>> russian saying they will not be deterred by u.s. sanctions. >> thousands stand by anxious allies. >> angry relatives of those on board malaysiaen airlines 370

demand answers. >> russian president vladimir putin thumbed his nose at much of the world today. he signed a treaty to annex crimea. two days after crimea voted to secede from ukraine. putin dismissed th criticism, ad he also said he does not plan to move into other parts of ukraine. >> for those who fear that other regions of ukraine will follow. we do not want ukraine. we do not need it. crimea will remain russian, and ukrainian, and tatar.

>> reporter: jennifer glass, what is the mood following this historic treaty signing? >> reporter: well, tony, that was a crowd-pleasing speech. they watched it here in sevastopol. people here voted overwhelmingly to join russia in a referendum on sunday. they're happy to see it moving so quickly, and they were thrilled to see president putin saying everything that they wanted to hear. crimea had been part of russia, it's always been a part of russia, and it has historical places for russia. and people here are saying they're very happy to be returning to russia. >> as you see there are no guns here, no pistols. we've wanted to do this for a long time. all the people you see, they're

all excited. i would like barack obama to see this and change his mind. >> whatever you say, whatever news channels say or countries say, we are forever glad that we've come back to russia. >> and there's been much this part of the west because of the criticism they've had of the west here. the west has ruled this an illegal referendum, and the people says it shows what they wanted to do. the overwhelming vote of 97% of people in favor of becoming russia, and it moved very quickly, tony. on sunday it was ukraine, monday cry maya, and now it soon couldish russia. >> we have a treaty that was signed this morning. what else needs to happen to formalize crimea's secession? >> reporter: two big things have to happen, and it all happens in

moscow. russia's constitutional court has to ratify that treaty, and then it goes back to the legislature, and they basically sign, seal and deliver it. it all seems a formality. if you saw the great enthusiasm that vladimir putin had when he made that speech saying he would annex crimea, to bring crimea back in the fold. he said righting historic wrong, he said. even amidst all that jubilation he had warning words for the west. >> our western partners with the united states at the head prefer to be guided not by international law but by right of the force. they believe that force and exclusivity, and it's their right to resolve the fate of the role that they're always right. they do whatever they feel is just. they use force against sovereign states. they build coalition under principle that is not with us,

he is against us. >> defiant words for russian president vladimir putin, and as really an illustration the treaty that he signed was along side two cry mean leaders, both who whom are on the sanctions list. >> jennifer glass in sevastopol. >> a soldier died in an attack in the crimean city of sev sevasteopol. >> the ukrainian military base right there, that white building there, and beyond it, that tall building earlier it appeared to be russian snipers coming off of the roof having the high ground above the ukrainian soldiers. what we also saw was this tall white building over here what appears to be an unfinished

apartment building. we saw an exchange of fire. we saw what appeared to be russian troops inside of it, broken glass windows where they hit three ukrainian soldiers on the base and you see on the walls ukrainian soldiers were firing back. we've seen evidence of people trying to stop our filming, stop our reporting of what has happened. there have been pro-russian activists and militias that have surrounded the base. those pro-russian militias have drawn a line that we as journalists are not allowed to cross. evidence again that we've seen for weeks a lot of people are here who are trying to silence us from reporting what the russian militia and troops are doing. >> vice president joe biden's visit comes a day after the u.s.

and european union imposed the toughest sanctions on russia since the cold war. dana lewis in london for us. what is the very pointed message to vladimir putin in russia today? >> in a very pointed away he said we're not going to accept it and more sanctions are coming your way. the vice president said its more important than ever that friends stand together, poland, lithuania, latvia, they can count on the nato article 5 treaty that there is a solemn commitment to mutual defense. >> president obama and i view article 5 as solemn commitment not only for our time but for all time.

>> we take it deadly serious, and our commitment is unwavering and unshakeable. that's why the united states is just deployed 12 f-16 fighter jets to the air base in poland. >> there were discussions today with poland's prime minister on how to support ukraine economically, certainly the poles are worried that there could be a collapse of the ukraine right now. they have said that, and a lot of talk of energy. how to stop russia from blackmailing its neighbors with oil and gas. and the flawed logic of putin promising isolation of russia and more sanctions to come. jay carney the white house spokesman said today more sanctions are, indeed, on the table. that's in addition to those already announced on monday, which freezed the assets and present travel bans on 11 individuals, and there is speculation that more sanctions could be announced in the u.s. on russia later this week.

so they will be coming very quickly. >> and dana, the british foreign secretary william hague, he sent a message to russia as well today. >> indeed, he did. he has canceled any military agreements with russia are things like ship ammunition, airplane parts, helicopter parts. they do joint naval exercises, and some of his language was quite strong when he went on about putin's theatrical references to historical ties to crimea today. he said it was skewed historical references masking an incursion into a sovereign state and he called it a land grab. >> dana lewis in london for us. appreciate it. thank you. tensions in ukraine and crimea are casting long shadows over global diplomacy. they have put a chill of negotiations over iran's nuclear program. we have reports now from vienna. >> reporter: there are yet more challenges for iran's foreign minister and the e.u.'s foreign

envoy as they try to focus on a final settlement on iran's nuclear activities. first a spat and a canceled dinner over catherine ashton's meeting with human rights activists during her last visit to tehran. then the crisis in crimea and it's threat to these talks. because of a potential split between moscow and washington. >> it was not mentioned this morning we're here to negotiate on the iranian nuclear program. discussions of crimea happened elsewhere. as i said in my earlier answer there is no indication that it's having a negative effect. >> reporter: a strong denial, but the risk remains could moscow cut a separate deal with iran? that would produce a furious reaction in the united states. even before the ukraine crisis erupted president putin was reported to be discussing a deal with iran in which moscow would

buy iranian oil in exchange for money, goods, help in building new nuclear reactors. no one is optimistic about a quick resolution here in vienna despite an interim agreement reached last week when iran sheffield higher grade iranian enrichment for modest relief from sanctions. >> turning to the conflict in syria now the u.s. took a major step for president bashar al-assad's reseem today. they have suspended operations and syrian diplomatic facilities and told diplomats and staff to leave the country. >> reporter: syria has not had an ambassador in the united states since they left the post more than a year ago and moved to a similar position in beijing. in that time the embassy here in washington, d.c. has only provided limited consular

services. well on march 10th the embassy announced it would no longer be providing these services. when the u.s. government found out they said well there is no reason for the syrian diplomat and affiliated staff to continue to be in the united states. the diplomat has been given until march 31st to pack up their things and leave the united states. those who work in administrative roles have a month until the end of april to pack up their affairs, close up the embassy and to also leave the country. it's not clear if any local hires, as they're known, will continue to be paid by the syrian government, but the u.s. said that it's taking this step now to stress that it is still standing with the syrian people who it considers the victims of bashar al-assad's regime. >> roslind jordan reporting. new information is emerging about the potential path about

pa haitian flight 370. --malaysian flight 370. thai officials have detected a twisting flight path but say they didn't share the information because they were not asked for it. lisa stark with more on the search. >> reporter: 11 days and still no answers family members are understandably desperate and angry. in china they confronted airline officials. >> you only mention food, drinks, compensation. i don't need to know this. i need to know the whereabouts of my relatives. i need to know where the plane is and you can't answer. >> reporter: some are threatening a hunger strike. the investigation remains focused on the actions the of the pilots. the cockpit was reconfigured.

that would take expertise. malaysian officials have often given conflicting information about what may have happened on flight 370 and what time two communication systems went dark. they can't rule out that both systems clicked off about the same time but they insist that that does not upon the point to a major mechanical failure. >> up to the point in which it left radar coverage the aircraft movement was consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane. >> reporter: the search for the missing jet covers a massive area, 2.24 million nautical miles. the u.s. have two military planes up and looking. >> there is essentially a northern zone and a southern zone to search in the indian ocean. currently we have now assigned a p-3 maritime control

reconnaissance aircraft to cover the northern zone flying out of kuala lumpur. >> and they are also helping in the south. hope to go narrow down the search area malaysia has requested any satellite and radar data. the thai military now says its radar may have detected the plane in its initial turns off course. thailand said it had not shared the information because it was not specifically asked for it, once again raising questions about whether malaysia has mishandled what has turned into an unprecedented hunt for a jetliner. >> well, this isn't the first time that a plane has gone missing with no easy explanation. jonathan betz has been looking at other mysteries that have baffled aviation mysterie myste.

>> reporter: flight 574 had been the longest for missing modern airline. it disappeared seven years ago over indonesia. hundred of people on board. crews thought this one crashed on land but a fisherman found debris in the sea ten days later. finding the black box would take three weeks. this is the larges plane to completely disappear. the boeing 747 vanished in africa in 2003. it raised alarms after 9/11. it left angola's capitol and was never seen again. air france flight 447 puzzled searchers for a long time in 2009. they found debris nine days after the crash but it took crews two years to find most of the plane. and then steve foss's plane disappeared. after massive search rescuers gave up. a year later a hiker found the wreckage in the mountains.

it was 12 miles from an airport and in an area rescuers had flown over repeatedly. finally one of the aviation industry's biggest mystery, this flight 2501 disappeared flying from new york to seattle back in 1950. it had 58 people on board. pieces were found floating on lake michigan, but crews here never found the wreckage and to this day tony amateurs still search lake michigan for it. >> it's not uncommon. >> reporter: it's not uncommon but it is uncommon in modern times to have a huge jet like this disappear. >> thank you. the price of food is going up, and analysts say it is going to keep going up. next, how the drought in the west and other areas could hit you every time you go to the supermarket. also, the state where lawmakers want to tax people based on how much they drive.

>> if you think you've been paying more at the grocery store, you're right. the labor department said food prices jumped last month to its highs level in more than 2.5

years. and the increase was more than four times the over all rate for inflation. one reason for the rising food prices, the long drought in california. melissa chan is in san francisco for us. >> reporter: well, tony, you've been covering the drought over the last couple of months, and it's not even summertime. summertime is going to be the big test that's when farmers will really need to draw on that precious commodity water. the worst is yet to come. that's what they said who runs a wholesale produce market. >> we expect prices are going to be high because the volume planted is not going to be that great. because of the lack of water i expect prices to at least double. >> the impact of cal's drought will really hit this summer when growers haul a major food harvest. right now enough produce coming from mexico, south america and asia have kept prices barely

steady. the noticeable hike has been for beef. prices jumped last month, the most in ten years. ranchers say they faced the biggest cattle shortage since the 1950's after years of drought in texas now compounded by california's drought. in california drought has forced alfalfa farmers to limit this year's crop. some land is lying fallow. it has led to higher cost foragerforranchers who need feer stock. for now some parts of the country have seen a drop in the price of grain. the opposite of what is happening in california. creating a patchy prospect over the next few months. >> well, the federal government estimates that the cost of food might go up to 3.5%. 3.5%, rather, and for those who

are coffee drinkers, bad news in the coffeehouse. you may notice the cost go up. the coffee futures market has gone up 70%. >> yike, melissa, thank you. you probably noticed gas prices have soared some $0.20 in the past month. more efficient cars take a little bit of the bite out that have cost, but buying less gas means states get less money from gas taxes. now oregon wants to try something entirely different. allen fisher has that report. >> reporter: america loves its cars. it's about freedom and the open road. fuel here is less expensive than many places although people complain about rising prices. :of the cost is taxed, national and local and often of that should pay for road improvements. despite the money america's roads are not getting better. in oregon they have come up with a tax fund improvement.

with more fuel efficient cars people are filling up less often. so oregon is about to run a pilot scheme which will change the way motorists are taxed. oregon's idea is that motorists will be charged every kilometer they travel, not very much, $0.01 to $0.02. there will be a detail in the car to track how much people are traveling. jim has spent 30 years working on an alternative to the fuel tax in oregon. >> we don't look at it as tracking. for one thing we've learned that the system wouldn't have a gpa mandated box. motorists don't like that. >> the state has more than 3 million registered cars. other states and the federal government are watching things very closely.

>> people have been looking to oregon and looking to some other states, minnesota has been another state that has been kind of innovative in this area. so i think de facto has become a bit of a template. >> while the tax or charge as politicians refer to call it make perfect sense, the biggest obstacle will be convincing people that it's for their benefit. >> i would rather keep it at the pump so i don't have to keep track of my mileage. >> we're all losing our privacy, and this is just another right to lose. once we lose it we'll never get it back. >> oregon's proud it's confron confronting a problem that experts and politicians view that will only get worse unless there is action and a new approach. al jazeera, salem, oregon. >> more now on the business impact of sanctions against

russia over its actions in crimea. ali velshi has been looking-- >> reporter: i can't do alan fisher's accent. i can try but we may not want to do this on live tv. >> are you good? >> it's not like we've just met. i know you know who i am. i'm the chubby bald fellow in the other studio. >> i'm going to get you in your show quickly. i'm curious what are we looking at here? how may the sanctions hurt the united states. there has been talk about the potential blow back. >> the event of sanctions is greater on the europeans than americans. the export to russia, is $11 billion of stuff. which is less than 1% of all imported goods 205 all over the world. as you can see it's not a big part of our trading

relationship, but russia is an emerging market with growing incomes and potential. the issue here is that u.s. companies have been actively looking to increase their investment in russia in recent years. so while it doesn't affect trade as much, it does affect american companies for whom we work in which we invest that are doing business in russia. >> so which companies are we talking about? >> well think about it, wherever you go in the world you see the same names. pepsi has $5 billion in net revenue in russia. about 8% of its total global sale. the company has been buying up russian firms including an acquisition of the leading dairy producer in russia in 2010. gm is another country. it sold 2,800,000 vehicles, that's a market share of 9%. gm has factories in russia an a.

exxonmobil, to drill in the russian arctic. those firms are supposed to be drilling their first well this year and russia is a big energy company and the crude up there could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. exxon has invested $10 billion. it's not trade but a lot of big business in russia. >> your program. >> food costs. you were just talking about that. we will discuss why you might decide to have a veggie burger rather than beef and we'll show you how it relates to you and your family. >> ali velshi coming up on the top of the hour on al jazeera america. russian officials targeted by the sanctions literally laughed them off. one even brings up tupac shakur, and alan ginsberg, we'll explain.

veterans get recognition decades after their time on the battlefield.

>> the world is anxiously following president vladimir putin's every move over crimea while some in russia are concern there had is strong support for putin. peter sharp has our report. >> reporter: in the great hall of the kremlin a standing ovation for their president. a day that will be remembered in history marking the very moment when crimea returned to the motherland. he had restored crimea to the russian federation with bewildering speed. all within a matter of weeks. >> residents of crimea and

sevastopol, naturally we cannot miss such a request. we cannot leave crimea and it's residents in peril. >> arriving on the morning train from the west of their country were reluctant to talk for fears the crisis would deepen. >> i would would like crimea to stay with us. what is to stop them from making kiev part of russia. >> we don't want to damage you or violate your nationalistic feelings. we always respected your identity and sovereignty. don't believe the athletes that that--the threats we're after ukraine, we don't need it. >> an awareness in the kremlin there will be a price to pay.

>> the russian president has effectively by passed the diplomatic off-ramp. the return of crimea to the warm impress of mother russia is non-negotiable. with the stroke of the pen president putin has put russia on course one of the most serious confrontations with the west since the soviet invasion of afghanistan in 1979. >> in moscow on tuesday evening thousands gathered in red square. 90% of the people are said to have backed president putin and despite the global condemnation and sanctions his approval rating continues to rise. putin is not just popular among these people. he's extraordinarily popular. peter sharp, al jazeera, moscow. >> the u.s. has imposed sanctions on 11 russian and ukrainian officials. their assets are being frozen, and they will be banned from international traditional, but much of their wealth is out of reach. as a result, the news was met with amusement by those

argentintargeted. some call it puzzling although we expected sanctions because i don't have any accounts or real estate abroad, nor do my family members live abroad. why was i particularly included. putin's adviser, he said, i'm interested in tupac shakur, allen ginsberg and jackson pollock. i don't need a visa to access their work. i asked how the sanctions by the u.s. and e.u. were being seen in the region. >> reporter: they were seen in kiev and from the reaction in moscow they were pretty much laughed off. in effect the memorandum, the document from 1924 which russia, the u.s. and britain signed

providing ukraine with so-called security guarantees in return for nuclear disarm was a worthless piece of paper. i don't think anybody expected such a weak response from the west to a naked aggression reminiscent of something from the late 1930s conducted by nazi germany. what would have been a more rebusmorerobust response. no one was willing to put soldiers, boots on the ground. what would have been a more robust response if this is weak. >> well, first of all straight away throwing russia out of the g-8 where i don't think it ever should have been there. secondly, the list of people who were subjected to visa bands and asset freezes should have been far greater and should have included vladimir putin and top russian leadership. thirdly the u.s. could have provided some covert and maybe

some u.s. military assistance to the ukrainians as senator mccain suggested. i think if the republicans had been in charge of the u.s. not president obama, that might have been the case. they could have provided something. ukraines had two decades of cooperation with n.a.t.o. and the u.s. through partnership through peace. n.a.t.o.'s partnership with peace, and that could have been provided through that. n.a.t.o. and the ukraine have an agreement from 1997 charter of relations whereupon ukraine could call upon n.a.t.o. there. there were a variety of ways that could have--the u.s. could have sent stronger signal. on the european union side-- >> can i jump in before you go on and ask you would strong support for ukraine be a suitable response to russia?

economic support. >> well, it depends on whether you think--well of course economic--the u.s. and the west is providing economic and financial support to ukraine through a new imf agreement, which i believe will be signed on friday. that will happen. at the same time the economic sanctions against russia are pretty weak. the western europe is very dependent on russian gas still. to wean western europe off that dependence will take time. plus my own country britain and other countries such as cypress, monaco, austrian liechtenstein, all had been reliant on russian olagart money for years. that will take time to wean off if it can be weaned off.

i think the russian side is amused that nothing strong is happening. after all it was russia that was able to buy a former german chancellor to run the gas deal to germany. >> my point is i understand that there were probably some stronger measures to be taken. don't you think that those options remain on the table? everyone that you mentioned is something that will be considered? >> well possibly, but the point is that you need to go strong at the beginning. russia is such a type of regime and vladimir putin is a certain type of character that he only respects strong reaction. the reaction he has had until now has been very weak. >> and our thanks to the center from trans-atlantic relations from that. egypt's president has promised to secure the release of an al jazeera journalist held

in a cairo president for the past 80 days. they are accused of having links with terrorist organizations and spreading false news. the interim president made his pledge in a letter to peter greste's parents. >> reporter: to the parents and brother of al jazeera correspondent peter greste a positive response from cairo. >> notwithstanding the independence of the judiciary authority, and guaranteed by the law i would like to assure you in my capacity as president of egypt that i will spare no effort to work towards the speedy resolution of the case. in a fashion consistent with the law, and that guarantee the

family in the near future. >> the hope had-raised before, but it was a strong hint of resolution by the egyptian government. the al jazeera journalists all deny conspiring with the muslim brotherhood. they've been held for three months while another al jazeera journalist has been in detention since last year. peter's brother said he was prepared for the long haul, but he remains strong. >> i was astounded by his strength that he's showing. obviously it's extremely tough. the conditions there but he has had to prepare himself, and he really doesn't know when it's going to end. >> reporter: but with the egyptian president taking a

personal interest the ending might not be far away. >> in france 60 greenpeace activists climbed to the roof of a nuclear reactor to protest the french reliance on atomic power. france uses more nuclear energy than any other country. critics say old reactors need to be shut down because they are unsafe. protesters were arrested after police dropped down on the roof from helicopters. moments later givist activists d boats continued the demonstration. entering the plea in federal court on tuesday. this is not going to work. >> at this time of year there should be more tourists in bangkok but the political violence in recent weeks led many countries to issue travel

warnings. many home this changes now that they have listed the emergency law. this has more to do improving thailand's imagine between tourists and investors. >> i think people will feel comfortable to come back. the problem is that the problem, we still have problem. >> president shinawatra is surrounded by protesters. nevertheless her administration says security has improved. the emergency law was meant to end the sort of anti-government protests, but it failed. the courts ruled that the prime minister could not use force to disperse demonstrators. opposition supporters now have a symbolic protest site in bang

congress. bangkok, they hope that they will be forced out of office but the ruling party does not see that as a threat. >> the prime minister would be acting prime minister. >> shinawatra ruling party said the only way forward is through the ballot box. they have demonstrated in the north but threatened to mobilize in bangkok. >> experts say thailand needs a functioning government. at the moment. cabinet has lost a lot of its powers. it can't spend money without court rulings and development projects have been put on hold. >> reporter: every so often there is a grenade attack or someone plants a bomb outside of a courthouse. lifting the law means little

where rival camps are armed. many people fear the real battle lies ahead. al jazeera, bangkok. >> i'm jonathan betz with a check on other news around the country. oklahoma halted two execution scheduled for later this month. the state has not been able to find the drugs it needs for lethal injections. oklahoma court moved the executions to next month to give prison officials more time. in seattle a news helicopter crashed on the street today. it tried to take off near the space needle. the driver is badly burned and in critical condition. federal agents are trying to figure out what caused that crash. jurors in new york will not hear testimony from accused terrorist, osama bin laden's son-in-law, sulaiman abu ghaith. the judge ruled against this because the two men were not in

contact while in al-qaeda. general motors ceo has apologized for the deaths rela related to recalled cars. mary barra named a new safety director. she stopped short saying the automaker would compensate victims' families. 2 million cars from recalled after 12 people were killed. president obama presented 24 medals of honor for bravery the government has overlooked for decades. today's ceremony was meant to set the record straight. >> this ceremony reminds us of one of the enduring qualities that makes america great. that makes us exceptional. no nation is perfect. but here in america we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a

country that did not always see them as equal. >> only three of the service men honored are still alive. medals were landed out after a congressionally mandated review. the treatment of minorities in years past is an issue. u.s. and other ally nations are working to fix. heidi zhou castro reports. >> reporter: johnny mourinho's boyhood dream, born to mexican parents, the 95-year-old houston resident recalls how determined he was to serve his family's new country, the united states. he says as a latino he was classified below angelos, taunted and beaten. >> what i had to go through at the beginning of world war ii, it was awful. it's awful. i don't know how i made it through. >> reporter: but the discrimination disappeared, mourinho said, after his

infantry unit saw combat. on d-day they crossed the english channel knowing that death awaited any one of them on the french side. their only advantage, their numbers. more than 160,000 ally soldiers landed in normandy that day. 73,000 of them american. moreno said he jumped off the boat under heavy fire. >> i thought was i wasn't going to make it to the beach. >> reporter: moreno said that the sand was littered with carnage. >> you couldn't help but see a head go by or an arm or from here down. the water would be red. >> reporter: 14 of the 25 men from moreno's boat died. that day a total of 2,499

american soldiers perished. >> what did they die for? >> freedom. freedom. >> reporter: moreno went on to liberate the german concentration camp. >> all we saw was dead people. >> reporter: the memories are almost 70 years old, but they were fresh in moreno's mind sunday as a french delegation paid tribute to the d-day veterans. >> we have this memory, why the died at our beaches. >> maybe it's crazy thing to say, but i feel still alive. that's my hope. maybe i'll see them later on. >> reporter: moreno said he dislikes being called a hero.

that term, he says, are reserved for the friends who never came back. heidi zhou castro, houston. >> that is news around the country. such a touching and long overdue honor for those veterans. >> best story of the day. scientists have been trying to create a clean limitless source of energy. think just got a step closer. that's next.

only on al jazeera america. >> 2014 already has been a big year in science. yesterday we saw evidence of the big bang and the national admission facility reached an emergency--an energy milestone last month that could change how we generate power. science and technology jacob ward recently visited that

facility. what did you see? >> reporter: well, tony, the facility was built to refine nuclear weapons. that's it's ostensible purpose, but it's revolutionizing how we make power. they have to get the hang of using the world's biggest laser first. about an hour east of san francisco there is a government lab that can simulate a nuclear explosion in the middle of the son. it is a $3.5 billion federal project, the a largest laser in the world. in february achieved a breakthrough getting more energy in a piece of fuel. we received a tour. the facility gives birth to tiny perfect laser beams. it amplifies them in huge machines until they're incredibly powerful and then fires them at a target. >> the lasers actually are

created in this three locations. we time them very precisely before sending them out. before we send it on its way to the target. >> the funding for this facility is mostly military. it's purpose is to simulate the kind of conditions and science that you see in nuclear explosions. but the potential for energy production is huge, and other countries china, russia, france, the u.k. korea, are all building facilities like this for military purposes but hold incredible promise for energy in the future. much of this is about simulating nuclear explosion without having to detonate weapons. but the experiment in february was a breakthrough that could some day some day revolutionize how we make electricity. >> we took the entire energy in

this laser and concentrated it down to a little pellet filled with hydrogen. the same gas that is in the center of the sun. >> reporter: a certain amount of laser energy went into that fuel and more energy came out than went in, that's the break through, and it's a very big deal. but it took far more energy than that, 1.8 megajoules worth to set up the right conditions for the experiment. all but 1% that have energy was wasted. so the resulting energy was small by comparison. the eventually goal is the reaction to which it gives off incredible amounts of energy on its own. that would be enough to power a small city and that's what scientists are dreaming about. >> when we get more out than the laser put in, that's called ignition. >> the irony is unmistakable. fuels tend to be over the fuel we need to power our

civilizations, and now a facility could end up teaching us how to make enough power that we never have to fight again. tony, obviously there is tremendous potential in this facility, but it is several decades from being the kind of thing that could power a city. when it does it will be a lot of energy for very little money. >> with can we go back to yesterday. we talked about gravity waves coming from the big bang. it's a big deal. you mentioned it could win the nobel prize. but today we're hearing about professors disagreeing about whether the experiment is conclusive. what is the story there? >> yes, i love this. this is such a great thing. it's two guys in a bar who made a bet. but it's stephen hawking and celebrated physicists.

stephen hawking said i bet we discover gravity waves. i know he lost a $100 bet with another physicist. hawking is basically saying look, they found the gravity waves. you owe me the bet. i won. and turock is saying well, we have not verified it. but he sounds like a guy who just lost a bet. >> that's terrific. great way to explain it. jake, appreciate it. the white house is using animated i thinks of cats, dogs and ducks, yes, to sell healthcare insurance to young americans. young people, as you know, have been slow to sign up, and the deadline is at the end of this month. roxana has been looking at the new online campaign. >> reporter: this is part of an ongoing effort by the white house to get more young people to sign up for the affordable healthcare act. president obama went on the comedy website "funny or die" to pitch the program, and now there

is the 16 sweetest reasons to get covered. let's go through with a few of these reasons. one choice is women can't be charged more than men. you see michelle obama in a slam dunk. and birth control is free, and you see little ducks dancing. and my favorite, elmo has fallen off the shelf. >> kind of cookie. appreciate it. and up an update on the day's top stories, and then it's "real money with ali velshi."

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm tony harris with a look at today's top stories. russian president vladimir putin signed a treatry today making crimea part of his country. in a speech putin said he's

protecting the interests of his nation. he also said that there are no plans to move into other parts of ukraine. vice president joe biden is in europe, working to reassure american allies concerned about russia's latest moves in ukraine. the vice president condemned t e annexation of crimea calling it nothing but a land grab. the envoy to syria said it's unacceptable for those appointed by the assad regime to continue to work in this country. syrian diplomats and staff who are not u.s. citizens have been told to leave. thailand may have detected the missing flight 370. it came after the planes' communication systems were turned off. now the search for the aircraft is about the size of australia. and veterans of three wars were at the white house, president

obama verdicted 2 honored 21 ree medal of honor. real real is next. "real money with ali velshi" is next. >> the prices you pay for meat, sugar and coffee is going up. i'll tell what you might help end the trend. ronald reagan is right. he predicted the mess we would be in with the ukraine crisis, and it's all about energy. and microsoft is hitting highs not seen since the dot-com boom. thii'm ali velshi, this is "real money."