>> welcome to aljazeera. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. russians shrug off the sanctions and plus, vladimir putin declares crimea an independent state. the missing airliner new and excusing and conflicting information. after ten days, where the investigation is headed now. cosmic break through,

scientists discover what is the bang of the big bang theory, 13 million years later. and the redwoods in danger. stealing wood to make furniture. we begin tonight with the latest on the crisis in ukraine. russian president, vladimir putin today officially declared crimea an independent and sovereign state. that follows sunday's referendum, where 97% of crimeaians voted to break away from ukraine and join russia. it comes hours after they imposed their first sanctions on russia and ukrainian political figures. now, the west is watching crimea and as well as the western part of ukraine. tens of thousands of ukrainian and russian troops gather at the

border. is this what president vladimir putin expected today in it. >> well, the united states are never going to accept the results of that referendum in crimea, even as he announced small steps to punish russia for what they have done. >> reporter: president obama made good on his threat of consequences, in clear violation of international law. >> today i'm announcing a series of measures to increase on russia and what is happening in ukraine. >> reporter: those he holds responsible, russian and ukrainian figures, 11 in all, and the arms industries. the sanctions, what they determine to be the personal wealth of cronies. >> if russia continues to impose in ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions >> reporter: that was in part a warning to russia over its

designs on eastern ukraine. this as the russian military holds provocative exercises outside of ukraine's borders. president obama is sending vice president biden to poland and the neighbor being borders, and russia stands to lose more from political and economic isolation than the united states, and there are other areas where a breakdown in relations could spill over and jeopardize cooperation over syrian chemical weapons approval. one person not targeted by the sanctions, vladimir putin. it would be extraordinary to target of a head of state. but with more moves threatened if russia does not change course, president obama would not rule out sanctions on the russian leader himself. >> i'm not going to speculate on that, but i haven't ruled out any individual who might be

covered in the cogs provided by the executive orders. >> reporter: and john, there's no one inside or outside of government that expect these sanctions that the president announced today to be determined. if it changes the behavior of vladimir putin and the russian military. but the president has a meeting with the eu in brussels. it's going to be interesting, and much depends on a unified front between those leaders. who is the u.s. targeting? who is russia and the ukraine an leaders looking at? most of them are part of vladimir putin's circle, including a nato ambassador, who is russia former prime minister, and another is the governor, warning ukraine. she said she's not afraid of sanctions, and being victor yanokovych, the ukrainian president herself who fled to russia. in crimea, some are eager for

change, and others are worried about what happens next. our nick schifrin, some dramatic developments today, and what's next? >> you were very right. very dramatic developments, president putin crimea declaring independence today. and part of that is that they're going to move to the russian ruble and change to moscow time in the next few weeks, and change their assets, and all of the ukrainian laws are null and void. that's a lot of changes for everyone to take n. and everyone is trying to figure out what is next. [ chanting ] >> reporter: crimea has made it's choice, the day after the party, regardless of whether they feel the vote was legal or fair, the next generation will face the future.

25 and 30 somethings. two ukrainian. >> i'm ukraine, and my son is, and i want to stay ukrainian. >> three voted to join russia. >> some people say that putin is the stager, he's very smart. >> christina is a dancer who believes that russia provides more economic opportunity. >> w most people want to live ad the to be with russia because it's really true, the last ten years, russia saw very very growth. >> a musician, he expresses the ent. russians, and he hopes that they provide protection from pro european protesters in kiev. >> of course i want them to stay. they don't do any harm to anyone. >> pro russian activists have

attacked ukraine. >> can you explain to me our situation? like yesterday, i wasn't allowed to enter the place because the guy stopped me and said that he knows me very well, and that i'm in danger. so is it okay? >> why did you want to go there? what did you say to him? >> i'm a citizen of crimea. and i can't enter bowling place. >> kate is an activist and artist. because of those pro russian militias, she feels she has no choice but to leave crimea. >> i don't want to live in a city where some guy comes up to you and asks you to show him your things, your passports, i don't want to live like that. >> i will not leave crimea, because i grew up here, i love

crimea. >> irvin is a medical student, a member of the muslim minority. but he worries that they will on es him like the soviets oppressed his grandfathers. >> how am i going to grow up my children? am i going to be russian army or something? how is it possible? i don't think for me that it's going to be easy for me to accept all of these changes. >> but the changes are coming, and most crimeaians agree when him when he dismissed the u.s. criticism of the referendum. >> you have your family and i have my family, and when i come to you and start lecturing what you're supposed to do. i think that you have the right to tell me -- >> reporter: that is the majority here. crimea is embracing a future it hopes will be russian. >> and all eyes here are on

president putin's press conference, starting in just about eight or nine hours, john, and that will officially close the book, at least for people here. on 60 years of history on crimea as part of ukraine, according to tomorrow and president putin, it's now russian. >> so will the sanctions work? i talked to the former supreme allied commander of nato, general wesley clarke. >> it's the idea that the united states and europe are acting together against russian actions. it's not so much the total impact of the sanctions but the fact of the sanctions. >> you as the former nato supreme commander, you've stood up to russia in other places and how do you stand up to them this time? >> you have to fight it on all three levels. you have to control the ground and the loyalty of the police and the armed forces.

as long as they're solid in supporting a free ukraine, ukraine is safe and diplomacy can act. if anything happens to them and they collapse through discord, the diplomacy is too late. you have to provide economic stens, and you have to worry about the energy situation, and you have to worry about the diplomacy of the government and public opinion, and you have to publicize all things that are going wrong. this is a russian black on. those demonstrators are not for the most part crimeaians. they're not all ukrainians. a lot of those are russian special forces who have come in in civilian clothes. the russians in uniform without insignia, there's no pretense about that. that has to be called out again and again and again. putin has got to be exposed for what he's doing. this is a big violation of

international law. >> people on the ground in crimea say that the majority of the people want to join russia in crimea. and how do you go against the people that just voted in. >> the referendum was illegal in the first place. and secondly, it was conducted, it's not in accordance with international. you don't think it's a limit at vote. >> of course not. you have russian special forces standing around guarding ballot boxes? the results were self-evident before they voted. and the people who felt differently, they would be in fear of their lives. i'm surprised that 5% voted against it. >> is there any way that the united states would get involved militarily? >> i don't see a u.s. vervention at this point. and i would never say never on anything like this. but this is up to the ukrainian people themselves and the

ukrainian government. we recognize this government as a legitimate government. but this government has to have the loyalty of its people. and apparently it does. if it's armed forces are loyal and if it's police are loyal, the russians are not going to be able to take over the ground and take ukraine. i believe that we can provide assistance to ukraine. we're a signatory power, we guaranteed their independence when they gave up their nuclear weapons, and we owe that stating it. > that -- something. >> as you know, russia provides natural gas, and what if they decide to cut off the natural gas. >> they have done that in the past to punish ukraine, and it will send shock waves through germany, but it will cut russia's own throat as well. >> you know senator mccain said last week that vladimir putin has no respect for president obama, and how damaged

is the u.s. reputation as a result of this conflict? >> i don't think this is about the u.s. reputation, but it's about specific actions at this point, and i don't think that getting into partisan politics in the united states is very constructive at this point. what has to be done, the ground has to be done in the eastern ukraine. with the forces in there stirring things up. so that the world can see exactly what's going on. >> what else can nato do to what you just described? >> i would like to see a nato fact finding mission on the ground. and i would like to see nato, like the assistant secretary general, go in, survey the area, look at it, look at the state of the forces in crimea.

to look at the siege. and the ukraine government has not renounced it's sovereignty over crimea. and this matter has to go toon national court. and i thionate has to stand behind the osce. >> this has not been resolved. and general clarke, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you, john. >> now to the mystery surrounding the missing malaysia airlines flight 370. it has been ten days of conflicting and confusing information, all leading nowhere. tonight, the government officials are now calling a halt to the surface search. lisa stark is live in washington d.c. and what does this mitt to the uss kit. >> the kit has been on the scene almost from the beginning, searching both sides of the

malaysian peninsula. and it's now leaving today, pulling out of the government because the malaysian government has decided they have such a big area to search now that it doesn't make a lot of sense to do it from the surface of the water, so instead, they will be doing mainly air searches. the u.s. will be helping with that. thethey have a posited on plane that they will put up, and they will be looking from the air, and not the water. >> what do we know about the investigation of the pilots? >> well, clearly, they're under a lot of scrutiny tonight. after it was announced that this was likely a deliberate act onboard this aircraft, the attention turned to the cockpit crew. were they somehow the ones who diverted the plane from the flight plan and kept on mig? today we learned who gave the last communication from the cockpit to air traffic control. and here's what the airline had

to say about that. >> the initial information indicates that it was the copilot who basically spoke the last time. >> that was the doug copilot, e said, who they believe gave the last transmission. he and the captain have been under a lot of scrutiny. they have been to both homes and interviewed their families. pilot had a simulator that was dismannedded and put back together at the police department. and they're looking at the crew and the ground crew who handled the plane and all of the passengers too, as they fig out who may have taken the plane off-course. >> this has been confusing and we have conflicting information almost every day, so now new information about the sequence of events. and what do you now know? >> it has been confusing and

conflicting, you're right, and now that does continue. now the officials are saying that the two communications systems on the plane, which apparently were flipped off or went off, they went off after that last radio transmission. at least one did, and possibly the other one as well. so that could raised issue, did they go off at the same time, was it a mechanical transmission? they don't think so. there are too many things that don't add up and they think this was a deliberate act. >> lisa stark, thank you very much. now, tim served as a special agent for the fbi for more than three decades, and he joins us from sacramento. tim, welcome. >> good evening, john. how are you today? >> based on the information that we have heard so far, where is the investigation headed tonight? >> at this point, everybody is a suspect. we have the pilots, and law enforcement will be looking at the pilots, their backgrounds,

motives, means, capabilities, and the same for everybody that was a passenger onboard the night, as also the ground crew. everybody is a suspect until they find that plain. >> we talked about what we heard regarding the pilots, as lisa mentioned. they went through the homes of the pilot and found some computers, and even a flight simulator. how do they go through the list of passengers and make decisions about that? >> well, look. this is what law enforcement is good at. they're going to be looking for motive and means, so they will be looking, whether or not someone had a bankruptcy, a financial problem, maybe heavy stock losses, i think that silkair, that crashed into the indonesia river, the pilot there had heavy stock losses, so anything to do with financial problems, maybe a personality

trait, upset about something, depression, medical records, they will be looking at everything. >> can you talk about how difficult it is to talk to a family member say of a missing passenger of that plane about those sorts of things? i would assume that the authorities have to do that if they have not done it already. >> that's right, but the authorities are good at that. i remember a psa flight that crashed in california where literally, it dove into the ground in san diego, and the agents were required to go out and interview all of the family members and talk to them and get dental records and what have you. it's a difficult job, but they're certainly up to the task. and the malaysian authorities would do well to make use of their fbi counterparts here in the united states. >> do you think they have done that already.

>> i do believe so. i know there's friction in the area between the two countries, but the bureau does have a good relationship with the malaysian authorities. we have had so in the past in certain terrorism investigations and i think there's going to be cooperation there. >> from a security point of view, what's the most troubling thing about this incident? >> well, the fact that we had two individuals get onboard the plane, and they had stolen passports that were not checked with interpol. and what i'm annoyed a little bit about, the fact that the authorities didn't make a beef with this long before the incident. these were individuals that knew that the malaysian authorities did not check interpol and the vast data bases that they have in france. so that's something that should have been talked about long before this. >> are there any other incidents like this regarding the airline that you might

compare this to, or is this the strangest and most unusual thing that you've ever seen? >> this is the strangest and most unusual thing that we have seen. the experts have commented about the james bond movie, thunderbolt. so this is something off the charts, and something that we're going to be talking about for a while. >> it's difficult. james, thank you very much. >> and "america tonight" is devoting an hour to the crisis in ukraine and 370. coming up on this broadcast. middle east meeting. president obama tells the palestinian leader that it's time to reach a framework for peace talks, and confirmation of the big bang. the breakthrough discovery and what it says about the universe. >> earthquake! >> what what had people in los angeles shaking in their boots this morning.

>> the big bang theory just got a big boost. scientists say after years of research, they have identified an echo from the first moments of the universe. that discovery is a break

through. it proves the notion of a cosmic theory proposed 30 years ago. with more on this, jake, tell us about the discovery and what you think it means. >> well, john, i know there's a lot of news to report. but this is the news that makes all other news problem pretty much. this is essentially the first time that we have ever detected the big bang, seen evidence of it. imagine if somebody once upon a time dropped a rock in the ocean a long time ago, the scientists have built equipment that can observe the ribbed of that rock in the water. they had to isolate it at the south pole away from all of the background noise and analyze it for three years in order to observe this and directly confirm the theory of inflation, as you mentioned. it was first proposed 30 years ago, and one of the professors who first worked on it received

the news on his dor step last week. >> i have a surprise for you. >> .2. >> yes. >> what? >> just a second. >> 5 sigma. as clear as day, .2. >> r .2 plus minus. >> .2? >> john, what i love about that clip, his wife is the first one to get it. and she reaches for the embrace, and it takes andre, the professor, a full afternoon to basically absorb this news. >> so for those of us trying to get our heads around it, talk about the significance of this discoverly going forward. >> you can get deep into this and don't get lost in it, but this is a huge deal, it's prosk

the bang of the bang. it's a rickety scaffold that we hang a lot of theories on. but if this is verified, it's going to cut concrete under that very important scaffold. and it will prove the existence of the multi-verse and alternative universes, and for geeks who didn't already have their mind blown by this, that's it, game over. and this is probably going to win the nobel prize. >> we'll talk about it again, and thank you. >> it was quite the wake-up call in southern california this morning. >> we're having an earthquake. >> an earthquake, just after 6:00 in the morning, california time, the 4.4 magnitude quake was centered in the san fernando valley, 6 miles west of los angeles, and it's the biggest in years. coming up next, the political cost of crimea,

president obama slaps sanctions on russians and ukrainian officials, but is it enough? i'll ask new york congresswoman, carol mall opie after this, but more problems for gm, the automaker, with a faulty ignition switch. now recalling more than a million more vehicles. and the newest threat to the giant redwoods. some say that it's the work of suspected drug addicts.

>> welcome back, i'm john seigenthaler in new york, and we have a lot to cover this half hour. peace talks, president obama urges to take risks. and gm pulling a million and a half vehicles off the road. and celebrating decades of country music in nashville.

a milestone for the grand ole opry house. but first, the defense department. the naval ship, the uss kit is pulling back the search for flight 370. after ten days, no sight of the plane, but officials say that they believe the copilot was the last person to speak to air traffic control. vladimir putin officially declared crimea a sovereign state. 97% voted to break from ukraine yesterday. and u.s. officials say there are signs of election fraud. >> i believe there's still a path to resolve this situation dramatically. >> swift reaction from president obama today. announcing sanctions against 11 top russian and ukrainian officials. warned more sanctions if russia

interferes with ukraine's sovereignty. [ audio difficulties ]

>> it's a crisis, and russia is taking extreme actions against crimea, changing the banking system, changing them to the ruble, a sham election that violated their constitution and international law, and they're deeply concerned for their loved ones. they're peace loving people, as you know, and 20 years ago, they voted to give up all of their nuclear weapons for the budapest

accord that recognized their territorial boundaries. it's a crisis situation, and they're deeply concerned for their loved ones. >> thank you for stopping by our studio. >> good to see you, john, thank you very much. >> the sanctions imposed today could have a ripple effect beyond russia. and i asked "real money's" ali velshi about the affects of the sanctions. >> well, they're more bark than bite, john. the european union announced sanctions on 21 ukrainian officials, and the ukrainian ones are pro russian. the u.s. ordered a freeze on u.s. assets of seven in crimea. this expands on an order from march 6th, which targets other pro russian and ukrainian officials, including victor yanokovych, one of those targeted was the deputy prime

minister, and he mocked the move today, saying comrade obama, officials like him don't have accounts nor property outside of russia, so that goes back to your question. what is the effect of this? the point is, john, so many people, particularly in vladimir putin's inner circle, but so many people that support the government as it is in russia, are these oligarchs, who have done a very good job of diversifying where they keep their assets around the world. again, these are not the most effective sanctions but they're the starting point for sanctions >> so if this round of sanctions are not affected, what browder sanctions might work? >> well, if you put in the sanctions that might work, it might work, but where the u.s. has imposed sanctions like in

iran and libya, the ruble has already lost 11% of its value against the u.s. dollar this year. russian stocks are down almost 50%, and then the real sanctions, russia could retaliate with its own sanctions amongst the eu. among the eu countries, germany depends on russia for 40% of its natural gas supplies. 6,000 firms do business with russia, and germany just concluded a multibillion-dollar deal with russia. so wider sanctions last name work with out broader carnations across the atlantic. right now u. europe is more interested in the visa sanctions or assets that they feel will hurt those individuals, but ultimately, we're not looking at anything at the moment that's going to hurt. the other thing, john, the strategic arms reduction treaty between the united states and

russia, and both of these countries have 1500 warheads each. so it's not like going into another country. >> ali velshi, thank you very much. you can watch "real money" with ali velshi every night. president obama is urging the palestinian president to keep the peace process on course. mahmoud abbas was in washington to meet with obama today. >> the goal is to get palestinians and israelis to agree on a framework for peace. two sides have huge differences, for instance, the status of jerusalem, which the palestinians would like to have as a capital city. in a meeting with mahmoud abbas today, president obama acknowledged that the goal is illusive, but achievable. >> i believe now is the time, not just for the leaders of both sides, but for the peoples of

both sides to embrace this opportunity for peace. but we have a lot of details we have to discuss. it's very hard and very challenges. we're going to have to take some tough political decisions and risks if we're able to move it forward. and my hope is that we can continue to see progress in the coming days and weeks. >> when secretary of state john kerry restarted peace talks last summer, he set a deadline of nine months, and that deadline is fast approaching in prel. and even though president obama held his talks with abbas on saint patrick's day, it's going to take a lot more than the luck of the irish to reach a breakthrough by the deadline. >> more problems for general motors now. the automaker is recalling 3.7 million vehicles today, because of problems with faulty ignition parts to engine fires. we're in detroit with more. >> reporter: general motors is

recalling more than 1.7 million vehicles worldwide. this comes weeks after the automaker issued a recall on select model gm cars for a reported ignition switch problem being linked to a does not deaths and multiple crashes. here's gm's latest list. the wire harness of the airbags need to be repaired in 1 million vehicles. they include enclaves and acadias from 2008 to 2009 and ten to 2013. so from 2010 to 2013 chevrolet traverse models, and interstate to 2009, and all 2010 outlook suvs, and gm is recalling 200,000 chevrolet expresses and gmc savans. the automaker said that they

need more instrument panel material. and also on the list, 2013 to 2014xts cars. they have a break that could result in overheating or fire. gm said no crashes or injuries have been linked to the recent recalls. addressing employees in a video message this morning, she said that the recalls are the result of a safety review that requested following last month's safety review. >> we are completely focused on the highest levels of the company and we're putting the customer first and that's guiding every decision that we make. how we handle the recall will be an important test of that commitment. >> all of these recalls are expected to cost general motors $300 million in the first quarter. right now, gm is under

investigation by the federal government for allegedly failing to disclose and switch ignition switches that may have led to deaths. two law firms in texas have filed a class action lawsuit against gem motors in connection to these issues. aljazeera, detroit. >> on to march madness, and it has barely started but there's a new college sports controversy. the ncaa and the five college conference that's make the most money from sports are being sued, they're being accused of unfairly preventing student athletes from making money. >> critics of the ncaa think that this lawsuit is a little overdue. there's a group of football and basketball players suing because they claim that the engage governing body has unlawfully capped their compensation at the

value of a college scholarship. on monday, said that the goal was to limit earning restrictions on student athletes who played revenue earning sports n no other business, and college sport is big business, would it be suggested that the people providing the central services work for free, and only in college sports is that line drawn. legal contributor, jamie annoyed, how significant is this lawsuit, especially since the ncaa is facing multiple lawsuits regarding compensation, and how does it differ from those lawsuits? >> it's very significant because of those lawsuits. this is a culmination of what has been building for the last decade, maybe more. this is significant, first of all, because he's representing a class of students, a class of athletes, a class of what he claims are professionals. the top tier football players

across the country. the division one basketball players as we go into march madness, potentially thousands of athletes when you think about student athletes across the country, though this class represents football and basketball players. he says they should be treated as professionals, and not as amateur athletes in what has become a multibuild business. so that's the first reason why this is class action, and number two, mike, it's significant because he's bringing it as an antitrust case. he's treating it not as an association, not as an athletic association as it wants to be treated but as a monopoly. he wants to crush it under the country's antitrust laws x. he's going after it as a big business, and that's what makes it a major and significant case, dovetailing with all of the other actions that we have seen over the last several years. >> calling college sports a business, will this case improve

his ability to prove that claim. >> absolutely. what he's saying, the coaches make millions of dollars, and the institutions and the athletic associations make billions of dollars, and the players make fog. they get athletic scholarships, but there's a cap on what they can make pretty much in the form of scholarships and book money and that sort of thing, and he says why be don't they get a slice of the pie? if this is a big, multibillion-dollar business, they should get a piece of it, and it's a big business and he's going to prove it in court. >> speaking of kessler, he's no stranger to antitrust lewises and how does it bode, considering they have kessler representing them. >> it's big because kessler is attached to the lawsuit. he has big stories in sports, he brought free agencies to football. and he represents a lot of

players and nba players and i think that ncaa has to be paying attention. >> john, how much money she said, multibillion-dollar. the current contract with nbc sports, $11 billion. >> this could change things in a big way. >> thank you michael very much. and coming up next, timber thieves. why the redwoods may not be safe anymore. and the grand ole opry, how you have to is it to make it on that stage.

>> i'm meteorologist, look at washington today. 8 inches of snow, and shut down the city. as you see, there's a lot across the region. it's one of the snowiest march days that they have seen.

they haven't broken a record. but it was up there. and let's go back and i'll show you what in terms of how much snow across the region. if we go back to west virginia, we saw about 13.5 inches, washington, 8, and even richmond, lower down into the south. 2 inches of snow there. currently, the temperatures are below, so the snow that fell is going to stay on the ground all night long, but we expect the temperatures to come up tomorrow, 41°. probably with wednesday with the rain, we'll see most of the snow is going to be out of the picture. big problem here in parts of florida, tornado watches are in effect now, and that is until 11 p.m. this evening. and we'll be watching that closely. that's all for national weather. and news is coming up after this.

.>> california's iconic redwood trees are facing a new danger.

poachers have been sneaking into national parks and slicing off parts of the trees to sell. lisa bernard has the story. >> reporter: california coastal old growth redwoods are majestic national treasures. it's illegal to distribute the trees on public land in the redwood and state parks. but now the thieves are being threatened by drug $5icted thieves, who are cutting large knobby growth off of the freeze for sale, they manufacture furniture to sell their thousands of dollars. >> see that, there's one cut on that one, and walking around the corner here, a relatively fresh cut. >> the rangers say that poachers are coming in at night to steel them. >> to see these precious trees damaged in such a way, purely

for decorative or selfish reasons, it hurts. >> reporter: several stores near the parks offer cureios, cut from private land that are legal. he has been working with his dad since he was a kid. and this could fetch $500. but he won't deal with anybody illegally. >> i don't want to buy wood from them. i have legal sources to get wood. >> at one time, there were 2 million acres of redwoods, 95% of them are gone. in order to stop poachers, the park is stepping up the patrols. drug addicts may be behind the burls thefts. they had a well publicized drug abuse problem, and a high employment rate. hard times may be also

constructing to the problem. blocking the gate doesn't seem to be working. this is fresh sawdust, evidence of a recent cut. rangers say that it's not just the bulls, but poachers are stealing this valuable redwood from the old growth trees. investigation into the burl cuts are underway, but fewer arrests. they desperately need more resources to protect the trees and cut the scourge of local meth addiction. oreck, california. >> now to a milestone for country music landmark. the grand ole opry is celebrating it's 43rd birthday. >> he's hoping to make it big.

now he's a successful songwriter, but the on ray stage is still a dream. >> to an artist like you, what does the opry mean to you? >> it's a pinnacle of any songwriter, it's the one gig where you can say you you made it if you play the opry. >> the grand ole opry is the longest-running show. and it's a mix of up and coming icons alongside of newcomers. from its beginning, it had to change it's venue several types. in 1974, it settled on this location in nashville. over the weekend, the grand ole opry audience got a rare treat, seeing video of the same show on that stage. bill anderson was there with then president, richard nixon. >> we were all in awe of the fact that the president was

here, and he made such a big night of it. >> when the opry moved here, it brought along a piece of the past, a circle of wood from the circular stage. and being on that spot is an experience. >> every night we stand on that circle of wood. it means that it was unbroken back in the 40s, and it's here now, it's very special. >> time has not diminished it's need to keep the musical family growing. >> you can work concerts in any venue all over the world, and they're great. you can do these same performances, but it's so different when you walk on this stage. >> in order for it to grow, it has to stay relevant. but it also has to pull the past forward. >> back on nashville's honky tonk road, buddy owens hopes

that he'll soon get to play the stage. aljazeera, nashville. >> coming up all new tonight on our newscast newscast at 1:00 eastern time, the raid to seize control of an oil tanker commandeered by libyan rebels. we'll talk to a navy seal. and plus, bringing one family closer together. the tribute to a grandfather, revealing his greatest secrets just before he died. and finally, an image that caught our attention on this saint patrick's day. tonight's freeze frame comes from ireland, from dublin, where half a million spectators attended the saint patrick's day parade there. the headlines after this.

>> welcome back to aljazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york, and here are tonight's top stories. russia's state media says president vladimir putin has

signed crimea as an independent state. more than 97% of crimeaians voted to breakaway from ukraine yesterday. president obama has responded to the vote in crimea with sanctions against 11 to ukrainian and russian officials. business leaders considered part of vladimir putin's inner circle. the u.s. navy ship, the uss kit, the malaysian government is ceasing the surface search, it has been ten days since the flight went down. general motors recalling another 1.7 million vehicles today. and the automaker recalled nearly 2 million last month. from faulty airbags to engine fires. gm vehicles made since 2009 are affected. a major scientific break through linked to the big bang theory. i knowists found what are called

gravitational waves, and they're described as the first tremors of the big bang. it sports part of the theory of cosmic inflation which explains how the universe expands. i'm john seigenthaler and see you here at 11:00 eastern. "america tonight" is next. >> on america tonight. special coverage on stories the world can watching, raising hopes and sowing confusion about the fate of malaysia flight 370. >> they said the plane was in another direction. in terms of timing, they knew the direction, but covered it up. they haven't given us explanation why they concealed it. >> anger, anxiety for the