>> this is al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz, live in new york. what now the big question after app overwhelming vote in crimea to rejoin russia. >> a u.s. army general facing life in prison for sexual assault makes a deal with prosecutors. the investigation into malaysia airlines flight 370 focuses on this man, the pilot.

sna >> you are looking at live pictures from celebrations in crimea. it is midnight and pro-russian demonstrators are rejoices af a vote to broke with ukraine. it's an election condemned. people voted to decide whether they should join russia, here are the results. more than 95% voted yes. on the second option 4% liked autonomy. >> the e.u., and the white house condemned the election. first to nick schifrin, and simferepol. is anyone in crimea concerned about what the rest of the world is saying? >> i think people here see and hear what the west is saying, and instead of looking at the

west, they look towards moscow and say, "we're coming home", a lot of people believe this is an independence day. for decades a lot of people did not want to be part of ukraine. they have absolutely wanted to be part of russia, they are russian speakers and feel they are closer culturally, physically and spirit outlinely to russia and moscow. they have wanted to be part of that process and part of that country rather than look west. now, there is a minority population, and they have been silent. some 10 or 20%. tatar muslims boycotted today because they were intimidated by weeks of harassment to simply not show up and say not only is the vot not going to count, but it's too dangerous to come out. the majority of people are letting off fireworks, they are

partying in lenin square, in the middle of town. they are very much hoping that moscow and russia quickly annexes them so they can get away from the pro-western government in kiev. >> we are looking at the live picture, celebrations. have you heard an kags of -- indication of what crimea's leaders expect to do next, now they have approved the idea of separating with ukraine. >> there's talk as early as tomorrow flying to moscow, coordinating with the russian authorities, what the next steps are. the deputy suggested that crimea was to switch from the ukrainian currency to the russian ruble within about three or four weeks, and that gives you an assistance of how quickly the pro-russian government, which the u.s. calls illegal, is trying to do. to give you background on the deposit, it has 4% approval

before russian troops walked into parramatta. and at the pond of a gun pores the parliamentarians to choosement the big question is how quickly russia moves. it's how quickly the russian troops are fanned across the peninsula, will they officially announce they are here from russia, will they occupy more buildings and more space. that determines how the west responds and how heavy the sanctions will be. >> and another question - what does it mean for the may elections. that is the key for not only crimea, but ukraine. we need to not forcabinet that crimea is a -- forget that crimea is a separate part of ukraine. the big prize is eastern ukraine, something that vladimir putin talked about

being in the part of the russian orbit. he insisted that crimea not look west. he sent troops to within 50 miles of some of the largest cities of eastern ukraine. the pressure will poun on eastern you -- mount on eastern ukraine ahead. elections - most of keef kiev and western ukraine is looking for a western government. the election will determine the future of the country. given that it is a bridge between west and east, that decision may determine a lot towards the future of the relationship between europe and the u.s. and russia. >> a lot at stalk. nick schifrin loive for us in crimea. >> russian flags are flying high rejoicing in a return to their

homeland. jennifer glasse has more from sevastopol. >> in this village, going to church is political. this couple have to navigate through a checkpoint. they decidedly didn't vote. >> how can we have free choice under the barrel of a gun. >> translation: that's no option to have crimea remain in ukraine like now. >> their church sits next to a ukrainian base, surrounded by russian troops who arrived three weeks ago. inside they pray for a passful resist lugs. they are ethnic ukraine yaps, making up 15%. they say they will stay despite the referendum. >> this man says crimea is caught and ageo political mess. >> we'll retrieve the giants, russia, usa, n.a.t.o. - a little

pawn in world politics. >> in sevastopol, 50 miles away the scoop is different. before the -- the scope is different. people say this is a day of great celebrations, one they have been waiting to and they are sure life will be better under russia. crimea is and was linked to russia. it's a crowd please. here the russian flag at accessory of choice. this man says today is the first time he vod for anything or anyone, it was never an issue that mattered to him. >> i voted for russia, because it's our only choice. >> my daughter, son, husband - we voted for russia. we are ukrainians. my husband was in the russian military for 26 years. my children went to russian

schools. we love the city and can't live without it. >> there's deep mistrust of the west. when they learn i'm american, i'm lectured how president obama, the state department and european officials issuingest rated the fall of the government in kiev. >> most people in sevastopol say they don't care what the rest of the world thinks of the referendum or their future. they welcome the opportunity to chart their own course and say they are now going home to mother russia. >> and a lot has changed in ukraine in the past few months lateding up to this -- leading up to this historic day. three weeks ago the president viktor yanukovych fled the country after protesters stormed parliament. russia seized bases and airports. ukraine's parliament demanded russia pull back. 10 days ago, crimea's parliament

declared it wanted to join russia, leading to voters decided, and that led to today where over 90% voted to become part of the russian federation. >> trenches and barricades are being raised around a gas plant. russian vehicles and helicopter crossed over. the soldiers had unmarked uniforms and were on an anti-terrorism mission. >> translation: the anti-terrorism operation is held by representatives of an unarmed unit. we don't know against whom, but it is meant to control the gas station. they said their tack is to ensure -- task is to ensure its security. >> russian forces have left the village. russia is also celebrating the

vote in crimea. vladimir putin insisting it is legalment peter sharp has been wapping the event from -- watching the event from moscow. >> everyone knew which way the vote would go. the scale would be welcomed by a vast majority of russians. an independent poll showed up to 70% of russian were in favour of putin's moving in on the crimea. i think the headline tomorrow on monday, will be crimea gip away in 195 -- given away in 1954, vladimir putin brings it back in 2014. people will be pleased. as far as many russian people,ified on a diet of the state -- fed on a diet of the state broadcasting news. they were convinced the collapse of the government was a western

coup and the violence brought about at the hands of ultra nationalists and neonahsies. a big divide for the people. >> the european union condemned the vote calling it illegal and illegitimate and will not recognise the outcome saying: >> it called on rush atto pull back its proses. >> john kerry called russia's foreign minister again, urging sergei lavrov to pull back forces from ukraine's borders. kerry asked lavrov to support the rites of russians in crimea. john kerry insisted the crisis be solved politically. the white house called the lempd um illegal, and -- referendum illegal and law makers are discussing what to do n next.

>> the result was not a surprise, neither the white house's did you suggest. >> the united states is not going to recognise the results of a referendum. >> the focus of democrats and republicans. the chairman appeared to draw a disengs on when u.s. -- distinction on when u.s. sanctions would be farmed. >> if russia accepts annexation, that's one thing. if they move towards that coal, utly the -- that goal, the sanctions need to be enforced, along with allies. >> there was consensus of both parties that the key was yooup. >> we have to wait for our european friends telling us if they are willing to move forward. if you cut off gas, it will hurt. if you freeze assets in germany and great britain, it will hurt them. this is a threat to the

territorial integrity of europe. >> some have been criticised for seeming to admire vladimir putin's action. chairman of the house intelligence committee conceded vladimir putin was in a strong position. >> vladimir putin has the upper hand. he risks economic problem and doesn't have a lot of the economic issues at home. without this his pop u lags is lower. all of this means vladimir putin is ahead walking into an engines with kiev, and -- a negotiations with kiev and we are playing catch up. >> now will be whether the european union announces sanctions. >> we'll have more on the crisis later this hour, at 6:30 eastern, 3:30 pacific. >> a power.

earthquake strikes off the coast of south america. authorities say there is no widespread tsunami threat. chilean authorities are ordering a preliminary evacuation of part of the northern coastline. >> u.s. army general accused of assaulting a female army cap town is no longer faces charges brigadier general about plead guilty to lesser charms, not register as a sex offender and no longer faces life in prison. >> what did the general plead to? >> he could have faced life. thorgets dropped. (charges dropped. the serious, sexual all the against a woman he served in. he plead guilty to lesser charges of improper relations with thrive subordinate officers

and adultery, which is a crime in the military. coming after a long convol ute and controversial process. general sinclair, a brigadier general will be allude to retire as a lieutenant general. it will cost him change in retirement benefits, probable about a million dollars. no prison term, life in prison for the charges against him now have been dropped. >> what led to the plead deal, since prosecutors gave the impression they had a strong case. stereo a lot of what was motivating the army was political. going hand in hand with what is talked about here, what to do with the increasing number of sexual assault in the military. labelled a crisis. it's been up 60% offer the course of the last three years, crimes of a sexual nature or

improper behaviour. the debate in congress is about taking out of the chain of command a lot of these points. it was contentious in the pd and the senate decided not to do that. an alert was passed back and forth referring to the cause. the judge said it politically tainted the case, and conflicting testimony of the captain who brought the complaint. conflicting testimony that weakened the prosecution's cause that resulted in the plea deal. >> high profile case. mike viqueira live in washington. thank you. >> president obama wants more americans to get paid for working overtime and believes minimum wage should be roughed more than $ -- raised more than $10. will it ig-nate the knew or

cause more to loss their job. >> with suspicions mounting over the missing malaysia airlines night. investigators are focussing on the pilots and why one had a whom made simulator in his home. >> syrians in need of medical help founding it in israel of all plauss. -- places. you are watching al jazeera america. ♪

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>> authorities today expanded their search for the missing malaysia airlines jet. they are focussing on the poolts and a flight simulator, one built in his home. it appears to have been deliberately stared off course nine days ago before disappearing. 29 countries are searching a vast area, to the north, west and south of malaysia. we have more from kuala lumpur. >> inside this gated community is the home of malaysia airlines captain mohammad javad zarif. police confirmed they have searched it, interviewed his

family and are examining the flight simulator he kept in his house. mohammad javad zarif's friends were quick to defend him. this is a tribute posted on youtube. most of the comments on the page say they don't believe he could have been involved in the plane adds disappearance. -- plane's disappearance. >> i know him as a person who cares for people and were responsible in his job. if anything happened to the plane, he'd make sure everyone else, crew and passengers, their welfare was taken care of. >> in a nearby suburb was the copilot's home which the police searched the day earlier. they say the captain and copilot didn't ask to fly together. fariq abdul hamid was alleged to have invited females into the cockpit and smoked on board. a neighbour scribes him as courteous. >> i didn't know much about the

family. i just can say i hope the news doesn't want to expose how bad the pilot now, because i think this is not because of the pilot. no one want this. >> mo hammed was a passenger on board the flight. he's an aircraft engineer on his way to beijing for work. his father says he has not been spoken to by investigators and pleaded to an end to speculation. >> translation: give time to the government to investigate all angles, so it can bring all passengers back safe and sound. >> investigators are waiting for others to complete background checks. >> they are looking at the crew and passengers, but engineers who may have had contact with the aircraft before it took off. >> this means the list of

suspects has grown, and there's no indication of who might have commandeered the plane, and why. >> sailors on the uss "kidd" are scanning the ocean for science of the missing airliner. everything is reported and expected to see if it belongs to the missing jetment the search area increased to 2500 square miles. two sea hawk helicopters are looking, but nothing credible has been found the loved ones of those on board flight 370 are torn, waiting for word on the plane. while they wait, news that the plane may have been diverted gave them hope that their loved ones are alive. they are worried about the conditions they could be in. >> it does raise your hopes, because you theping the potential is -- think the potential is there that my brother is still alive. then i think i have to find that

scarry, because if someone deliberately took the plane, they have taken it for a reason, and i think we know that oftentimes that's not good. >> the families of many passengers complained about the lack of clear information from the airline sense the flight disappeared. >> let's bring in bob francis, a former vice chairman of the faggsal safety transport board. good to see you. my big first question is are we reaching the point where we may have to come to the grips of reality where rescue crews may never find the missing airliner? >> i think that we are reaching a point where we have to consider that. and, you know, a lot of people have been talking about the air france aircraft that was lost going across the atlantic. it took a long time to get - to

find that aircraft. but that was simpler, because they were on a route that had been in a flight plan, so basically what you were looking at was a strip probably not many miles wide. so i think you talk about a couple of years there. i think you have a realistically... >> the air france flight had a lot more information to go off of. it makes me wonder, when you look at the air france crash, who was in charge of keeping the search going. i ask because we are probable going to reach a point where other countries, india, vietnam, thailand and the united states, will have to move on and do other things with the crews out on the water. who continues searching for the plane? is it the airline, the government, who? >> malaysian government. >> okay.

>> as simple as that? >> the french government was the driving force in recovering air francement >> how do they go about trying to found the air france plane all those years later. do they begin a grid pattern and try to search the atlantic. how did that work? >> they had some wreckage that came up to the surface. they knew exactly, you know, to the mile the track that the airplane should have been following. now, given what happened, it could have been off that by some miles, but basically they had a strip, you know, rio paris - or whatever it was going, but there was a direct program that that -

that the autopilot on the aircraft was followingment >> do you think there could rasp a point where the malaysian government stops searching for the plane? >> that's - sure. i mean, i think how many resources do you expend, and this is a terrible thing to say in terms of the family members, that's the real driver for going on and continuing to look. otherwise, if you have lost an airplane, you've lost an airplane. that's probably insured. >> it's a possibility... >> so the families are the driver. >> that is so heartbreaking when you think of the families with no clear information about their loved ones. there has been two theories on where the plane had gone. one is to the south in the indian ocean, and another to the north. if a plane crashes overland, i

know there are emergency beakons, that are supposed to send out a signal. what can you tell us about the beeckons, and is there a limit to how far they can be heard? >> well, i'm not an expert on the beeckons, but i do know if there's a crash, the recorders in the airplane will transmit. and i'm not whether it's a week or two weeks or what it is, but for some period of time, the recorders will transmit their location. i think that that - those are the only things that do that. i don't think there's anything else in the aircraft that will be - that will be showing where you should be looking >> yes. as we see, there are few clues as to where it could be. bab -- bob francis, former vice

president of the nstb. >> parents tackling kids safety with prookayive and bold questions. some gunadvocates have been crying foul. >> i've been tracking storms. but now snow has come back. i'll tell you who will get the heaviest amounts in the morning -

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. hear are the top stories - a u.s. army general accused of assaulting a female army captain is no longer faces sexual assault charges, he'll plead guilty to lesser charges. >> the ascertain -- search for the missing malaysia airlines flight has been expanded. passengers and crews backgrounds

are being looked at. >> crimea voted to join the russian federation. 95% approved the referendum. the ukrainian prime minister called it circus light. president obama spoke today with russian president vladimir putin. for vladimir putin, the justification can be traced to a conflict 15 years ago. in 1999 n.a.t.o. member states authorised an 11-week bombing campaign in serbia. that led to kosovo's independence in 2008. russia denounced the move as illegal and refused to recognise kosovo. vladimir putin is saying crimeans can follow the path. not everyone agrees with the

analysis. >> we are joined from d.c. by a lawyer from. is it a fair xocomparison to compare kosovo to crimea. >> i think there are differences. if you look at the kosovo declaration of independence, it was a point of a long process starting with milosevic's decision to suspend a number of rights and enact oppressive policies, mark into armed conflict and campaigns of ethnic cleansing, leading to hundreds of thousands of kosovo albanians to be refugees. n.a.t.o. intervened and the security council adopted resolution 1244. security council res lieuing 1244 -- resolution 1244 called for a process to determine what

would be kosovo's future status. a u.n. special envoy several years afterwards then led this process and conducted a number of talks between belgrade and others, and recommended that kosovo would become independent, or should be independent under international supervision. none of this applies. >> russia made a clear point that when we look back at kosovo and serbia, russia was against the idea that kosovo should separate from their home country. now the tables have turns saying if the white house and e.u. supported kosovo breaking away why can't they support this. >> the capacity of the entity has to declare itself to be independent, and to be recognised by other states.

this is a political process. when we look at kosovo, intervention was motivated by legitimate humanitarian concerns. as mentioned earlier, there were open-arm conflicts, waves of refugees coming out of the kosovo. none of this applies to the situation in crimea. i don't think the willingness of states to accept, recognise crimea as an independent state is different. >> there's others that disagree with this and say perhaps the west, n.a.t.o., made a mistake years ago, supporting the move, and that perhaps the focus should have been on changing the government. >> of course, those were discussions taking place. i think there was a fundamental understanding and view within most members of the

international community that a return of "don't go to the cosmetics counter without me" under serbian rule was not possible. it would have been actually an action that would have further destabilized the region, rather than stablilize the region. there was a consensus for actors on the international plane, that this was hardly something to consider. >> we have this verdict in 2010 on the international court of justice. what can you tell us about that. how does it fit into the argument? >> it goes back to what i was saying earlier. the advisory opinion rendered in 2010 focussed on a narrow question, whether kosovo's declaration of independence was contrary to international law. the court came out and said the declaration to independence was not contrary to international

law. it helps us to answer a narrow question, but as i said earlier, does not answer the broader question, which is whether states will be willing to recognise crimea as an independent state. if we look at the statements that were made recently by the g7 member countries, or if you look at the statement made today by the white house, or the secretary-general of n.a.t.o., all team to be indicating that they are not willing to recognise crimea as an independent state. is this the important point here. >> it's important to point out not everyone recognises kosovo, including spain. it's an interesting debate. one held in diplomatic circles. we appreciate your time. fellow at the harvard kennedy school. >> a u.n. mediator is in iran.

>> last month's talks in geneva end without a deal. iran supplied syria's president with cash and fighters. >> government forces are gaining ground against rebels, claiming they have captured a strategic supply town. the city of yabroud was one of the last rebel-held towns in that area. we have more. >> rebel defenses are crumb lining. major armed groups left the city north of the capital. leaving behind the bodies of fighters killed in the intense fighting that has been going on. now it's the syrian army backed by fighters who are in control. >> seen here clearing areas.

most of the rebels moved to the towns. >> most of the city has been stroid. the town has been turned into rub 'em. the world left this alone and the situation of the civilian is catastrophic. yabroud is a rebel hold. it is a weapons transit route. war in syria is shifting in president bashar al-assad's favour. his army backed by air force, hezbollah fighters, militias from rain and iraq, are launching a major offensive across the country. which recapturing, asaad controls the west. the army is consolidating its gripe on homs province, and a battle is underway. a major supply route for the

army. >> a wave of shelling in aleppo 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 years, and more people will die. >> syria's civil war is forcing its wounded into enemy territory, and the injured are crossing the border into israeli occupied land. the two countries have been enemies. syrian patients need help from israeli doctors. their story in their own words. >> this is a severe injury, because he had open fracture of the bone and we lost his articulation here. >> next week he'll be back in syria, when needed i leave this

job and go to be the commander of the field hospital. positions with the country, these people remain untreated. >> trmp a shell exploded near me. i'd like to go a hospital in syria, it's not safe. we hear stories of injured people arrested. we were cut off from access to food, drink, bread, water. my family fled. where did they go? i don't know. >> i hope one day i will provide medical aid for syrian people. all these years syrian people or country was an enemy, and i never thought these people were ask me to help them.

>> it's a big surprise to be here, it wasn't in the diagram to get treatment in israel. we are the enemy. i had four surgeries, all the lower leg, they have open wound and exposed bone. >> a group of guys brought me to the border of israel and syria and handed me over. >> at the beginning, of course, israel was the enemy. that's what the regime told us. we found the people that want to live. >> let me say i don't know which god asked them to fight. it's no religion asked for such a thing like this. >> i'm full of happiness and appreciate to the country that

assisted me. i'd like to thank all those that helped me. >> israeli newspapers report about 490 syrian citizens are patient at hospitals in northern israel. >> venezuela - solidarity - hundreds hold candlelight vigils. the mexico city - hundreds of demonstrators chanted freedom. in argentina hundreds gathered forming the letters sos. we want to raise awareness of what is happening. the media is telling us what they are hiding or the dictatorship led by nicolas maduro. >> 25 people died in venezuela since the protests began. the vij isles could not stop the

clashes. molotovs were thrown at police, they fired back with tear gas. it was hours after nicolas maduro addressed a pro-government rally and warned security forces could be september to remove barr kids and pro -- barricades and protesters from the streets. >> rockets flew off the north-east coast and flew into open waters over the sea of japan. 25 short-rangize ails were fired. south korea called them reckless. a u.s. state department spokesperson called on north korea to reframe from provocative actions. >> still ahead - school shootings and gun violence are fears for parent. a mackay zeep in seattle is tacking gun safety. ross, first, with sport. >> get ready to fill out your

brackets. the n.c.a.a. tournament has been unveiled. >> when the buzzer went off, i didn't know what to do. the coach said think about who you would run and hug. i had to gather myself and say, "this happened", >> we introduce you to the cinderel e team of the tournament, coming up in

>> into a difficult problem for parents. are there guns in your home, it's part of a campaign called just asks challenging a city to ask the tough questions. we sit with a group of parents from seattle. >> this monthly magazine

publisher was outraged by the 2012 mass shooting in connecticut. >> i couldn't go another day after sandy hook. without doing something proactive. >> parents joined with accuracy fire, to create a print and add campaign, imploring parents to ask each other, "do you have a gun in the home?" "it so, how is it stored." the answer shows young children gripping handguns, leading to a fire storm of online discussion. some argue the campaign is an attack on gun owners. several counties in washington state are running the adds with text, no photos. we sat with four parents of children under the age of 13 for their reaction to just ask. >> i have three ads to show you. this is the first one.

it's pretty emotional for me to see the sweet little tu tu and the child's hand on the gun like that. it gave me an aha moment. this couple own a rifle and a beeby and never thought to ask the question about this moment. >> you need to be supervigilant when you have kids running the risk of coming across a gun in the household. >> seeing a gun in a kids' hand. i mean, there's not much more that is as scare ris as that image. it's a limb mate question, and i, as a parent and responsible adult should be able to answer that. >> the publisher says this campaign is not about whether you open a gun or how many guns you have, it's about gun safety and keeping them out of the

hands of children. >> i'll take any backlash or criticism if it could saif a child's life. >> it will empower discussion on gun safety for years to come. >> all right, let's turn to sports with ross shimabuku. march madness brackets are ready to go. >> yes, let the madness begin. you can fill out the brackets, finally. yes. the 68 n.c.a.a. tournament has been unveiled on sunday. here is a look at the top four seeds. drum role. the number one scene, billy donovan. they are the team to beat. the top dogs or cats in the west. the arizona child cats, and the only undefeated team, wichita state was awarded the number one in the midwest, the first time

in school history the shockers had a number one she had. virginia with the number one in the east. if you look for the spat special, you may want to look at mercy university. the bears have been in hibernation from the big dance for some time. the last time mercer went distancing cyndi lauper won a grammy, and the 3-point line in college basketball did not exist the the year 1985. happy times are here again. jessica taff has the story. >> how long has it been since the mercer bears have been to the n.c.a.a. tournament. >> i was the only one on the team born on the '80s i pay be the last college basketball player born in the '80s. >> getting to the big dance is a dream until it becomes the ultimate nightmare, which is what happened last year. >> last year was diff.

we won the regular season, we thought it was a chaps and had to watch them bet us in the championship. we thought it was our turn to do it. >> what was it like when you saw them go through the tournament. >> it was bittersweet. it was good for the conference, but we wanted the success they were having. >> sometimes we were happy, other times it was "man, that could have been us", this season, it was deja vu, with the same florida gulf cost team in the way of the the elusive ticket to college baskets ball's grand prize. >> we were getting ready to have the bus ride. >> i said "the thing i want you to do when you fall sleep on the bus is dream of who you hug when you win and think about cutting the nuts down." this time they flipped the strip winning the conference game. >> getting them to the finish

lun, we found a way to get to the finish line. for them to be successful. i had a lot of special groups and buildsed the coach. to see them accomplish that, that was as good as i have been a part of. >> there's seven seniors. visions of it were looking like a mir around. >> with respect on the free through line. i started bawling. when the buzzer went off. i didn't know what to do. i, for a second, had to gather myself and said oh, my gosh, this happened. when i saw the coach i looked at him. i was crying. it got worse. it's been an emotional journey. when i saw him and we embraced. it was - man, i couldn't help it. >> what has the journey been like for you. >> elation. a thrill for him, and those

guys. >> and we'd had tough moments, tough trips, exciting trips, thrilling signature ris. and all the things came rushing out. and you let it go, and when we embraced it was like a moment i'll never forget. >> now this team is determined to write their own fairytale ending. >> when we play high major schools we felt like we should been recruited more by them, and we have something to prove. >> i believe those are special days, but now we have amazing things in front of us. it could be accomplished. >> mercer awarded the 14 theed, their first-round game on friday is against duke. >> rooting for the little guys. >> thank you, ross. >> air quality in paris is so

bad the city is putting tough driving restrictions in place. it's launching alternate drying days for the first time in 20 years. cars with licence plates ending in odd number will be allowed to drive on odd-numbered days. commuters who carpool and drivers with electric and hybrid cars will by exempt. that's tough to see, a beautiful city deal with air pollution. >> the air quality has been bad. when it's cold, a hot of people fire up the fire, burn some wood. that can cause pollutants if you have certain weather. we don't have the weather set up. we are tracking storms that are slamming into both coasts. not only do we have snow in the mountains for the west, there's a lot of snow for parts of the mid-atlantic. as we two to the map, you see the storm hitting the rain for

the valleys. the mountain snow is piling up. we go to a storm causing were, and the commute for washington d.c. let's take a closer look at the storm. we have the colder temperatures blasting in, it's cooler in the most as cold air from canada comes into a north-westerly flow. and the cold air from minneapolis. here is the line of storms we had moving across parts of mississippi, alabama. we had a lot of wound reports coming in with this storm line, and we are seeing the storm line primarily across northern florida. this is where southern georgia, you have been getting wind gust, a lot of trees down, some into houses and power luns, now we are seeing the -- power lines, now we are seeing the band move and passing panama city.

the line has been causing trouble not just from last night but through the day. it will move out through the course of tonight. we have thunder storms, but mainly southern florida. then it will be the snow focussing in on virgin and west virginia. that's where the storm warnings in effect and rain shifted to snow, if not a rain snow mix. expect d.c. - 3-7 inches of snow fall. >> winter is not going away quietly with spring a couple of days away. >> that's the though tonight. i'm jonathan betz. i'll be back in an hour with more news. first, a quick look at the headlines after this short

break.

>> you are watching al jazeera america, i'm jonathan betz with the top stories. in an election condemned by the parliament.

earlier results show 95% of the people approve the referendum. ukraine's prime minister called the election circus like and president obama spoke to the president a few hours ago, saying it would never be recognised by the united states. voting is taking place in serbia. 6.5 million are electing a new parliament. they are expect to keep its power thanks to an anticorruption campaign in efforts to join the yooup each union. >> a u.s. army general is no longer facing sexual assault charges. brigadier general sinclair will not have to register as a sex offender and pleads guilty to lesser charge. >> the search for the malaysia airlines flight has grown significantly. the plane appears to have been deliberately steered off course. authorities are looking at the backgrounds of the passengers and the crew.

239 were on the plane. syria conducted airstrilent in the south and east, where the government is going after armed rebels. they are battling over yar rude. those are the headlines, "real money" starts now. >> 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."