every night on my show i break down confusing financial speak and make it real. >> >> new evidence in the disappearance of malaysia airlines flight 370 as frustration grows for families of loved ones on board the missing plane. >> celebrations in crimea. russian president vladimir putin moves to annex the region as western leaders weigh their next move. >> fighting intensifies in the

syrian city of aleppo, as americans tell syrian embassy to get out of america. >> the effects of the drought on farms - price rises for everything from produce to meat. >> hi, welcome to al jazeera america. good to have you with us. here we are day 12. investigators in malaysia are no closer to finding the missing plane. mounting pressure forced them to creed control of the situation. assistance from the federal bureau of investigation was requested tuesday. they had turned down that offer for weeks. it comes as the families become more irritable by the day. we have the details of the

ongoing search. >> 11 days and still no answers. family members are desperate. in china they respond to airline officials. >> you only mention questions regarding drinks and compensation. i don't need this. i need to know the the whereabouts of my relatives. >> some of the relatives are threatening a hunker strike. it is the actions of the pilot. the airline today was after the report that the cockpit computer was reprogrammed to take the plane off course. doing that would take expertise. >> it could be speculation. it is - anything is possible. >> malaysian officials have oven given conflicting information about what had happened on flight plight flight 370, including what time the system

went dark. >> it was the same time as t the... >> the movements are... >> the military plane... >> there is now essentially a northern zone, and a southern zone to search in the indian ocean. currently we have now assigned a p 3 maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft to cover the northern zone flying out of kuala lumpur. >> and they are heading to australia to help in the south. mal-asia requested satellite and radar data.

the thai military says its radar may have detected the plane and turns off course. thailand says it had not shared the information because it was not specifically asked for - raising questions about whether malaysia has mishandled what has turned into an unprecedented hunt for a missing jetliner. >> a lot of questions he main here. u.s. investigators say unless floating debris is discovered, the chances of finding the plane is unlikely. >> daying after a vote for independence from ukraine, crimea is part of the russian federation. tuesday russian president vladimir putin defined warnings from the west. vladimir putin says the deal does not mean russia will be taking over other countries. >> translation: don't believe those that threaten russia, that say that after crimea other

regions will follow. we don't want to subdivision of ukraine. we don't need it. it was and will remain russian and ukrainian and tatar. >> nick schifrin has reaction from the crimean capital, simferepol. >> russian troops invaded crimea, taking control of the peninsula, and the fear here is that the first shot may not be the last. >> outside ukrainian base 2174, are possibly dangerous turning point. for the first time since russian troops invaded they opened fire and killed a ukrainian soldier. when we arrived the police took their position, right behind these guys. >> the base is now run by pro-russian militias. >> as journalists tried to film the journalists are trying to make sure we didn't. first, by grab k the camera, and

then by kicking a member of the team. >> throughout the time here, they didn't want to show what happened inside. the ukrainian military says occupying snipers killed a soldier. a militia member also died. >> this is the ukrainian military base behind me, the white building, and behind it the tall building where what appeared to be russians snipers, enjoying the high ground over the ukrainian military base. over here, the second unfinished apartment building. we saw more evidence of russian troops in there firing into the base, and marks on the wall of that building have suggested that the ukrainian soldiers were firing back. that is a first. the ukraine military told soldiers it could fire back at russians. up until now the ukrainians have been told not to shoot, no

matter what. >> in downtown simferepol, pizzeria on kirova claims it was the first pizza play in the soviet union. the youngest cheered when it become part of russian's sovereignty. vladimir putin welcomed them in to russia. and when he finished... [ cheering ] ..they sang the russian national anthem. [ ♪ music ] >> which owners roman and nataliya pledged allegiance too. >> translation: we consider this independence day. we were waiting for it for so long. this is the most important day of our lies. they have worked here for 12 years. >> we weren't protected in

ukraine, russia is our home. already this peps -- peninsula is heading to where she says is home. they've changed the name to the independent republic of crimea. ukrainian symbols in government buildings have been painted over and the russian tri colours painted on. inside base 2174 the russian flag is flying. russia and ukrainian troops have a truce until friday. at which point ukrainian troops will be gip two choices, to pledge allegiance to the independent state of crimea, or leave and go to ukraine. all the cards are held by russia and vladimir putin himself. >> nick schifrin reporting. >> vice president joe biden is reassuring european allies that the utz will stand up to russia. during a visit on tuesday, he

condemned vladimir putin's latest steps to annex crimea. joe biden says they are covered by part of the nato pact which calls for collective self-defense if one nation is attacked. >> president obama and i view article 5 as a 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 has deployed 12 f-16 fighter jets to the airbase in poland. >> the white house is planning to meet with the european leaders in the hague and is preparing more sanctions against russia. >> three years into the war of syria, most of the bust lick alepa -- bustling aleppo is in

ruins. >> the neighbourhood of aleppo under heavy government fire. the result - rubble across the road. smoke rising all around. badly damaged buildings and injuries. survivors shout to others above - come down. it must be hard to know which way to turn. many other neighbourhoods here have been hit before. last month dozens of government hints dropped barrel bombs on the area. residents returned to find their homes unrecognisable. >> i came to see my house. i couldn't work out where it is. there are no doors and no walls. i feel lost here, as it if i'm

in a jungle or somewhere worse. i don't know what to say. >> the city once boasted a population of 2 million. the u.n.'s arab league mediator's half a million people have left recently. others say they are determined to remain. aleppo's local council launched a campaign. they may have one bulldozer with which to do it. it's as much about a message of strength as anything else. the aim of the campaign is to clean up the city and provide services for residents, despite the bombardment. it's a message to the government, to let them know that we are steadfast in aleppo. we will never surrender or leave aleppo or pull out from here. >> the campaign was launched to mark three years since the conflict started. >> this city of beauty has been

crushed under the weight of war. strength of these people who have chosen to stay despite the violence lives on. >> the obama administration is taking steps against the syrian regime, on tuesday they told syrian diplomats and staff who are not u.s. citizens to leave the country by the end of the month and ordered the closure of syria's embassy in d.c. the state det said they are not cutting -- state department said they are not cutting diplomatic relations with syria. >> ce. mary barra, from general motors taking responsibility or the recall of vehicles, saying she only recently learnt of the deadly problems. >> i expect the prices to at least double. >> california's drought about to hit people in their wallets. the dry weather is leading to a rising cost for just about everything. >> i got down on my knees,

right. i was overwhelmed, right. >> and american war veterans finally getting the recognition they deserved. prestigious medals of honours, years after being passed over, due to race or reliage job --

>> well, for the midweek we are looking at better conditions across washington. remember all the snow we had, up to 8 inches in washington, some parts of virgin saw 13 inches of snow. the snow is gone. we'll see better conditions. icing was going on. for washington, take a look at the 5-day forecast. we'll see rain on wednesday. if we get past that by saturday, we are looking at a high temperature of 68 degrees. temperatures dipping down as we go back towards sunday.

we'll see more showers. they'll be heavy is the times, getting snow, and seeing heavyio snow there. temperatures 51 degrees. the heaviest rain on wednesday. temperatures dropping down to 49 degrees. >> down towards south carolina, we'll see a warm day to los angeles, we have seen '70s, dropping down on wednesday. a high of 71. saturday cooler than that. going down 67 degrees. >> no more rain across parts of texas. it didn't mount to very much at all. dallas is only going to see a high of about 66 degrees, but the temperatures going up to 78 degrees on friday. it will be a beautiful weekend, if you can manage to go down to the '60s. >> there is a safety report out saying poor communication may have slowed down response to the

deadly november shooting at los angeles. one t.s.a. agent was killed and three others injured when a gunman opened fire. the report put together by firms highlighted how airport police had trouble coordinating with responders, and many showed up not knowing where to go. l.a. officials will work to fix that. >> 12 people were killed when a navy reservist opened fire back in september and it could have been avoided. there were missed opportunities, according to a report, to strip aaron alexis access to facilities. it also said threats to facilities are coming from within. >> open and free societyies are always vulnerable. together we are going to do everything possible to provide

our people a safe and secure workplace as possible. >> defense secretary chuck hagel says the pentagon will review people with access to classified information. he wants to reduce security clearances by 10%. let's take you out west and talk about the impact of california's drought because it is showing up at the supermarket. the price of food is going up. a lack of water means will cost more to grow fruit and vegetables. the cost is being passed on to you. >> the worst is yet to come. that is what pete says. he runs a wholesale produce market. >> we can expect everything. the prices will be high, because the volume planted is not going to be that great. because of the lack of water i expect the prices to at least double. the impact of the drought will

hit this summer, when growers haul in food produce. for now that coming from south africa and asia kept prices steady. the most notable for beef - jumping 4%, the most in 10 years. some of the cuts that in the past were not as sought i feel. some of the cuts that are more braying stakes or cuts that people didn't know how to work with are becoming a bit more popular. ranches say they faced the biggest cattle shortage shins the 50s, after years of drought compounded by the drought. >> it has forced alfalfa farmers to limit the grope. the limit of grain and hay lead to higher cost. that led to higher dairy prices,

volatile and driven by demand in asia. shoppers may not notice changes, some may see the drop in the price of grain. >> the federal government estimates that the cost of food could go up by 3.5% by the end of the year. for those that are coffee drippingers, in the futures market it has gone up i 70%. >> more is daughter-in-lawing -- many growers say they may have to leave fields unplanted due to the drought. >> gm is taking responsibility for the recall and deaths linked to it. c.e.o. mary barra apologised, saying the company took too

long, and she learnt of switch problems in december. mary barra, named c.e.o. on january the 15th says the company is conducting an internal investigation. it will take sepp months. she -- seven months, she did not say if families will be compensated for thoroughs kill. >> investigators are trying to work out what caused a tv helicopter to crash in seattle. it happened after the komo helicopter took off in seattle. two people on board - the pilot and photo journalist - were killed. two cars and a pick-up truck, with a driver hospitalised. >> the new york mayor will re-examine the helicopter pad arrangements. >> coming up, men who fought for our country but denied medals are being recognised. >> changes to major league

baseball in time for opening day. new rules protecting catchers from injury.

>> welcome back. as the 2014 baseball season gets underway major league players will have to adapt to a rule aimed at increasing player safety. michael eaves has more on the changes. >> it's been called the most sacred part of the game - home plate. it's where every hitter and base runner want to end up and the spot every catcher protects in earnest. major league baseball has added a rule so the guys that guard the plate can be protected. >> any time we can protect the young kids, we are better because of it. i think you look at the different sports - football and hockey - they are taking measures to protect the guy, and not just now, but in the long term. >> with support from a former catcher, rule 7.13 was

introduced to eliminate unnecessary collisions and states: >> i think it's going to obviously take some aggressiveness away from what a catcher can do and a base runner can do. it's changing the dynamics of the play. it's a different base, not first, second or third. it's home base. that's why the play evolved. >> from the defensive side nothing has chained. it's consistent with every other base, and you can't walk the plate without the ball in your possession. the intent of the rule is in the right place. it's to avoid injury. >> the main thing it does is that it eliminates the malicious collision. if the catcher is not set up on top of the player, it doesn't allow the runner to run through them. >> home-town collisions have

been a part of the play. a young star, buster pose absorbed a crushing blow. the giants all-star catcher suffered a fractured leg and missed the remainder of the season. his manager maintains this new rule is not about him. >> i don't want this put on buster. he doesn't want to be the guy responsible for this. we don't have the gear to absorb the - you know, the bow that they are getting hit with. and they have done design tisk studies -- scientific studies to prove it. >> with the lawsuit and negative attention endured, it seems as though major league baseball is looking to get ahead of the problem. >> now we have everything that we know about concussion, and we see a lot more guys probably more cautious. >> if you watch me walk, you'll say "you're mad", he cook collisions.

it's time to make some adjustments. >> once again, michael eaves reporting. finally tonight it is the country's highest military distinction. the medal of honour awarded to 24 men served decades ago. the courage was ignoreded until now, as patty culhane reports. >> melvyn morris hung the american flag outside his florida home, a way of telling pass erts by of his patriotism. his hat tells all that he's heard it. >> there's a sentencing cross, bronze star, purple heart. >> he won the second-highest medal in the military for what he did in the vietnam war, going back to retrieve the body of a fellow soldier and was shot three times. president obama called him prernally to -- personally to tell him the reason he didn't receive it was racism.

>> he said "i wish to apologise to you, you should have received the medal of honor 23 years ago." i dropped down to my knees, overwhelm. >> the u.s. military has been looking back to reright wrongs. medals denied due to race or religions. it was actuality the u.s. military that was the first to tackle racial immigration in the united states. >> i think if you look at the american armed forces you would find less racial discrimination than probably any other set of institutions. >> but there's a big disparity in the racial make-up of the military. 9% of the top generals or admirals were minorities. they make up 35% of the lower ranks. as for melvyn morris, he never thought it was about racism and wasn't bothered that he didn't

get the medal of honour. but the war has, every day. >> i see troops walking towards me, a little combat action or whatever. they come and go. you catch yourself in a daze for a little bit. it will never go away, never. >> and as morris puts his uniform on and a president hangs america's highest honour on the mek, the message for those watching is to look at the post. he has never forgotten the horrors of war, and neither will they, regardless of the medals they wear. >> long overdue. 12 years ago congress set up a

review of jewish and hispanic veterans that served in combat. it was amended to include any servicemen or women who were denied the award due to discrimination. i'm thomas drayton. thank you for watching. fraternities is ending it's practice of hazing recruits. the fraternity was reportedly with the most reported hazing deaths. and others are following suit. the decades long practice.