♪ president vladimir putin will address parliament and expects crime yo to be part of the russia despite the sanctions since the cold war. limiting iran's nuclear program but the growing rift over crimea could impact the new talks. [chanting] national guard troops go on the

offensive in venezuela to knock down protests and big bang theory and what some are calling the biggest discovery in history. ♪ i'm authorizing sanctions on russian officials and operating in the armed sector in russia and people who provide support to the russian government and if russia continuing to interfere we stand ready to impose further sanctions. >> reporter: president obama imposing sanctions against russia since the cold war and welcome to al jazeera i'm stephanie sy, friction between moscow and washington, the president froze assets of senior russian and ukraine officials linked to crimea and they

followed suit with its own set of sanctions but russian president vladimir putin is not backing down and said they are an independent and sovereign state and in an hour from now he will address the parliament and putin will discuss his plan for making crimea part of russia and we will bring you the speech live when it happens. tens of thousands of troops are gathering at the border of eastern ukraine and we have a team of reporters tracking the rapidly changing developments and phil is in kiev and we will begin with jennifer glasse in sevastopol. what has been the reaction there to both the u.s. and eu sanctions as well as putin acknowledging crimea's independence? >> well, good morning, stephanie. here in crimea it has been a very, very triumphant couple of days, referendum is a huge turn out on sunday voting overwhelmingly to be part of

russia and sentiments is to stay out of our business and don't care about the sanctions and say it's a done deal and move to russia and we saw the legislators voting quickly to declare independence and this is crimea's day of independence and they are an independent state now and have requested to be part of russia and hoping will happen very quickly. we had the deputy one of the deputy leaders of crimea here saying they will go to the russian rubbel by the end of the month and moscow time zone at the end of the month and they will move close to russia and very soon and they welcome the announcement and watch vladimir putin and there were fireworks here last night as putin said he accepted referendum and make moves to move crimea into russia as quickly as possible. >> reporter: jennifer, given how much we know the crimea peninsula depends on mainland ukraine for basic utilities how much is it going to cost russia

if it decides to annex crimea? >> it's going to cost a lot of money and it's going to mean a lot of logistics and crimea depends on ukraine right now for 25% of its gas for 90% of its electricity, 70% of water and of course all those supplies, food and all of those other things that come in via ukraine rather than russia will have to change. the crimea prime minister was asked about this a couple days ago at a press conference before the referendum because there was a worry that ukraine would turn off utilities and says there is a contingency and backup contingency plan but we saw troops move into ukraine proper and take over a gas pumping station and said they were protecting it against terrorists but seems a move to protect the utilities here. crimea also is not a very rich region of ukraine. it has always relied on subsidies from kiev, those

subsidies now will have to come from russia but a lot of the people here are very happy about joining russia because the tensions are higher in russia, the salaries tend to be higher in russia and that is an incentive they have been trying to lure the ukraine military trying to change sides and lure with salaries and better pensions and benefits. >> and sevastopol which is pro-russian where you are but there are voices of dissent in crimea, about 300,000 tartars and say it was rigged and worried about russia taking control of the peninsula. >> they certainly are. and today actually we are going to see a little bit more of that and burying one of their own today because he disappeared in the crimea capitol on march third and his body was found two days ago and today he will be

buried and laid to rest in a funeral and all of the tartar leaders are expected to be there and very wary and a history of animosity between tartar and moscow who was evicted on mass in 1944 and most of the families only came back in the late 1980s and late 1990s and at the polling stations in the crimea tartar areas it was low turn out with 800-900 tartar voters and ten voted on sunday and they feel their voice will be lost in russia crimea. >> reporter: in sevastopol, crimea and jennifer thank you and let's go to phil who is in the capitol of kiev. phil, we are awaiting putin's appearance in front of the russian federal assembly and layout the plan to make it part of the russian federation and what is the ukraine government saying there? >> well, stephanie, an awful lot of anger here as one can expect and they have been saying the

referendum and the move for crimea to move east and rejoin with the russian federation is illegetimate and upset and concerned about a number of issues when it comes to russia's growing influence in the region. we have also just heard today that a section on the west of this country, a place called transnester is looking at legislation closely coming out of moscow because they are indicating they might want to rejoin with russian federation and they are deeply concerned that crimea may be the start of things and moscow may be looking for a much larger land grasp. >> reporter: that is what a lot of the leaders in the west are concerned about as well. on monday phil ukraine called up 40,000 reserve ukraine troops and they are surrounded in crimea by russian troops which are also in place near ukraine's eastern border now. so are they preparing forward in

kiev? >> stephanie, that certainly is the atmosphere here. there has been a lot of talk from the government saying that it certainly is a possibility it may happen and called up the 40,000 troops and many are regular army units but in addition to that a lot of them are just brand-new additions to the national guard here. they only had a few days training. they will be sent out to the east of the country to secure the borders including a brand-new border of course with crimea. but there are those ethnic russians out there who are indicating as various groups are that they are looking at rejoining, following crimea's footsteps and rejoining with russia and so those ethnic russians go to places like lugant on the russian border with ethnic russians and word coming in today they are resisting that mobilization and see the moves by kiev as

potentially a threat to try and keep that separatist movement down and a lot of things at play here, stephanie, and with kiev sending those troops out, mobilizing the forces, it does seem like the atmosphere is heading towards possibly an open conflict. >> reporter: as you have been reporting, phil, there have been accusation that russian provacatours are integrating in eastern ukraine, does the government in kiev have nonmilitary options for crimea at this point? >> well, they say they want to take russia to the international courts, they want to sue them for backing the movement out in crime yeah. they are clearly trying to sway world public opinion. there is a full court press on the propaganda or the public opinion front. but in addition to military actions, what they are looking to do out in the east is start

to send supplies, they fear that there may be a massive influx of refugees particularly that group that jennifer was talking about the tartars and they are concerned people will flood out and setting up refugee camp and looking at sending food, clothing and tents and that stuff and are very serious about that, stephanie. >> reporter: phil in kiev, thank you, phil, we will have much more on the situation in ukraine at 6:30 a.m. eastern and taking a closer look at who is specifically being sanctioned in russia by the u.s. and why at least one of the men impacted say it's not a big deal. a national guardsman in california has been arrested on terrorism charges, authorities detained 20-year-old nicholas tousant near the canadian border and prosecutors say he was on his way to syria to join an al-qaeda affiliate and plotting to bomb the los angeles subway

system and he was a student at a california community college and charged with providing support to a terrorist group and if convicted could face 15 years in prison. they dropped sexual assault charges against sinclair and accepting a plea deal acno, ma'aming he mistreated a junior officer he had an affair with and we report on the sentencing hearing for one of the highest ranking generals to face a court marshal. >> for the first time in two years brigadier general sinclair left court without the threat of having to register as a sex offender weighing on his mind and the attorneys say it's an outcome they anticipated all along. >> these charges never should have been brought so it's a big circle and justice will be done so that is a wonderful thing. >> reporter: for his accuser and former mistress an army captain under his command it was an emotional day on the stand, during the sentencing hearing her voice shook and she cried,

recounting how she felt trapped, suicidal and that her career was held hostage by general sinclair's power, she said i believe i couldn't talk because the 80 second airborne was going to cover it up and they were going to protect him and that any way, shape or form i tried to come forward would mean the end of my career. sinclair plead guilty to disobeying a commander's orders, misusing a government credit card and mistreating the captain by causing her emotional distress and the pair had an affair spanning two wars and multiple contents and three years and testified i would have left a long time ago if it was up to me. sinclair has already plead guilty to adultry and other charges and could face 25 1/2 years in prison and the unravelling of the prosecutors case is an embarrassment for the

military and the chief resigned because he wasn't credible and the case is closely monitored by lawmakers and congress expressed concerns, the military has not done enough to combat sexual assault within the ranks. >> i applaud them and i think every institution should do it and sexual harassment is wrong but doesn't mean every case goes to court. this was not credible and shouldn't have been brought and we are glad it's going to be over. >> reporter: that was natasha reporting, the sentencing hearing continues today with more prosecution witnesses taking the stand to testify against sinclair. president obama is trying to keep middle east peace negotiations on track and met with pal stint abbas monday and there is disagreement between the israeli and palestinians on many issues but mr. obama thinks a resolution is within reach. >> we are convinced there is an opportunity and i think everybody ones the outlines of

what a peace deal would look like involving a territorial compromise based on 67 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps, that would ensure that israel was secure but would also ensure the palestinians have a sovereign state in which they can achieve the aspirations they held for so long. >> reporter: mr. obama says he is ready to make concessions but unwilling to recognize israel as a jewish state and that is something that israeli president benjamin netanyahu says is required for agreement and set an april 29 deadline to set a framework for a peace deal. the clock is ticking on a permanent deal to limit iran's nuclear program and negotiators from the u.s., russia and other world powers are in vienna for talks and could be the toughest

this year and the group is racing to meet a summer deadline. >> reporter: iran's iraq heavy water reactor still under construction and a major hurdle for negotiators to overcome. it will be a focus of discussions in vienna at a final settlement in the decade old dispute over iran's atomic activities and as an observer of the talks noted little information is now emerging implies that at long last they are talking seriously and making some sort of progress. but no one is optimistic about a quick resolution. despite an interim agreement reached late last year when iran shelved higher great enrichment in enchange for modest relief from punitive economic sanctions and this week iran parliament told negotiators they should not accept any bans on the development of the iraq heavy water complex and the facts of

enrichment. the iranian foreign minister said he did not expect to come to any agreement during this round of talks and many analysts remain cautious. >> the odds are against a breakthrough. 60% against 40% for. i think this will be a very important round and i think both sides are testing the waters and both sides are really positioning themselves, trying to maximize interest and i still will argue there is a wide gulf between the iranian position on one hand and some of the great powers on the other hand. >> reporter: iran has long denied accusations from israel, western powers and their allies, but it has tried to develop the capability to produce atomic weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear energy program. tim friend, al jazeera, vienna. >> reporter: these are the first talks between the so called five plus one country since russia's military intervention in ukraine and

white house officials say they hope the situation in ukraine will not put negotiations with iran at risk. spring is almost here, believe it or not, it is still snowing in the midwest and as always metrologist nicole mitchell is keeping an eye on the forecast for us, good morning. >> they asked me yesterday what is the most asked question, is it over yet? this one? not quite yet. we are looking for the rockys and a system coming out of this direction as it moves out of the mountains a little bit more and it will get more organized so you can already see areas of snow in places of montana this morning but more widespread as we get it in the midwest later in the day. this is how it spreads and as we get in some parts of northern minnesota and into wisconsin, michigan could get a foot of snow with all of this going through. one good part of this weather system it is coming from the northwest versus from canada so the air with it is not quite as cold as we have seen with some of the last blasts.

the other area we are watching and had a system go through the cost and it's close enough that it's causing some concerns including especially portions of virginia for example and had a couple freezing areas and the bridges and overpasses especially are a little icy this morning so be extra careful heading on the roads and here is the area we are looking at so north carolina into virginia that is our biggest concern. now as we have this off the coastline and we also have the next system coming in, we will get the wind pattern set up, some really warm air in portions of the country and ohio river valley but breezy for today and that already caused us concerns in the central plains as all of that system moves along and talk about the temperature side in a couple minutes and warm air and that is good. >> a new report claims malaysia airlines 370 first changed course and started heading west

because of changes entered in the plane's flight computer and that kind of move would require a detailed understanding of the plane's flight system and cites senior american officials for the information and investigators don't know if the change was programmed before or after the flight got underway. malaysia transportation minister says the search area for flight 270 is expanding. >> the entire search area is now 2.24 million square nautical miles and this is an enormous search area and malaysia cannot possibly search on its own. >> reporter: the search for the missing plane is now expanding far to the south, australia search teams are flying over an area 3,000 miles southwest of perk for any sign of what i should have called earlier flight 370. apology from new ceo of gm and the new gm recall effecting hundreds of thousands of

vehicles. >> we have a wide knowledge gap about the affordable care act. >> reporter: millions signed up and millions more not sure they should. proof of the big bang theory and a discovery sending ripples through the scientific world.

♪ something went wrong with our process in this instance and terrible things happened. as a member of the gm family and a mom with a family of my own this really hits home for me. >> reporter: new ceo of general motors making a personal apology after another massive recall and pulling more than 1 million cars because of an airbag issue. that is on top of the more than a million recalled because of a faulty ignition switch and that is linked to multiple crashes and at least a dozen deaths. good morning and welcome back to al jazeera america i'm stephanie sy, ahead the people signing up for obamacare is on the rise and why some people are shying away from getting healthcare coverage and first temperatures we will see across the nation and

metrologist nicole mitchell is back. >> colder air for the east coast yesterday but things will warm up not bad and 20s and 30s. look at the midsection of the country. we had a warm up from yesterday in places like kansas city in the 20s yesterday morning and this morning in the 40s. and that is going to be a precursor to what today is like because we have warm air and 70 and on the backside and denver 70 and 40s today. >> open enrollment for insurance through the affordable care act end on march 31st, 5 million people signed up so far but a new survey says one-third of americans uninsured and about 15 million people plan to stay away even if it means paying a tax penalty and david digs into the numbers to find out why. >> money is the single biggest reason most people are saying no thanks to obamacare cited when asked by bank rate, 41% say the coverage is still just too

expend shun but get in the reason for that belief is partly ignorance of the facts. 70% of those surveyed were not aware they could be eligible for subsidies to help lower their costs. it's really kind of shocking this late in the game we still have a wide knowledge gap about the affordable care act from those gaining from it. >> less than 40,000 a year or family of four and less than $94,000 you could qualify for little help from the government. it's a sliding scale and the more you earn the less help you are eligible for and have until march 31st sign up for coverage but half of those surveyed did not know it. lack of awareness is the troubled roll out of the new system and well as media coverage surrounding it. >> i think the program has a bad reputation unfortunately and this could be a reason why people just don't know, maybe many people have tuned out because of all the noise and all the negative publicity. >> reporter: still others who are opting out are apparently

aware of their options but just don't think they will need it, 31% of those surveyed are not buying because they consider themselves healthy and would not end up using the plan. it's a risk and for those who get it wrong it could be a costly one. medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy. david, with al jazeera, new york. >> reporter: in texas nearly 2 million people are eligible to sign up for the affordable healthcare act but according to enrollment numbers only 295,000 people have done so. taking a look at business news, the janet yellen era begins and the first policy meeting under the new chief and the bank will stay the course on winding down bond purchases but investors are on the look out for any shift in policy and plan to raise interest rates. housing market is expecting a thaw after the winter freeze and predict new construction will rebound in february after a sharp drop in january but one person says it's suffering from

more than just bad weather. >> supply constraints and home builders are grumbling about the inability to find qualified workers but also i think finding buildable lots, receiving construction loans, all those are taking a toll on home building. >> reporter: and on wall street u.s. futures are lower ahead of the housing data. investors put concerns of ukraine aside and pushing markets higher yesterday and starting 16247 and s&p is 1858 and nasdaq is 4279 and asia was higher and niki rose 1% and european markets are slightly lower. walmart wants a piece of the $2 billion used video game market and starting next week they will allow consumers to trade-in used video games for a store credit and invades the game stop turf which dominated the market and slapping russia with sanctions and some say the move is all

bark and no bite. [chanting] a show of force in caracus and what the president is doing to stop antiprotesters from taking to the streets. >> reporter: the big dance generates big bucks and i'll tell you about the latest battle to get a bigger piece of the revenue pie.

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy and these are our top stories at this hour, the east, west show down is escalating in the aftermath of crimea vote and they hit russia and ukraine officials on monday with stiff sanctions that russian president vladimir putin declared crimea an independent country and putin

will address this later and announce annexation, u.s. and russia and other world powers are in vienna for talks and a meeting since the interim deal was signed last november, the diplomates are racing to meet a july deadline and the foreign minister said this could be the toughest so far. a national guardsman from california is attempting to join a foreign terrorist group and nicholas was trying to get to syria to join an al-qaeda affiliate and allegedly plotted to bomb the subway in la and could face 15 years in prison. vladimir putin signed a decree recognizing crimea as an independent state. the u.s. and europe have responded to the development with sanctions on some top russian officials. but as patty reports some of the people impacted don't seem too concerned. >> reporter: president barack obama choose to send it in person, sanctions against 11

people close to russian president vladimir putin after crimea voted to join russia and the u.s. calling the celebrations and the vote itself rigged, illig i timate and illegal. >> operating in the arms sector in russia and individuals who provide material support to senior officials of the russian government. and if russia continues to interfere in ukraine we stand ready to impose further sanctions. >> reporter: the eu said they will sanction 21 people as well freezing assets and banning travel across territories and the u.s. is labeling people they targeted as cronies of putin and include ousted ukraine president viktor yanukovych who called on the president to sent troops in the country after he fled. in crimea sergai and speaker of

the parliament and the deputy russian prime minister is targeted but he seems to be laughing it off, posting on twitter quote i think some prank sterprepared the draft of the u.s. president. they cannot say if the people they are targeting have assets in the united states but they are clearly hoping by making life difficult for them they will in turn put pressure on president putin who samed unfazed by it on monday. german chancer angela merkel said it's not taken lightly and hope for a diplomatic solution. >> translator: i am pleased europe has shown unity here as eu shown unity in the battle for osce mission and just as we show unity and repeatedly looking for diplomatic talks and key to resolving conflict. >> reporter: president putin does not appear likely to agree, hours after sanctions announced he signed an order recognizing

crimea as a sovereign and independent country. patty with al jazeera, washington. >> reporter: republican senator john mccain say sanctions are weak and white house needs to reassess the relationship with president putin and vice president joe biden arrived in poland and hoping to reassure the neighbor on the situation and dana is in london for us and good morning and biden's attempts at reassurance could be met with skepticism from poland, why? >> certainly some of the baltic and lithiwania may agree with john mccain on this and has to be tougher and poland, if you look at history they were deprayed by stalin in world war ii and germany and occupied over and over again and felt the crush of communism for decades and only free in 1989, there is

deep, deep distrust of president putin and they sent 12 fighter jets from italy to poland and carrying out an event and showing u.s. commitments to defense responsibilities are credible and remain in force and nato is on station and the polls are skeptical of intentions and feel they are bullying the region and i think vice president biden and goes there to reassure them will get an earful on the visit that u.s. has to be tough with moscow and president putin and prime minister tusk said at a news conference the world stands on the brink of conflict, the consequences of which are not for seen and back to you. >> reporter: concerns are understandable when you take the context of history but also important to note that poland is an nato partner when ukraine is not a member of nato. what role, da in, a, did poland and histonia play with the

russian officials? >> i think they have certainly been on the edge and the front of the bulldozer if you will in the eu pushing sanctions saying we have to be tough, we have to show russia i have have to step back from the brink with ukraine. they want as much aid as possible to the ukraine government because they feel ukraine could collapse if this continues and they want to obviously pull the ukraine away from moscow's interference and back to europe and the prime minister donald tusk pushed for a way to free europe from russia gas supplies which it uses to blackmail neighbors and you will hear tusk say to biden saying we have to extract ourselves away from gas supplies from russia and push for u.s. gas supplies to poland to supplement some of that. >> reporter: dana lewis for us in london and thank you and stay with al jazeera for continuing coverage of the ukraine crisis.

less than half an hour at 7:00 eastern vladimir putin is expected to address the russian parliament, duma and bring it live when it happens. three journalists have been held if a prison for 80 days, producers mohamed fahmy and greste are accused of being with a terrorist and spreading false news and his brother said it was upsetting to travel back home alone without his brother. >> with the visit with him i was astouned by his strength and it's tough there but i guess he had to prepare himself mentally to get through this. >> reporter: al jazeera rejects all charges against its staff and continues to demand their immediate release, they are scheduled to appear in court again next week on march 24th. thousands of rye police and armed forces are standing guard

in venezuela. [chanting] hundreds of national guard troops moved into opposition strongholds in caracas and venezuela president wants them to stop the violent clash that have been taking place in the capitol for months. >> the streets and plazas of crack cousin main opposition stronghold awoke dressed in olive green taken over by the venezuela national guard. this is the culmination of two consecutive days of battles between antigovernment protesters and security voices after president nicholas maduro said he would implement a new plan to in his words liberate the area. what you see here are police and national guardsmen under new orders and that is to go on the offensive, to prevent protesters in this opposition stronghold from building barricades and roadblocks as they have been doing for more than a month now.

by dawn on monday authorities cleared the area displaying bombs and other materials they say were confiscated from protesters. >> translator: we are bringing maintenance equipment from the central government to help restore traffic conditions, traffic did not move through her for several days and public transportation is not working. >> reporter: as cleanup teams swept up the remnants of burnt tires in the plaza some residents welcomed what they hope is the return of calm. >> translator: the problem is not protesting which the constitutional allows, it's when people who are supposedly students go out and demonstrate violently. >> reporter: but students say the national guard checked her bag for weapons is angry. >> translator: i understand there are a few who burn tires and engage in violence but we need dialog and feel intimated and frightened to go out and protest. >> reporter: opposition leaders

calling for regime change are outraged by the government show of face. >> proves the regime and military and they are turning to a policy of state to state policy. >> reporter: but there are differences within the opposition. and as these residence held up signs asking the national guard to respect peaceful demonstrators for a fleeting moment at least, opponents and supporters of the maduro government seemed open for reconciliation. and i'm with al jazeera, caracas. >> reporter: 29 people died in protest and air canada is suspending flights in and out of caracas and offering people refunds for people with future flights and an airline that cuts operations in venezuela will not be allowed back while he is in power. connecticut lawmakers are in a debate over doctor-assisted

suicide and erica shows us few states have legalized it many more are taking up the issue nationwide. >> i just like to be able to make that decision myself. >> reporter: suffering from parkinson's disease barery is more than 100 people who turned out monday to testify at a public hearing and connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to the terminally ill. >> allows the individual to make that decision. and i think that is important. >> reporter: the man known as dr. death also thought that was important. dr. jack kavorkavian helped in 138 suicides and then behind bars for 8 years and wanted to legalize the laws that landed him in jail and physician-assisted suicide is legal in washington, oregon, montana and vermont and 39 states prohibit the act and the rest do not have any specific laws. in connecticut it's currently

against the law but attorney general george jebson supports the bill. >> cruel and inhuman to force a terminally ill person to stay alive in pain against their will. >> reporter: plenty of people disagree and the head of public affairs say aid and dying violates a major tenent of the church. >> life is sacred from conception to natural death. >> reporter: despite the attorney general's stance the governor says he is uneasy when they call an end to life and connecticut not the only state taking up the issue this year, hawaii, kansas, new hampshire and pennsylvania all have current bills that promote death with dignity as proponents call it and a few days ago new mexico's attorney general filed an appeal to a vent ruling where a judge gave the terminally ill patients to get a doctor to entheir lives, so a lot of states looking at the issue.

>> emotional debate on both sides and thank you. friends and family remember fashion designer loren scott and mick jagger's girlfriend was found in her home and the death is investigated as a suicide and her designed were liked by kid man and the first lady michelle obama and they dated for more than a decade and the "rolling stone" whose are touring in australia cancelled the show on wednesday. a federal grand jury hears evidence on a coal ash spill in north carolina and decide if regulators looked the other way when they had toxic chemicals and 30,000 tons of ash spilled in the dan river last month and a layer of sludge and cancer causing chemicals traveled 80 miles down river and they will protest at mcdonald's in 30

cities to raise wages to $15 an hour and have the right to unionize and the companies have been stealing their employees' wages and mcdonald's workers in new york, michigan and california says they work off the clock and denies rest breaks and denies over time. ncaa has not started and a controversy brewing and john is here with sports, what is going on, john? >> the players will be stars over the next couple of weeks and the players want the piece of the pie with ncaa set to start tonight and big time college sports is big business and group of basketball players are suing ncaa saying that the governing body has unlawfully limited compensation at the value of a college scholarship and attorney jeffrey kessler filed the antitrust lawsuit on

monday and it's to restrict athletes who play revenue-producing sports and said in no omerbusiness and college sports is big business would it ever be suggested that the people who are providing the essential services work for free. only in big time college sports is that line drawn, unquote, here is what al jazeera jamie floyd has to say about kessler's case. >> this is significant first of all because he is 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, he says they should be treated as professionals, not as amateur athletes in what has become a multi-billion dollar business, that is the first reason why there is significant. the class action. number two it's significant because he is bringing it as an antitrust case and treating the

ncaa not as an association, not as an athletic association as it wants to be treated but as a monopoly and wants to crush the monopoly under the antitrust laws and he is going after it as a big business so that is what makes this a major and significant case. dovetailing with all of the other actions we have seen over the course of the last several years. >> reporter: well switching gears to nfl and the colts owner is in big trouble and not because he found himself briefly in police custody and faces almost certain nfl discipline and police in indiana arrested him monday morning after they found him driving slowly ander radically and the arrest is after he failed roadside tests and they found multiple prescription drugs in the car not housed in any prescription bottles and charged with four felony counts operating under influence and possession of a controlled substance, before posting $22,500 bond. a source told bob of the

indianapolis star that he is quote a sick, sick man and admitted to having substance abuse problems in the past. to the hardwood, the philadelphia 76 season is one steaming hot message just gotten worse, the 76ers looked to snap the 20-game losing streak against one of the nba's best teams and i think you know how it end and they fall to indiana 89-90 and 21-game losing streak is the worst in team history and five straight losses away from tying cleveland's mark of 26 straight losses. meanwhile indiana won 50 games for the first time in ten years. get ready tonight for mt. st. marys and xavier as they tip off the ncaa tournament and that is sports at the hour. >> exciting day and thanks. it is being called the big bang smoking gun. >> it's huge.

this is in my opinion one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science and i really don't say that lightly. >> reporter: the massive ripple effect being felt around the scientific world. plus an incredible river rescue after a man makes a very wrong turn and winds up struggling to survive. and yet another snowstorm in the offering and i'll have the latest. and taking a live look at madison square garden where the new york knicks will introduce phil jackson as the president later this morning and the garden is getting ready of course for march madness.

♪ caught in a ranging river, a driver heading across a bridge on the yakama in washington

state and swerved and ended up in the water and a team got to him and pulled him for safety and treated for hypothermia but should be okay and welcome back, straight ahead a big bang breakthrough and some calling one of the biggest scientific discoveries ever but let's look at where the snow and rain may fall across the country and nicole mitchell is back. >> good morning, the video says it's flood awareness and it's the number one loss of life of the different types, driving into it is the biggest problem. so don't do with the guy did. this is a big player coming out of the rockys in the midwest and it's another snowstorm in the brewing and one good thing about this and maybe you like this but coming from the pacific versus outov canada so the air with this is not as cold as some of the systems have been but through the rest of today and into tomorrow, some significant snow totals expected and some

places could even see up to a foot of snow if you get in northern michigan. the other place we are watching and still moisture this morning is in the southeast so it has been a couple soggy days and eventually clears out. more on the latest system coming up, in a few minutes and the temperature side, back to you. >> thank you. for centuries they have been trying to understand how the universe began and a team from harvard say they have found ripples of gravitational waves in space and we explain how this discovery supports the big bang theory. ♪ if the universe started with a big bang it was quickly followed by a rapid expansion. a theory known as inflation. but until now there was though evidence to back it up. >> there was a violent burst of expansion and in that expansion the theory tells us the universe was stretched out from a sub atomic volume and micro scopeic scale and in that process the

universe is flatter and smoother. >> reporter: john heads scientists at the harvard center for astro physics and used a telescope to measure light waves from the birth of the cosmos and discovered a pattern that supports inflation as well as the existing of gravitational waves as predicted by albert einstein in his theory of relativity. >> this is huge. this is in my opinion one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science and i really don't say that lightly. >> reporter: scientists have proof of what happened in the one trillion of a one trillion of a one trillion of a second after the big bang and that is a big deal. the big bang theory doesn't work without inflation. so with this discovery there is talk of a nobel prize for the harva harvard smithsonian team and shows science has the power to

explain our existence. >> extrapolations like that work. and result of predictions that can actually be tested and in this instance the predictions actually work. and i think it really does give us a lot more confidence in the power of rationale thought. >> reporter: other scientists will check and recheck their findings but many are already calling this an extraordinary breakthrough in the study of our universe. kristen with al jazeera cambridge, massachusetts. >> reporter: it is unclear how long the inflation period lasted but the scientists speculate in a fraction of a second the universe went from sub atomic to cosmic, take that in. paris is lifting a partial driving ban after just one day and french officials say pollution levels are now within safe limit under the temporary ban and drivers alienated when they could be on the road and license plates and odd numbers drive on monday but not every one obeyed it and officers gave

4,000 pounds and they may impose the driving ban as needed. 60-year-old grandmother is preparing for a 2100 mike along the appalachian trial and admits she is a little out of shape but trying to raise money to build water wells for the war torn central african republic and will start the trek in georgia and hopes to reach maine by october and will post updates from her phone when she can so people can follow her progress. a 90-year-old war veteran made a confession before passing away, al jazeera and first person report his grandson talks about his own personal journey after learning his grandfather's long kept secret. >> i'm 26 years old and a multi media artist working in seattle, washington and the family

connection is in honor of my grandfather, jim renberg. under four months before my grandpa jim passed away he came out to me as a gay man. this is after lifetime where he worked as a counter intelligence officer in world war ii, served as a baptist minister and had a 65 year marriage to my grandma doris so the news of that revelation was incredibly meaningful for me because i'm a gay man as well. this past year i had the opportunity to marry the love of my life, bradford. our conversation played out over two afternoons. i saw him moving forward in his wheelchair and grip my knee as tight as he could and i saw tears falling down his face as he watched this public, legal

celebration of my love. and he described that as something that is true and wholesome and the next morning he greeted me and said i have not stopped thinking about our conversation yesterday. he closed his eyes and mentioned warren. he described this love story that he shared with this man that he met just after graduating high school. just to see the joy in his face as he returned to those moments of really being a young man in a world that made this impossible for him. but he found a connection and he found somebody that he carried for and was able to share and understand what it means to be loved for who you are. my desire to produce this work to continue to share this story is to not stop sounding that call until every gay, lesbian,

by, queer person has the ability to live openly without fear or consequence. >> reporter: grant says he hopes his art helps people heal and we have dale here. >> at the end of the first hour this is what we are following, russian president putin will address a joint session of parliament shortly and expected to discuss how he officially will make crimea a part of russia and a new round of talks in vienna to have a permanent agreement with iran and 5 million people signing up for the affordable care act and the deadline for coverage this year is march 31st and show you why young people living at home after college may be having a huge impact on the nation's economy and not in a good way. >> reporter: i'm metrologist nicole mitchell and a storm that is bringing what we definitely call winter weather and i'll have the forecast. >> reporter: and dell and i are back with you in 2 1/2 minutes

and this is a live look inside the kremlin and president vladimir putin preparing to speak to parliament and people expect he will talk about absorption of crimea into the russian federation. we will be right back. ♪

>> russian penalty vladimir putin propping to address parliament expected to pave all the way for crimea to become part of russia despite the toughest sanctions imposed since the cold air. >> the missing airlines flight search expands either. the plane may have changed course. >> second round of negotiations beginning aimed at limiting iran's nuclear program. the growing wrist over ukraine

could affect the talks. >> younger people living at home longer. the ripple effect on the economy. >> injure looking live at russias federal assembly in moscow where vladimir putin is expected to address the parliament. he signed a decree declaring crimea an independent state. good morning, welcome to al jazeera america. >> let's begin with the friction between moscow and washington. monday, president obama froze the assets of senior russian and ukrainian officials linked to crimea. european followed with sanctions. >> russian president vladimir putin is not backing down after declaring crimea an independent and sovereign state he is

expected to announce that crimea is to be made part of russia. troops are gathering in the border of eastern ukraine. >> we begin with jennifer glass reporting live for us on the crimean peninsula. good morning. what's been the reaction to the u.s. and sanctions involving crimea's independence? >> good morning, stephanie. i think the people here were happy about mr. putin recognizing their independence. it has very close ties with moscow, also has. they are celebrating on sunday before the polls closed. as for the sanctions, sergey lavrov will sign the treaty. they don't care what the west

thinks. they are very excited about the opportunity to -- i think we have president putin speaking. i'm sorry, i thought i heard the announcement that president poot tip was going to start. >> we're monitoring. we'll let you know when president putin comes on. >> people are very, very happy about the results of the referendum. they're looking forward to what comes next. we've seen the crimean leaders saying crimea will adopt the russian ruble, go to moscow time, that's a two hour time difference, moving as quickly as they can to become part of russia and really they think what's going to go on in moscow is just form a little.

sergey lavrov is in russia today. this is happening very, very quickly. voting to become independent sunday and now the leadership in moscow to try to make it part of russia. things moving forward very quickly here. >> we are looking live at the duma right now where president vladimir putin of russia is expected to speak shortly. we are expecting that he's going to talk about the possible annexation of crimea, but some analysts i've heard jennifer are saying it would come at quite a cost for russia. can you talk about that? crimea depends on mainland ukraine for many basic utilities. >> that's right. all the utilities that come in through ukraine, through border post that is now an international border post. you've got ukrainian forces standing off with russian forces there. 90% of electricity comes through

ukraine, 70% of the water. water's been a big concern. that comes through a canal system from ukraine. there was concern that ukraine would shut off those utilities. >> lets listen in to the russian president. >> good morning my dear colleagues, members of duma. the members of crimea who are among us today, the cities in south russia, people of crimea.

[ applause ] >> thank you. my dear friends, today we gather rewarding question which is has life importance and historical importance for all of us. on the seventh of march in crimea, referendum to place happens in accordance to all democratic procedures and international legal norms. more than 82% of voters took part in it. more than 86% voted for.

these figures are appreciated. [ applause ] >> to understand why that such choice was made, it is enough to know the history of russia and to know what russia was and is for crimea and what is crimea for russia. our history is going through every aspect of life from starting from the -- from the placing of country and the values are uniting ukraine and russian population in their beliefs, also belarus. in crimea we have russian

soldiers, in 1783, crimea was taken under russian protection. the fortress and home of russian black sea fleet. crimea is -- each of these places is a holy place for us. they are symbols of our military glory. it is unique combination of cultures and nationalities. it is looking so alike russia where none of the ethnic was lost. crimean tartars and other nationalities were working and

living along with each other for a long period of time, reserving their culture, belief and language. 1.5 million of population represent russians. 293,000 tartars are looking forward to be with russia. there was a period when crimean tartars as many other people were persecuted and many million people suffered from repressions of various nationalities and important the majority was russian. they return to their home land and i think that all political and legislation matters should

be taking place to protect the interests of all tartar population. the decisions which will reinforce their rights and good name in full volume, we respect all nationalities who live in crimea. it is their common house. it's their home land and it would be correct if in crimea, i know the crimean people will support it, it will be three equal state languages, russian, ukrainian and crimean tartar languages. my dear colleagues, in heart, in conscience of people, crimea is always undivided part of their life. this belief in country and land

also in russian minds, all the political changes we went through, our country went through during the whole 20t 20th century after the revolution, bolsheviks because of various ground god judged them. they have created an important part of russia and divided is part and today it's modern these east of ukraine. the decision was made that the country was transferred under ukrainian jurisdiction and transferred along. the initiator of this decision was the head of russian state at this time. waited to be respected by the

russian -- or to make some other assurances in the 1930's the historians will deal with it. for us it is an obvious violation of constitutional norms and even in those days, the decision was made in corridors and in conditions of tototalitarian states. the people weren't asked. it was asked why ukraine became part of russia. we have to answer that this decision was accepted as a formality, because the territories were transferred within one large country. it was not impossible to imagine those days that ukraine and russia can be together, can be different states, but it happened. things which initially seemed

impossible became reality. the ussr collapsed. many, many people understood the drama of the situation. many people in ukraine and russia and other republics were hoping that the unit of states will become a new form of existence, but the common economical space, common military forces would be helped but unfortunately it was only promised but didn't happen. when crimea appeared under different states, russia felt that it's not just stolen, country was robbed. we have to admit sincerely that

the system was also helping and after the collapse, everyone forgot rewarding the naval base and sarastopel. may be went to bed in one country and woken up in a different country and they treated and became minorities in a different country. the russian population became -- became the biggest nation which was divided in the whole world. i heard how crimeans in 1991 how crimeans were passed like a sack of potatoes. russia has leaned its hat and

swallowed their pseurosis. our country was in difficult state not allowed to protect the cities, but the citizens of our country and many political activists always mentioned that sevastopol is true russian town and crimea true russian land. we felt it in our heart, but we had to deal with the realities and to build the neighboring relationship on the new basis with new neighbor, with our brotherly neighbor of ukraine. this relation will always, always remain important to us, without any doubt, it will be on our key agenda. today we can openly speak and i

would like to share with the details of the negotiation at the beginning of 2000 when the president of ukraine, has asked me to speed up the process at ukrainian border. until then the process was not moving. ukraine recognized some territories, but limitation of borders never happened. considering all the difficulties of the process, i immediately gave the order to activate the work on the limitation of borders. when we agreed to the limitation, we practically were recognizing the ukrainian territory as ukrainian, the talks were not only about crimea but also rewarding the borders

elsewhere. the good relationship with ukraine is the most important for us. they don't have to be kept as prisoners of this conflict and we hope russian speaking citizens of ukraine and specifically in the east of ukraine will live in the conditions of civilized country and their law will be governed by the european norm. times after times there were attempts to replace the language and to make them subject of forceful assimilation. russian people were constantly

suffering from the current crisis which is shaking ukraine in the last years. during the years of independence government, we could say just -- they could not celebrate, the presidents were changing -- but the treatment of the people were not changing. they were fighting efforts for financial streams but they were not interested how the simple people lived in ukraine, why the millions of ukrainians don't see any prospects within their own country, why they were leaving the country for -- for -- for looking for work abroad. i stress just looking for work

to pay daily needs. 12% was the income of -- i repeat again that people came because they were disagreed with the situation. they wanted to have right for accepting the human rights and they wanted to change the government, which they were not happy with, but those who were behind the latest events in ukraine, they were following different -- they had different aims. they were planning the coup, they wanted to seize the power without stopping under in any circumstances. they committed murders,

upleaval. they were groups and extremists, they are still trying governor life in ukraine. the new government, what they did first, they revised the order rewarding the language, which directly violated the rights of minorities. today's operators of current government stopped the initiators of this idea. they are clever people, we have to admit it and they have to understand what are the consequences if they will try to build the state on the basis of nationalistic views. they stopped now, probably

relying on the shortness of memory of people, but we remind you what will do in the future. we know from the results of the second world war, we know that there is still no executive government of ukraine. those people who are declaring themselves as government are under control of radicals, even to attend the meeting with current government ministers, you can only after the -- after being allowed by militias, it is not a joke. they started to threaten with persecution and of course the first one was russian speaking crimea, and because of that, the

citizens of crimea and russian speaking people resort to ask -- they ask for help, and we still have other regions. we could not be silenced to those cries. otherwise, it would be just being traitors. [ applause ] >> most of all, we had to help to build a conditions that crimeans could expression their free wishes. first time in history, but what can we hear today from our colleagues in the west and northern america, that we are violating the international legal norms. thank god they have remember that such norms exist, but later

than never. [ applause ] >> thank you to them for that. he couldly, the most important, what are we violating? as the president of russian federation, received the right to exercise the right of commander, but it was not in our plans. the troops did not invade the country, they were already there. yes, we strengthened our position, but i would like to stress that everyone would hear it, we haven't increased even the number which we had. it is regulated by the law for 20,000 troops and by organizing this referendum, the crimean

administration said that we are relying on the united nation regulation which is guaranteeing the freedom of choice and texture ally it's even the same. the crimeans should be deprived why? they did exactly the same. the president which the western partners created themselves with their own hands in the situation absolutely angieical to ukraine was acknowledged as legitimate

without one sided -- it was recognized despite being one-sided and united nations council agreed. decision of july, 2010, it was cited, i cite this to you, there is no common forbiddance was noted from the practice of council, security council of europe. there was no irregularities found by the security council, so it is very clear, i don't like to fight sources, but there is another i would like to say from the 17 of april, 2009, which is also represented by that international court rewarding kosovo hearings.

again, i cite it to you, the declaration of independence can be and is often happens by late the internal legislation but it doesn't mean that it is a violation of international law. this is the end of citing. so they have written it. they have declared it around the world and now they are surprised. why are they surprised? the actions of crimeans -- why the actions of crimeans directly responding to these instructions, so if the albanians can do it in kosovo and we respect them very much, why is it forbidden to crimean tartars and crimeans? why? from the united states, we hear that it is a special case.

how can we understand our foreign colleagues? why is this exceptionality given to them? because they say in kosovo there were many numbers of death. what is this condition? nothing i guess said about it in international law. it is not just double standards. it's just primitive, surprising cynicism. you can't change anything only according to your own interests. do you have to lead all the conflicts to human mortality? if the forces of self defense in crimea would not have taken the situation under control, they would have cases of death, but thank god it did not happen. it did not happen in crimea.

it didn't happen. no human deaths were recorded, because of clashes. the answer is simple, because it is difficult to fight against people's will and practically not possible. in this reward, i would like to thank to the troops -- i would like to thank the troops of ukraine, which have not committed these crimes and have not stained themselves with blood. [ applause ] we also have different thoughts occurred about aggression and intervention. it is strange to hear, i can't remember in history that intervention would go without any single shot and any single

death. the situation around crimea is reflecting in the mirror what is happening and what happened in the last 10 years in the world. after disappearance of bipolar system, the stability is lost. the key international institution are not forcenning themselves, but degrading. our partners including partners from the united states in their politics not follow international law but the law of the strongest. they think about the exceptionality. they think they can decide the fate of the world. only them, they act as they wish. here and there, they just use their force against the sovereign states. they build their politics who is not with us is against us.

they are if needed creating resolutions from the world administration and it is ignored by the u.n. we know the examples from yugoslavia. it was difficult to believe. i could not believe my eyes but at the end of the 20t 20th centuries in one of the capitals in belgrade, missile shots were fired. was there any resolution of united nations? no, nothing was done in this manner, and then it was iraq and open violations in libya where the areas of known flights were

bombed. during the revolutions. of course people have also tired from the absence of prospects and tyranny, but those countries were forced to accept the standards which have not complied with their cultural needs, with their standards, and after that arrange of the coups, arabic spring has changed to arabic winter in 2004, we had the same example during the orange revolution, they have in vented the third tool of elections which was not planned and this time, they wanted to throw the prepared military groups. we know exactly what's happening when the integration is

happening inure asia and it's all happening when we are offering the collaboration in all key areas, we want to strengthen the level of trust with that we want that our relationship will be equal, open and honest. we didn't see the steps forward to us opposite. time after times we were betrayed, decisions were taken behind our backs and then presented with results. it was done in the east when we were talking about the borders and we were told it's not about you. it's easy to say it's not about you. it was rewarding anti missile defense, despite all of our worries rewarding visa delays to honest approach to the global

markets, we are threatened by the sanctions, but we are already living in the climate of severe sanctions. during the cold war with u.s.a., they forbid to sell the high technologies and unfortunately those agreements are still in force. some were canceled, but the politics which is chosen in 1920 century is still in place. they are trying to put us in the corner, for that we have independent position that we are standing for it, for the facts that we are calling things by their names, but everything has its limitation and in case of ukraine, our partners have

overstepped the border. they were behaving in a rude manner and professionally and irresponsible. they knew exactly -- [ applause ] >> they knew exactly that in ukraine and in crimea, millions of russians live, how they could have left the political senses not to consider it. russia was on the brink -- on the border, which they could not overstep. they have to remember and stop the history, hysterical moves and cold war and recognize that russia is an independent active member of life and as every our country, it in a national interests which has to be considered and respected.

we are grateful to all who consider us with respect in crimea, specifically the governments of china. the government of china considered the situation rewarding crimea in light of historical and political value. we are thankful to india for holding their position. people after accepting the declaration of independence, they proud that the freedom is higher than anything.

the will of crimeans is the same value. please understand us. i believe that the europeans will understand me, specifically germans. i remind you during our political consultations rewarding the union of eastern and western part of germany, there are rivers of many our countries who were talking about this idea. they were not as supportive but our country supported the wish of all germans to the unity without any hesitation, and i hope you have not forgotten it. i rely on the citizens of germany in our wish to build the unity.

[ applause ] i refer to people of ukraine. i honestly want you to understand this. we don't want to damage you and to violate your nationalistic feeling. we always respected your identity and serenity, especially people, those people who are saying that they are fighting for your rights, but they are the people who led the country to what it is in now. don't believe to those who threaten you with russia that after crimea, other regions will follow. we don't want the division of ukraine. we don't need it. rewarding crimea, it was an it

will remain russian and ukrainian and tartar. i repeat -- [ applause ] >> i will repeat, it will as it was in may be centuries homeland for all representatives of people who live there, but it will never be bendaras. crimea is our pride and the factor of stability in the area.

the strategic alter atory has to be under strong which can only be russian de facto today. otherwise, my dear friend, i refer to ukraine and to russia, we are ukrainians and russians could lose crimea completely in historical future -- prospective. there were statements made rewarding crimea joining nato. it will mean that in town of russian glory, sevastopol will

appear which will be threatening. it will be specific, concrete. in reality, could have happened if it's not -- if not for the election of crimeans. [ applause ] >> thank you to them for that. by all the way, we are not against the collaboration with nato opposite, we are against the military alliance, which is a military organization, but we don't want military organization to rain next to our fence. i can't imagine that we would go to sevastopol to visit nato seaman. in majority, they are good boys,

but it is better that they visit us in sevastopol rather than we visit them. [ applause ] >> i tell you directly, our soul is aching for what is happening in crimea, that people are suffering. they don't know what will happen tomorrow. and our worry is understandable, because we are not just close neighbors, we are practically as i said several times, we are one -- we are one nation, kiev is the mother of rus and russian towns, ancient rus is our ancient beginning. millions russian will leave in ukraine russian speaking citizens and russia will always protect their interests with

political and legal ways. [ applause ] most of all, ukraine should be interested that these rights of people would be guaranteed and this is the basis of ukrainian stability and territorial unity of the country. we would like to have friendship with ukraine. we would like that the country will be self contained. it's our leading partner with whom we have numerous projects and the most important, we would like that peace and calm will come to the soil of ukraine, but i repeat that only the citizens themselves can make the order in their own house. dear citizens of sevastopol and

crimea, whole russia was priding on your -- you decided the future of your land. these days, we were close and never supported each other and these were sincere feelings of solidarity at such historical breaking points of history, the strengths of nation and spirit is proven and the people of russia has demonstrated and supported their state. [ applause ] the strong position of russia was based on the will of million people, millions and

pleading society. organizations. i would like to thank everyone for their input and we have to keep this consolidation going if we will meet the counter actions, but we have to decide if we will protect our interests or we will always go backwards. they are threatened that the problems will be worsened and even the internal problems, i don't know what do they mean? what do they mean rewarding internal problems? are they trying to provoke the social unrest within the country? we think these actions are aggressive and our reaction will be according.

we want strife to confrontation with our partners opposite. we will do everything to build a civilized good neighbors relationship in the west and in the east. my colleagues understand the crimeans who set up the question directly and clear to be with ukraine or with russia. the administration of crimea when they formulated these questions rewarding referendum, they went above political interests and they were guided by the interests of people. any other variations of -- in light of demographic and historical or political specifics of the territory would

be only temporarily interval and weak and it would have led to the sharpening of the situation around crimea and would have been reflected negatively on lives of ukraine. crimeans have set up the questions uncompromisingly, sharp without any half tones. the referendum was conducted openly and honestly. the people in crimea have expressed their will appreciatively. they want to be with russia. [ applause ] russia also has to take important decisions considering all the outside and inside factors. as any democratic societies, we

have different views, but the position of absolute. absolute, i would like to stress majority is obvious. you know, the latest social questionnaires which were conducted, 95% citizens of russia think that russia has to protect the interests of citizens of russia and other nations, 95% are for it. more than 83% think that russia has to do it, even if such position will complicated our relationship with other states. 83%. 86% of our country think that crimea is territory of russia.

almost it is an important figure and it is correlated to the figures in crimea referendum, 92% are for joining of crimea to russia. in this way, the majority of citizens of russia and crimea are supporting the secession of crimea to russia, russian federation. [ applause ]

>> now is case of political decision of russia and this decision can be based only on the will of people, because only people are the sources of any power. dear members of parliament, citizens of russia, citizens of crimea and sevastopol today on the basis of the decision of referendum in crimea, based on the will of people, our federal committee is asked to consider

the secession of crimea and town of sevastopol to russia. [ applause ] >> also to modify the agreement on crimea secession to crimea bill need to be modified. i am not doubting your support.

[ applause ] >> in few minutes, the ceremony of signing will happen. we ask to you remain seated. it is direct transmission from the big hall of kremlin. >> you've been listening to russian president vladimir putin addressing the members of the russian parliament, speaking for an hour and 15 minutes how the issue of secession of crimea from ukraine saying just a short while ago that ukraine, the people of crimea have voted saying they want to join the russian federation and that he believed that it is the opinion of the people of russia that they should be accepted, saying that 83% of the people polled in

russia say that they should be protecting the people of crimea. i will itner in kiev. phil, we just heard from the russian penalty speaking before the assembly. what does this mean for the future of ukraine? he said earlier he believes in ukraine this should be three lanes, the russian language, ukrainian language and language of the tartars. >> i don't think any of that's going to come as a major surprise to the people here in kiev. they knew that crimea was going to be heading toward the russian federation. they are of course not happy bit, the annexation of the pence will is something they didn't want to see, saying it's illegal. all along, it's been expected that that would happen. they know that there's a majorly important strategic base in sevastopol that i think will cause major concern here is some of the other points he addressed during that long speech, not

least of wimp his talk about the east of the country where there are other ethnic russians, and his attacks on the government here as being fascist and illegitimate and basically conducting a coup d'etat. that is the major concern in kiev, that the russians will not stop with crimea, that it is just the beginning. now that is a generally held belief within public opinion here in the ukrainian capitol. they also think that you can't take crimea without taking other parts of main land ukraine because the support system is there. these words will be very disturbing to those in kiev. obviously russian president vladimir putin there addressing those concerns with one sentence saying we don't want to see the dissolution of ukraine, a breakup there, but the bulk was very aggressive. the powers here and generally public opinion will express

grave concerns about what how to, what next after crimea. >> phil ittner, sit tight, we are going to continue our coverage with this story with you in kiev. we have reporters stationed around the globe who are going to be looking and breaking down exactly what the russian penalty had to say referring to ukraine as our brothers. >> covering the european union and sanctions leveed against certain russian and ukrainian officials, dana, i want to bring you in. talk about european security, the fact that joe biden will be meeting with polish leaders. how concern does europe need to be about putin's long game? >> i think this is really where the, i think the baltics, estonia, latvia, lithuania, poland have a very different view about president putin than they say we do, modern western

europe, because they still see this cold war warrior, a former k.g.b. colonel still ranting on about history. they call ate rant and they believe really that he continues to see the breakup of the former soviet union in those historic terms as a catastrophe. you heard him go on and on at a very emotional level about crimea how it was passed over like a sack of potatoes. he has presented a very stark choice to the west and i think u.s. vice president joe biden will be discussing that in poland and also to lithuania tonight meeting with the estonia president, as well. he is not, president putin going to give back crimea at this point. you can see how popular it was inside that room in the kremlin, how popular it is playing inside russia and of course as phil mentioned from kiev, he spoke very passionately about ethic

russians in eastern ukraine. eastern europe, those countries occupied by the former soviet union and fear russia and its sphere of influence will be rattled today about putin going on and on about protecting russians in eastern ukraine and is not prepared to have nato expand in ukraine or near the fence as he called it with russia. >> it was mr. putin that blocked ukraine's ability to join nato several years ago. dana lewis, we'll have you stand by but we have another report. >> jennifer glasse in sevastopol. we are listening to rhetoric from the russian president, but in sevastopol where you are in crimea it is very real. what happens next in sevastopol and crimea? >> you know, del, that's a very

popular speech here, no question. it is exactly what they wanted to hear from russian president vladimir putin, that, you know, crimea is, was and always will be a part of russia that it is what the people here have been celebrating. they came out in large in connection. he made concessions to the minority populations to the tartars and ethnic ukrainians saying they will be respected here, their language will be respected here. that's going to be the next step in terms of having to convince them. there's a lot of concern among the ethnic ukraineens and tartars here about their place in a russian crimea. the very forceful nature of president putin's speech, calling it is historic areas here the symbols of military greatness, pointing out the border city with russia, saying that crimea is really has always been a part of russia, that the transfer was a mistake in 1954 and that mistake has been

rectified. >> jennifer, please stand by. >> you are watching live coverage of aljazeera america. we have a major speech from president putin and analysts to take it apart. alec ander motol at rutgers university and amy knight ukraine and former soviet union historian joining us to give us analysis. >> we are going to take a short break and then when we come back, we'll have much more on the historic events that just unfolded in moscow, russian penalty vladimir putin addressing the duma there. we will be right back.

>> >> it has been quite day. >> let's bring in two analysts joining us this morning. alexander motol at rutgers university and amy knight ukraine and former soviet union historian joining us to give us analysis. both of you are experts on russia, both of you watched very closely this speech by mr. putin. let's start with what happens next. at the end of his speech, president putin talked about signing something. i would assume that is an official step toward annexation. is it immediate, are the borders

redrawn? >> first of all, it will take time for this process to be completed, because they have to negotiate over the currency. apparently all of the states, crimea's state funds are going to be transferred to the russians. there will have to be arrangements made for new trade laws and so on and so forth. i think this is a process that's not necessarily immediate. >> we should point out that one of the reasons we're kind of tap dancing around exactly what happened a short while ago in moscow is because the translation was extremely difficult to understand exactly what the russian president was saying, but what we did manage to gather is that a lot of what was said was history, but also revisionist history. >> absolutely. putin is presenting a notion of

history which positions russia and russians as the victims of eastern european events. >> in fact, he made it seem that had the russian federation not intervened, this would have been kosovo with massive bloodshed. he went on to say that russia stopped the bloodshed and the world should be thanking russia. >> in reality, there was no bloodshed during the revolution so that the new government in kiev came into power. there was no bloodshed in the russian populated areas of ukraine. the violence and the bloodshed that has occurred has occurred as a result of specific actions conducted by russian provocators in many regions. >> in invoking kosovo some would say he justly brings up, if

until now crimea has been joined to ukraine because of soviet laws taken without asking the people that now the people have decided to rectify this error. not all of this was revisionist history. in 1954, crimea was given and now over the weekend, you have 97% of significances say we want to be part of russia. >> well, actually, kruschev was ukrainian and russian have labeled it as one of kruschev's hare brained schemes. penalty putin chose to go back that far is interesting. to me, he was really bending over backwards to give a historical justification for what's happening in crimea, and

i think it struck me as a little bit ominous, because he also talked about kiev and rus and went back into the history. he tried to make a case and he did a pretty good job for the fact that really all of ukraine is kind of russian. >> he said not only did he believe the people of crimea wanted to be part of russia but went further saying there should be three languages in ukraine. >> we respect all nationalities who live in crimea. it is their common house. it's their homeland and it would be correct if in crimea, i know the crimean people will support it, it will be three equal state languages, russian, ukrainian and crimean tartar languages. >> in fact, during take part of the speech, he went on to say

that not only was he there to protect the russian speaking crimeans, but also there to protect the tartars who say they want to leave crimea now because of the russian interconvenience. was that a part of the speech -- i saw you shaking your head no. >> it's nonsense. the russian language has been protected within crimea and the russian population along with the soviet russian authorities since well, since the 1780's have done everything in their power to oppress and repress the crimean tartar population, fringing on the rights of the language and culture. for putin to say that these two languages will have equal status with russian i guess absurd. >> does he have any point in saying that russians have been suffering? he used that word suffering. >> sack of potatoes. >> under the crimean leadership. >> there's no substance to this, as well. the new leadership was in power for a couple of days and at

which point the russian troops essentially seized control over crimea. they had no time to do anything bad. if you look at the record of ukraine over the last 23 years, vis a vis crimea, it's been a policy of neglect. crimea has been for all practical purposes an independent state. >> president putin called the interim government in kiev illegitimate. let's listen to what he had to say about those leaders. >> it is also clear that there's no legal and executive power in ukraine. many of the government bodies are reserved by i am posters. they do not control anything in ukraine and themselves want to undermine it tellselves are controlled by radicals. >> sort of a tough translation there, but the question is does kiev have to be concerned at this point that russia's

tentacles can reach all the way to the capitol of ukraine? >> absolutely. this is one of the primary concerns of ukraine policy makers, pundits, analysts and the population at large. i know a friend who's been teaching in kiev and just a few days ago, evacuated his family to outside the capitol since he fully expects an invasion of kiev along with bombings of the capitol city within the next week. that may be and exaggeration but it's indicative of the mood within the country. >> he not only talked about crimea, ukraine, he also talked about secretary of state john kerry, president obama and the west. let's listen to what he had to say. it was almost like a shot cross the bow to the west. >> our western partners with the united states have had prefer to be guided not by international law but by the right of the

force. they believe that force and exclusivity and their right to resolve the fates of the world that they're always right. they do whatever they feel is just. they use force against sovereign states. they build coalitions under principles who is not with us, he's against us. >> that being a quote from penalty george w. bush following the coalition of the willing in iraq when we went into baghdad, but on balance, is there not an argument that the people of crimea, even though it was believed that the election itself was not rigged, but the deck was definitely stacked, but that the majority of people in crimea wanted to be part of russia anyway? >> oh, i think that is a legitimate argument, and i don't think very many people would dispute that, but really, i think the main concern is that putin is trying to establish a

justification for and lay the groundwork for further possible military intervention -- >> he's not going to stop at crimea. >> a few days ago, i personally would have thought he was going to stop at crimea. having listened to this speech and what some of the russian spokesmen have been saying, i think that right now putin may be testing the waters and he's throwing this out to get a western reaction so a lot of it depends on what the west does. >> let's talk about the west reaction. president obama issued an executive order yesterday, a list of some dozen people, russians and ukrainians that are facing personal sanctions. talk about the people that are on this list. are these key decision makers? is this going to make a difference? >> well, i was rather disappointed in that list,

because the key decision-makers, the members of sort of putin's group of the strong men, the military and the former k.g.b., these are the people, first deputy prime minister, the head of the security council, these people, it is believed are the ones who were helping putin to make this decision -- >> and they are not on the list. >> they are not on the list. to me, the list was kind of a token, and i know the obama administration has said this is just the beginning, but right now, i think the list was a very just very meaningless. >> i just want to point out that the executive order gives him pretty wide authority if he newses to impose further sanctions just to quote from the executive order, it says "to

impose sanctions on named officials of the russian government: >> what i've read this morning from experts on sanctions, these would have teeth if the penalty decided to use the full extents of this executive order. >> personally, i agree. this lays the groundwork for some very serious sanctions and of course the europeans are moving in the same direction. for many ukrainians, this is too little too late, but nevertheless a significant step forward. >> is this, i guess putting the cart before the horse? senator john mccain and others on capitol hill have been calling for stiffer sanctions saying the cries in ukraine

calls for more significant response from the united states. john mccain goes on to say that today's executive order could have been an important part of that response, but sanctioning only seven russian officials is wholly inadequate. you're concerned, professor that he has an ear in the water. sounds like he wants to reconstitute of what we once considered the soviet union. >> this is perfectly possible. as i said, there are these riots taking place in significant portions of eastern ukraine. these individuals who were to a large degree funded by and or provoked by russian security services are clamoring for referendums along the line of crimea. it's perfectly possible that the next step would be military intervention ostensibly to defend the individuals who are being threatened by the

ukrainians. >> i want to take the deviled advocate pro putin view. this was a case where ukraine was going through political instability, yanukovych was taken out of power and some people do question the legitimacy of that. the black sea fleet, the russian navy has an important presence in sevastopol, which is in crimea. some would argue that goee politically putin may not be looking for a land grab here, he was just doing what some say he needed to do. what's your reaction to that? >> i think to a certain extent that's true and several people including angela merkel have employed that putin has been behaving irrationally. i think actually what he and the kremlin did was rational and he got away with it. >> in a geopolitical sense it was rational. would you agree with that? >> i actually -- is he rational?

yes. does this make any sense, does this serve the interest of putin, the annexation of crimea? i would say no. >> how do we make sense of the two vladimir putin's we've seen in recent months. last month they were hosting the olympics. he wanted to show the world stage that russia is now part of the 21st century. he pardoned the members of the punk rock band pussy riot and the dissident who ran against him in moscow for president of russia. he was making progressive steps in that direction and then the crisis in ukraine. how do we view that? >> yes, there is an element which schizophrenia there because yes, he spent over $50 billion on the olympics and it was all to show the world that, you know, russia was this modern democratic country and he was a great leader and i think he really has damaged that

image. so yes, i think that was a mistake, but to me, when happened was what the russians did with crimea was a reaction to the events in kiev, and so i don't think this was -- i don't know if alexander agree witness me, but i don't think the taking over, the military incursion in crimea was necessarily a long-planned event. >> some say it was sort of these last minute decisions that piled up. i want to go back to jennifer glass in sevastopol for more reaction to putin's address. jennifer. >> a very popular address in crimea here, you saw people overwe willingly voting to become part of russia and vladimir putin said he respected the referendum, that crimea has always been a part of russia. he did reach out to minorities

who are very concerned here about their place in a russian crimea. he reached out to the tartars and ukrainians saying their language and rights will be respected here. a lot of those people aren't feeling that way. there has been problems with intimidation and such. the crimean tartars largely boycotted the referendum. they are worried about their place in this new area, but vladimir putin very much highlighted the historical ties to crimea, calling the military places around here the home of the black sea fleets, baklava bay, calling them symbols of military's russian greatness and if you can't walk around the city, you do see wonderful soviet monuments everywhere. this has long been linked to russia and people here are very

happy to see that part of russia and happy to see that this is all happening so quickly. >> we go now phil ittner in kiev. take us back to the speech, just that short moment ago, what were they doing in kiev, were they watching with rapt attention, going about their daily lives? how was this playing on the streets of kiev? >> actually, del, they were going about their daily lives. they mother or less knew what vladimir putin was going to say in the speech. they'll take it apart, analyze it, break i did down. they will most likely find grave concern in those comments above and beyond crimea, because again to many of the people here in kiev, this has never been about crimea. they knew that russia had interests in sevastopol. they knew that there was predominantly a russian majority there. they weren't happy about losing the peninsula, but they pretty much had accepted that as a done

deal. there is, again, just a bigger sense of concern here about what is next, what comes after crimea. that is what they'll pick apart and fret over. they do not think like those other warsaw pact groups that this is an attempt for more, that this is just the beginning. the people here are predominantly going about their day. we went around to cafes. people were morals carrying on with their average day. we went out to the stage here on the square. of course vladimir putin's speech was not being put out publicly, but they will dissect it, and much of what was said during that speech, no doubt, will cause grave concern in the ukrainian capitol. >> phil, thank you very much. stephanie, you cannot hope -- i mean help but seem to think that there is a generational divide

here between the people in kiev and the people in crimea, the people in kiev wanting to be part of the european union, the people in crimea want to be part of the old russian. >> jennifer glass reporting, you do see the younger generation out celebrating this fact that they are joining russia. i just want to get our final comments from our two guests. you seem to think that this speech was enough to make you rethink putin's real intentions geopolitically. to you, the this was a major declaration. >> yes, i wouldn't say a major declaration, but there were as i said, he's testing the waters, there are hint that there is a possibility that there would be further incursion into ukraine. i do want to point out, i do not agree with the view that putin wants to reconstitute the soviet union. i think ukraine is a very special case, and i don't

believe he really wants to go to that point. i think that's an alarmist -- >> clearly you think he wants to go further, the question has to be asked and how much further? >> yes, that is true, but i also think that if he were to be met with enough resistance, strong economic sanctions, then things might settle down and the russians, the kremlin would quit trying to stir up conflict in eastern ukraine, and, you know, we would just have a period of, you know, calm, i guess. >> what's remarkable about the speech was that he really didn't say anything new. if you've followed his statements for the last two weeks, ever since the initial occupation of crimea, this essentially repeats everything that he and his policy makers have been saying. it's worrisome in the sense that he had an opportunity to change his views and he didn't take advantage of it.

on the other hand, it's pretty much same old, same old, a reiteration of these hyper nationalists and neoi am perillist visions. i think the west should be very seriously considering providing non-lethal military aid to ukraine, trucks, uniforms. >> they are asking for that, also the question of a missile shield for poland and other countries innate toe. >> we are going to take a short break.

>> we want to get you caught up on other developments. the search for the malaysian flight changing. that what is the latest on the investigation? >> investigators continue to focus on the folks on that plane, those in the cockpit to see who may have taken the plane off of its intended path. chinese officials announced that they have looked into the background of all the chinese nationals onboard and found no connection to terrorism. again, the key focus remains that cockpit crew, the pilots.

investigators are scrutinizing their lives. >> tell us what you were doing inside the house. >> as investigators searched the home of the plane's captain and the residents of the co pilot, authorities now say an analysis of the air traffic control recording reveals who spoke the last words from the cockpit. it was the man in the right seat. >> initial investigation indicates it was the co pilot who basically spoke the last time it was caught on tape. >> that was the 27-year-old who calmly said all right, good night, when he was told to contact controllers in vietnam. that contact never happened. investigators revised their time line, saying the two communication systems that were switched off on the jet may have both been disabled in the minutes after that final radio transmission. >> that does not change our belief that up until the point

at which it left military primary radar coverage, the aircraft movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane. >> malaysian investigators have refused u.s. intelligence rance into the renewed focus on the pilots. >> they do need to get f.b.i. profilers as well as ntsb human performance psychologists in there. i keep hearing that they're holding people off. >> 26 countries are now involved in the hunt for the plane which could be from central asia to the west of australia, deep in the indian ocean. >> the royal australian air force conducted two sweeps over the southern search corridor. another sweep is scheduled to take place later today. we owe it to the people on this ill fated flight and their families to do what we can to solve this tragic mystery. >> the search is now moving

further south, southwest of perth near antarctica, divided into 14 different grids, seven on the northern corridor, seven on the southern corridor. malaysian officials have now talked to defense secretary hagel who has said the u.s. will offer whatever support it can to help find this missing plane. >> "the new york times" this morning reporting that the plane's first turn that has been so controversial off course was programmed into the flight's computer. if that is true, why is this so significant? >> whether this means is the plane wasn't being hand flown at that time, that someone had programmed the turn into the computer. that's significant, because you have to have a lot of knowledge of how these systems work to do that. it would have to be someone who knew how to program that computer to reverse course for that plane. >> lisa stark for us live in washington, d.c. >> four baggage handlers at the san diego intercept have been

indicted for smuggling drugs on to planes. the men used badges to walk through security check points and filled bags on planes. the drugs were flown to major cities including new york, nashville, detroit and baltimore where local drug traffickers would pick them up. >> you would think that these things would not happen in that secure area with so much law enforcement around. >> agents seizing more than 30 pounds of drugs and more than $100,000 in cash over the investigation, which took a year. seven other men who didn't work at the airport have also been charged. >> a diplomatic mission to show support for hour allies, this is the scene in poland, the vice president set to speak in warsaw. we'll tell you why poland is so afraid that history could repeat itself as russia makes a grab of crimea. >> a patient's right to die, the debate over the controversial issue when we come right back.

>> how we handle the recall will be an important test of that commitment. >> the new c.e.o. of general motors offering a personal apology following another major recall from the automakers.

>> vice president biden arriving in poland, hoping to reassure them over crimea. the vice president speaking in a few minutes to what some say is a very skeptical polish public.

why are they anxious? >> because they're worried that president putin intends to go into eastern ukraine and intends to maybe replay some of the past history of the soviet union by dominating some of these countries on its borders and nearby, poland, lithuania, the baltics. vice president biden has gone there to reassure them that they are protected by nato, they're in the alliance and everything is going to be ok. the u.s. sent a couple of dozen f sins to poland. they are going to be very thirsty for reassurance after hearing the speech of president putin in russia where essentially says they're going to keep the crimea, recognize

the referendum. he gave no promisees about what he may do with eastern ukraine. in his nervousness out there and the polish prime might bester, polish. the and meetings to follow with the estonian and vice president biden will speak again later tonight. >> >> what can you tell us about the european reaction to president putin's speech thus far? >> the reaction thus far has been they needed to walk a tightrope. they didn't want to push russia too hard but wanted to deliver a message if they don't give up the crimea and go any further to eastern ukraine, those sanctions will very quickly from the united states and european union get much tougher. putin spoke about the sanctions saying we will protect our

interests or go backwards. are they trying to provoke an unrest in our country. he said they were aggressive and we will react. so i think that certainly the european union and the united states are now going to be watching for some reaction from russia today rewarding it is sanction it is and wondering however do they go with putin now, can they get assurance or promise from him that he doesn't intend to go into eastern ukraine or do they need to step you up the sanctions sooner than later. >> as we just mentioned, the situation in crimea making poland very anxious and as aljazeera reports, polish resentment toward russia goes back centuries. >> at the charity concert in warsaw, four tenor and an orchestra are raising money to pay for poland crisis stricken

neighbor. poland and the new ukrainian governments are singing the same tune, russia cannot again be allowed to dominate eastern europe. >> we hope that the efforts of the international community will lead to the peaceful solution of the conflict in ukraine, we need to be ready for the darkest of scenarios in ukraine, part of which is taking place. we should treat the annexation of crimea as one of these scenarios. >> evidence of a time when poland was under soviet control isn't hard to find. this is a controversial monument for many polish people. buried here are the remains of 21,000 of the soviet troops who died liberating poland from the in his cease at the end of the second world war, but the satisfactory yet stayed not leaving poland 191993 and there

are few polish people who would ever want to see them return. 72% of polls think the current situation in ukraine poses a threat to polish security. it's being discussed on street corners and in cafes and campuses. these students are too young to remember a communist poland, but they know the history. >> how the situation in ukraine develops and how western security structures influence things there has a big influence on how we see nato and the e.u. should they fail, we will feel threatened. the arrival in poland last week of 12f16 jets and personnel provided some assurance. warsaw depends on its new western partners for protection. >> hole land is doing its best to make sure that it can trust those organizations. therefore, getting nato to take a very tough stance on what is happening in ukraine, and what

russian policy is and trying to make sure that mr. putin will be made to suffer because of what he is doing. >> most polls will tell you a russian invasion is incredibly unlikely. even though, when your historic foe is looking so dangerous, it is no time to be playing solo. aljazeera, warsaw, poland. >> and a remind their we will bring you the latest developments on the situation in ukraine throughout the morning. you can get up to the minute information by going to aljazeera.com. >> our three aljazeera journalists now held in egyptian prisons for 80 days, all accused of having links to a terrorist organization and spreading false news. one brother returning recently said it was upsetting to travel back home alone without his

brother. >> i was astounded by the strength that he's showing. obviously it's extremely tough conditions there, but i guess he's had to prepare himself mentally to get through this. >> aljazeera rejects all of the charges against its staff and continues to demand their immediate release. they're schedule told appear in court again next week, march 24. >> connecticut lawmakers of locked in a contentious debate over doctor assisted suicide. while few states in the country have legalized it, many more across the country are taking up the issue. >> you've got six more including connecticut, hawaii, kansas, massachusetts, new hampshire, new jersey and pennsylvania, all have current bills up for debate this year. right now it is legal in four states, washington, oregon, montana and vermont, at least 39 states have laws strictly prohibiting the act.

in connecticut, it's currently against the law. monday, more than 100 people turned out to testify at a public hearing on a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe lethal medications to the terminally ill. >> life is sacred from conception to natural death. >> it's a cruel and inhumane to force a terminally ill person who's soon to die to stay alive in pain against their will. >> despite the attorney general stance in favor, connecticut's governor is uneasy when it comes to state policy to end life. according to an earlier poll, voters support doctor assisted suicide 61%-21%. >> new mexico grappling with this issue. >> just a few days ago, their attorney general filed an appeal to a recent ruling that granted terminally ill patients in that

state the right to get a doctor to end their lives. there's a lot of states really looking at this issue this year. >> the new c.e.o. of general motors making a personal apology after another massive recall, 1.5 million cars have an air bag issue on top of the faulty ignition swish recall. they were aware of the issue for nearly a decade. they are conducting an internal review. >> something went wrong with our process and terrible things happened. as a member of the g.m. family and a mom with a family of my own, this really hits home for me. >> barra said the company is increasing production to quickly replace those parts and fast tracking all reviews. the ignition recall has been linked to a dozen deaths. >> droughts in several states are expected to force prices up

this year, the largest annual increase in three years, much coming from higher meat and dairy prices caused by lower supplies due to prolonged drought. prices are higher for fruits, investigate bells, sugar and beats. coffee is up 7% this year. >> an early morning earthquake in los angeles rattled nerves but caused little damage. 4.4 magnitude quake struck monday, the fault only slipped for a few seconds. the video from two gas stations shows just how much the ground was moving. it is one of the strongest on record, this particular fault, in 80 years. >> for centuries, astronomer have been trying to understand how the university began. a team from harvard has found ripples of gravitational pull in space.

>> if the university started with a big bang, it was quickly followed by a rapid expansion, a theory known as inflation, but until now, there was no evidence to back it up. >> there was a violent burst of expansion and in that expansion, the theory tell uh-huh that the university was stretched from a sub a too manic volume to larger scales. >> they used a telescope based at the south pole to measure light waves emanating from the birth of the cosmos. they discovered a pattern that supports the theory of inflation as well as the existence of gravitational waves. as predicted by albert sign stein in his famous theory of relativity. >> this is huge, one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science. i don't say that lightly.

>> scientists say they now have proof of what happened in the 1 trillionth of a 1 trillionth of a one nilun of a second in the big bang. with this discovery of inflation, there's talk of a nobel prize for the team. >> one of the founders of the theory of inflation says the discovery shows that science has the power to explain our existence. >> places like that work and there are predictions that can be tested and in this case, the predictions actually work. i think it really does give us a lot more confidence in the power of rational thought. >> other scientists will check and recheck their findings, but many are already calling this an extraordinary break through in the study of our universe. aljazeera, cambridge, massachusetts. >> it's unclear how long the

inflation theory lasted. in a fraction of a second, the universe went from sub atomic to cosmic. >> driving ban lifted after a day in paris. pollutions levels of a safe limit. drivers alternated which days they could be on the road based on license plate number, the odd on monday, but not everyone obeyed. police issued 4,000 fines. the government plans to review the pollution levels there on a daily base and it may impose the driving ban again, as needed. >> in sports as march madness gets closer, we are reminded college sports isn't just about a game. we have more on that. good morning. >> good morning. it's that time of year when fans go mad for march madness, the nba tournament transcends sports. it is also big business. to devil more into that side of

the entertainment equation, we welcome john to the program. john, this time of year, you hear even non-sports people talking about filling out a bracket. why does this tournament have sump broad appeal? >> big business. this has become almost a national rite of passage. this is an event that response three weeks, the superbowl's fun, they play the game, but this expands. the fact that you have these rounds, i think that adds to the appeal, too. >> you wrote a book called sportscasting, debunking sports myths. you talked about filling out the perfect bracket. what advice do you have? >> no one's filling out a perfect bracket. there are some tips. one of the things we stress was treat this like a portfolio. really load up on the blue chips. it usually is the top one or two

seed that is win this thing. keep in mind home court advantage. teams win close to home. if you see duke within driving existence and los angeles, keep an eye on distance. looking at these choices, no reason to do it today, wait an extra day, you never know what happens. there's nothing that says you have to be the first one to turn your pool in. >> talking about that perfect bracket, if you do that this year, warren buffet will give you a billion dollars. there's incentive to fill out that perfect bracket if you can. every march, people talk about the cost and productivity to the u.s. economy. they talk about billions of dollars lost to people watching the games and filling out brackets. how much of that do you think is true, how much do you think is myth? >> i'm thinking in terms of morale, wouldn't you think the boost would outstrip productivity. people go on facebook, do their

on line shopping. if someone needs to talk about the office pool, can you imagine what would happen if an employer said we are not doing a pool, back to work? i think the blow to that would be worth more than the loss are productivity. >> people would be screaming. morale is high around here. i've never seen del walterser as happy. las vegas casinos, let's talk about the betting angle. casinos are going to take in $100 million throughout this whole thing. there's going to be billions spent in interoffice betting pools. we do it here for entertainment purposes only. do we love the tournament because of the gambling or do we gamble because we love the tournament? >> you have people like my daughter will fill out a pool based on who has the cutest mascots. knows nothing about college basketball but follows these

games. you mentioned las vegas. that's a small sliver, legal gambling. you and i are breaking the law filling out these pools. >> speak for yours. >> 40% of americans are going to enter a boole. >> no gambling here, guys, no, that's john talking, not me. >> only for myself. [ laughter ] >> you know, we talk about the heights of this whole tournament. we talked a lot about the sports saying that we enjoy it and yet it is such big business, we've highlighted that just now. and really, student athletes, they want to get paid. i understand there's a lawsuit going on. when are we going to see student athletes get paid. >> this is just another example of how the game is rigged. this is big business for media, for the broadcasters. we are talking about how much commerce is involved in the pools and yet the schools don't make all that much money. last year, wichita state made it to the final four and may have

lost money, because the revenues the school get not difficultied up by conference, everything they're earning is getting shopped up, they may have to pay the coach a bonus and travel costs. there is a swirl of commerce but the athletes and schools don't sympathy. it's another point in terms of professionalizing college sports. >> thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> oh reminder, he does not bet on march madness. >> it is the dreaded visit to the doctor, but colonoscopies are worth it. we'll talk to the cleveland clinic about the dropping colon cancer rates. >> could chocolate help to you prevent a heart attack? scientists are trying to find out. >> it could be the most colorful festival on the planet.

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>> india kicking off a holiday, festival marking the start of spring. thousands dancing and singing and shooting clouds of colorful powder at strangers and friends. it celebrates the triumph of good over evil and brings together all people. >> welcome to al jazeera america. a new study shows colonoscopies are impacting the fight against colon cancer. let's check in with nicole. >> spring a couple days away and yet we are dealing with more winter weather. we have a system that's been pulling out of the rockies developing into the midwest. we have some moisture off the coast into the southeast. all of this continuing to move

across. here's how it develops, the heaviest bands in states like minnesota and wisconsin is what we are going to watch for. still possible a little bit of moisture along the coast, but watch this. some of these snow totals could easily be up toward a foot of snow, and then ahead of this system, we're going to watch for this area of rain. it's been causing problems. there's been iciness this morning and still enough moisture on the roads that you might want to take it on the slow side. the two of those coming together, we also have the gusting winds in the midsection of the country. the one good side ahead of that system, very warm air. del. >> there's a new study released by the american cancer society showing fewer are dying from colon cancer. the rate of diagnosis of the decease dropping 30% and over 50, the news is good. the number of colonoscopies has

increased during that same 10 year period. a doctor with the cleveland clinic joins us. dr. church, many calm this the katey factor, because more and more of us are aware that we should be checked. >> the news about colorectal cancer is reaching people. over the last decade, with the colon cancer awareness month which is march and increasing efforts by the colon cancer alliance and other groups, the public is just gradually getting to know the dangers of colon cancer and that it's preventable. >> one of the reasons katey couric took up the baton is because her husband passed away and colorectal cancer often has

no symptoms making getting a colonoscopy more important. are there sometimes warning signs? >> there are, but by the time, there's usually a cancer and it may be advanced. the warning signs are rectal bleeding of any variety that is never normal and should always be checked and a change in the ball habit that lasts. a lot of us have brief changes that may last a day or two, but something that persists should be checked out. all cancer starts with a polyp or growth on the lining of the colon. cells grow faster than they should and they build up in the lining and as time goes by, they grow bigger and over the course of about 10 years, they can turn

into cancer. >> do all polyps turn into canner? >> probably about one in 10, it just depends on the particular muscle of mutations that have been building up in those cells. we can't tell which ones are going to, so we have the philosophy that every polyp should come out. >> looking at the statistics, it appears race plays a factor in this. the graph shows black males, 29% have colon cancer, white men 19%. women, it is 19% to 13%, right there almost identical, why? there are lots of potential reasons why african-american community seems to be affected. some of them might be socio economics, some cultural and i think some is biological, the cancers that occur in that group seem to be more aggressive, seem

to come on earlier, and we haven't sorted out exactly why but do know that that group needs to be screened starting earlier than average. >> are there preventative things people can do such as diet and exercise? >> there are. probably the main cause are changes in growth in the colon cell that is produce poll limbs and then cancer is environmental, meaning what we eat and things that are incriminator, red meat and especially char grilled meat, lifestyles such as a sedentary lifestyle predisposed to colorectal cancer and being overweight tends to predid i see pose, as well as smoking. we can change those things but have to start young. this is a disease that builds up over a lifetime. somebody who's 60, they're not going to have much change to their risks. >> how much is based on heredity

and how much lifestyle. >> in a big styled of 4,000 pairs of twins, two thirds is based on lifestyle and one third on heredity. that's a big group of patients with colon cancer in the family. >> the bottom line is get checked early and get checked. >> get checked, if you have a big risk, talk about it with your doctor, when you turn 50, that's your birthday present, get a colonoscopy. >> when i turn 50, i'll give you a call. researchers in boston and seattle are getting ready to see if chocolate can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. the 18,000 patients participating in the study won't be chewing on any candy bars. they will get a pill including ingredients found in dark chocolate, so it won't be a

treat, but the research could yield important results. the recent evidence shows that ingredients can improve your cholesterol levels. >> the united states and cuba celebrating ernest hemingway. there is a tour inside where he penned many famous works, including "old man of the sea" and" for whom the bell tolls." >> a 61-year-old grandmother is preparing for a long hike, trying to raise money to build water wells for the war torn central african republic. she plans to start her trek in georgia and hopes to reach maine by october. she'll post updates from her phone where she can follow people during their progress. >> we want you take you right now to poland where vice

president is speaking right now trying to allay fears about the vote of crimea t secede from ukraine, the russian parliament accepting that. >> do not accept that the arguments but first resolve the conflict -- in a conflict with the international law and then look for the justification or explanation of their actions. we are aware that the situation of the european union and the situation of poland, ukraine and russia has changed before our eyes. the cooperation between poland and the united states. we talked with vice president biden about the modern organization of the polish armed forces and in this context also

talked about polish and american cooperation in the pros of the modernization of the armed forces that i think for the immediate action of the united states and for the support for poland in the first days of this strong crimean crisis. i thank for deploying additional american aircraft here. it is also important for us that a declaration of the united states but also the united kingdom and denmark in terms of the support for the missions in the air space of the baltic states, and to start, i am convinced will protect this mission from threat of some provocation, which could not be excluded in 100% from happening, and i want to say finally something which here in warsaw and in poland is obvious for everyone in our country, that

events in crimea and unprecedented decision of russia about the annexation of russia to crimea, it is not a problem of ukraine or countries that border ukraine and russia. >> this concern is shared by the united states and european union and the western community and the action in crimea is a challenge for the whole free world and this challenge makes us stressed today that significance of solid darty. it is the world speaking in a loud voice and nobody can be left alone in the conflict and today and following days we work very hard