it's interesting and fun read, i must say. >> thank you. >> i appreciate you joining us? >> a pleasure to be here. >> the book is "marry smart: advises vites for finding the one." welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters and these are the stories we're following for you. russian forces force officers to leave a naval base in crimea. the news for missing flight 370 drags out when there are new questions about a fliem simulator. a florida boy tied up and starved for days. the state knew about it, but took months to act.

we begin with stepped-up tensions on the crimean peninsula. one day after russian president vladimir putin signed the treaty making crimea part of russia, they stormed the naval headquarters there. in ukraine the acting prime minister ordering two deputies to crimea to prevent any further escalation. phil is in kiev with the latest. let's start off with crimea. tell us about the standoff at the ukrainian naval base. >> reporter: del, what happened down at the naval headquarters is russian troops in conjunction with those self-defense groups -- those are basically the civilians in fatigues that are helping out with the russian troops -- they busted down the gates and entered into the naval headquarters. they took the commander of

ukrainian naval forces into custody. the other navy personnel fled from the scene, and we are now told they have evacuated that building leaving the russians in control of that ukrainian naval base. this came apparently after word from kiev that naval and military personnel should actually start tearing off live rounds and ammunition because of a shooting incident in the previous night where a ukrainian naval officer -- or military officer was shot and killed. so the russians said, well, if you guys are going to start carrying weapons and you are now -- you have orders to defend yourselves, we are going to preempt the situation and take over the naval headquarters. previously, del, there had been a truce agreed upon between ukrainian and russian military officers. what happened there today with that naval headquarters is being

seen as a very serious escalation of the tensions on the crimean peninsula. the folks here are deeply concerned that there could be a flashpoint situation where this could lead to open conflict. del. >> how is the rest of ukraine reacting to this latest unrest in crimea? >> reporter: well, del, you mentioned there the delegation that was intended to be sent to crimea following the incident where the ukrainian officer was killed. the acting prime minister sent a vice minister and the defense minister to crimea. they were en route to the peninsula, and apparently the crimean authorities said they wouldn't allow them to land. they turned around and came back, and they've been in closed door meetings to discuss on ways to de-escalate the situation because kiev is deeply concerned about what is going on out there

in crimea. they are taking other measures here such as talking about a nationalization of some russian holdings because they say crimea equates to nothing less than theft. so they want some money in return from russia. that will be a major provocation if they do start to take russian holdings. >> the u.s. says all along the referendum violates international law. today the vice president said they will stand up to russian aggression. how is that playing in kiev? >> reporter: well, that's playing very well in kiev. you're right. vice president biden is in the region, and he's been in warsaw, poland earlier today, and then he flew up to the balancetics where he met with leaders in the capital of lithuania. he's really out there trying to convince not only ukraine that the united states stands with them but also those nato partners who used to be within the warsaw pact deeply

concerned. he said that the united states will not stand for russian aggression. let's take a listen to what he had to say today. >> i want to make it clear. we stand resolutely with our baltic allies in support of crimean people and against russian aggression. as long as russia continues on this dark path, they will face increasing political and economic isolation. >> reporter: now, del, also on the diplomatic front we are hearing today that the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is planning to come to the region. he will be many moscow tomorrow and following that here in kiev. >> phil, thank you very much. meanwhile, the european union announcing today they're offering ukraine $1.4 billion in an effort to help stabilize the country. the eu's vice president unveiled the details of that financial aid package in brussels a short time ago. he said the loan will help improve the overall management

of ukraine's finances and help ramp up the battle on corruption there. now to the ongoing mystery, where is malaysian airlines flight 370? still no sign. here's the latest. malaysian airline officials are trying to recover files from the pilot's flight simulator found in his home. those files found deleted. in the meantime 26 countries now searching for that jet plane. chinese relatives of the missing lash out against authorities over the lack of progress. some like this woman who traveled from china to a press briefing in malaysia had to be dragged out of the room. others call for hunger strikes. a large majority of the passengers are chinese. malaysian officials plan to send representatives to beijing. what are they looking into at this hour, lisa? >> reporter: they continue to search the ocean for any sign of

in plane, any pieces of debris. they continue to look beau the backgrounds of everyone on board. of course, mainly the emphasis is on the two pilots in the cockpit and particularly now they're very interested to recover the data files from this flight simulator taken out of the pilot's home and reportedly the fbi has been asked to help. 12 days into the disappearance of malaysia flight 370, investigators remain focused on the actions of the pilot. tuesday the airline was asked about a "new york times" report that the flight computer was reprogrammed to take the plane off course. >> as far as we're concerned, the aircraft was programmed to fly to beijing. that could be speculation. once you're in the aircraft, anything is possible. >> reporter: now new reports give that theory an exact time line saying the plane's sharp u-turn may have been programmed by someone 12 minutes before the

co-pilot's last words of, all right. good night. that suggests the turn was premeditated and not done manually at the controls. a maneuver like that aviation experts say would take expertise. many pilots fall under a greater microscope. >> they're going to examine the pilot's flight simulator. some data has been deleted from the simulator. this is ongoing. >> reporter: families of the missing remain devastated at the conflicting information from malaysian investigators who may have missed another piece of information. this time from thailand, which now says its military radar may have detected the jetliner and its initial turns off course. thailand says it had not shared the information because it wasn't specifically asked for it and that the plane was never a threat to its air space. the search for the missing jet now covers a massive area including 2.24 million square

nautical miles, roughly two-thirds the size of the continental u.s. the u.s. has two military aircraft up and looking including a u.s. navy p-8 in australia to help search in the south. >> those are really, really treacherous, deep seas. winter is coming. the rescue effort continues to get difficult by the day. it's not even a needle in a haystack. it's a needle in thousands of fields of haystacks. >> reporter: as we reported, they're both a north search area and a south search area. they believe much more likely the plane went to the south and possibly ended up in the ocean. malaysian officials have been able to refine that area a little bit more based on the data from the ntsb, which looked at fuel reserves on the plane and how fast it would be used up. so they have narrowed the search a little bit off the coast of australia a little closer to perth.

del, still expected to take weeks to search that one area, and they're looking at a lot of areas. >> lisa stark in washington, d.c. you can see the frustrations are growing. a reminder for the latest details on that missing malaysian airlines flight, the events coming of ukraine and the rest of the headlines you can follow us on twitter. toyota will pay the largest criminal penalty of a car company in american history. toy yet is set to pay $1 billion to settle claims with the federal government. randall, this follows a four-year criminal investigation into whether toyota misled investigators and the public. what did they find? >> reporter: the finding it she did, indeed, mislead the investigators and misled the public. toyota knew about the problem as far back as 2007. drivers complained about sticky accelerator pedals. they said it was a floor mat problem. whether four died that led to

the criminal investigation culminating with today's announcement by u.s. attorney general eric holder. >> told we can say for certain that toyota intentionally concealed information and misled the public about the safety issues behind these recalls. now, our years-long investigation, criminal investigation examined the way the automaker disclosed complaints about problems of sudden acceleration. rather than promptly disclosing and correcting safety issues about which they were aware, toyota made misleading public statements to consumers and gave inaccurate facts to members of congress. >> reporter: and the purpose, the motive according to attorney general holder was to protect the brand. toyota was trying to protect its brand at the cost of public safety and lives. the incident that led to the most intensive investigation was the death of a california state trooper and his family. their lexus, a

toyota-manufactured vehicles reached speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour and they died. >> will toyota face any criminal charges as a result of this probe? >> reporter: yes, indeed. toyota could face criminal charges. they have a very strict regiment they have to abide by. if they don't comply, attorney general holder may clear that criminal charges will be brought. they will be keeping close watch on them. toyota will have to file a periodic review details its problems, if there are any problems going forward. >> randall pinkston live at the white house. thank you very much. iran and six world powers now ending that round of nuclear talks underway in vienna. they're discussing ways to scale back tehran's activities in exchange for an easing on sanctions. they're focusing on a heavy water reactor which the group of six wants shut down. earlier iran's foreign minister talked about the progress. >> translator: over the last two days of talks, we have had very

contentful and very serious talks and useful talks in relation to a series of issues that included enrichment of the reactor and peaceful cooperation, nuclear cooperation and the sanctions. >> the eu's foreign policy chief making public comments. another round of talks is scheduled for april 7th. the egyptian army has been destroying houses near the gaza strip in egypt's latest attempt to secure the border with gaza. we have the details. >> reporter: the view from gaza. homes being blown up and torn down by the egyptian army right next to the gaza border. the sudden demolitions have caused stress among palestinians living there. this palestinian lives on the

border. >> translator: we don't know what to do. we're living in fear on this border. no one is stopping them from using bulldozers, and they use massive amounts of explosives. >> translator: it's a disaster. we're living in fear on the border. when i'm hanging the laundry, i'm afraid of another explosion. the window broke yesterday after an explosion, and another one can happen at any time. >> reporter: the destruction seems to be part of cairo's plan to create a security zone between gaza and egypt. the government wants to stop all arms smuggling into gaza and prevent fighters from entering the territory. last week egypt said it had destroyed more than 1,000 tunnels that were linked to gaza. the underground tunnels have been used for years for palestinians to bring food and goods. they've also been the main source of income for the hamas leadership in gaza. on tuesday hamas accused egypt of crimes against humanity after

it closed the crossing. it's the only exit in gaza not controlled by israel. israel has blockaded the tiny strip of land since 2007. now gaza only has a lifeline to the outside world could be completely sealed off. coming up on al jazeera america, a case of child abuse that slipped through the cracks in florida. what a judge wants to do to make sure this time it never, ever happens again.

it is all about the fed on wall street today. the federal reserve rolls out the policy decision at 2:00 this afternoon. it is the first meeting for a new fed chair janet yellen. investors are watching for hints about the timing of the fed's next move to raise interest rates. they're expected to announce further cuts to the bond-buying

program. >> she's been in the camp saying the fed should do more, the fed should do everything it can to restore the economy to mehealth and put people back to work. she's going to be reluctant to pull away the aid. >> wall street appears to be taking a wait and see approach before the fed decision. the dow is up but only slightly 9 points following two straight days of gains. winter hurt fedex's profits. they cut the forecast for the year after last quarter's earning missed the estimates. fedex said the bad weather made it harder to deliver packages and increased cost. imagine being locked up like an animal. imagine the state knew about it and did nothing. that's the case in florida where they're looking at almost 900 cases of deaths related to child abuse over the last decade. "america tonight's" sheila macvicar investigates. >> this was cold and calculated

and this was illegal. >> reporter: in a florida courtroom sharon glass faces sentencing for child abuse. a boy locked in this tiny bathroom for months, the window boarded up sleeping on the bare floor and starved. this was a case florida's department of children and families, dcf, knew about. in fact, had been warned about for years. teachers and principals from two schools called again and again. they reported bruises, black eyes, and that he was always hungry. the boy was rescued 17 months later, only after a chance encounter resulted in the police being called to his home in titusville, florida. the sharon glass case is not an isolated incident. florida's department of children and families, dcf, has been under fire for years for letting child abuse cases slip through the cracks often with deadly results.

according to the agency's own figures, in the past five and a half years to june 2013, there were 872 confirmed child abuse deaths, and in 437 of those cases, the families were known to dcf. >> i don't want any child to die in florida, whether they were seen by dcf or not. >> reporter: she runs florida's department of children and families. in many of these cases the peep that stepped up, whether they're teachers or somebody else who has access to the family say they were ignored and nothing was done. >> in sharon glass' case an investigation occurred. are there isolated cases where protective investigators are taking allegations seriously are dealt with individually. it is certainly especially a teacher who calls in something we should take seriously always. >> reporter: when she took over last summer, she inherited a agency that suffered from deep budget cuts. $179 million in 2011, and

troubling personnel problems. the dcf's inspector general reported 99 investigators and supervisors were fired or resigned in 2012. most of them for falsifying reports. >> when you see this kind of thing, it's an outrage. >> reporter: this judge handling child abuse cases in miami-dade county. she's an outspoken critic of florida's department of children and families. >> we should pay for their education, and you pay them better so that there's not this constant turnover. all of this takes money. the question is do you care about children? are these just throw-away children and throw-away families that nobody cares about? or do you understand that this is really important work and that the state of florida has an obligation to take care of its most vulnerable children? >> reporter: sheila macvicar, al jazeera. >> on the next "america

tonight," part two into the troubled child welfare system. they look at the practice of warehousing children inside nursing homes tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. coming up on al jazeera america, 70,000 photos but only one can win. some of the entries in the sony world photography awards. and if you're a movie buff these may look familiar. a mu sgleen -- museum showcasing the top cars in hollywood.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. here are the headlines at this hour. one day after crimea officially breaks away from ukraine, a ukrainian naval base is seized by russian forces. the latest on the missing malaysian airlines flight 370. investigators are trying to recover files from the pilot's flight simulator. it was recovered from his home. some files were deleted. toyota is settling claims

with the u.s. government. it's the largest criminal penalty imposed on a car company in u.s. history. the justice department finding that toyota misled authorities and the public about a safety recall involving sudden acceleration in some cars. sony announcing the winners of a contest where pictures speak more than 1,000 words. 100 images were selected from a field of 70,000. john seigenthaler gives us a snapshot of the winners. >> rain in ancient town. hours of patience to capture this image as the sky turned white with a lightning somehow. a slum where people live along the rails. one little girl feeding another standing between the tracks. these magnificent moments may look like professional photos, but they were all taken not by photo journalists but by photo enthusiasts, part of the sony world photography awards. these images are among the top

entries. each year the world photography association chooses images from ten categories ranging from architecture and travel and lie light and a wildebeest in africa and mau kau and some of the these will go on to the sony world photography awards where the prize is the photographer of the year title. the jury chair, nigel atherton says it transcends race, jernld and social background. it's poetry touches the hearts and minds of people all over the world and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in these awards. >> that's john seigenthaler reporting. the final winners will be announced in april. the white house is taking effort to address the issue of climate change online. they're announcing a new website to give private companies and local governments better access to public climate information.

nasa and noaa are spearheading the new initiative. president obama vowing to use his executive authority to look at the causes and effects of climate change. sports fans are buzzing about spring training but in a different way. the yankees versus a red sox. a swarm of bees took over left field on wednesday causing a 7-minute delay. umpires called out the grounds crew to use bug spray to rid the field of the bees. new york won the game 8-1, but they're still buzzing about the bees. well, it's a bitterly cold start to the morning across the north central plains. we have snow and a bit of rain to talk about. rain sounds a lot more like spring than the snow does, but i think winter is here to stay through the end of march. check out some temperatures. in fargo it's 29, back in bismarck at 32. minneapolis warms up a bit over

the next couple of days, but we'll be in the 20s again by the end of the weekend. minneapolis reaching a high of 29 degrees out there today. we have a storm pushing across the midwest producing quite a bit of snow across the u.p. of michigan, rain south across portions of illinois and the northern tier of indiana. be careful if you travel along i-70. it's this storm that will make its way towards the northeast as we track into later tonight. that's the reason why we have winter storm advisories in effect across portions of the new york state freeway and also into new england. be careful if you travel across the green and the white mountains later on tomorrow morning through tomorrow afternoon. we're looking at a general 3 to 6 inches of snow. now, out ahead of the cold front it feels good out there across portions of the ohio valley back into the mid-atlantic where we had to deal with some snow out there yesterday. pittsburgh right around 57 degrees, and as we make our way towards new york city, we're right around 44. it feels pretty comfortable.

the spring equinox starts tomorrow. it's called the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere. in the southern hemisphere they're preparing for fall. it means equal day and night. we're looking forward to more sun throughout the course of the days coming up. wednesday feels pretty cool in minneapolis, 36 degrees. typically this time of year they're in the 40s and chicago around 45. as we push towards new york and washington, d.c., temperatures are on the rise for the first day of spring. new york reaches a high of 53 and in d.c. at 57. back to you. james bond wouldn't be 007 without his collection of high-tech gadgets and fast cars. almost as important as the man himself those classic bond cars, look at them one by one. now all on display in london. the exhibit opens on march 21st. it is home to the largest official collection of vehicles

used in 007 movies. the producers are revving up for the next movie slated for release in 2015. so mark your calendars. thanks for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. their heroism, we will tell that story and the look at service in america's wars on this inside story. >> hello, i'm ray swarez. at the battle of gettys burg, a young corp. rail, his unit repelling the ill paymented con fed rate assault called pickets charge, captures the rebel colors, his