>> everyone, this is al jazeera america, i'm john siegenthaler in new york. stark warning, ukraine's prime minister says moscow wants to start world war 3. the president's promise to protect south korea from the north. plus inside north korea why this nuclear power remains one of the world's biggest threats. poems and ing saints.

i'm allen schauffler check out "ernest shackelton loves me," it could be coming to a theater near you, all the way from antarctica. ♪ we begin tonight with the state of play in ukraine. kiev accused moscow of wants to starred world war 3. at the united nationsed today, ukraine's deputy foreign minister responded to this question. >> do you fear that the russians are on the verge of an invasion. >> yes, we have information that we are in danger, that's why we call upon russian authorities to explain. >> also president obama said today he is ready with more sanctions in response rush shan sha's latest actions. and pro-russian activists in

slaviansk say they are holding a team of european military monitors and claim one is a spy. the pentagon says russia's military jets have crossed into eastern -- into ukrainian air space several times within the last 24 hours. tensions are rising on the ground as well. barnaby phillips reports. >> reporter: the skies above the town of kramatorsk, ukraine an government says one of its helicopters exploded off it was shot in the fuel tank just as it was taking off. the pilot survived. >> the helicopter was taking off and then crashed. it was on fire and there were firemen, four fire engines, you can see smoke is probably still billowing. >> reporter: over the border in southwestern russia, military exercises continue, the size and scope of these exercises has

alarmed the ukrainian government and many governments in the west. russia has said if the lives of ethnic russians in ukraine are threatened it reserves the right to take action. these men are learning knew and lethal skills. they say they are preparing for a russian invasion. of course these men are no match for the russian army in terms of numbers, in terms of training or equipment. but the existence of this camp does suggest one thing that if the russians were to invad they would encounter some redistance in eastern ukraine. unlike crimea. >> translator: we have gathered to save ukraine as a united country, to stop the todayers and insurgents. we want to save our families and

cities. >> reporter: they are also learning battlefield first aid another skill they hope they won't have to use, but right now in eastern ukraine, nobody is taking anything for granted. barnaby phillips al jazeera, near donetsk. during his visit to south korea, president obama had a conference call with leaders from germany, france and italy. what is the president proposing, mike? >> john, what the president is proposing is more targeted sanctions. there are essentially two levels of what the president has put forward in retaliation. the targeted sanctions against individuals and entities within russia. what the president is talk about now is more of that. he sat down with g-7 leaders and

they held out the possibility of brood spectrum sanctions. you get the feeling as we have all along that it would take an outright russian invasion for those to be triggered. the president had a press conference here yesterday with the president of south korea, ukraine dominated about half of that conference. north korea was largely dominating the other half, but the president talked about vladimir putin. he said he is not a stupid man, and he has a choice to make here. they are already seeing slower growth and a seriously depressed domestic stock market there. i have to say president obama was not optimistic about a russian change of course. it seems as though those further targeted sanctions after the

call, the u.s. is prepared to impose them. it seems like that could be in the cards in the next few days. >> mike dills piet the differences, president obama said he would help vt putin if he was in trouble. >> i absolutely would save mr. putin if -- if he were drowning. i would like to think if anybody is out there drowning, i'm going to save them. i used to be a pretty good swimmer, i grew up in hawaii. little out of practice. >> kind of a crazy question, there, john, in some ways coming from an american reporter raised a few eyebrows in the quake of the ferry tragedy that still has this country reeling. but, you know, the context of that is vladimir putin had a

townhall a couple of weeks ago and a young russian asked him whether president obama would save him if vladimir putin were drowning, so the american reporter put that question to president obama. and again, a very personal response there from president obama, saying he would do that, a lot of people see that as a glimmer of hope. but the president said that the bad feelings and diplomatic fallout if nothing else, assuming this all gets resolved tomorrow is going to be damaging u.s. russian relations for quite sometime. >> mike viqueira. mike, thank you. nato is warning russia they have plans for another break aw away -- region.

transis is along the boarder. >> reporter: they proudly describe themselves as the army of christ. this state broke away from maul z moldova more than two decades ago. they are prepared to defending a country that is yet unrecognized even by russia. >> translator: we raise our young people in the spirit of patriotism, a love for the motherland. >> reporter: the president of transinistra insisted his country lay in the orbit, and issal alarmed by what is happening in your next question. >> this is the worst thing that could possibly happen. moldova and kiev moving towards europe, here we are moving in completely the opposite

direction. we respect their choice but for stability sake, we must respect the opinion of the people who live here. >> reporter: outside the russian embassy in the capitol, long coups of people gather every morning to get a pranceport. the transinistra ones are not recognized by any other country. they feel it is the key that will unlock jobs and the future for them. what happens next is very much in moscow's hands will they recognize it as a independent state or will president putin issue a decree and make it part of the russian nation. they were out in force preparing for the 75 anniversary of freedom. they have always seen a threat from the west, and salvation from the east. and we're following other world hot spots president obama

is warning north korea against making nuclear threats. he said the u.s. stands with south korea, and promised more bite if north korea moves forward with a further nuclear test. >> further sanctions that have even more bite as well as highlighting some of the human rights violations that make north korea probably the worst human rights violate in the world. >> reporter: coming up we'll go inside with an in-depth look. in syria rebels are blaming government forces for an air raid. the air strikes are making it difficult for humanitarian workers to help the people that need it. >> reporter: aid workers managed to cross into the rebel held

east of aleppo city. it was the first time since june. since then, the only border crossing between the divided city has been closed. aid agencies have been facing obstacles to reach those in need. >> for the past two months the icic has been repeatedly requesting authorizations from the government to access areas directly affected by the fighting in aleppo. today there is an additional challenge. there are roads that link both sides of the government and the opposition controlled areas in aleppo together that have been blocked. there are roads around the city that connect the city with other major citiesies in damascus tha also these roads have been blocked. >> reporter: a threat, threatens

to cut off half of the city. the opposition denies it is responsible for preventing supplies from reaching civilians. >> translator: it is the regime who closed the humanitarian corridor inside the city. that corridor connected the east and the west. the regime wanted to besiege rebel territories but now it is under siege. >> reporter: seem living in the government controlled west say prices have increased, but on average 75% of aid distributions across the country occurred in areas controlled by the state. from turkey's border it is about an hour's drive to the east of aleppo city. but the syrian government won't allow the united nations to use border countries that are under rebel control.

and the un needs to respect that. with all of these obstacles very little aid is reaching the hundreds of thousands of people living in the drieded city. now to south sudan where officials are taking steps there to ease the crisis, several politicians accused of plotting a coup were released this morning. ana is on the ground in juba, south sudan. >> reporter: finally free. after four months of defense, these four high-ranking members of the ruling party have been released midway through their trial for treason. it was a jubilant scene as families and supporters gathered.

but his tone was defiant. >> translator: the government has no case against us. they have no reasoning against us. and also of it was false acquisitions against us. the government's decision to withdraw the charges is a retreat to justice. >> reporter: seven were release norred late january. the president said he decided to release the four detainees because of pressure from the international community. he went on to say he hoped that the previous seven would don't what, which was form a separate entity. he went on to say that continuing to hold them served no purpose in the peace process. >> these are the prices for peace. the four that were released yesterday, and the seven that were released before, even if

you were to hang them, that will not compensate the thousands of people that have been lost. this way is better. >> reporter: three people remaniac cued of treason, the former vice president and leader of the rebels and two of his allies. coming up next, surviving the avalanche, an exclusive interview with one of the six sherpas who escaped mount everest. plus a new take on a century-old voyage to antarctica. earnest shackle tnl, the musical. and apparently these birds are not as cute and sweet as you might think. ♪

the stream is uniquely interactive television. we depend on you, >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> the stream. next on al jazeera america and join the conversation online @ajamstream. angry relatives of those on board of the missing malaysia airlines flight learn that the staff were held postage for hours. they were released early this morning. frustrated relatives had been waiting for new information. so far there has been no trace

of the plane. there have been several more avalanches blocking paths on mount ere rest. today our correspondent spoke exclusively with one of the survivors. >> reporter: managing to smile despite losing his friends in a avalanche, he considers himself lucky to be alive. he was one of six who survived the disaster a week ago on mount everest, he told me that it happened quickly. he has been a sherpa guide since 2008 and only started climbing a year ago. my family never wanted me to scale the peak or be a guide, but when you see the view from the top it's magical. but we lost so many, i'm giving up, and when i'm better i'm returning to my village to be a

farmer. other sherpas are now reluctant to return to the slopes. this man represents mountaineering toll operators. >> translator: mountainering is the background of the rural economy. it can bring inasmuch as $26 million as it did last year. so we need to address the concerns of the her -- her pass. >> reporter: the optimum time to climb is in the month of may. when it comes to the financial help the government can give to sherpa guides, it's position is clear. >> they do not want to climb, so it is their own decisions, so in that case, i think it will be very good for us to, you know, provide some assistance, because it's a huge number of people. >> reporter: but the government is taking care of the healthcare costs of this man and other guides who were injured in the

avalanche. earlier this week the government said it would increase the minimum insurance coverage for guides. and set up a fund for familiar list and pay for the children's education, that after criticism that they generate millions of dollars in revenues but do very little to assist the sherpas. today is world penguin day which marks the annual migration of the antarctic penguins. this biologist joins out tonight in our first-person report. >> reporter: i'm david angly, and i have been making trips to ant ark ka, over the last 40 years to conduct research on penguins and other antarctic

animals. penguin have a two phase personality. when they go off to sea, where it's possible they might get eaten by a sale, then they are very friendly to one another, they don't want to go anywhere alone. when they come to land to make their nests and raise their young, they become fiercely territorial. penguins are not cuddly. they look pretty define, but they are actually -- i don't want to call them fierce, but they are extremely strong, totally bone and muscle. we have been doing this research project funded by the national science foundation to understand why or how penguins are responding to their changing climate. we have been marking penguin chicks every year for 18 years, and we also are interested in the penguin's lives at sea, so

we temporarily put satellite tracking devices so we know how far away they are going and how deep they are driving. antarctica is the big ice cube that sits at the bottom of the earth. research there gives us an idea of how animals cope with their danging environment. now sir, earnest shackleton was a british polar explorer who has been dead for 92 years, but now he has been paired with a single mom from brooklyn new york in a romantic musical. ♪ >> reporter: this is cat. the minnenal single mom video game composer with issues. >> she is a mess she is overwhelmed and having a really hard time coping with her life. >> reporter: and this is

shackleton. legendary for his struggles, long dead, still compelling. >> i am a fearless explorer of unparalleled courage and grace and handsomeness. >> i want to grab your face and kiss you. >> reporter: and of course they hook up. the time travel romance is brought to the stage with backstage and ongauge tricks. the green screen. >> courting cat is by far the most challenging things i have ever known. she is a tough nut to crack, but she is well worth it. >> reporter: it gives them a chance to relive his failed crossing, backed by photographs and film. >> those images are still available for us to see. those are the actual puppies that they had on the journey. that is the real ship being

crushed. >> this is shackleton's crew that was -- that was trapped on elephant island -- >> reporter: at time the entire stage is used as a production screen. >> it's a big show, a lot of audio, big sound, big music. ♪ >> reporter: the sound is multi-layered and computer enhanced. >> she will play her violin and record it in real time. ♪ >> make a two or four-bar loop then go back and lay another part while the first one is playing and she is saying something else. it is the most technically complex show i have ever been involved in. >> reporter: in production for more than five years off broadway is the hope for final destination. a show like this is an expensive give for backers, so why

shackleton, and why now? >> we look back and ask ourselves are we these same as those people? >> it's a very cynical time these days, and i think optimism is medicine for the people. >> he is the fantasy hero. >> allen schauffler, al jazeera, seattle. coming up next, the path to sainthood, taken too fast. the criticism over pope john paul's can on theization. and an american detained in north korea hours after a warning from president obama. ♪

♪ welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. a lot more to cover this half

hour. going nuclear, the president's warning to north korea. plus, controversial canntonization. but first ukraine's government say ls russia is ready to invade. >> translator: we call upon the russia authorities to stop this madness. >> reporter: the pentagon say russian aircraft have entered ukraine's air space multiple times in the last 24 hours. ukraine's forces are still trying to defeat pro-russian activists. >> the violations of territorial integrity in ukraine is a principle that the united states has to standing up to.

>> president obama phoned western leaders today to discuss imposing more economic sanctions on russia. the president says putin needs to understand the economic hit russia has already taken. at least 30 people are dead after a government air strike in an outdoor market. it happens after the un accused both sides of the conflict of blocking humanitarian aid. this weekend the catholic church is getting two new saints. both of them popes. for that to happen they need proof of a miracle, one of pope john paul's supporters says he knew the pope was a saint all along. nick schifrin reports. >> reporter: johnny has always known what he wanted to be. he has been cutting hair. shampooing. shaving for 60 years, and he is

only 66. >> this is my destiny. this is my -- my work, my job, my -- my life. >> reporter: he fills his barbara shop with a lifetime of memories and mementos. >> over 100 years old. >> yes. >> reporter: some are ancient. does it work? oh. some a mere half century old. and there's one memory he cherishes most. >> these, yes. >> reporter: they are the ones used on john paul ii. >> yes. >> back then johnny cut his hair and shaved him. and about a month later he became john paul ii. is he a saint?

>> translator: yes, even before coming pope. johnny say asmir call was performed on him. when he was 62 he herniated a disk, his life's work was suddenly at risk. in the hospital johnny says he saw a photo of john paul like this one. he says the photo spoke to him and a few days later he was miraculously cured. >> translator: when i went to the hospital i could barely walk. i looked like an old man, but after five days i checked out and i was running. >> reporter: the vatican never con virmed the recovery as a miracle, but in some informer polls of his customers many call them saintly. >> translator: many young people approach the church because of him. >> reporter: john paul has its

critics. some say he shielded abusive priests. others argue it is too quick to canonize him. for others it's simple, john paul saved and keeps saving his life. >> translator: to me it was like he was my father. i don't call him pope, but father. when i'm in need, he is always there. >> reporter: and johnny is always here for his customers thanks to john paul. and joining us to talk about this is richard, the joseph professor of theology at boston college. richard welcome. >> pleasure to be here. >> why canonize two popes at the same time? >> well, that's a good question. this is actually a pretty rare event. it's the first time in history as best as we can tell that we have ever canonized two popes at one time. in the last 800 years we have

only canonized three popes. i don't think there's any question that pope francis admires both of these popes, but i think there's a strategic plat -- matter in play here. both of these popes were associated with the second vatican council. pope john the 23rd, called for the council a involved with the broodly reformist vision. pope john paul the second was always a supporter of the vision, but in many ways redirected the church in more cautious and conservative directions. consequently more progressive catholics i think tend to rally around the cause of pope john paul the 23rd and pope john paul

the se2nd. i believe it used to take two miracles to become a saint. it is now down to one miracle? >> it is one to be beatfied and then a second miracle to be canonized. but the pope has the discretion of waiving that. pope john paul ii, by the way has two miracles. pope john xxiii, it was his cause that pope francis waved the need for a second miracle. and there's some predense there when a pope admires a particular person as saintly. and i think people recognize that. >> clearly the rules have changed over the years. "new york times" columnist had

some very harsh words for the catholic church in a recent op-ed . . . how does the church handle this sort of criticism? >> well, you know, i'm in sympathy with some of her concerns. obviously the clerical sexual abuse crisis that came to light during pope john paul ii's reign is a great scandal and it isn't over by any means. i think the tone of her column was range between flippant and dismissive. but a canonization is supposed

to recognition of somebody's virtue. so they can kind of give christians a model of what it means to follow jesus. when you canonize a pope things get more complicated. are we judging his personal holiness or his papal policies. >> aren't we judging their lives? >> yes, but it seems we have to make a distinction. >> their whole lives. >> that's right. but it's possible for a pope to be quite holy, [ inaudible ] the fifth in the 13th century a very devout monk who was a disaster as a monk -- on the other hand we had hopes who are immoral peep but effective popes like alexander the sixth -- >> is he is a saint? >> no, he is not.

but it's a bit tricky when you canonize popes. >> richard it's great to have you on the program. thanks very much. >> my pleasure. >> let's go to washington, d.c. joie chen is here to tell us what is coming on "america tonight." >> good evening, a home run. in the formative years we know fitness and fulfillness can make all of the difference. tonight a program that puts boys and girls at bat, not only to pursue they athletic ambitions but to give them the drive that could make the difference for all kinds of success in life. >> these girls want to become great people like lawyers, doctors or architects. but they don't feel like they will be able to go to the next level. there's not any positive role models, no positive feedback.

>> it is a program underway in the shadow of the nation's capitol. that's coming up at the top of the hour. we'll see you then. >> thank you. ireland is being criticized with the way it deals with refugees seeking asylum. >> reporter: ireland is known everywhere for the way it opens its arms to tourists and visitors. but how to balance that with the experience of this man who fled death threats to travel to dublin. life here is even worse than home. >> if i knew that coming here they would be kept for so long, i would be force to live in a system where my [ inaudible ] i would lose my human sense, or i would feel less human.

don't see that -- i was deserving that. i wouldn't have come. refugees are placed in buildings under a system called direct provision which means meals and a bed but nothing else. you go to another place which gives you 19 euros a week spending money, or less than $4 aday. you are not allowed to work and you have no money. refugees are being forced to do nothing, that sends them quietly mad. steven who doesn't volunteer work to keep his mind busy, the government has been considering his ally sum for the last eight years. >> we want to fengd for our family. we don't want anything from the system. >> reporter: so asylum may offer

safety, but involves the loss of freedom. this woman had to flee with her children there nigeria, they hate their life here and that fills her with guilt. >> they make decision for me, they make decision for my children. i have no self. they have taken my dignity and freedom away from me. >> reporter: how could it be that ireland with his famines and history of oppression could have got such a bad reputation for caring for those in need. >> it's very difficult to see why ireland is still signed up to the refugee convention, when in fact it does not live by the spirit of it, even if it has in place a system for deciding asylum claims. >> reporter: the government refused an interview, the ministers are on the record as

saying direct provision is the cheapest way to deal with people who are in ireland illegally. lawrence lee, al jazeera, dublin. in washington today the deportation of immigrants was the focus of a protest at the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement headquarters. the obama administration has been averaging nearly 400,000 deportations of immigration violators every year. the protesters want the president to use his executive power toen the practice. al jazeera's new series borderland looks at the stories of those who cross the border. >> reporter: as rumors spread

that the beast will leave in the morning. migrants scramble to claim a spot on the train. for women it's a desperate last resort. many purchase contraceptive injections ahead of the trip accepting that rape is the horrific price they might pay for a new life. brenda there honduras is preparing to take the train with her 9-year-old daughter. >> how long have you been here in mexico? there are a lot of migrants out here, primarily men, not many women, so of course as a women i wanted to speak her. and when i saw she was a mom, we just ended up talking her daughter was beautiful. are you going to take this train? >> why are you leaving? is it had bad or you just -- family? >> she has a 9-year-old daughter

from honduras and she is going to make this journey. the same journey that claudette made, the only difference is with a 9-year-old. why would you do this? you are about the same age as someone that we met her family and she took the same journey and never made it. so it makes me sad to know that we're sitting here talking to you and you are about to do the same thing as she did but with your daughter. >> so you are putting your 9-year-old on a train where she could die, she could get raped. she can't sleep on that train. what if she dies and her daughter lives? ♪ >> you can catch borderland on sunday night, 9 eastern time, 6 pacific. coming up next, inside north korea, what we know or which the

know about its leader. plus trying to escape north korea, we'll meet a man who helps make it happen.

[ technical difficulties ] >> extends to other parts of the southwest and into the midwest as well, down into texas impacting parts of kansas as well. as we look at what we have in the exstream drought areas, the most is right along the panhandle, where we have had rainfall 31% of normal. this drier weather is going to get a little bit better for the weekend. it is going to start to really change weather as we move into

the middle start of the states. saturday we're also going to get quite a bit of mountain snow. the rainfall may stop for most of california but it will keep going just east of the rockies. a lot of rain heavy at time, and the snow will be coming down. we still have winter weather advisories in place. al jazeera america news continues.

>> mike viqueira is traveling with the president. mike what message did the president have for north korea?

>> reporter: well, john it's not only belligerent rhetoric on the part of north korea and its young heard, but it's actions as well. they know they are being watched very carefully and yet they have undertaken preparations for another nuclear test even possibly while president obama is here on the korean peninsula. that has overshadowed virtually everything here on the peninsula. but the president says he is threw rewarding north korea for its provacative behavior, the sickle we have seen over and over again. there have been a series of missile test launches over the course of the spring, but north korea, the cycle of engaging in provocative behavior, and then asking for concessions and aid, food and financial aid. the president for the last three years has put a stop to that, and critics say he needs to

engage north korea and refocus on north korea because north korea has not changed its behavior whatsoever. yesterday the president appeared with the south korean heard, and that president said this could trigger a regional nuclear arm's race. john? >> how does china fit into all of this? >> reporter: john, china, that's a great question. the president said if north korea were to go forward, that more stringent sanctions have to be put in place. the trouble with that is the united states isn't doing a lot of business with north korea to begin with. china is its major patron. china has no interest, experts agree, and the president said this himself yesterday in a destabilized north korea. north korea by most accounts has

a functioning nuclear weapon. and yet they don't want to see it destabilize within itself to the point that there is so much unrest that it will implode. so this situation as tense as it has been in perhaps a decade, john. >> mike, thank you. >> north korea's nuclear program is under constant international scrutiny. north korea's believed to have between four and eight nuclear weapons. the country has carried out at least three nuclear tests since 2006. but it has yet to successfully test a long-range missile. [ inaudible ] focused on north korea's nuclear capabilities.

paul, welcome. >> thank you, john. >> give us your thoughts on a potential test from north korea. >> i think the potential for it is a question of when and not if. the recent satellite imagery indicates a pattern that we have seen before. a lot of activity. does that mean they are going to test imminently in the next few days? it's likely. it's also very likely they won't. but i think their track record is such that we can expect another test, the question is when. >> when he came to power there was suggestion that he might be a reformer. what happened with that? >> well, i think the word suggestion is exactly the right one. the fundamental problem we have with respect to the u.s. approach and more the international approach to north korea is our engagement with them has been very sporadic.

we know very little about kim jung un. the little we do know we fill in the blanks with speculation and educated guesses. so the suggestion or the story line that, oh, he was going to be a reformer, or he was western educated so this will happen, was just speculation. the problem is until we engage with them in a consistent manner, we are really all just guessing. >> and why has there been such a refusal by the united states to have a dialogue there? >> well, your correspondent mike put his finger on this. there has been a feeling that we have been burned before. i actually think this narrative is a bit of a myth, because we had nearly eight years of something called the frame work that i would argue actually worked for that period of time.

but domestic politics in the u.s. and elsewhere, lead to criticism of it, skepticism, and narrative, if you will, that lead to political costs. and really what the president is saying when he is saying i'm not going to reward the north for bad behavior is he is worried about the political liabilities of doing so. >> you visited north korea there twice. what struck you most about the people and culture? >> what struck me most about the people is how human they really are. the north koreans at the end of the day are human beings. they are not monsters with horns. unfortunately they are living under a system of a dynasty and total tear an regime that is truly the problem. we have access to those people

they don't have access to us. >> has technology changed that in any way? >> you know, there's some hope with the advent of cell phones in many north korean's hands although they are limited to domestic calls, it's only a matter of time, and i would say those cracks are beginning to widen, but it's a race against do they actually learn more and have more freedom versus is there a collapse on the peninsula. interesting. paul thank you. >> thanks very much john. north korea has detained an american journalist for what issing bed gross violation of its legal order. the united states is still trying to get north korea to release kenneth bae.

he was convicted of trying to overthrow the government. after learning about the frustrations of those trying to get out of north korea, one man left behind his wealthy life in america. he now spends his time helping refugees cross the border into china. >> i got involved in helping north korean refugees through my first two-week trip to china, and it was then unexpected i met a north korean refugee, a 16-year-old girl who was the victim of sex trafficking. she escaped, was freed and when i heard her story and met many more teenage victims like her, it was through them that i learned what exists there is this modern day underground railroad, when i met those people i decided i had to do something to help. the process of helping north careens escape is quite complex.

it starts by first getting them out of north korea, and that is either by crossing the river that separates north korea and china, or by bribing a border patrol guard. it starts in north korea, running through china, through southeast asian countries and ultimately to bangkok thailand. when north careens first encounter the outside world, there's really nothing like it, and many of them -- their past time is just devouring books, tv, movies, news. to help north korean refugees is -- comes with risk as well. north korea will send assassins in to china to assassinate foreign workers assisting north korean refugees.

they will pose as refugees themselves, so that really threatens to sabotage the work, but to see the transformation where we become friends, break down those walls and barriers, and they trust us, our organization, and we become partners in this work, some of them become, you know, real partners in helping and assisting other north koreans. >> mike kim's organization continues to help north korean refugees. coming up tonight on al jazeera america, sentenced to life in prison, but a pardon from president obama gave her freedom. her emotional story and what she has learned about life behind bars. plus persistent drought in california, what can californians do now, and the dangers what do they mean for this year's fire season? and tonight an image that caught our attention, freeze

frame from north korea, kim junk underwarmed by emotional soldiers, a photo released by north korean central news agency reportedly taken during a multiple rocket-launching drill. "america tonight" is next. ♪

♪ on "america tonight," stepping it up, new clashes raise the anti-for ukraine, russia, and the people caught in the middle. >> on my way to college i see tanks. is it scary? of course it is. >> reporter: and more signals the u.s. is ready to take a stronger hand in resolving the crisis. also tonight the fight against frac-ing, fearing health risks, ground contamination, and falling property values, communities rise up to challenge natural gas drillers, now bolstered by a