>> good afternoon, and welcome is to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford live in new york city. here are the stories we're following for you right now. a tense stand off russian tanks on the outside and ukrainian troops on the inside. that in an air base in crimea. another hazy satellite image directs the latest search for the missing malaysian airliner. plus ho how the drought in brazl will affect your next trip to the coffee shop.

>> we begin this hour with breaking news out of crimea. russian troops are at a tense stand off at an air base in the south of crimea. they are demanding that the ukrainian troops clear out completely. nick spicer has more. >> reporter: i'm standing outside. there are self-defense unit forces. many are crouched down because of a gunshot. we're not sure if it came from inside the base or outside. it appears to be an effort to take over the part of this air base which has been held on to

by ukrainian forces. russians have been in control of the air space, but they're trying to move the ukrainian out of the part they're holding on it. >> let's go to phil ittner live from kiev, ukraine. you've been following this story from the very beginning. how does this play out in the big picture. >> reporter: this incident we're seeing play out is exactly the incident that the international community and the authorities here in kiev are gravely disturbed and are concerned about, and it is disturbing. the authorities here in kiev let's start with them. we have spoken to the defense ministry. they say that their forces, while they do have the order to return fire they feel that their lives are at risk, and their forces are showing extreme restraint in the face of what they call here in kiev russian provocations. they're trying not to let this

spill over into something that no one can control, but this is a very pre precarious situation. we've heard from the international community about the potential for things quickly coming out of control. we heard from secretary of general, the united nations, ban ki-moon who said the longer this crisis continues, the greater the incident is to spark a larker conflict. when they see things like this happening in belbek there is a serious response, a sense of anxiety that nobody wants this to turn into a shooting war, but it only takes an incident or two where lives are lost for this thing to, this entire crisis, to be out of the control of any authority. so they watch very closely what happens out at belbek. they urge their forces not to return fire unless they feel that their lives are at risk. but again, morgan, this has many people here in kiev watching

very closely, and with an awful lot of stress. >> phil, any word yet on whether international monitors will be able to get into crimea, especially now with this latest incident? well, getting into crimea, probably not. we heard from the russian foreign ministry. they put out a statement welcoming that mission by the international community, the organization for security in europe. they'll send observers into the east of the country, but russia said that they will not allow them on the crimea peninsula. they say that is their territory, it is now the russian federation, and any disturbance there it is their responsibility and authority to take care of. why are they sending this osce observers out to the east, morgan? well, there is a very serious

concern in kiev that russia has design on territory beyond the peninsula itself. they want to stir up another provocation between those who are pro-russian and those who are pro-western, kiev said that russia has sent in provocateurs to stir up that kind of provocation. the osce will go to the east in this country, checking to see if there are those kinds of provocateurs, but also to check on the moods of the people, and many who are ethnic russians, many who may feel they want to follow in crimea's footsteps. this makes the situation in ukraine precarious, and many people are washing precisely, very closely as to what is going on both in crimea, and in greater ukraine. >> as are we watching very closely. thank you. phil ittner joining us live from

kiev at independent square. now president obama leaves sunday for an european summit, and obama and leaders will decide whether to kick russia out of the eight leading industrial nations. we'll cap off his trip with a speech in brussels on transatlantic relations. >> reporter: for president obama it's on to bruce he wills, belgium. he'll be at the e.u. summit there. no question about it, the crisis in ukraine is going to dominate. the president has a meeting to talk about that issue. he'll be having bilaterals with the chinese leader and japanese leaders and others. susan rice appeared before reporters in the white house pressroom. she was asked about those troops that are masked, russian troops masked on the ukraine border

along russia. susan rice said the united states is still watch that development very carefully. >> it's not clear what that signals. the russians have stated that they are intending military exercise given their past practice, and the gap between what they have said and what they have done we're watching it with skepticism. >> now one head of state who is not coming, vladimir putin. sergei lavrov will have a meeting with john kerry. but after the two meetings with netherlands and brussels, then the president goes on to the vatican in rome. he'll meet with pope francis, do some touring and meet with the prime minister. then on to saudi arabia trying to soothe saudi's anger. no secret about it, about the deal that the united states made with its allies to bring iran to the table. of course they're rivals with

saudi arabia, they were upset when president obama backed off the bombing campaign in retaliation of chemical attacks in favor of going to congress asking for congressional permission for that campaign. obviously that has not happened and the dole was brokered by russia to remove those chemical weapons. the saudis are upset with the way that president obama handled that. >> nothat was al jazeera's mike viqueira. russian president vladimir putin signed the papers annexing crimea, what does that power switch mean for the residents. >> across the straits of cr cri, the strait. the only land route to crimea is through ukraine. that's why the russian president wants to build a bridge to

crimea, but it would take years to complete and would cost billions of dollars. the port is kursh, the graveyard of decaying soviet factories and mixed opinions as to whether now things will get better. samara heard on the news that all countries are now united against russia, so she fears an economic down turn. viera said that salaries will now go up. her daughter is a graduate, and it's shameful what she earns. we were invited to see a new investment, but the manager receives a call from russian officials and suddenly we're not welcome and we're told to leave. even when asking what economic changes might be come something apparently too sensitive. water. the worry for crimea is that some 80% of theirs comes from mainland ukraine.

this reservoir outside of simferopol, one of the few local sources, and it's looking rather low. crimea not only gets most of its water from mainland ukraine, but it's electricity also comes from there. despite the russia takeover, crimea is still tied to the government in kiev. >> remember ukraine owes a lots of money to gas. we must not politicize issues that effect every family here and ukraine. there is a potential for water shortages in crimea during the summer. >> tourism is crimea's traditional strength. but the beaches look sad these days. in the summer russians with

money now prefer to fly to the mediterranean or beyond. as for ukrainian tourists, don't expect many to come this year. russia may find that taking crimea the easy part. making it viable, the challenge. barnaby phillips, al jazeera. >> the search for malaysian flight 370 is now focused in the indian ocean. joining us now is randall pinkston with more on this search. randall, what can you tell us so far? >> reporter: morgan, the announcement of this large object that was announced on china's national defense website. the find was made four days ago. the announcement was made today by the malaysian government. it was found in approximately the same area about 70 miles from the location where another satellite spotted two other pieces of debris earlier. now let's take a look at the

satellite image that china provided. it shows the image of an object 72 feet long some 43 feet wide within the area that was searched by australia and other multi national planes and ships on saturday. approximately 1500 miles off the west coast of australia. malaysia's acting transport minister said ships and planes will be sent back to the area to take a look to see if they can find that object. >> the search fo has taken many twists and turns. from satellite images to eyewitness accounts we have followed every lead and investigated every possibility. i know the rollercoaster has been incredibly hard for everyone, especially for the families. we hope and pray this difficult search already resolved and bring closure to those whose

relatives were on board. >> now in the indian ocean the search is being coordinated by the australian government. they had six planes over head. two of them long range jets along with a couple of ships in the area. crisscrossing the location where the plane is believed to have gone down. of course weather is always a major concern. >> the weather concerns were less than ideal again tonight as we've seen in the last few days of the search. essentially had a big layer of cloud in the search area. we had small amount of showers and sea fog near the surface reducing visibility as well. >> obviously the question is where are those pieces of debris? they are not in the location that the satellite showed them

because the currents would since have moved them. has something become of flight 370, we won't know more until we get the debris and learn more. >> if this proves to be another false lead how long will the search go on? >> there is a ticking clock as far as the battery power on the recorders. that only last for 30 days. we're now 15-16 days into the time span since the flight went down. they last another two weeks, maybe a little bit more. and of course if the plane is in the ocean the range of the transmitter is only two miles. complicated if underwater. the final decision about calling off the search we expect will be made by the malaysian government. but at this point no one is talking about calling it off.

they're bringing more assets in the area more planes from japan, china. they're bringing another flotilla into the search to intense the search. >> randall, always a pleasure. still ahead we'll tell you why you might be paying more for your next cup of coffee, and how the energy boom in north dakota is helping american debt. all that on al jazeera america. blank

>> creating lots of jobs for those in search of work. but the possibilities have draw backs in the northern plains. we have part two of the special series "the new frontier." >> randy reed sets off with a cement delivery. the 53-year-old came to north dakota oil country a few years ago to find a job when work in florida dried up. reed landed a position with

strata corporation within a day, crediting his experience as an air force veteran. >> there was a prompt on the application of being a veteran. i think that it work looks out r veterans. >> recruiting for thousands of jobs in north dakota's oil field sometimes giving preferential treatment to veterans citing their skill, training and adaptability. this job fair opened an hour early to veterans so they could get a leg up on other candidates. >> i'm looking for opportunity up here. >> jason went from one booth. >> definitely want to talk to you guys. >> to another looking at a variety of jobs. >> i'm getting in the field to do whatever i need to do. i'm not worried about anything. >> i'll take your resumé if you like. >> some companies like continental resources use veterans on staff to recruit

other vets. rob said working in security helped him as a foreman. >> so many times in the military you're at an early age giving responsibility. you have to make sure that you're working every day on time and they hold you accountable if you are not. >> they're eagle for hire veterans. for veterans there are challenges to coming to north dakota like lack of housing and veteran services. >> housing is so tight in towns like williston. an one bedroom apartment can run $2,000 a month if you can even find one. reed said he's adapted to the harsh realities of life which include long work hours and frigid temperatures. but he admits that there is one thing he has not quite adapted

to being 2,000 miles away from his wife. >> the physical part, having someone sitting on the couch to hold hands with, that's a little rough. >> not even the military could prepare him for that. >> al jazeera, williston, north dakota. >> sports enthusiasts all across the u.s. cannot wait for warmer weather except for one woman in minnesota who wants the subzero temperatures to keep on coming. she's training for a marathon at the north pole and it starts april 9th. she is one of seven americans in that marathon. the real question is will she get her wish? here to tell what's is in store of this first official week of spring. >> it'it's a wonderful weekend, 63 degrees for a daytime high. get outs and enjoy some of the beautiful weather.

it's not warm everywhere. we have a system making it's way across the northern part of new york state into the light and green mountains here of new hampshire, and also through vermont. we had freezing rain mixing in with the adirondack mountains. if you're traveling there you'll want to take it easy. otherwise i'm telling you for the most part across the country its looking like a beautiful day. with temperatures around 53 degrees right now. by the end of the day we'll reach a high of 63. philadelphia 55, and our nation's capitol almost 60 degrees. a lovely day. 83 in miami, and it's not quite that warm across the north central plains. minneapolis, 20 degrees. billings only at 26, and that cold air holding on across the plains when you factor in the wind chill and the temperatures and the fact that they're not going to see a ton of sunshine out there today it feels like

3 degrees in minneapolis p min,s 4 in fargo, and home had omaha. by the middle of next week we're talking about temperatures back in the 30s. overnight lows in the teens and single digits. further towards the south, i'm telling you, clear skies for the most part, but be careful on the new york state free towards the north across up state new york where the chillier temperatures are going to hold on, and some of the snow will make its way across the i-95 corridor. generally speaking we're talking about three to six inches of snow. back to you, morgan. >> today is world water day, recognition that 750,000 people across the globe do not have access to clean drinking water. and in brazil drought has

aggravated that problem which could lead to a rise in coffee prices. >> a drought, the worst in living memory has struck brazil's coffee belt. how much rainfall have you had this year? >> we had 10% that used to be in this period, december, january, february we had just 10%. >> fifth generation coffee planter is worried. >> we see that these beans are not well forming. when you cut it in the middle you'll see this part should be bigger. >> reporter: to the untrained eye the coffee bushes on the plantation look green and glossy. but a closer look shows how the beans are shriveling, some ripening to a red color but far too soon. others are black having dried up. a lake that just a year ago full

is now nearly empty. brazilian farmers say they'll probably hea harvest 30% less ce than expected. that means higher prices for coffee consumers all around the world. in the near by warehouse, works are dashed by toweworkers are sy towering coffee bags. prices have surged this year $2 for a half kilo. his job is to slurp up cups of coffee. he matches growers with buyers and he summed up what the

drought will mean. >> in quality, higher cost for producers, and of course higher prices for consumers. >> back on the plant, the they can only hold out so long without rain. >> if we have another dry season like this, i don't know what we can do. >> reporter: nature has put brazil's coffee country in a predicament at bitter as the beans themselves. al jazeera, brazil. >> the rest of your breakfast may be getting more expensive, too. in february food prices saw their biggest jump in the last two and a half years. just last month the average cost of a pound of sliced bacon was up $0.65 from just a year earlier due to outbreaks of disease on pig farms.

we'll have the latest on the tense stand off at an ukrainian air base just after this short break.

>> good afternoon, and welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. live in new york city. we want to return now to our top story out of crimea where ukrainian forces are in a tense stand off with russian troops. al jazeera america's nick spicer is at the belbek air base and said russian forces have now taken over the facility. he filed this report just a short time ago. >> reporter: i think it's safe to say following a standard procedure, men wears various kinds of camouflage uniforms, they are firing handguns up and down the street when we arrived. the armor personnel vehicle driven by russian soldiers first how the russians got into the base is not particularly

difficult because they've been occupying the adjacent airfield. so presumably some soldiers came in from that side of the base to take the part of the base in which the ukrainian soldiers had been bunking out. had been sleeping for past weeks refusing to surrender. the situation as we understand it now is that russian soldiers and self defense forces are in there now. we can't get closer to the scene because we're told tha cameras d be broken. and journalists inside have had their cameras broken. standard procedure here. people here do not want what they're doing to be filmed or shared with a wider audience. >> thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm morgan radford. we give a shot of the white house where president obama will

leave for a summit. they will discuss whether to kick russia out of the group of the eight leading industrial nations. thanks for watching, and stay tune for more on al jazeera. >> welcome to aljazeera america. "the stream." >> lisa fletcher is out on a well earned vacation, and we have my man subbing in as cohost