♪ crimea overwhelmingly approves leaving ukraine to join russian and say they will be hit with sanctions. president obama hitting with abbas and will talk about israel. st. patrick's day taking place

across the country and the controversy keeping mayors out of the celebration. the grand old opra house celebrating 40 years. ♪ in the crimea peninsula, the disputed ukraine territory voting to join russia and it was 97% of people who voted said yes to the referendum and good morning and welcome to al jazeera, i'm stephanie sy and they are deepening the rift between moscow and the west and russia wasted little time saying it will approve the decision quickly and kiev's new government rejected the referendum calling it illegitimate and u.s. and eu say

sanctions are the next step if russia does not reverse the stance and we have a team of reporters tracking the developments and phil is in kiev but let's begin with jennifer glasse in sevastopol and we have seen a see of russian flags through crimea, what has it been like where you are? >> well, here in sevastopol and throughout crimea the legislatures have wasted no time in solidifying the decisions made in the elections yesterday. in the crimea parliament about an hour's drive up the road they declared independence and in sevastopol we were in the chambers when they declared independence and it was six votes in half an hour, all unanimous and a lot of things changed today. so they declared independence and asked to become part of russia and declared that ukrainian law will stand but only the law that until february 21st when the new government and

the new parliament in kiev took power so for now this city, this city operating under ukraine law and nash like state territory or state property or anything that used to belong to them belong to crimea and did not mention the black sea fleet and that is a question and the future is in question what will happen to the sailors on board the ships but solidifying the gains they made in the referendum yesterday outside the parliament and outside the council here we saw people with flags cheering for russia and don't know how long it will take to be a part of russia but a sign of already the close cooperation in the chamber this morning where about half a dozen members of a russian delegation here in sevastopol. >> reporter: walk us through what is next, is the ball in russia's court now?

>> well, yeah, they will be waiting. the formal declaration of independence has been made. sevastopol and crimea have applied to russia to be part of russia. now the question is when will the parliament there in moscow recognize them and how long will the process take. we saw one of the nationalists parliament members put on the website it could take three days or three months, it's really going to be a process going forward how it all works, how legislatively it works and getting the mechanics of it all to work because obviously you have a lot of things that has to change. we saw this morning some members of parliament who were not pro-russia excluded from the council meeting in sevastopol this morning and some council members said to me some people will have to go, people part of the old regime will have to go, we made our decision, the people have chosen and we want to be part of russia and moving forward we wait to see what they do in moscow and expecting

sanctions to be imposed on russia today as well and we are not sure if they will be sanctioned against crimea authorities as well so i don't know whether that is going to slow the process down but here they wasted no time. first thing this morning the council members here were in the chambers and the parliament members making the vote, making very clear crimea is independent and wants to join russia. >> reporter: jennifer glasse reporting from crimea and thank you and let's turn to phil in kiev and right now the ukraine parliament is meeting to discuss the situation in crimea. what has the government in kiev been saying about sunday's referendum? >> well, stephanie, an awful lot of anger in kiev. parliament expressing their dissatisfaction that that vote all along say it's illegitimate and not recognizing it because they think the parliament over stepped its authority. before the ballots were counted

yesterday and night we heard from acting ukrainian president who said that much of this crisis is actually not been a natural occurrence, that he believes much of what is happening here both in crimea and eastern ukraine is artificially created by agitators from moscow and say they will find who created the movement. >> translator: let there be no doubt, ukraine will see the separatism and division shielded by the russian troops are crying to destroy u yan dependence and we will take them all, if it takes two years we will bring them to justice and try them in the courts and international courts and the earth will burn beneath their feet. >> they are dealing with the facts on the ground and crimea

is now held by russian troops. they are responding to that by today again in the parliament session that is going on saying they are mobilizing their troops to now effectively create a new border and sending out 40,000 ukrainian troops to now create what is effectively an international border, stephanie. >> reporter: and there are still ukrainian troops in crimea as well, phil, there has been a truce there between russia and ukraine that was supposed to last until friday. so what can you tell us about the status? >> well, that is right, stephanie, you have ukrainian sailors and soldiers out in the peninsula and the question of what they are going to do now it seems to be moving towards russia is a huge looming question and nobody wants a shooting war or any kind of agitation there that could lead to a wider conflict so it looks like there is a truce between moscow who are in the peninsula and safe until the 21st, no

shooting, no agitation but they have to start thinking about whether or not they will stay in crimea or come back to mainland ukraine. it's interesting they chose that date, the 21st looking like it is the next deadline in ongoing situation because that is also what we are hearing the duma in moscow is choosing for the day they decide to discuss how they are actually going to bring crimea into the russian federation, one last note on that is interesting to hear from the duma they are talking about how to make territories that want to meet with the russian federation and make it easier for them to do and not specifically crimea and people are worried in kiev namely because of disruptions and instability on the east. >> reporter: that was leading to the next question how concerned is kiev that russia will further advance into southern or eastern crimea and what evidence there is that that might happen? >> stephanie, this is what has

kiev deeply concerned now. they kind of accepted the fact that crimea was going to break away. they knew there is very little they could do with it with the russian troops and think that russia has more grandour designs and say there are more russian agitators and created the situation in crimea and in the east and sending troops to the eastern part of the country. and they are also concerned because a lot of the support that comes to crimea, the infrastructure comes from that part of the country and realize that if russia is actually going to make crimea function in terms of water, electricity, a lot of that comes from mainland ukraine. if that falls out of russia's control they feel here in kiev that russia may have designs to try and secure that part. if they do the ukrainians say that is a step too far and will fight for that part of the country. >> reporter: phil is for us in the capitol of ukraine, kiev,

thank you. stay with al jazeera for continuing coverage of the fall out from crimea's referendum, in 25 minutes we will take you inside the election from what people were feeling as they voted to what kept some people away from the polls. world leaders and iran return to the negotiating table on tuesday to discuss the nuclear program and five plus germany will meet in vienna, over the weekend proliferation officials said they trying buying band items for the nuclear missile program in resent months and made it during the same time it was working on a deal with world leaders and does not violate last year's agreement between tehran and six world powers but breaches a 2006 united nations embargo. president obama will sit at the white house with abbas and discuss a peace deal between israel and palestinians and they

plan to protest this morning and say a boss should not surrender to u.s. pressure. some of the major sticking points include jewish settlements on palestinian territory, the status of jerusalem and the fate of refugees and we report from the west bank on the decades long dispute. >> this is a funeral for 18-year-old sagi shot in the back of the head by the israeli army. they say for throwing stones. one week later his mother is still in disbelief. >> translator: i think they could have arrested him, put him on trial, anything but not kill him. >> reporter: it's this continuing killing and conflict between israelis and palestinians, the u.s. believes can be resolved. starting with the draft agreement u.s. president barack obama will deliver to palestinian president when they meet in washington and it's a framework u.s. hopes to lead to

a final peace deal and thought there is consensus for a palestinian state occupied by israel since 1967 and israel could keep the settlements and palestinians with equal land elsewhere but questions if israel is bargaining in good faith. complicating negotiations is the fact that israel continued building illegal settlements in the west bank and 10,000 units since the talks began in july 2013. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu wants his country recognized as a jewish state and said they recognized the existence of israel in the accord and jurisdiction lumbar is another obstacle and object to sharing the holy city and wan wants jerusalem of the capitol.

wants compensation for return of refugees displaced in 1948. this is a sticking point for israel. and netanyahu is insisting israel keep a military presence in the valley between jordan and the west bank and president abbas prefers nato to take over security and the differences seem insurmountable and hopeless for palestinians. >> translator: we have been negotiating for 20 years. since sagi was born and he was killed and to date thousands were killed and tens of thousands arrested during those years of talks. >> reporter: and there is little time left for peace making. the draft framework has a nine-month deadline and means differences created over decades may have just a month to resolve. kimberly with al jazeera in the occupied west bank. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry says president abbas will have to make some tough decisions. syrian government says it's in full control of the last rebel

stronghold near the lebanese border and there is a offensive for the town last month, most of 40,000 people who lived in the strategic city were forced to leave and many fleeing to lebanon, before that government took several areas including highways linking holmes to the capitol damascsa. they spanned asia to the indian ocean and had 239 people on board and flying to beijing and they are investigating all options including the possibility of foul play. >> refocusing as well as ground stuff handling it. >> reporter: as al jazeera's florence reports the investigation also focusing on

the pilot. >> inside the gated community is the home of malaysia captain, police confirmed they searched it, interviewed his family and are now examining the flight simulator the pilot kept in his house. but the captain'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's disap pp -- disappearance. in a nearby suburb is the home which the police churched a day earlier and say the captain and copilot did not ask to fly together and he was also alleged to have invited female passengers in the cockpit on the flight in 2011 and said to be

smoking on board. a neighbor who only wants to be known as ms. m describes him as courteous. >> i hope all the news, with the pilot, no, i think this is not because of the pilot. i think no one said that. >> reporter: mohamed was one of the passengers on board the missing flight. he is an aircraft engineer on his way to beijing for work. but his father says he has not been questioned by investigators and plead for an end to all the speculation about who might be behind the disappearance. >> translator: give time to the government to investigate all angles of the case to bring all passengers on the plane back safe and sound. >> reporter: investigators are now waiting for other countries to furnish them with background checks on non-malaysia passengers and the police are

looking at closely at not just the crew and passengers on the flight nh 370 but engineers who may have had contact with the aircraft before it took off and means the list of potential suspects has grown. and there is still no indication of who might have come on the plane and why. florence with al jazeera. >> reporter: a snowstorm is hittel the mid-atlantic on one of the last official days of winter and we will bring in nicole mitchell with a look at the storm and a live shot and atlantic city is snowing. >> 26 and snowing and not the only place, winter is a couple days from ending officially, although mother nation does not look at that clock so it's not unheard of in spring you get some areas that see the snow. a lot of people sick of it at this point. this is the broader picture of it and i will hone in on the snow in a second but want to make sure i mention the other side of this, the round of heavy rain in some cases is now moving

into florida as it passed through georgia, alabama yesterday, some high winds gusting 60-70 miles per hour associated with the thunderstorms causing a lot of tree damage and things of that nature and risk for severe weather today and wind could be the problem, high gusty winds and rain could impact like happy st. patrick's day and savannah and huge party after 10:00 this morning and still could see some showers so wear the rain jacket heading out to that. this is where we have snow including places as far north as jersey and watching for that and had it running through dc and that is shutting down some of the schools once again. so watch for conditions 6-8" not out of the question in the care of all of this and new york kinds of on the cusp and moisture for the parade but chilly in the 20s as people head out. this is how it tracks through the day and the coastline is saturated by tomorrow a lot of

this clears out and clearer skies behind that but definitely getting a little old with the snow and i'll talk about the cold weather side of this coming up, in just a minute and back to you. >> reporter: thank you, strong after shocks are rattling chile after a 6.7 earthquake off of chile's northern pacific shore on sunday and 46 west of the port and the quake caused 100,000 people to evacuate from the areas and felt a series of strong after shocks with smaller quakes 4.9 and 6.2 and minor damage reported. president obama employing a press to get people to sign up for healthcare and the white house will use the ncaa march madness to market to young people. beginning today the president along with celebrity athletes and coaches will appear in around the clock basketball ads saying there are two more weeks

and including social media and public service and online interviews and it's a week after the president made a similar push on the popular web show "between two ferns", army general accepts a plea deal and could learn why some of the most serious charges against him have been dropped. ♪ plus politics and st. patrick's day and mayors in some major i cities are sitting this one out. a nightclub without cocktails is one thing mongolia is doing to fight alcoholism in the country. and snow falling in atlantic city right now. ♪

♪ there are plenty of irish eying smiling this st. patrick's day but some politicians won't bewaring green at some of the

biggest parades, happy st. patrick's day, i'm stephanie sy and nicole mitchell is back with how cold it will be for today's festivities. >> miami at 74 you may be green with envy but not budging over the course of the day because of the system that, yes, has some snow with it coming through the region. on the backside of this we have a warm wind in the central portion of the country. that is really funneling up the warm temperatures and places like denver 74 degrees through today. that is ahead of another frontal system but as that comes in, that is also dry air so states such as kansas through texas and high fire danger, combination of dry air and wind and the core slides further to the east into the day tomorrow and back to you. >> reporter: st. patrick's day celebrations are underway across the nation, in new york they are getting ready for the annual

parade right now, the largest st. patrick's day in the country will start in a few hours but for the first time in 20 years the sitting of the city will not be marching, deblasio is boyc t boycotting because of people not being able to carry signs and he is not the only one staying away. >> the luck of the irish is upon us, from shamrocks and green and amid political tensions and mother nature's fury. >> this is if best year because if you are hard core you will be here no matter what the weather. >> reporter: detroit was a cold and windy one, thousands of green spectators had the coldest temperatures in 20 years to show off their irish spirit. >> come out and have some fun and enjoy the spirit of st. patrick's day. >> reporter: the weather was

warmer but overcast in hilton head where lepraucans went on for hours and they gave bars a chance to cash in with some extra green. and in south boston thousands lined the streets to watch bag pipes and marching bands and took place since 1901 but the city mayor was not only the participants, the son of irish immigrants mayor walsh decided not to march after talks failed to include a gay veteran group in the parade and attended the st. patrick's day breakfast and deblasio will skip the parade and the first to do so in decades after the refusal to let participants carry progay signs

and beer distributes withdrew also and controversy and cold weather in the country's largest st. patrick's day celebrations. >> reporter: that was sarah reporting, both guinness and heinekin dropped which are expecting one million spectators, they are rejoining russia and how they react and what eu plans to do about it. destroying the red wood forest and poachers are targeting the trees. >> and you made it with the offering. >> reporter: up and comer and dreams of taking the stage at the grand old opry and introducing people to the stage for years. >> reporter: ncaa tournament field announced and the big dance is only a few days away. >> reporter: taking a live look

here at the nation's capitol, the snow falling on the white house, federal offices in washington d.c. closed again because of the weather.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are top stories at this hour. people in crimea overwhelmingly voted to succeed from ukraine and join russia and 97% voted yes to the referendum and weights russia approval and it endorsed a decree to bring in troops and later on today putin will talk about it. and the president will meet at the white house with a peace deal between palestinians and

israelis and they will protest and urging abbas not to surrender to u.s. pressure. 26 countries involved in the search for missing flight 370, the search area for the plane carrying 239 people spanned central asia to the indian ocean and looking at the possibility the jet was diverted before it disappeared. the vote in crimea was one of the largest ever for a european nation and pro-russian supporters celebrating after sunday's unanimous vote to join moscow but the battle over the disputed peninsula is far from over. ♪ for the majority of crimea march 16 will now be known as independence day. the day they voted to separate from ukraine they never wanted to be a part of. ♪ the day they voted to join a

russia they still call the mother land. >> i'm very happy to be in russia. it's my choice and it's my voice today and i like it to be russia. >> reporter: they celebrated one of the most lopsided votes europe ever hosted. for 12 straight hours one after another after another ticked the same box. as this mother put it, it's never too early to vote for russia. vladimir feels loyal to his soviet comrades and delivers orders to young soldiers now to different kinds of battles. the former general votes in his old dress uniform. like many here he is nestalgic for his old identity. during an interview he showed off his long expired soviet passport and asked him if he will trade it in for a new

russian version. >> translator: absolutely, i'm going back home and they will welcome me with open arms. >> reporter: turning to moscow they are turning their backs on the west and representatives and that led the west to call the vote anything but fair. at this polling station in the southern town instead of police or election officials we found pro-russian militia running security. is there a problem with us filming here? they blocked access to a room we were authorized to film. this idea allows us to come in why are you saying we cannot. he tried to talk us out of filming and stop filming. excuse me. excuse me. do you have a problem. he runs away despite my efforts. he wants nobody to see him but the militia is still in plain view here and at this station 20 miles away. they create a gauntlet for any

perspective voter. inside we found voting booths empty. in this area half the population is muslim tatar and fear prosecution and a voting boycott. but nothing could stop tonight's celebration. >> i don't have what i can say because it's our rejoice. we are better informed. >> reporter: they don't care the west calls today's vote a fraud, all they care about now is for moscow to welcome them home. >> reporter: and as nick mentioned at the end of his piece the vote is not sitting well with western countries and dana has that perspective and good morning the eu and u.s. say the vote is illegal, why? >> you know, stephanie, it's an important question because on the surface it looks like a real referendum, doesn't it, the voting is done and some

observers allowed to look at the process and celebrating and joyous and happy and for those who voted they should be allowed to choose fate and decide on country and despite condemnations of the vote being illegal the clock may never be turned back on this but to answer your question when you look at the fact that armed men were suddenly on the streets of crimea, not internal defense forces russia claims and they were russia sent in to intimidate and take control and the vote was organized in a few weeks with no debate or free flow of information and look at the fact some of the crimea population boycotted the vote including ukrainians and tartar and with the boycotting it was forgone conclusions and british secretary hague say it's a mockery of democratic process and the u.s. and eu say it's illegal for all of those

reasons. >> reporter: so how are the eu and u.s. planning to respond to the vote? >> well, as we speak, european union foreign ministers are meeting in brussels and decide a possible list of 130 russian officials subject to freezes and bans and calling russia to deescalate the situation and start talking to the ukrainian government and this is what the foreign minister hague said this morning. >> at the same time every diplomatic channel remains open to russia. and we continue to be in communication with russia about creating a diplomatic framework, about finding ways to deescalate this crisis. it's important that work goes on as well. >> reporter: lots of questions about how the sanctions will play out and target those close to putin or only decision makers on criteria and come into effect today or later in the week because later in the week the

leaders of all the european countries are due to meet as well. the timing of this is up in the air as we speak. >> dana lewis in london and thank you. stay with al jazeera for continuing coverage of the fall out from crimea's referendum, at 7:20 eastern with the vote completed and international leaders rejecting results what is expected to happen next. sexual assault charges expected to be dropped against a high ranking u.s. officer as part of a plea deal and accused of having a three-year affair with the captain that worked for him and we are live at ft. brag and the case have seen a lot of twists in the resent weeks. >> twists indeed, good morning, stephanie. prosecutors and the defense team just spent almost a week brokering this plea deal. it came after the judge grounded the court marshal to a halt. he sent the jury home.

that is because he was worried that political considerations influenced the military and prompted prosecutors to reject a plea offer by the defense early on. his 27 year career spanned two war zones, afghanistan and iraq. the decorated general's court marshal at ft. bragg could have landed him in prison for the rest of his life. he is a married father of two. he agreed to plead guilty to drastically reduce charges. among the more serious charges dropped the sexual assault of former mistress of three years, a captain under his command and another charge dropped he threatened to kill accuser and family and he will avoid having to register as a sex offender. the court marshal is only the third for a general in more than 50 years. it closes a two-year case plagued with problems including the revelation that the

prosecution's star witness, general sinclair's former mistress may have lied under oath. earlier this month sinclair plead guilty and having relationships with two other officers and possessing pornography and faces 15 years in prison or could receive a lighter sentence including forced retirement and demotion in rank. both sides have agreed to cap the amount of time sinclair will spend in prison. it's called a quantum. the judge won't know what that cap is until he gives his sentence, sinclair will serve the lesser of the two and expected to be sentenced sometime this week. >> we will follow that and we are live at ft. brag in north carolina. next week's building collapse were remembered during sunday church services.

harlem gospel assembly paid tribute to two of their own and church members were among the eight victims killed in the gas explosion and 67-year-old was an usher at the church. >> you have to have a loving personality to be an usher and how you greet people. >> left behind memories of their love for others. >> reporter: the service also paid tribute to members of the spanish christian church which was also destroyed in the blast. the bible from the church was pulled out of the rubble saturday. the baptist church is in grave condition. the 84-year-old preacher fred phelps established the church and soldiers held signs like thank god for dead soldiers and he and followers claim the deaths are god's punishment for

tolerance of homosexuality and abortion. the trees are in danger from poachers and sneaking into parts and cutting off parts of the trees to sell and we met up with people trying to protect the natural treasures. >> reporter: california old growth red woods are treasures and it's illegal to disturb the trees on the public land in the national and state parks but police suspect the trees are being threatened by drug addicted thieves cutting growths called burrows for sale to suppliers and craftsmen who fashion objects and furniture worth thousands of dollars. >> there is a burrow cut on that and walking on the corner here we have a relatively fresh cut. >> reporter: porchers are coming in with chain saws at night to steal the burrows. >> to see these precious, limited resources damaged in

such a way, purely for decorative or selfish personal reasons, it hurts. >> reporter: several stores near the park offer burrow cut from private land that are legal. james simmons has been working with burrow since his dad introduced him to the craft when he was a kid and the bowl could fetch $500 but he won't deal with anyone illegally. >> i don't want to buy wood from them, i have legal sources to get wood. >> reporter: at one time there were two million acres of coastal red woods and 95% of them are gone. to stop them the park is stepping up patrols and police officer bret silver says drug addicts may behind the thefts. >> feeding the drug meth. >> reporter: they have a meth abuse problem. and a 7.5% unemployment rate,

some suspect that hard times may also be contributing to the problem. walking the gate doesn't seem to be working. this is fresh sawdust, evidence of a resent cut. rangers say it's not just the burrows, porchers steal the rare and valuable red wood from the trunks of these old growth trees and selling it for construction. >> the price is going way up. >> reporter: some active investigation in the cuts are underway but few rest and they need more resources to protect these trees and cut the scurge of meth addiction, california. >> reporter: if left untouched the red wood trees live thousands of years but the open wounds caused pests and diseases to enter the red woods threatening the life span. business news and taking the crimea vote to split from

ukraine to join russia in tried and stocks are higher and no reason for investors to over react to the ukraine crisis. >> in the further term if there were major catastrophe where natural gas flows to europe were cutoff or interrupted and prices jumped or double and it may trickle down to some extent to u.s. extremities. >> reporter: overseas asian markets were mixed and china rose 1% after beijing announced to speed infrastructure projects and european are bouncing back from the biggest loss since january and they pick the u.s. for the public debut and china e commerce could raise $15 billion and the biggest ipo since facebook. the move end months of speculation over where the company would list shares after talks with hong kong fell apart last year and yahoo owns 24% and japan owns 35%.

honda is recalling nearly 887,000 odyssey mini vans saying the fuel pump can deteriorate and models between 2005-2010, no fires or injuries have been reported. it is that time to fill out your brackets and march madness starts this week and mark morgan is here with details. >> a lot of people already starting to stress out because it's going to be tough to fill out the field and how it shakes out. before the ncaa selection committee announced the bracket yesterday evening the drama seemed to be which school would have the number one seed and it's florida, arizona and wichita state were virtual locks and virginia made the case in acc tournament final against duke and virginia up by four and blue devil and they head the

other way and joe harris on the pay off end for three. uva takes control down the stretch in this one and after taking the regular season league championship virginia adds the first acc tournament title since 1976, beating duke. in the big ten michigan state hitting the stride after a season full of injuries and ripped michigan in the final and state held the wolverines 32% shooting and the spartaned led and had a 14 win, and getting healthy at the right time, and aaron harrison of kentucky and the gators led by 16 and they come back and deyoung is the runner and 90 seconds remaining and out to james and bureaus the three and 1-point game and one last chance for the wildcats and upset and james young will drive

but loses his balance and goes down and florida hangs on to win 61-60, 20 straight wins for the gators. it's time to fill out your brackets the ncaa unveiled it after the conference tournament action was complete. the road to the final four in texas begins tuesday, the number one seed the florida gators top the south and winners of 26 and 8 appearance for the squad and kansas, syracuse and ucla seed 2-4. in the east virginia top seed. villanova is two and michigan state was given a four seed are you kidding me, the spartans, yeah, are you kidding me should have been higher. out west the badgers of wisconsin are seeded number two and the only undefeated team in the country wichita 34-0 was number one seed and louisville,

michigan, duke, all in the shockers bracket but the head coach says bring it on. >> i think it's a tough bracket but all brackets are tough and don't know how they will fall, take it one game at a time as we did last year and played a number one seed, number two seed and eventually ran into louisville who is the top overall seed and played well in the final four and came up two possessions short and show it will be tough and prepared for that and it doesn't matter, if you have one off night or play poorly one night you won't get to the second round. >> reporter: wichita state 34-0. the last college basketball game undefeated on the way to an ncaa indiana in 1976 and they were 32-0. pressure on wichita state and the toughest bracket for them. >> you will help me fill out my bracket after the show. >> it may take a while. >> reporter: 20 minutes of exercise a day can help cut your risk of getting the flu.

doing vigorous workouts like running and cycling for 2 1/2 hours every week can reduce symptoms by 10% but low-impact exercise like walking and light jogging has little effect in the study and reports of the flu this winter are among the lowest in resent years. alcoholism has been a problem in mongolia and a stumbling block for the country and politicians have links there regarding alcohol and the government is hoping to turn things around. >> this recently opened club is the hottest venue and let's people under 21 come here to socialize and has everything every club has except alcohol. >> translator: our club offers the opportunity for youth to sing, dance and do all activities without alcohol. >> reporter: not serving alcohol runs contrary to the

tradition which has used it for generations. it's cheap and easy to come by and for many in the still developing country offers a quick escape from harsh realities. but the widespread heavy consumption saying to cutback on drinking and saying it was a matter of national security. many here say a change is now noticeable and people are drinking less. the turning point coming when the president banned alcohol from government functions and photographed drinking milk instead. but that made little difference here, he moved to the city to make a better life for his family but now lives alone and barely able to get by and his wife left him for drinking too much. >> translator: i don't really drink too much, only with friends and socialize, it's not a habit. >> reporter: there are many others like him who don't think they have a problem. there are 8 agencies and

government-backed programs offering help but unless he makes a decision to go to them, the help won't come to him. i'm with al jazeera, mongolia. >> reporter: a study by the world health organization say 1-5 men binge drink once a week. forget about driving around the iffle tower. the iconic grand old opry house in the heart of nashville. ♪

on al jazeera america ♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, straight ahead inside the home of country music, the grand old opry and first a look

at the snow and rain across the country today and metrologist nicole mitchell is back, nicole. >> more than you expect in the mid atlantic and more on a second and parts of wisconsin light snow this morning with a minor disturbance and a system in the northwest bringing areas of some heavy rain and snow for the higher elevations but let's get to the main system, the southern edge has had a lot of rain with it and strong storms today in places such as florida, high winds, particularly threat with that and the mid atlantic we have been getting decent snow totals and parts of new jersey up over 6" in a couple locations and you can kind of see the core of that right through the mid atlantic, that will cause a problem getting out this morning, back to you. >> reporter: air pollution is so bad in paris that drivers are now only allowed to use their cars every other day. hundreds of french police officers will be patrolling the city to make sure people obey the temporary rule and alternate

on odd or even numbers on license plates and public transportation is free and will look at it daily to see how long to keep in place and this is the worst they have seen since 2007. grand old opry is the home of country music and they celebrated the 40th anniversary and jonathan martin shows us how hard it is for performers to perform on the legendary stage. >> reporter: in nashville you will see hard tests like buddy owens playing in bars and clubs and moved her 15 years ago hoping to make it big and he is a successful song writer but the opry stage is still a dream. who has played these honkie-tonks, what does it mean to you? >> you can say you made it if

you played the opry. >> reporter: it's the longest running live radio show and from the beginning it presented an unique mix of country icons alongside up and comers, from the first show in the 20s the opry grew so fast it changed venues several times and in 74 it settled on this location in nashville. ♪ over the weekend the grand old opry audience got a rare treat seeing video of the first show on that same opry stage, bill anderson was there sharing the stage with then president richard nixon. >> we were in awe the president was here and made such a big night of it. >> reporter: when the opry moved here it brought along some magic from the past, a circle of wood from the original stage and taking their place on that spot is an unforgettable experience. >> and every night when we walk up there we stand on that circle of wood and that means that circle is unbroken, it was here

in the 40s and it's here now, it's very special. >> reporter: time has not dimmed the opry's impact or diminished the need to keep the family growing. >> you can work concerts in any venue all over the world and they are great. you can do the same performance. but it is so different when you walk on this stage. >> in order for it to grow it has to stay relevant and also has to pull the past forward. >> reporter: back on nashville's honkey-tonk road he opens to get the call to play on the iconic opry stage. jonathan martin, al jazeera, nashville. >> reporter: the ryman was used from 43-74 and after falling in disrepair it had a renovation

and is a popular concert venue in nashville and we have a look of what is ahead. >> here is what we are following this morning, 97% of residents in crimea voting to break away from ukraine and join russia. u.s. and european union consider the referendum illegal and considering sanctions against russia. president obama set to meet with palestinian leader today and will talk about a peace deal with israel. the missing airliner focusing on one of the pilots and saying he had close tie to an opposition leader recently sent to prison. also ahead in our next hour we get reaction from around the world through crimea overwhelming vote to leave ukraine and be a part of russia. and a piece of the past making a colorful come back, hand painted bill boards part of the landscape of new york city. i'm nicole mitchell and dealing with everything from high winds to heavy snow this morning how will that impact your plans for st. patrick's

day, i'll have the forecast. >> and dell and i are back with you in 2 1/2 minutes.

>> crimea overwhelmingly proffers leaving ukraine. >> white house diplomacy, president obama meeting with palestinian leader, the two men set to discuss the potential framework for talks with israel. >> parades celebrating st. patrick's day taking place across the country, the can't

recovers keeping two mayors from marching. >> the revival of one of the largest cities in the world. >> jubilation in the crimean planes. the disputed territory voting to revine russia. 97% said yes to the referendum. good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. i'm receive stay. >> i'm del walters. moscow and the west, russia wasting no time saying it will move to address the referendum. >> kiev's new government called the referendum illegitimate, endorsing a presidential decree to call 40,000 reserve troops.

the u.s. and eu say sanctions are the next steps. >> we're beginning with jennifer glass in ukraine. those recent developments recording the response to the votes, what are you hearing? >> reunderstand that russian president vladimir putin is calling for a support group to be convened to discuss the crisis in ukraine. now looking for some sort of international consensus to discuss what's going on in you a crane right now. that comes as you just mentioned, as ukraine calls up 40,000 reservists. that announcement has been worrying people here, ethnic russians who say they've been seeing pictures on russian television of men in kiev picking up weapons and these, they say, are fascists, are terrorists. this is the kind of propaganda

they've heard on russian television and point to that and say that's why we are happy there are russian troops here, because if they hasn't been here, those people would have been here. here the ladies and gentlemen laters, the city council moved very quickly to consolidate yesterdays vote. 97% of crimeans voted to head toward russia and this morning here, the city council had a very quick vote, six votes, all unanimous passing basically a declaration of independence, declaring it independent. crimea has done the same thing. basically, the mirror images in both places declared independence, asked russia to take them in as part of the russian federation. for now, they will operate under

ukrainian law but only law that was before february 21. that's another thing that russia is asking for. we think president vladimir putin is going to ask the support group to somehow initiate to enforce, implement is the word that they're using implement pores of the peace deal signed february 21 between president yanukovych and kiev that moscow doesn't recognize. they want to go back to some portions of that agreement. that agreement made presidential elections in december, we're not sure if they want president yanukovych to come back. it's going to be a very, very difficult deal for kiev to stomach but is an opening for moscow to begin talking with kiev. >> jennifer, thank you very much this morning. >> let's get some reaction from kiev where phil ittner is right

now. the ukrainian parliament is meeting to discuss this situation in crimea. what does the government in kiev say about sunday's referendum? >> they believe it needs to be a national forum, not locally. even before early returns were coming out last night, he said much of this crisis has been created artificially by agents of moscow, saying those who have fomented this kind of situation, crisis will be south out and

they will find out who created this secessionist movement. >> let there be no doubt, the ukrainian state will find out ring leaders of separatism who now are attempting to destroy ukrainian independence, shield would by the russian troops. we will find them owl, if it takes a year, two years, we will bring them to justice and try them in ukrainian and international courts. the earth wilburn beneath their feet. >> there are strong words, but everybody here kind of searches the fact that there's very little they can do with so many russian troops on the ground. >> not just russian troops, there are still ukrainian sailors and soldiers on the ground in crimea. there's been a truce in place between russia and ukraine. it's supposed to last until friday. what can you tell us about the current status?

>> well, the current status is there is this truce apparently between the russian forces and ukrainian forces out there. there's still an awful lot of ukrainian soldiers and sailors out there. we heard in a press conference from today, the a accounting defense minister saying that because of that truce, that those ukrainian soldiers and sailors will still get provisions, they won't be left out to hang, to hang out there and be left out in the dry, but also, there were some very strong words from that press conference that the ukrainian forces of bible mobilized, sent into the east of the country, not least of which because they think that there are agent russian provocateurs out there but to establish what is in fact an international border. >> phil ittner, thank you. >> stay with aljazeera for the

continuing coverage. the options world leaders have for dealing with russia. >> tuesday to discuss tehran's nuclear program, they will be in vienna talking to iranian representatives. over the weekend the u.s. said that iran tried to buy banned items for its nuclear program. the move does not vital last year's agreement, but it does breach a 2006 u.n. embargo. >> malaysian authorities are not ruling out foul play in the case of missing malaysia flight 370. the flight has been missing for 10 days. as the search expands, malaysia is not willing to take all the u.s. help offered. what's going on there, lisa? >> as this has moved into a criminal investigation now, u.s. intelligence agencies are eager

to offer more help to malaysia. there's just a few f.b.i. agents on the ground there now, but apparently so far, they are not willing to take that help, very frustrating to the folks back here, because they aren't getting the information they need to help figure out what happened to this plane. the u.s. of course is very involved in the search on the water, as are dozens of other countries. >> as pope francis prayed for the 239 onboard malaysian airlines flight 370 now missing for 10 days, this is how wide the search zone has expanded. 26 countries are now involved in the hunt for the plane could be anywhere from central asia to the west of australia deep in the indian ocean. >> we are asking countries that have assets including the u.s., china and france, amongst others

to provide further satellite detail. >> sunday, the u.s. added its motor sophisticated sub hunter to the search even as malaysian investigators who say the disappearance is a deliberate asked refused u.s. assistance into focus on the pilots. >> interpoll could have been called in, our intelligence agencies. malaysia is not really cooperating at all. >> back in kuala lampur, malaysian police searched the home of the airlines captain, interviewed his family and are now examining the flight simulator the pilot kept in his house. >> we have the flight simulator and dismantled it from the room and assembled it at our office and we are getting experts to look at it now. >> friends of the captain have been quick to touchdown him, saying they do not believe he could have been involved in the flight's disappearance. >> if anything would have

happened to the plane, he would make sure that everyone else, crew and passengers, their welfare is taken care of before he think about himself. >> the co pilot's house was searched, as well. there's little evidence the men colluded to divert the plane from its planned course since they had not requested to fly together for that trip to beijing. another frustration could lie in the flight's black boxes, which if ever recovered could yield few clues. >> it only records information for two hours and then overwrites itself. if this is a six or seven hour event, then we've lost all of the good stuff. >> they have been analyzing the last words from the cockpit, the last transmission and the preliminary information that malaysian officials say it sounds like the voice of the co pilot. this is significant because the two incidents that happened before the transponder being

turned off on this aircraft and also someone switching off another communication systems happened before that last communication, so this will put renewed focus on that co pilot, first officer, young first officer, 27 years old to see if he may have been the one who took control of this plane and went on a ride for seven hours or more to a destination we still do not know. >> that's an important development. aljazeera's lisa stark for us with breaking news in washington, thank you. >> here in the u.s., a delta airplane lost part of its wing in mid flight, a passenger tweeting this picture of what he saw outside the plane's window. dealt mistake flight from orlando to atlanta, no one was injured and the plane landed without incident. >> federal offices are closed today because of snow. >> it is snowing again and for more on the snow in washington and elsewhere, let's turn to

nicole mitchell. >> good morning, just two weeks ago, there was another snowstorm and all the kids were off, today again the kids are off, the government offices closed. maybe you're feeling a little luck of the irish if you don't have to go in today, but not if you have to shovel this out. this is a lovely look at white house where we have about six inches of snow. other totals, all from the d.c. area where the airport dull less, we've got about seven inches, german town 10 inches, other places approaching a foot with this system and we're into march. we've had impressive snow totals. the system, another out to the northwest. we've had heavy rain with a history of high winds. as this passed through georgia and alabama yesterday, some wind gusts over the 60-mile per hour range. we could see that with the thunderstorms into florida today and that was causing tree damage. it is st. patrick's day, a lot of celebrations that this weather could impact including

the big party and parade in savannah. they do it up big and those temperatures are going to be around 60 degrees with rain showers, so dress appropriately. as we get to the mid atlantic, you can see the heaviest band of snow start to go move off, still impressive totals, and it is coming down. watch for that core that could easily approach a foot of snow. places like new york city, right on the cusp, looks like we won't get the moisture. on the cusp, can't totally rule it out. temperatures colder into the 20's, it's going to be chilly for that parade that kicks off around 11:00. later into today, this slowly moves out but a lot of the southeast staying wet through the day. back to you guys. >> still watch out for the green snow. thank you very much. st. patrick's day are underway across the country. we want to show you live pictures from st. patrick's cathedral where the country's largest parade will end in a few

hours. the mayor of new york city will not be marching. he is boycotting because marchers aren't allowed to carry gay pride signs. he's not the only one staying away. >> the luck of the irish is upon us. shamrock to irish dancers to a lot of green. sunday kicked off st. patrick's day celebrations around the nation. amid some political tensions and mother nature's fury. >> we've been out here for 25 plus years and this is the best year. if you're hard core irish, you'll be here no matter the weather. >> thousands of green clad spectators and pets braved the coldest temperatures in 20 years to show off their irish spirit. >> we come out and have some fun and enjoy the spirit of st. patty's day. >> the weather was warmer but overcast in hilton head where merriment went on our hours.

savannah's blue laws were shelved to give the bars the chance to cash in with some extra green. in south boston, thousands watched bag types, floats and marching bands in what is seen as one of the most cherished irish events in the city since 1901. the city's mayor was not a participant. the son of irish immigrants, mayor walsh decided not to march after talks refused to include a gay veterans group in the parade. he did attend the breakfast. new york's mayor plans to skip his city's traditional st. patrick's day parade, the first mayor to do so in decades over parade organizers refusal to let participants carry pro gay signs. several beer companies with drew sponsor ships in new york and boston. controversy among the revelry

among the st. patrick's day celebrations. >> both guinness and heineken dropping their sponsor ship of the new york city parade. >> world leaders are rejecting crimea's referendum. >> we're going to focus on the options the international community has to keep crimea from breaking away from ukraine. >> france trying to reduce air pollution, restrictions on drivers to cut down on smog. >> our big number of the day, 34,700,000. >> the connection it has to st. patrick's day.

>> a special st. patrick's day big number this morning, 34,700,000. >> you attempted an irish accent. >> black irish. >> that's the amount of people living in the u.s. who claim irish ancestry. that number is seven times larger than the population of ireland. >> that's part of what makes that number so large, between

1820 and 1930, 4.5 irish immigrants arrived here in the u.s. >> the irish playing an important part in american history, as well. good morning welcome to al jazeera america. i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> temperatures across the nation today as we celebrate st. patrick's day. good morning, nicole. >> everyone claims they're irish today. i thought that would be the numbers of beers consumed around the country. i early this morning saw a few people stallerring out on the street. be careful today. cooler temperatures up into the northeast. that is going to impact the couple parades that are today, a lot of them took place over the weekend. this section of the country start to go get mild. we have this southwesterly flow, denver at 74 degrees and with that, that's ahead of the next weather system, pulling in that southerly air, but that's dry air, you can see that coming out of the southwest. because of the winds and the dry conditions, that's going to lead to fire risk from north texas

into nebraska. be careful of that. back to you guys. >> ok, nicole, thank you. an overwhelming major city in crimea voted to secede from kiev. it is calling up 40,000 reserve troops in kiev. moscow wants to address the standoff, but russia said kiev must acknowledge its february peace deal with expenalty yanukovych. we will devil deeper into this crisis in on you crane. thanks for being with us. with the vote behind us, would you expect the kremlin to move immediately to annex crimea. >> it will be used we believe to

move more troops into ukraine. the fear is kiev is the ultimate destination. >> you believe this is going to spread. >> yes. >> and that is moscow's goal? >> yes. >> what makes you say that? >> the goal has been to intimidate the ukrainian people. what mr. putin is fearing most of all is the spirit of freedom, the barricade to freedom, the fact that people have taken power from the government that he installed in ukraine and he does not want that to go further. what he wanted in crimea is to ins sitting a response like in georgia, troops crossing over and the george januaries fired back. the ukrainian state that not had an official response of violence against troops coming into crimea and that has complicated his plans. >> that is an interesting perspective. in georgia, russia has not

formally annexed, but there is talk in the kremlin that russia may actually formally make ukraine part of russia. why would that be -- sorry, crimea part of russia. why would crimea be different as viewed through the eyes of the kremlin than those regions in georgia. >> there are parts of ukraine being explored, the mainland which supplies the electricity, the gas, crimea cannot exist without the mainland support. it would take billions, some people say $20 billion to connect it with the russian mainland in some way with telecommunications and other reserves, so that's not reasonable to just annex crimea. >> because it would be too expensive for the russians. >> yes. >> let's talk about the western response, sanctions from the u.s. and e.u. the parliament in crimea filed paperwork for formal annexation. are western companies playing

catch up? >> the international community deals with these kind of violation of treaties, we've seen mr. putin vital by entering crimea and the western community is going for sanctions, for reprimands. we have the condemnation viewed on saturday. this is the pros the international community has to keep war from playing out. unfortunately, president putin is playing by his own rules. this is something that the west has to deal with a little more agilely and it may involve having troops coming over the bored tore ukraine. >> 97% of people that voled in crimea voted to join russia. i think some people will be asking why not just let russia

annex crimea if that's what they want? >> according to a citizen journalist who got a look at the voter rolls, 123% of people came out to vote that day. these are numbers that we are used to coming out of the former soviet union. >> you don't trust the numbers? >> not at all. >> you don't believe the majority want to be part of russia? >> absolute not, we've had international polls in crimea last year it was 20%, a journalist poll last year that under 40% of crimea wanted to rejoin russia. the vast majority of people we have already polled do not want to join russia. >> and yet we see celebrations on the streets. it's a discussion that will continue today. from the ukrainian congress committee for america, thank you for coming in this morning. >> thank you. >> global markets brushing off the vote in crimea, do you futures up at this hour,

starting the day at 1665. the s&p standing at 1841, the nasdaq composite at 4245 that asian markets mixed. beijing announced the plan to speed up the pace of infrastructure projects. >> there are huge consumers of all sorts of global products, number two is the health of their economy is influenced or does influence the world. a lot of our relationships banking wise, equity-wise with china are extremely important and integral. >> european markets are bouncing back from last week's losses. >> analyst say chinese e commerce company could race $15 billion, making it the largest i.p.o. since facebook. that move ends months of speculation over where the company would list shares after talks with hong kong fell apart.

yahoo owns 24% of the company jail soft bank has a 35% stake. >> president obama is welcoming the palestinian penalty to the white house. >> the goal is to get the leader to agree to a framework for talks with israel. the tougher decisions that could end decades of division. >> why some of the most serious charges were dropped in an international case. >> hand painted bill boards on the side of thises in the big apple. >> the ncaa tournament field has been announced and coming up, a special look at a team that could be this year said bracket buster.

>> welcome to al jazeera america

i'm stephanie sy. >> i'm del walters. >> issues that could rock the potential peace process at president obama sits down to meet with palestinian penalty at the white house. >> the revival have hand painted art in new york city, beautiful bill boards look like photographs. >> flash of the past. in the next hour, posing a rather unusual question on gun safety to parents. the campaign that has some rethinking their position on guns. >> people in crimea voted to secede from ukraine and join russia. 97% voted yes to sunday's referendum, now awaiting russia's approval. a presidential decree called for 40,000 reserve troops. on tuesday, russian penalty vladimir putin will address the secession in moscow. >> crimea's vote not sitting well with the u.s. and e.u., coming out with strong statements after the results were released. what are they saying?

>> del, i don't think anybody's congratulating moscow on this referendum over the weekend. that's certainly an understatement, a chorus of condemnation, saying it's illegal. on the surface, it did look like a real referendum the way the show was put on yesterday, people celebrate afterwards, they seem happy. we see and hear from people voting to join russia. what's the problem? but when you look at the fact that our men were sent to the crimea, not internal defense forces, but russian soldiers sent in say critics to intimidate, take control. when you look at vote being organized in a few weeks with no flow of information, some of the crimean population-day cotted the voted and there are numbers a you will over the place what that boycott may have added up to, the west says that easily

when you add these things altogether, it's illegal. british foreign secretary hague this morning said it is a mockery of the proper democratic process. >> how are the e.u. and u.s. planning to respond? >> sanctions and that's going to play out within a matter of days as we understand it. it could play out today, e.u. foreign ministers are meeting as we speaking brussels. they'll decide on a possible list of 130 russian officials who will be subject to foreign asset freezes and travel bans. they are calling on russia to deescalate the situation and start talking to the ukrainian government which russia refuses to do. catherine ashton of the e.u. commission said this this morning: >> we will be looking today at what we do about this so-called referendum in crimea. the situation, as you know, is deeply worrying.

this is under international law and under the ukrainian constitution illegal. we need to now consider what our response should be to that. >> these sanctions all the way they play out are going to be interesting. we'll hopefully start to get detail on them. are they going to target those close to president putin or only the decision makers on the crimea will they came into effect today or later in the week. the leaders are due to meet later this week. russia has said that this is going to be a mirror, anything that the e.u. and u.s. does to russia they'll do back. they may seize foreign assets in russia, foreign companies, so a very interesting few days to unfold before us. >> sanctions and counter sakes. dana, thank you very much. >> the syrian government says it is now in control of the last rebel strong hold near the lebanese border. president bashar al assad's forces entered the town a month

ago. most of the 40,000 who lived there fled to lebanon. before that, the government had taken several areas around yabroud including highways, linking the old city of homs to damascus. president obama will meet with the palestinian president today at the white house for a peace dale with israel. the status of jerusalem and the fate of palestinian refugees will be discussed. we are live in the west bank. these are familiar sticking points, what is the mood there where you are? >> it's tense here on the streets right now. there is a feeling by many palestinians that they have been here before and given so much. there is concern that their

president ma'a will be under pressure. many say it is an expression of the people's will and to stand firm. they say they have already sacrificed so much. >> this is a funeral for an 18-year-old shot in the back of the head by the israeli army they say for throwing stones. one week later, miss mother is still in disbelief. >> i think they could have arrested him, put him on trial, anything but not kill him. >> it's this continuing killing and conflict between israelis and palestinians the u.s. believes can be resolved. u.s. president obama and the palestinian president will meet in washington for a framework hoped to lead to a final peace deal. territory occupied by israel

since 1967, through land swaps, israel could keep most settlements, palestinian would be compensated with equal land elsewhere. there are questions about whether israel is bargaining in good faith. complicating negotiation are i guess the fact that israel has continued building illegal settlements here in the west bank. roughly 10,000 new settlement units since the talks began in july, 2013. >> israeli prime minister netanyahu says emis objected to sharing the holy city. palestinian want it as a capitol. >> with jerusalem as partly of our own sovereign state. >> international law man dates compensation and right of return of palestinian refugees displaced in 1948. this is a sticking point for israel.

netanyahu is insisting a military presence in the valley between jordan and the west bang. president abbas prefers nato to take over. >> they have been negotiating for 20 years, since my son was born. he was killed and today thousands were killed and tens of thousand us arrested during those years of talks. >> there's little time left for peace making. the draft framework has a nine month deadline. that means differences created over decades may have just a month to resolve. the feeling here on the streets is not one of optimism. many palestinian say weaver been here before, talking for 20 years. the only thing that's happened is we have continued to yield to israeli demands bile israel continued illegal settlement building, continued to carry out

its agenda. there's very little optimism. there's pressure on abbas to stand firm. the feeling by most palestinian is they would rather see talks collapse than yield to new demands. >> the perspective from the west bank, thank you. >> a professor of islamic history at columbia university, you heard it, optimism not high in ramallah in the west bank. what are the chances that this meeting today with the palestinian leader will produce anything? >> i think the chance are rather slim. i think that mr. abbass may say nice things to the president but not get a breakthrough. >> when the president is directly involved in talks,

there's already been some brokered agreement or something that is supposed to come out. it did not appear that is the case this time. >> i don't think so. the issue that's arisen, recognizing israel as a jewish state is difficult idealogically. it's ones they can do and change the terrain overnight, because it's not a land issue or resettlement issue, but it is a strong ideological issue. >> professor, on sunday after meeting with the palestinian president he urged the tougher decisions necessary in the weeks ahead for a peace deal with israel. what are those tough additions is that the palestinian president has to make? >> recognizing israel as a jewish state. that has arisen as a make or break issue. there's the question which whether to find a middle ground

on issues like the settlements, for example, giving israel a certain amount of time to either dismantle or rearrange settlement things. >> lets go back to the first one. will he make the decision on israel being a jewish state? >> i think that would be a domestic political catastrophe. >> in ramallah, they don't want that, they don't want him to budge an inch. >> that's right, but he is the man on top, the one that has to make the decision. he could do it. next week, he turns 79. this is more or less the last hurrah for mahmoud abbas for a peace deal. he would lose legitimacy if i

makes the decision, on the other hand may move the process forward. i don't think it's totally out of the question, but it would be very difficult. >> i was fascinated in the notes for this interview, he's going to be 79. this has been going on since he was 59. in a lot of cases they say time heals all wounds. in the middle east, are you confident that the generation coming up is going to see things differently than the generation leaving? >> i think the issue of old men in the middle east is an important issue, whether it's saudi arabia or egypt or whoever it is, but the next generation is very unpredictable because the way the politics are structured, the next tear of leadership is fairly invisible. i think whoever comes after abbas is going to have a long period in which the israel government will be testing him to see if they have grounds for personal chemistry. abbas has that chemistry to some degree.

i think that this puts pressure on both him and the israelis to try and do something. whether he can muster the fortitude to make this concession on a jewish state i think is highly questionable. >> thank you very much for being with us. professor richard bullet is the professor of islamic history at colombia university. >> strong shocks of rattling history after an earthquake on sunday. its epicenter was 46 miles west of the port city. the quake caused 100,000 people to evacuate coastal areas fearing a tsunami that never came. it has felt strong aftershocks, but only minor damage reported. >> sexual assault charges are expected to be dropped against the general as part of a plea deal, accused of having a three year affair with an army captain who was one of his subordinates. we are live at fort bragg, north

carolina. the case against sinclair has seen a lot of twists in recent weeks. >> good morning, stephanie. some would say the turn this case has taken has resulted in embarrassment to the military. the brigadier general is expected to plead guilty to disobeying a commanding officer, misusing a credit card and mistreating his former mistress. >> is respond afghanistan and iraq war zones. he could ever landed in prison for the rest of his life. sinclair is a married father of two. he agreed to plead guilty to drastically reduced charges, among the charges dropped, the sexual assault of a captain under his command. another charge dropped, that he threatened to kill his accuser and her family.

sinclair will avoid having to register as a sex offender. the court martial is only the third for a general in more than 50 years. it closes a two year case plagued with problems, including the revelation that the prosecution's star witness, general sinclair's former mistress may have lied under oath. earlier this month, sinclair pleaded guilty to adultery, having improper relationships with two other subordinate officers and possessing pornography. he faces up to 15 years in prison or could receive a lighter sentence, including his forced retirement and demotion in rank. >> this high profile case is being monitored by lawmakers. congress has been critical of the military's handling of sexual assault cases. they're on the rise. a lawyer assigned to protect the interests of the accuser has argued that dismissing the sexual assault charges would not only harm the accuser but would have implications going forward

as the military combat sexual assault within its ranks. del. >> natasha, thank you. >> president obama set to make a full court press to get more people to sign up for health care, saying it will use this weekend's march madness tournament to market obamacare to young people. the president along with athletes and coaches appearing in round the clock basketball ads reminding people there are two weeks left to sign up. the media blitz includes social media, p.s.a.'s and on line interviews. the latest effort comes one week after the president made the push on the popular web show between two ferns and they are still talking about that. >> there was an upswing in calls for the affordable care act after that. >> the field is set for college basketball's big dance. >> we know you have your brackets picked. we look at march madness and a bracket buster already. >> we all love surprises in the

tournaments. the only who don't are the favorite teams. the ncaa tournament known for its stunning upsets, florida gulf coast last year, the eagles made it all the way to the sweet 16. mercer university is making its first appearance at the big dance since 1985. a as i understand rale la story in the making? >> the bears from mercer. >> it was a moment nearly 30 years in the making. >> we knew it was going to be at some point but doesn't change how anxious we were. >> finally exhaling? >> yeah, definitely. i don't know why i was so nervous. i felt like we were a bubble team like we didn't know if we were going to make it. i'm so excited. >> there was no game today at the university center, but it sure felt like it looking into the arena. there was no nervous tension. the team had already punched its big ticket to the dance. it was just a matter of where

they would be seeded. having not been to the tournament since 1985, this team didn't care who their dancing partner would be, they were just happy to have a date. >> up in lights like it was, great opportunity for these guys to continue their dreams. >> everybody was nervous. we felt like we were about to play right now or something. it was an amazing feeling. now we have to get to work and work as hard as we can and be ready for duke. >> head coach bob harman makes sure his team wears its heart on their sleeves. they have immersed themselves in the community, something that makes macon residents feel they have already won. >> they have won the hearts of this community, so people want to come see them because they're great guys and also play great basketball. >> now macon is on the top. we've got a fantastic team here at mercer.

>> they've gone far beyond what anyone expected. it's awesome to go out with a bang this season going into a great season next year just to say we're on top, we're here in macon, this is where sports is starting to einvolve. >> wilt chamberlain said everybody pulls for david, nobody roots for goliath. mercer would love to be the school to remind us incident doesn't matter where you come from or how storied your basketball is, it's on the court, not on paper that counts. >> we will find out if the slipper fits when the 14t 14th seeded bears battle third seeded duke on friday. >> that's a tough first challenge. >> when you're a lower seed, you get one of the big boys. >> macon also home to the allman brothers. >> you never know. good luck to them. >> absolutely. >> driving around the eiffel

tower. >> paris is cutting traffic in half. here is why the city is taking such a drastic step. >> hand painted design fading, but now making a comeback on buildings. >> winter weather in the mid atlantic. i'll tell you how much snow is coming down.

>> good morning, welcome to al jazeera america i'm stephanie sy. >> we're going show you hand painted signs making a comeback in new york city. >> we'll look at potential rain and snow across the u.s. today. nicole mitchell is back. >> right now you're wishing winter was a by gone era. we're almost to spring, just a couple days away and yet still more of this coming down.

24 degrees in philadelphia. the snow is coming down and blowing a little bit. wind chill in the teens. it definitely is both windy, cold and snowy this morning for many parts of the mitt atlantic. a broader look at that system, also moisture to the northwest. our bigger player has been what is going through the core of this in places around d.c., isolated spots approaching a foot of snow as all of this goes through. you can see it's moved through new jersey, could see flakes into parts of new york. on the southern end, we've had enough storms that yesterday we had high wind reports causing trees to come down. we could see strong storms in florida. how all of this movers through the day, i'll have more on that. >> pollution is so bad in paris that drivers are now only allowed to use their cars every other day. hundreds of french police

officers will patrol the city to make sure people obey the rule. they will alternate based on odds or evens on their license plate. they will decide how long to keep the ban in place. this is the worst air pollution since 2007. >> hand painted signs dotted sky lines across the country, but bill boards replaced them. they are making a comeback. art and advertising reuniting in new york. >> for decades, hand painted ads appeared on the facades of old buildings selling vitamin to say manicure sets. with advances in technology, sign painting became extinct leaving behind old school bill boards. a once dying art form is enjoying a revival led by a company in brooklyn.

>> the biggest hurdle was convincing people that hand paint can be a viable source for advertising. i think that that's more than proven now. people are coming to the wall, looking at what's going on, wondering what happens here saying this still gets done, this is amazing. >> he is keeping sign painting alive and grooming a new generation of painters, a select group anxious to learn the ropes. >> i was part owner of a bar and my cousin was running the bar and outside they were painting a huge wall across the street. i remember saying that's all i want to do. >> the learning is slow, the process painstaking. they maybe signs, but the approach is based on the technique of an unlikely source, michael angelo. >> he's tracing, the pencil

burning holes into the paper. these are all burned and ready to go. a painter will group this when he gets to the wall and take a bag that's filled with dust and rub it over the surface here. it leaves the impression of that part of the artwork. >> they're ready to paint. well, not quite. it takes thousands of pounds of rigging to get here, dangling off the rooftops. a tight schedule also makes for a hectic week. they call themselves wall dogs, laboring seven days in a row or more, battling fatigue and the element. >> we've been working in 15-degree weather with wind chills below zero this winter. it's just something you got to deal with. the wall's not going to paint itself. we got to do it ourselves. >> clients pay a premium for just one of these ads, because this kind of performance art creates an invaluable buzz you don't get with traditional

outdoor campaigns. >> there's something about seeing someone on scaffolding high, like at a very high vantage point that turns heads. the amount of conversation that we got from social media about people viewing the actual performance, the actual artwork was worth it in our minds. >> a concept in advertising 100 years old, enjoying a resurgence, this time less likely to fade away. >> while hand painted signs are coming back in new york city, some states ban them with laws against outdoor advertising. >> attorney general for more than two dozen states are taking a shot at tobacco calling on retail chains to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in their stores with pharmacies, following an announcement that c.v.s. would stop selling tobacco. the letters were sent to wal-mart, safe way, right aid,

crowingers and walgreens. they say they are selling mixed messages. >> 97% of residents in crimea voting to break away from ukraine and join russia. the referendum is considered illegal by the u.s. and e.u. and considering sanctions against russia. president obama set to meet the palestinian leader today to discuss the framework of the peace deal with israel. >> the missing airline investigation now focused on the pilot, saying he had ties to an opposition leader recently sent to prison. >> it hasn't rained in sri lanka since december. the world could feel the effects of the crippling drought. >> what happens to your old cell phones and lap tops when you get a new one? >> dealing with high winds to

heavy snow this morning. how will that impact your plans for the st. patrick's day? i'll have the forecast. >> dell is back with you in two minutes. same stephanie sy. have a happy and safe st. patrick's day. al jazeera america. we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. >> we pursue that story beyond the headline, pass the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capital. >> we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. >> and follow it no matter where it leads - all the way to you. al jazeera america, take a new look at news.

>> ukraine's crimean planes decide to go join russia in a landslide vote. moscow is on the hot seat with the rest of the world. >> it is not a viable option to store the contaminated water on the ground. >> japan overflowing with radioactive water from its continualed nuclear power plant. what the international community wants them to do with it that

has them mad. >> criminal investigation to the missing malaysian airliner, what investigators found inside the home of one of the pilots. >> what if the government said you can only drive your car every other day? that's happening now in a place you'd never expect. >> that is the sound of victory people in the ukrainian peninsula of crimea voting in a historic vote to rejoin russia. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. 97% of the voters saying yes to secession, deepening the divide between moscow and the west, russia saying it will move quickly to approve the referendum. president vladimir putin set to address the newly independent territory on tuesday before a joint session of parliament.

kiev's new government rejecting the referendum calling it illegitimate, endorse be a presidential decree to call up 40,000 troops. sanctions are the next step if russia does not refers its stance. phil ittner is in kiev, we begin with jennifer glass. russia offering a potential solution to the division in crimea. what are you hearing about that? >> russia saying it wants support groups to help ukraine negotiate out of this crisis. it would like to reinstate some of the provisions of a peace deal that was made on february 21 that was with the ousted president viktor yanukovych and his foes, now the government in kiev. if it is a step to get moscow to

talk to them, that could be progress. it mentions the situation in ukraine, not year in crimea. crimea moved quickly to consolidate its gains after that referendum yesterday where as you said 97% of the voters voted in favor of moving toward russia in the capitol and here, the two biggest cities, the ladies and gentlemen laterthe legislatures. ukrainian property on crimean territory, we're hearing from the speaker of the parliament, the crimean parliament saying that any sailors, member of the ukrainian military on crimean soil will have to join the new forces or leave crimea. we don't have a deadline on that. there's no word on what will happen to the ships.

there are several large war ships block indicated in this bay behind me as well as a few of the base around the home to ukraine's black sea fleet and their future is uncertain. >> walk us through what's next for both russia and crimea. >> crimea has done work. some people have said 97% of the vote, can you remember any election in the united states where it's had that kind of voter turnout or definitive return? given the outcome of that, you

have to assume that president putin is going to do what crimea wants and point towards what the people have determined here. one troubling note here, though, in the city council here, we saw a couple of anti russian deputies not being allowed into the council chamber and there is also a campaign of intimidation that continues here. i know of one ukrainian sailor who's not onboard a ship badly beaten up last night by the so-called definitely defense forces. he has fled the country. some of the chap lens of the black sea fleet have fled crimea. while the vote was unanimous, they're also silencing any opposition to the pro russian voices that are so loud here, del. >> jennifer, thank you very much. we turn now to you phil ittner in kiev. the ukrainian parliament is discussing the situation. what has the government in kiev saying about the vote on sunday?

>> as we kind of expected, they've rejected that vote altogether. in the run-up to the referendum, they said they have no authority to hold the vote. it's no major surprise they would have disregarded those ballot returns. we have heard from leadership here, all coming out to speak. we've also heard while those ballot boxes were being counted, prime minister yanukovych had strong words. he said this has been cork straighted by moscow and the acting penalty said that those who supported this kind of movement, that they will seek them out, those that created this secessionist movement. >> let there be no doubt, the ukrainian state will find owl ring leaders who now shielded by the russian troops are attempt to go destroy ukrainian independence. we will find them all, if it takes a year, two years, we will

bring them to justice. we will try them at ukrainian and international courts. the earth wilburn beneath their feet. >> also today, del, people try to flee out of the crimea planes, those who do not support moving russia. a lot of words coming out, a lot of concern and anger here in kiev today. >> there is that truce in place between russia and ukraine that is supposed to last until friday. what can you tell us about that? >> there is apparently a truce between the ukrainian soldiers and russian soldiers, russian groups out there in the crimea peninsula. we heard from the ukrainian acting defense minister saying

they are building up their military here and if they have to, they are ready to fight. >> the armed forces of ukraine has completed a huge amount of work in the last two weeks and are ready to follow orders and crimea is, was and will be our ukrainian territory. the military base there will still be there. this issue will be involved and i hope in a peaceful and democratic way but in case it is needed, the armed forces -- >> there are a lot of calls to keep providing provisions to get into those soldiers and sailors still in crimea, asking for help from the general population. we have also heard from intelligence sources here that if indeed this does spread past crimea that they are ready to fight those russian forces and if they have to, to establish partisan warfare. they are clearly aware that they can't beat the russians, but are making plans if those forces come north out of crimea. >> phil, thank you very much.

we will have the latest on the developments in ukraine throughout the morning. you can get up to the minute information 24 hours a day, seven days a week just by going to our website, aljazeera.com. >> i believe he's alive, you know, i mean in our hearts, we believe he's alive. god's in control, you know. with all the twists and turns that have happened through the week, it's been, you know, it's given us hope. >> relatives of those of malaysia airlines flight 370 still holding on to hope this morning as investigations into the plane's disappearance now enters its 10th day. new information from that massive investigation now appears that the co pilot made the plane's last transmission to air traffic control. aljazeera's lisa stark is in washington, d.c. and lisa very significant information. what are you hearing about this? >> del, this could prove kite significant. the last words from the plane as

they were handed off to the next air traffic control station were a calm, all right, good night. this may be significant, because it appears these words were said after at least one of the plane's communication systems was set off, which may mean was turned off, which may mean someone was maneuvering to make this jet invisible to air traffic control. malaysian airline officials have listened to the tape to see who made those comments. >> initial investigation indicated the co pilot who basically spoke the last time was caught on tape. >> this will put extra scrutiny on that 27-year-old co pilot. investigators are also of course looking at the captain of this flight, a veteran of the airline, to see if any of those two might be involved. as investigators continue to

statute nice their lives, the hunt continues for the missing plane and passengers. >> as pope france prayed for the 239 onboard malaysia airlines flight 370 now missing for 10 days, this is how wide the search zone has expanded, 26 countries now involved in the hunt which could be central asia to the west of australia deep in the indian ocean. >> we are asking countries that have satellite assets, including the u.s., china and france, amongst others to provide further satellite detail. >> sunday the u.s. added its most sophisticated sub hunter to the search, even as malaysian investigators who say the flight's disappearance is a deliberate act have refused u.s. assistance into the renewed focus on the pills. pilots. >> our intelligence agencies could have been called in.

malaysia is not cooperating. >> can you tell us what you were doing inside the house? >> makes police searched the home of the airlines captain, interviewed his family and are now examining the flight simulator the pilot kept in his house. >> flight simulator is dismantled from the room and assembled at hour offers. we are getting experts to look at it now. >> friends of the captain have been quick to defend him, saying they do not believe he could have been involved in the flight's disappearance. >> if anything were to happen to the plane, he would make sure that everyone else, crew and passengers, their welfare's taken care of before he thinks about himself. >> the co pilots house was searched, as well. there's little evidence the men colluded to divert the plane from its planned course since they had not requested to fly together for that trip to beijing. another frustration or investigators could lie in the

flight's black boxes, which if ever recovered could yield few clues. >> it records information for two hours and then overwrites itself. if this is a six or seven hour event, we've lost all of the good stuff. >> that is so true with the cockpit voice recorder. the flight data recorder would have much more information, 17 to 24 hours potentially, but key would be that cockpit voice recorder. it would have been recorded over. we're learning today that the french have now within asked to come in and help with this investigation. they were the ones who found their own flight air france flight that went down in the atlantic ocean with number of years ago. they've been now asked to come and give their assistance. >> lisa, thank you very much. >> here in the u.s., a delta airplane lost part of its wing mid flight. a passenger tweeted a picture of what he saw outside the plane's window.

delta flight flying from orlando to atlanta. no one was injured in the flight. >> the syrian government says it has the last strong hold in yabroud. most of the people fled to lebanon. before that, the government had taken several areas around yabroud including highways linking the old city of homs to damascus. >> sexual assault charges are expected to be dropped against brigadier general sinclair, accused of having a three year affair with an army captain who was one of his subordinate. the case against him has seen a lot of twists in recent weeks. >> his 27 year career spanned two war zones in afghanistan and iraq. the general's court martial could have landed the general in prison for the rest of his life. sinclair is a married father of two. he agreed to plead guilty to

drastically reduced charges. among the mother serious charges dropped, the sexual assault of his former mistress of three years, a 34-year-old female captain under his command. another charge dropped, that he threatened to kill his accuser and her family. sinclair will avoid having to register as a sex offender. the court martial is only the third for a general in more than 50 years. it closes a two year case plagued with problems including the revelation that the prosecution's star witness, general sinclair's former mistress, may have lied under oath. earlier this month, sinclair pleaded guilty to adultery, having improper relationships with two other subordinate officers and possessing pornography. he face is 15 years in prison or could receive a lighter sentence including his forced retirement and demotion in rank. >> sinclair will be sentenced

later this week. >> we definitely had storms yesterday in georgia, alabama, this is a mall in alabama and you can see the damage done here where we had straight line winds at more than 80 miles an hour in some cases. in this location, no injuries have been reported. i haven't seen any other reports, but definitely some strong storms out there. good morning, happy st. patrick's day. here's a look right now, this same line moving through the south. later today as things heat up, we could have more strong storms in florida. it has cleared through a lot of this out but still plenty of rain across the region. savannah today, should be on the wet side. you'll want to be prepared p.m. i'm sure everyone will still be having a lot of fun anyway.

mid atlantic, there's enough cold air that we've gotten significant snow including washington, d.c. some totals are approaching close to a foot of snow, so very slow morning here. >> a lack of rain in sri lanka hitting farmers hard, losing crops and facing mounting debt. we look at how droughts across the globe are about to get worse. >> a failed harvest. he has walked this land for over half a century. the lack of rain has destroyed his entire crop. >> the rains were late. we managed to till the soil and sew the fieldses, the paddy grew, but we had no rain and it was destroyed. >> it's been over 30 years since he's faced such a devastating dry spell. his village in northeastern sri

lanka is one of the worst affected regions. normally, these families would have been busy harvesting fields, getting ready for the new year's celebrations in april, but that seems a world away now. >> i couldn't even harvest a single stalk. we won't even have enough to eat in a few days. >> crops like corn haven't been spared. the lack of water, they have scoured whatever they can in hopes of getting some money. farmers are struggle to cope with mounting debts. most have loans to get money from their fields and have no way of paying back. the worst is not over. the lack of rain will badly affect the next planting season, as well. government officials estimate national production has fallen by 11%.

while it's too early to quantify, they say the effects might be worse on the next planting cycle. some areas are struggling for drinking water. rain water tanks like this used by people in dry zones have been depleted. many people now have to travel a long distance to collect water or buy supplies. rains are likely to begin by the end of march, but for thousands of farmers, it will be too late. >> maybe you broke the screen, maybe the battery died or maybe you want the hottest new device. >> the cell phone manufactures would like to sell us new phones every 18 months. >> the problem is one man's trash is not another's treasure with old cell phones. they are creating an environmental nightmare. >> facebook founder paying $19 billion to buy a company with just 55 employees.

now his fellow billionaire, bill gates, giving him an earful about the pricey purchase of what that. >> a controversial issue that has one of the worlds larger beer makers backing out of parades for st. patrick's day.

>> a piece of history comes tumbling down in minute state, explosives leveling this 90 year power plant along the mississippi. city officials tried to save the building by designating it an historic heritage site. the land was sold last fall. >> global markets taking the vote in crimea in stride, do you futures up 84 points and european markets higher with russia said main stock market up. investors say there is no reason to react right now. >> if there were a major catastrophe where natural gas flows were to be cut off or

interrupted and prices were to jump or double, then maybe that might trickle down to u.s. equities. >> overseas, asian markets end mixed, beijing announcing plans to speed up the pace of infrastructure projects there. u.s. crude prices are down slightly at just over $98 a barrel. sanctions against russia will be announced. those could include visa bans and asset freezes. >> the biggest chinese he commerce site will trade in the u.s., holding initial public offering in america. analysts say it could raise up to $15 billion, that would value the company at more than $100 billion and make it the largest i.p.o. since facebook. >> a piece of history being sold, oprah winfrey selling harp poe studios in chicago.

her media company will remain for another three years. it came after she started the own network in l.a. >> bill gates may have stepped down at chairman of microsoft but keeping a close tab on the tech world. he said facebook founder paid too much for the mobile messaging app what's app. gates said it was a bold move and no one would have bought a 55 person company for $19 billion since there is no revenue model. >> recycling cell phones and tablets each and every year, we look at the affect on the environment. >> this is probably several months worth of phones. >> broken or outdated phones brought in by people who can't use them anymore. at tech serve in new york, they'll recycle them for you in part because it's the law in new york state and they believe it's

the right thing to do. >> we'll get a few people in during the week, one or two a day, who just want to recycle. some want to repair it. >> motor consumers throw them out or opt to upgrade to newer technology. word wide, 22-55 million tons of mobile devices are disposed of every year, yet only 12% of actually recycled. the u.s. alone is responsible for 3.4 million tons. discarded mobile devices often end up in india and china where they're stripped of heavy metals like mercury and lead with possible medical side effects. up scream an advocacy group said manufacturers are to blame. >> cell phones are not made to be repairable because in part, the technology is getting better, but also in part because the cell phone manufacturers

would like to sell us new phones every 18 months. replacing a battery in an apple product is virtually impossible. they want to you send it back at considerable expense to it looks attractive to buy a new device. >> some say the latest and greatest phones aren't offering that much in the way of new services. >> all of the different generations of phones. >> as a result, tech recycling advocates urge folks to keep their phones and repair them if they break, better for the environment and your pocketbook. aljazeera, new york. >> this is washington, d.c. this morning. it is st. patrick's day, they are celebrating. there is green dye in the fountain in front of the white house. that is a lot of white stuff out there in the snow. good morning. >> good morning. i don't think i can see the green through the snow that was covering it. you must have x-ray vision

there, del. >> this morning, 20's up the coastline. that's the cold air, but there's wind associated with that system. it feels worse, plus the snow not pretty. midsection of the country, ahead of that next weather system, the core are warm air including denver at 74 degrees. ahead of this system, what that counter clockwise flow, just if you know he will go the southerly air, but it is dry. the windy conditions and dry air means we have a red flag fire danger today, anywhere from nebraska through texas, watch for that and be careful. >> the people of crimea now deciding to become part of russia, but from washington to westminster, governments are refusing to recognize the vote. now they're threatening to hit moscow where it hurts, in the financial wallet. >> it is supposed to be a celebration of all things irish but there is a bit of a controversial cloud hanging over today's parade in new york city. why the mayor and one of the

world's largest beer makers are skipping the festivity. >> the president not just filling out march madness brackets. commercials will air during the tournament. >> the time for speculation is over, the ncaa tournament announced. the big dance is only a few days away.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. here are the top stories we're following. u.s. forces retaking control of a commercial tanker in the mediterranean. the morning glory was highjacked by armed libbens, the pentagon saying libya and cypress requesting u.s. mail at her intervention. >> world leaders in iran discussing tehran's nuclear

program. the u.n. security council will be talking to iranian representatives. >> in crimea, approving the vote to leave ukraine and join russia. in response, russia will be hit with tough economic sanctions. 97% of the voters said yes, but crimea's decision is deepening the divide between moscow and the west. we are in london. the european union and u.s. say the referendum is illegal. why? >> small picture and specifically when they look at the way it was organized at gunpoint, russian soldiers on the street, the fact that there was no internal debate, this was all done in a compressed period of time within two weeks, that there was no open flow of information for the people of crimea to understand what their future would look the day after

the vote took place. when you take a look at that, just on the surface, they would say absolutely not a democratic process. then big picture, they understand that president putin did this because he feels that he lost his man in kiev, viktor yanukovych and using crimea to get back at the west, because putin seems to believe that the west organized that. the west doesn't see it as a legal pros and it's going to be interesting tomorrow when we hear president putin address both houses of parliament in russia. he is supposed to comment on what's happened in crimea. it's going to be interesting to see does he accept it, say that they are going to rottify it. there's a lot of things left to play out. >> what do we know about the sanctions the u.s. and e.u. are considering now? >> essentially, the sanctions will go after the freezing of assets of russian abroad, put travel bans into effect.

here is what the british foreign secretary hague said gathering with the other e.u. foreign ministers. >> at the same time, every diplomatic channel remains open to russia, and we continue to be in communication with russia about creating a diplomatic framework, about finding ways to deescalate this crisis. it's important that work go on. >> foreign ministers are leaving the door open to more discussions with russia. they want to see this deescalated. russian banks are debt held by european banks amount to $200 billion, imagine if russia goes ahead and mirrors sanctions, it can also have a lot of big low back to europe and the united states in terms of what will happen to the economies here. >> thank you very much. >> the former u.s. ambassador to

ukraine joins us this morning. mr. ambassador, the white house saying that sanctions against russia are coming. >> the united states is not going to recognize the results that have referendum and we are working with our partners around the world, the europeans in particular to marshall forces against the russian to say pressure them in the form of sanctions. the president has signed the executive order last week that gives authority to do so this. >> will those sanctions work and haven't we been down this road before with georgia? >> yes. weaver been down this track in crimea in the early 1990's, moscow set up a dummy, a puppet regime that was called the independent republic of crimea.

it was totally funded and supported by moscow and reflected very little in the crimean situation. after direct discussions between president clinton and yeltsin at the time, it was decided that the puppet regime should not be supported and it collapsed. i think this is a replay. >> it's a free play, a reset and that's the problem some say. some say vladimir putin is nothing more than a sophisticated bully, and that the e.u. and the united states are simply cowering saying we're going to get you when you get home but then when he gets home, nothing happens. >> i think we're in a crisis. it's the major crisis since the

end of the cold war and it's clear that the relationship between east and west has been unsuccessful in this case,ness case of georgia. >> what do you do? in order to stop him, sanctions didn't work in georgia. some suggest sanctions are only going to have blow back. absent this time putting boots on the ground from nato forces, what do you do to stop vladimir putin this time? >> i think you talk directly to him. i think the heads of state of the west led by president obama have to engage directly face-to-face with putin and understand what the heck he is doing, why he is doing it, and why the post war settlement is

not acceptable in russia. >> then he thumbs his nose at them. what happens next? they have been engaged in almost direct talks, secretary of state john kerry and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov has been talking object a daily basis but they continue along the lines nerve continuing. that's the question, what next? >> i think what's next is an understanding that the crisis could get out of control and they could be in the middle of a catastrophic war. military action that you've seen in crimea, the use of military occupation could lead to the actual firing of guns and the

killing of people and things could get out of control. it's absolutely necessary that the heads of state get together and understand what the issues are in the minds of the opposite side. there's obviously been a breakdown of fundamental understanding between east and west and this is the time for direct talks between the leaders of the countries. it is not the nibbling actions of sanctions or the occupation of territories that will answer the question. >> ambassador william green, thank you very much. ment former ambassador to ukraine joining us this morning from washington, d.c.

>> authorities have been struggling to contain radioactive water in japan, some of that already leaking out. >> it is not a viable option to store the contaminated water without limit on the ground. it can even pose some dangers. >> local finisherman are concerned about the impact of any release into the ocean. >> president obama will be meeting with palestinian president at the white house, pressing for a framework of a peace deal with israel and the palestinians. >> this is a funeral for an 18-year-old shot in the back of the head by the israeli army they say for throwing stones. one week later, his mother is still in disbelief. >> i think they could have arrested him, put him on trial,

anything but not kill him. >> it's this continuing killing and conflict between israelis and palestinians the u.s. believes can be resolved starting with a draft agreement. u pot will deliver it to the palestinian president when they meet in washington. u.s. officials hope it could lead to a final peace deal. it's thought there is consensus for a palestinian state on the best bank, territory occupied by israel since 1967. through land swaps, israel could keep settlements, palestinian compensated with land elsewhere. there is a question whether israel is bargaining in good faith. >> israel has continued building illegal settlements here in the west bank. 10,000 new units since the talks began in july, 2013. >> israel prime minister

netanyahu wants his country recognized at a jewish state. palestinian said they recognized the existence of israel in the oslo accord. israelis object to sharing jerusalem. palestinian want it as a capital. >> international law man dates compensation and right of return of palestinian refugees, displaced in 1948. this is a sticking point for israel. netanyahu is insisting israel keep a military presence in the valley between jordan and the west bank. president abbas prefers nato to take over security. it seems in surmountable and hopeless for some. >> they have been negotiating for 20 years, since he was born. he was killed and thousands killed and tens have thousand us arrested during those years of talks. >> there's little time left for

peace making. the draft framework has a nine month deadline. that means differences created over decades may have just a month to resolve. >> a growing number of politicians and long time st. patrick's day sponsors won't be in the parades. the maker of new york is not marching, boycotting because marchers aren't allowed to carry gay pride signs. he's not the only one staying away. >> the luck of the irish is upon us from shamrocks to irish dancers to a lot of green. sunday kicked off st. patrick's day celebrations around the nation. amid some political tensions and mother nature's fury. >> if you're hard core irish, you'll be here no matter the

weather. >> it was cold and windy. thousands of spectators braved the coldest temperatures in 20 years to show off their irish spirit. >> we come out to have some fun and enjoy the spirit of st. patrick's day. >> the weather was warmer, but overcast in hilton head where merriment went on for hours. savannah's blue laws preventing the sale of alcohol were shelved to give bar owners the cash to cash in. >> in south boston, thousands watched bagpipes, floats and marching bands in one of the city's most cherished irish events, taking place every year since 1901. the city's mayor did not participate. the son of irish immigrants decided not to march after talks failed to include a gay veterans group in the parade. he did attend the annual st. patrick's day breakfast.

the new york mayor also plan to say skip his city's traditional st. patrick's day parade, the first mayor to do so in decades over organizers refusal to let participants carry pro gay signs. several beer companies with drew sponsorships in new york and boston, cold weather infiltrating some of the largest celebrations. >> guinness and heineken dropped their sponsorship of the new york city parade which expects 1 million spectators apresident obama getting people to sign up for health care with the ncaa. the penalty along with cleats and coaches appearing in basketball ads reminding people there are still two weeks left to sign up for coverage. this latest effort coming a week

after the president appeared on the pour lain web show between two ferns. >> the president picking his brackets for march madness. we have more and it is that time of year. >> it is. are you going to do abrook bracket? >> there's a billion dollars on the line. >> the chance of you getting them owl right less than zero. before the selection committee announced its bracket, the only real suspense was centered around the number one seed, the consensus being that florida, wichita state, virginia made its case. cavaliers have been stellar all year. jabari parker stripped of the ball, they march the other way. the payoff end with the three-ball, u.v.a. takes control down the stretch. after grabbing the regular season league championship, virginia adds its first ncaa

title since 1976. beating duke. it's now officially time to fill out your brackets. the road to the final four in arlington texas begins tuesday. the florida gators top the south region, winners of 26 in a row. three straight elite eight appearances for this squad. in the east, virginia is your top seed, villanova is two. out west, the number one seed arizona, the badgers of wisconsin very good good squad seeded number two. the only undefeated team in the country, wichita state was awarded the number one seed in the midwest. louisville, michigan and death all in the shockers bracket. the field is set and we brace for the upsets we know are sure to come, while we witness

frantic finishes and stunning surprises, the service industry will be doing big business during the big dance. here's ross shimabuku. >> it's finally here, tournament time in college basketball. for bars and restaurants, that means the post holiday drought is over and the crowds will be filling seats to enjoy the excitement of the big dance. >> 75% of our business is sports related. we sometimes double or triple our staff based on when the games are. >> the madness of march is no better per sonified than crowded sports bars across the country with tip offs as early as 7:00 a.m. on the west coast, these establishments must plan accordingly. >> the month of march, constantly busy, need extra staff, the bar and restaurant is busy. it snowballs as the month goes

on. >> 67 games will be played and each one is a welcome opportunity to pack in the crowds. one bar owner told us there are no days off in march. >> i think march is just after january and february, everybody has cabin fever, it's an excuse and everyone looks forward to it, not just business owners, families and people from everywhere. it's just a chance to get out and let it go for a month. >> that was our ross shimabuku reporting. now the tournament begins tomorrow with two play-in games, two more play-in games wednesday and the full schedule thursday. >> a billion dollars richer, you will be begging for money. >> and i'll apologize to you. >> that will work. don't hold your breath. >> a lot of americans have guns in their homes and a seattle magazine is launching a controversial campaign challenging moms and dads to rethink their position. we watched the ads with parents. >> monthly magazine publisher was outraged by the 2012 mass

shooting at new town elementary school in connecticut. >> i couldn't go another day after sandy hook without doing something proactive. >> parent map joined with ceasefire to create a provocative print and ad campaign imploring seattle parents to ask each other do you have a gun in the home, and if so, how is it stored. the ads show young children gripping handguns. it's led to a fire storm of on line discussion. some argue the campaign is just another attack on gun owners. several county transit agencies are running the ads with text only, no photos. we sat down with four parents of children under the age of 13 for their reactions to just ask. >> so i have three ads to show you. this is the first one.

>> it's actually pretty emotional for me to see the sweet little tutu and the child's hand on the gun like that. it gave me an ahas moment. >> they never thought of asking or answering the question until this moment. >> you really need to be super vigilant about your home environment when you have kids in that age group and can run the risks of coming across a gun in the household. >> eking a gun in a kid's hand, there's not much more that's as scary as that image. >> i think that's a legitimate question to ask and i should be as a parent and responsible adult able to answer that question. >> the publisher of paramap said this campaign is not about whether you own 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 there's a possibility that this could actually save one child's life. >> they hope the year long just ask campaign will empower discussions on gun safety for years to come. aljazeera, seattle. >> you have heard of the poet laureate, there's a city named it's own creative larr i can't tell, seeing the world through the eyes of the next generation and the new push to make it a national trend. >> drivers in paris told to leave their cars in the garage today, the french government resorting to drastic measures to deal with pollution. >> a live look right now at the nation's capitol where uncle sam is sweeping in.

>> pollution so bad in paris, drivers forced to use their cars every other day. police will be patrolling the streets to make sure everyone obeys. they'll ever to us alternate days based on their license plates whether it's an odd or even number. government plans to review daily to see how long to keep the ban in place. public transportation is free. this is the worst air pollution since 2007. >> welcome to al jazeera america. america's first creative laureate in just a moment but first nick mitch is wearing the green and seeing a lot of white out there. >> we also have some green on the radar, so let's get right to it. could impact your plans today. savannah kicking off their parade in an hour. they could see strong storms george in a, alabama into

florida. the snowy side, the nation's capital, some places have got close to a foot. the rain keeps on the coastline for a lot of the day, slowly clearing overnight. back to you. >> in portland, there's a special focus on the arts, the mayor creating the creative laureate. we introduce you to the woman who promotes creativity. >> it's about cooperation, 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 the creative laureate. this is the first place ever to have a creative laureate. the idea is to get people to think creatively about where they live and how they can express that. the portland exspeakerment is

being watched closely around the country. >> this is just one of the initiatives being pushed by keith. she receives just $5,000 a year. she insists it's not just about the arts. creativity can spring from anywhere and benefit the community. >> i'm hoping that the role of the creative lowe laureate is tk about why creativity is important in a community, why art matters. >> portland 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 thirst things to go. the idea for a creative laureate came from the former portland mayor. he wanted to leaf a legacy, something that would outlast him. >> i hope every city, states, i

hope 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 mitt can go arguments, benefits of funding art on the cheap. they're enjoying themselves and sparking an approximately for the future. >> i'm taking pictures of doggies. that's my favorite. >> it's really fun. what i like about it is that you get to see some things that are interesting to you. >> they can see the results, they can develop skills. that's something they'll never lose. the creative laureate creating a legacy. >> that will do it for this edition of aljazeera america.

i'm del walters in new york. have a safe and happy st. patrick's day. >> scared as hell... >> as american troops prepare to leave afghanistan get a first hand look at what life is really like under the taliban. >> we're going to be taken to a place, where they're going to make plans for an attack. >> the only thing i know is, that they say they're not going to withdraw. >> then, immediately after, an america tonight special edition for more inside and analysis. >> why did you decide to go... >> it's extremly important for the western audience to know why these people keep on fighting... ...it's so seldom you get that access to the other side. >> faultlines: on the front lines with the taliban then an america tonight: special edition,

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>> start with one issue ad guests on all sides of the debate. and a host willing to ask the tough questions and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5pm et / 2pm pt only on al jazeera america ♪ >> hello, and welcome to noir news hour from al jazeera in doha. here are our top stories. crimea formerly applies to join russia after a vote was called illegal by e.u. they will impose sanctions. motorists are told toea