? on al jazeera america >> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. >> the search for the missing airplane is expanding and now 25 countries are helping with the search. flight 370 deliberately steered off course with 239 people on board. >> inside this gated community

is the home of the airline captain and the police searched the home and interviewed the family and examining the flight simulator that the pilot kept in the home. the friends were quick to defend him. this is a tribute posted on youtube. they don't believe he's involved in the disappearance. >> he cares for people and responsible in his job and if anything happened to the plane he would make sure everyone is taken care of. >> in a nearby suburb is the co-pilot's home. the captain and co-pilot didn't skt to fly together. he was alleged to have invited female passengers into the cockpit on a flight in 2011 and smoking on board.

a neighbor describes him as courteous. >> i didn't know much about his family. i can say that i hope all the news -- i think this is not because of the pilots. no one wanted this accident to happen. >> one of the passengers aboard the flight and he's an aircraft engineer on the bay to beijing for work and he has been questioned by the investigators. >> give time to the government to investigate the case and bring all passengers on the plane back safe and sound. >> investigators are waiting for other countries to furnish them with background checks on other passengers. they are looking closely at the krut and the passengers on board

the flight, but engineers that may have had contact with the aircraft. this means the list of the potential suspects has grown and still no indication of who might had commandered the plane and why. >> naval officers are scanning the ocean for the debris. each item is reported and inspected to see if it is from the aircraft. the search extended 2700 miles in a number of directions and so far nothing credible has been found. as the search enters the -- >> there we have 700 u.s. navy sailors and we have watching the fatigue level and we have sent out grief counsellors to make sure mentally they are doing

okay and physically too, you can't operate equipment 24 hours a day and you can pushl people to work 24 hours a day. we are very concerned about the fatigue level and watching that closely and that is where we are right now. >> that is from the u.s. navy's fleet and ruckusing how weary that the crews are becoming. >> ahead, a look at the top stories. >> and camp site full of food and campers and putting a popular attraction to work in a powerful demonstration.

>> good afternoon. welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. polls in crimea are closing in 30 minutes and people are voting on whether that part of ukraine should be joining russia. russian president putin told the

german chancellor that he's not backing down, however the white house is warning russia they are going to face sanctions in a few days. ukraine's interim government is calling the vote illegal. >> the lebanese army said that syria is conducting air strikes where the syrian government is going of rebels. that is the town where the last major rebel held town exists. >> muslims and christians in africa is torn apart by violence. but that is different in the democratic republic of congo. they are brought together by the hardship. >> this cam in the republic of the congo. all these people getting away from the violence.

they'll do whatever they can to feel normal. the weekly church service the important. most of the people here lost loved ones. many targeted for the religion and described as sectarian. she's devoted to her faith. >> here in the camp no problem between the christians and muslims we are all the same and fought the conflicts and we have no problem, we live together peacefully. nearly ten thousand people living here and fled the violence. >> there is a small market in the camp, most of the traders here are christians and they all shop here and there is a small restaurant and the owner is a

muslim and there is goat meat here and again the people are mixture of muslims and christian and normal for all of the people living peacefully here together and many years it was normal back home as well. the cap p has a committee of elders represents both of the e rei don't imagines. leader competing for the control over the oil and diamonds have changed that. the conflict was created by politicians. they are the ones that manipulate the populations. before we lived together and no problems. everyone prayed as they wanted to pray and no problems. it is the politicians that created the problems. it is time for prayer, they are making due under the shade of a mango tree. nobody minds. the u.n. is saying it is going to investigate the reports of

genocide. here in the camp, people are left wondering how things wept so horribly wrong. >> more than 60,000 residents of the central africa republic fled to congo since april of last year. >> we got a taste of the spring and we are going to hear if it is going to stick around? >> not in the southeast, it is a bit of a wet day. across the northeast it is getting a lot colder and as a matter of a fact a winter storm is in the works. we are looking at the map and the moisture is churning in off o the gulf of mexico and spreading the moisture. these are strong thunderstorms in alabama and dragging along i-10 to the florida panhandle,

if you are driving there, you are getting caughting in the wet weather and the storms are flourishing and lifting to the north and to the east and we have a tornado watch out going until 5:00 this afternoon across southern portions of alabama, south and western portions of georgia and the florida panhandle aroundal a say and strong storms this afternoon and a tornado or two. the winds are gusting beyond 60 miles per hour. we could see a little hail in addition to the rainfall. this is off to the coast tomorrow and up to the north it is getting worse. watch the time, that is critical in the morning, a mix of snow, a mix of ice as well. from washington, d.c. into portions of the virginia and north carolina.

be careful. we are talking sleet, snow, in terms of snowfall amounts i think in washington, d.c. and baltimore up to six inches. as you get to new york city no accumulation, but a few flurries in the morning and chilly. we had a taste of spring. back to the end of the week back to the 50s. >> thank you. this next video should scare you into keeping a safe camp site. the bears did a quick demonstration of their power. watch. they demolish a mock camp site. here they go. there goes the tent and the sleeping bag and there goes the cooler and destroyed in a matter of seconds and the point is showing the destruction can be prevented if you set up the camp site safely. >> i would suggest to keep yourself safe is having your camp site spread out a little

bit. store the food at least a hundred yards from cooking and a hundred yards from sleeping. >> the zookeeper says hang the food higher than ten feet up in the tree or don't leave the food out. >> trouble on the tracks and look at the explosionive danger of delivering oil by rail through your neighborhood and talking the a journalist turn politician about her homeland ukraine. this is "real money."