welcome to al jazeera america. these are the stories we are following for youer you. >> we are imposing sanctions or more senior officials of the russian government. the president announces more sanctions on russia as the u.n.'s top leader plays peacemaker with vladimir putin. satellite images bringing new hope for the missing malaysian airliner. and the story of an army general and his mistress now coming to a close.

>> >> we are following two big stories at this hour. first president obama announcing new sanctions against russia less than an hour ago. meeting with russian president vladimir putin. it appears the threat of any sanctions by the u.s. and e.u. have done little to have moscow back down. also satellite images showing two objects that could be two pieces of plane debris in the southern indian ocean. military sending planes to the area which is 1500 miles off the australian coast. phil ittner life in kiev is covering the crisis in ukraine. but we begin with mike

vacarra. the president adring reporters a while ago. what the did he have to say? >> a lot to unpack there. we heard from senior administration officials in a conference call. basically the united states, the obama administration is not only responding to what is happening in ukraine and over the course of the last three days, but a very ominous warning, not only from the president but from his advisers speaking on anonymity because they believe russia is amassing troops. very troubling signs. there are designs on eastern ukraine populated with ethnic russians. you can pick that up easily. who is being sanctions? more cronies say senior administration officials. the founder of a commodity trading company. there are some brothers who are construction contractors. a personal banker for vladimir putin and others. an actual bank, they call it a croney bank the senior

administration official call it the bank rosa. and as for bluster, remember they laughed it off, the senior russian officials who had been targeted last time american officials say this is not a slap on the wrist. these are serious sanctions. anyone trying to trade a dollar is in big trouble. i signed a new executive order to give the authority to impose sanctions not just on individuals but on key sectors of the russian economy. this is not our preferred outcome. the sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the russian economy but could also be disruptive to the global economy. >> those sectors that the president talked about in the russian economy include finance energy, the defense sector and engineering sector. >> mike vaccara, a lot of diplomatic developments in

kiev. al jazeera's phil ittner is there. high level visits and promises today. >> yeah, del. a lot of promises coming in particular from undersecretary of it is wendy sherman who was here. she went out for a walk before she met with the press where there are still memorials to those who died in the attempt to oust the president. it touched her deeply saying she was fighting back tears. and she also took a moment to say that her impressions from that visit does not gel with what we are hearing coming from the kremlin in terms of the people that are actually behind this revolution in kiev. let's take a listen to what undersecretary of state wendy sherman had to say. >> it is very interesting. if i listen to the russian rhetoric i would have expected to walk through the streets of kiev and be attacked by dangerous elements.

i was approached by had schoolchildren with flowers. >> now, we have also seen u.n. secretary-general and his trip to moscow meeting with russian president vladimir putin and foreign secretary he has made a statement there in moscow saying that he is trying very hard to open up the lines of dialogue between kiev and moscow because the kremlin does not recognize this new government here because of those very concerns that have come out of russia that is populated by extremists in this new government. moon will come here tomorrow and further those attempts to deescalate the situation. >> phil ittner live in kiev. thank you very much. >> and now to the search for that missing malaysia airline flight 370. australian officials confirming two objects spotted by satellite could be debris from the missing flight.

randall pinkston is live in washington, d.c wee have to say that is prefaced always by the disclaimer, could be. >> could be indeed. because the images were captured by satellite four days ago, one of them approximately 80 feet long which would correspond to the length of a wing span of the 370. however, since it was four days ago it took time to analyze the images. they could not get planes over the search area until yesterday and by then they could not find anything in part because of limited visibility. australian officials say however they will keep searching. >> this is a lead. it is probably the best lead we have right now. but we need to get there, find them, see them, assess them to know whether it is really meaningful or not. >> and there are two vessels, two ships one from norway standing by in the area hoping that the planes will find the objects and of course the

ships retrieve them and bring them in for further testing. there is one sad irony. in f in fact this latest lead turns out to be true, would it mean that all hope is lost because that plane would have gone down into the indian ocean. >> randall pinkston live in washington, d.c thank you very much. earlier today we talked to captain art sampson. he told us exactly what crews are up against as they search for this possible debris. >> i'm hearing that there are a number of nations involved, numerous aircraft are out there at this point. they obviously have a plan, a search plan for that area. i can imagine it taking a matter of 12 hours, possibly 24 hours to determine whether or not they are getting significant radar returns from the surface of the ocean. of course it will also depend a great deal on the sea state.

i am understanding there are white caps on the water and that will make it more difficult for them to visually identify this piece of debris or pieces of debris they are looking for. >> meanwhile the world is reacting to the images. a grieving family member is fed up and frustrated with the pace of the search efforts now the father is calling for calm in light of these special developments. >> we cannot expect much because it has not been confirmed. we do not yet know for sure whether this is indeed 370 or something else. we are waiting for further notice from the australian government. so let's go in depth to discuss the latest on the situation in ukraine and the missing plane. we bring in correspondent randall pinkston. and phil ittner in kiev. we are now understanding that there has been a travel ban put in the place for travel back and forth from russia.

tell us what you know about that. >> this has just come out of the russian foreign ministry. their reaction to the increase in the sanctions program is to place a visa ban, a travel restriction on some high-ranking members of the u.s. political scene, including john boehner, harry reid and john mccain. there are other names on that list, but it is interesting to note they have not responded with the sanctions program as many feared they would. but instead, they are trying to restrict americans who might try and come over to moscow, even if they are trying to come for diplomatic means. so that has been the reaction so far. >> and mike, this has been the concern all along from the hawks on capitol hill who say the white house is not doing enough. we are involved in a diplomatic tit for at the russia has boots on the ground. crimea is part of russia and the eu and united states are still talking. let's knock this out right

away since speaker boehner was named. his response from a spokesman. the speaker is proud to be included on a list. so it the for at the yes, utterly meaningly, and the crisis has escalated today. the president, his staff, doubling down on these sanctions. it is really remarkable when you listen to the president. he made reference to russian military forces gathering on the border of russia and ukraine on the eastern border that so many have been concerned now that vladimir putin does not have designs on crimea but other areas to the east and the south that have a large population of ethnic russians. we heard it again from a conference call from senior administration officials who stress that the sanctions announced today. a third executive order passed by the president. these by any measure are going to be far more stringent and have far more teeth. they are not targeting individuals but they are targeting entire sectors.

targeting an individual bank known as the croney bank. even the personal banker to vladimir putin and financial adviser. but the point that they are stressing is these are not simply in response to what has transpired over the course of last month. these are in anticipation, trying to stop or deter any russian designs on eastern ukraine which would obviously escalate the crisis. they wouldn't be talking about it in a public or forthright way if they didn't think it was a distinct possibility. phil ittner please stand by. for the first time today you hear people talking as if there is a glimmer of hope with regard to the satellite images out of australia. are you getting a sense that there is positive energy flowing out of the story for the first time in almost 13 days? >> what is significant here del is that u unlike the false indicators, from a chinese satellite that turned out not to be any part of the plane, what we have for the first time is an object

identified near flight path, a possible flight path in the southern indian ocean. and that has people thinking it is possible that the images spotted by the satellite may indeed be remnants, debris from 370. however, we also have to add that this debris is found in an area that is used by cargo ships. and one expert is saying that it could very well be something that has fallen off a cargo ship. you won't know until you get to the debris. >> randall pinkston in washington. what -- the reason i wanted you to stand by phil for a second is there a concern now with this missing flight that in kiev the events in kiev, the events in ukraine are being overshadowed with the larger story with the attention span of the media being so short? >> you know, del, any time there is a story of that nature, sure it can distract. it can pull attention away. but, people here in kiev are obviously aware of that story, but for them, this is a very

basic need for them. they are deeply concerned about what is happening in crimea, deeply concerned about what is happening -- they understand that that is a compelling story. but but this is a fight for their life. they have a long-term interest in what is going on. this is their future that they are looking at. they understand that that story is out there. but they say you know what happens here right now during the crisis in ukraine will have lasting ramifications when the world has moved on from the malaysian plane story, what happens here will be felt the effect of it will go on for weeks and weeks and months years potentially because this is a game changer when it comes to u.s. russian relations. they understand that the world is paying attention to what is happening in a compelling story with the malaysian airline but this for them is a fundamental fight for life. >> phil ittner for us in kiev,

mike vacarra at the white house. randall pinkston, thank you all for your perspective. it is the first day of spring and a lot of other news to get you caught up on. >> .

>> a federal investigation has been launched involving duke energy after a toxic spill. now there are allegations a company has illegal harmed another water source. robert gray has the story from north carolina. on the river, the keeper works to keep it healthy. he eyes the involves where toxic material is contaminating the river. on february 2nd a toxic

spill highlighted a complex problem. how to clean up tons of coal ash, a dirty byproduct. coal is the nations dominant energy source. yet coal ash -- >> the level of chromium, lead and arsenic and you know the list, it is a quarter of the periodic table, those are all extremely toxic to humans. so, the cumulative effect in the environment is i think understudied. >> the environmental protection agency has no single federal standard that ponds be lined or monitoring. >> if you go back and look at the history of disposal for a long time the cheapest way frankly to dispose of the

material was to put it into the ash ponds. >> up the hill is duke energy's station. there are combined three coal ash ponds that make up some of the largest in the state of north carolina. now the water you see coming down is discharged from those coal ash ponds. duke energy, they have a permit. this is actually legal there are toxic substances like arsenic flowing into the water here. the permit states there is no discharge limit for arsenic, mercury and selennium. most toxic to wildlife and humans. duke energy told us with very few historic exceptions we meet all the permit requirements that are designed to conservatively to ensure the lake or river is well protected. what we are talking about is people unknowingly drinking contaminated well water over long periods of time. >> duke energy has pledged to fully clean-up the dan river spill.

work has started. no one from the company would sit for an interview but duke pledged to convert its active coal plants to dry ash which can be recycled and minimize the potential risk of a discharge similar to dan river by accelerating the removal of water from ash ponds at all retired coal plants. duke estimates the work could take two to three years state regulators categorized the letter as an ininadequate response. the expectation was that duke would include more detailed information about processes that would inform their time lines and cost estimates to execute those plans. >> coal is a filthy dirty business. it is a filthy dirty 19th energy source that we need to move past. as coal ash ponds age environmental groups worry time could be running out.

they are testing seeping groundwater on nearby property hoping that when they do find contamination energy companies like duke will be forced to clean up what decades of coal power production has left behind. >> now del, duke says that they have retired about half of their coal ash ponds since 2011 and they are maintaining the system and that they are trying to move forward with a plan. but what is interest is on the cape fear river here in north carolina right now just a week ago an environmental group went up in the air, they wanted to take some photographs of a duke energy plant what which is just upstream from us here. what they captured was some facilities actually moving water out of coal ash ponds into a canal that seeps into the cape fear river. duke says that that was just regular maintenance. it was part of regular procedure. they had the permits to do that. well, the state is looking into whether or not that was

legal and environmental groups are all over it as we are too. del? >> live from moncure, north carolina. thank you very much. >> at one point big dear general jeffrey sinclair was looking at life behind bars. instead no jail time for the army general accused of mistreating a subordinate who happened to be his former mistress. he was sentenced a short time ago. natasha is live in fort bragg, north carolina. what is the reaction from where you are? >> well, the reaction i'll give you in just a second. let's back up a little bit. as you alluded to. when this process began, general sinclair had the threat facing life in prison after being convicted of sexual assault charges hanging over his head. the sexual assault charges were dropped. today after pleading guilty to 14 counts including

mistreating his former miss stress of three years and having an inappropriate relationship he walked out of a courtroom with a reprimand and 20,000 dollar fine. he says the process worked and he is always been proud of my army. now, immediately after the sentence we are told he went to go call his wife. she has not been present during the proceedings. though she did write a letter to the court supporting him. just a little bit of clarification on what happens next. so he has not been dismissed from the military but he is asking to retire. and as is standard protocol for soldiers when they retire they have to go through a kind of board who will evaluate and then determine the last rank, satisfactory rank at which he served and high could very well be demoted. in fact, the defense suspects that he will be demoted to a lieutenant colonel and what's at steak here is -- at stake he could lose 831,000 in

pension and benefits. but, the government was hoping he would be dismissed from the military and had that happened it would have been a 7 figure total. the prosecution is not commenting. this has been an embarrassment for the prosecution, the chief prosecutor quit a month before the court-martial began. he had conference about the accuser's testimony. he requested that the sexual assault charges be dropped. and once the court-martial began the judge ground the proceedings to a halt because he was concerned that political ramifications may have prompted the prosecution to reject an earlier plea offer from the defense. >> as you indicated, this case has received an awful lot of attention, especially in washington where the focus was how the military dealt with sexual harassment, sexual assault. what reaction are you hearing? >> we reached out to senator

from new york. has been calling for reform of this system and this is what she said to us in a statement. this case is illustrated a military justice system in dire need of independent from the chain of command when survivors and defense attorneys agree we need to reform the system it should tell us we need to reform the system. del? >> natasha, joining us from fort bragg north carolina. thank you very much. in texas authorities believe they have uncovered a so-called stash house in a neighborhood just outside of houston. the home overflowing with more than 100 people was discovered by police on wednesday. they believe the men and women found there are presumed to all be in the u.s. illegally as part of a human smuggling ring. >> how many different countrys are these folks from? >> i think we have basically every country from the central america represented, honduras, el salvador, quality malla and i'm probably missing one or two. >> there have been five arrests made in connection

with this case. this case has been turned over to the immigration and customs enforcement agency or ice. coming up, dave, first day of spring has your forecast. >> just about 30 minutes away. start of spring. will it feel like it in your area though? the national forecast coming up. l

>> welcome back to al jazeera america i'm del walters. these are your headlines. a possible sighting of debris from the missing malaysian airlines plane. satellite images putting it 1500 miles off the us a railian coast. officials say the new lead does give them hope. president obama threatening new punishments in the russian take over of crimea. authorizing new sanctions to be imposed against entire sectors of the russian economy. the president calling on russia to negotiate with elected leaders in ukraine. michele obama will be

speaking speaking at pie king university. designed to tech focus on education and she is expected to spend time with the wife of the chinese president. and stocks making a bit of a comeback. the dow at this hour is up 115 points. investors seem in an optimistic mood after optimistic news on the economy emerged. following those comments yesterday by fed chair janet yellen concerning the way the market will go. dave warren now here with all the news on the weather. dave, first day of spring people are celebrateling. the temperatures go up a few points. market is up. it would be nice. >> some areas will not feel like it is the start of spring. it actually means the sun passes right over the equator, the tilt of the earth's action is as it moves around the sun.

it goes higher and higher in the sun. you will notice that the next few days. may not notice the temperatures warming up. 12:507 eastern daylight time it will be colder here across the great lakes. but warmer temperatures expected in the southeast and going up in the north and south dakota. warming a bit today. it is the great lakes that is a concern here. there is a storm passing overhead. there is some snow in the forecast. winter storm warnings. had some rain and mild temperatures here across the r east yesterday. but that was a front that moved through, thanks to this area of low pressure. wind behind the gusting out of the northwest, that will bring in some colder temperatures. you see the temperatures here in philadelphia, new york, washington. above 50-degrees, but 30s to the west. colder air is moving to the east. >> here is light snow and more snow in north dakota is pushing to the east. dry weather creating a fire weather danger in texas, oklahoma and kansas. that is about it for the radar. there is some stormy weather

in the northwest and dry still in the southwest. del. >> dave, thank you very much. and thank you for watching al jazeera america. the stream is next. >> hi i'm lisa fletcher and you're in the stream. a special milk for toddlers. it's a booming business for formula companies. is it good for toddlers or just good for the bottom line? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my co- host wajahat ali is here.