this must keep ayman al-zawahiri awake in his bed at night in pakistan. >> jon: awww. well, i'm glad to know that before that he was sleeping like a baby. yeah, i killed all those people but it doesn't bother me but these organizational bureaucracy arrgh. [ laughter ] listen when zawahiri tries to challenge this he will do the best he can. we go out to senior foreign correspondent samantha bee in beirut. thank you for joining us. sam, thank you for joining us. [cheers and applause] thanks for joining us from beirut. >> yes, beirut. >> jon: zawahiri's authority in al qaeda is threatened by the new renegade al qaeda groups and leaders. >> yes. >> jon: how does he regain control of al qaeda? >> jon, it's not going to be easy. you know what they say, mo-mullah, mo problems. [ laughter ] >> jon: nobody says, that sam. >> i know. trying to make that phrase happen though. [ laughter ] >> jon: what has zawahiri done so far? >> there was a certainly worded memo reel: beheadings to all staff basically stated that any unauthorized beheadings would be grounds for beheadings. >> jo

we get more tonight from nbc's ayman mohyeldin. >> reporter: inside this ethiopian flight 702, passengers in their seats, hands on their heads as swiss police prepare to board the plane on geneva. on the tarmac outside, police surround the plane, escorting more than 200 passengers and crew off one by one. the ordeal began hours earlier at the ethiopian capital, addis ababa, enroute to rome. but it never made it. instead it was hijacked by the co-pilot, a 31-year-old ethiopian. the hijacker redirected the plane over italy, which scrambled fighter jets after the plane signalled a hijacking in progress. over switzerland, the hijacker radioed that he wanted to refuel and said he feared for his life. >> we need asylum assurance that we will not be transferred. >> reporter: he circled geneva repeatedly, a scene on this flight-tracking map before finally being allowed to land. the pilot, still locked out, reassured the passengers and asked them to be patient. the plane is safe, he said, the co-pilot is locked inside. he is not armed so there are no risks. the hijacker then climbed out of the coc

let's bring in nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. steven is now a senior fellow for russian and eurasia studies. let's start with ayman, before we jump into the current conflict, i think it's important we decide the divide, east versus west. explain how this plays into it. >> well, ukraine is divided geographically and territorially. it is one continuous country but no doubt there are differences, ethnically, culturally between the eastern part and the western part of the country. the western part has had a european influence, looking for historical roots. the east has been, for the most part, oriented towards russia. obviously the entire country was at one point controlled by the sof empire. no doubt be with the long history of the western part of that country was geared more towards europe. what we are seeing now, this divide, which began over a political decision by president yanukovych to keep ukraine closer to russia than it was to the european union has morphed into something much wider than that. there are fundamental issues o

joining us is ayman mulho mohye.ay seems to be calmer and there are signs that there is a tentative agreement that may take place. now that agreement that was supposed to have been reached in parliament has not yet been signed by both the opposition or presidenti president yanukovych, it is going to call for reduced powers of the presidency to form a new government and to call for early elections hopefully by sometime in september according to them. that hasn't been signed yet and as a result the situation on the street remains tense and there have been those running battles between the supporters of the opposition and the police forces that have been circling the square for the past 48 hours, thomas. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin. thank you, sir. >>> protests continue to escalate in venezuela this morning as the government tries to restore order there. demonstrations against president nikl niklas meduro have been spreading. the government says this is not a militarization. >>> compromise is on hold in washington as new d

ayman mohyeldin, nbc news, london. >>> and now back here to russia to the action at these winter olympic games. here in sochi, a very big day on the ice specifically for the americans, and we'll say right here at the outset we're going to talk about some team usa results that have been out all day but will indeed be televised in prime time tonight. the americans made history with a breath-taking performance in ice dancing, and they won a medal in two-man bobsledding for the first time in more than six decades. the weather continues to be a factor here. thick fog in the mountains forced several events to be rescheduled. nbc's chris jansing back with us with all of it tonight. chris, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. let's start with those ice dancers. i saw them after they skated tonight. what do you say to your partner of almost 17 years after winning gold? charlie white told meryl davis simply i love you. and although they are not romantically linked, they are now in the olympics history books together. tonight, they are watching ice dancing. michigan natives meryl davis a

ayman, do we know where yanukovych is? >> not yet.onetary in crimea, the only part ethnically majority russian. there are some that say that's where he is, that's according to ukrainian media. there's been no word or confirmation as to where he is. that's an area very important, because that's where the russian navy maintains a very large fleet on the black sea. so it is also an area where thousands of people over the weekend were called to join these types of unofficial brigades to protect crimea. >> ayman, there seems to be a gnawing question in the west as to what move putin's move will be this week. is there any emerging consensus on options putin might take to prevent the ukraine from further slipping to the west? >> that's the million-dollar question. the president of russia, vladimir putin, has also seen it as part of his fear of influence. they can make the argument they have valid reasons to protect the minority -- minority russians in ukraine and perhaps use that as a pretext for some kind of involvement militarily. as i jus

ayman mohyeldin and michael reddman. thank you both. >>> president obama is set to make an announcement on jobs and manufacturing at the white house. we'll go it there like as "the cycle" rolls on for tuesday, february 25th. tting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy. [ chainsaw whirring ] humans -- sometimes life trips us up. sometimes we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... [ thump ] to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings. all the things humans need to make

when ayman al zawahiri has to plead for the situation, that is not the sign of a unified organization. i discount these guys being unlike core al qaeda. bin laden would not have had to plead. a good two-thirds of the liberated territory is now controlled by extremists and the united states is simply not interested in supporting them or furthering their goals or allowing them to take ore damascus. so although the congress has pressed president obama to arm the rebels, we haven't seen anything serious on that scale. and i think that likely, the u.s. will do what it did in the case of the algerian civil war which is just keep hands off until it subsides. >> okay but brian do these pleas that juan is talking about do they fall on deaf ears or do you suspect they might get some action and unify some of these road militias. is. >> i don't see unity coming to the conflict in syria. in fact i see syria disintegrating into a mosaic of territory, pieces of territory controlled by local militias. in part by government, in part by more extremist elements. aand the united states, and any other ext

and corporal ayman thought about it and said i know i've seen it somewhere. >> the policeman immediatelyecognized it as the same symbol that was on the first ransom note. the owner of the store, david kopenheffer, said he made the sign with his computer and the border was one he mimicked after seeing it on other signs. kopenheffer was a friend of the winer family and denied having anything to do with sally's murder. >> they knew each other quite well. both families were members of the presbyterian church. ♪ >> they worshipped together, sang hymns together. they both sat in pews not far from each other at the church. >> because similarity between the ransom note and sign in the store window, investigators confiscated both his home and office computers. >> the preliminary search that was conducted by the state police and one of our other agents revealed exactly to me what it revealed to them. initially nothing. >> next, investigators wanted to know the approximate time of sally's death so they could question kopenheffer about his whereabouts. a forensic entomologist analyze the insect acti

joining me now is nbc news foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin. have been developments today. vice president joe biden calling the president yanukovych to basically say pull back, cease and desist. stop shooting at your own people. >> right now there's an intensification of diplomatic efforts coupled with sanctions to try to shape the behavior of the ukrainian government. what they're trying to do, the united states and europe are trying to get the ukrainian government which they believe holds responsibility, most responsibility for the ongoing violence to push their forces away from the square. the square has been the epicenter of these protests for the past several months. thousands of people are in camp there. right now the violence is happening in and around the square because the government moved forces in to try to break them up. as you mentioned, the protesters have been preparing for this showdown. some of them with lethal weapons leading to the killing of these police forces and that's why the situation is turning rapidly violent. the uni

. >> nbc's ayman has joined us. what can you tell us about the situation in kiev right now? >> well, to say the least it remains very tense. as you mentioned, it is night time there. there is diplomatic efforts being led by the european union and the rugs are getting involved to try to put an end to this crisis. there's the question of how to gain stability. the u.s. and the europeans are clearly putting that responsibility on the square of the ukrainian president, vic vi yanu yanukovych. protesters are increasingly becoming more violent. 13 ukrainian police officers have been killed. the government are alleging these protesters are using live ammunition and that's why they have to defend themselves. it's a situation that can spiral out of control very quickly if there is no end to the violence in the coming hours. >> the european union has now reportedly decided to impose sanctions on ukraine. we learned a short time ago, what more can you tell us about that? >> that's correct. both of the european union and the united states taking very similar measures. the sanctions that

ayman, some very strong language, you said earlier, the u.s. in general doesn't have much input or influence on the situation but yet the language is extremely stern. >> yeah, but the president also spoke of the internation mall community, inviting really the russians to participate in an international community effort to bring stability to ukraine. the president really putting knit a geo-political context. the president also speaking there about a united ukraine, clearly the message is the united states wants the territorial integrity especially of crimea to be respected. any interventions by russia in the ukraine would be deeply destabilizing. what he doesn't say there is, what the united states would do about that if anything, so that's the unknown question here, clearly, there has been tense diplomatic effort between the united states and russia over the past several days. the president said he had spoken to president putin several days ago. so the question here now is, how will this message be received in moscow? will it have any bearing a

. >> ayman, when the president was asked about this, of course he was asked about it in the context of not only russia where president obama said he's not playing chess board politics here and he's focused on the situation inside ukraine and also a comparison to syria and the middle east where we've seen these protests. but ukraine is very different from a lot of the other middle eastern countries. only 25% of the population is under 25, roughly, not as young. unemployment is not as high. and yet despite that we're still seeing this large uprising. >> reporter: well, yeah, it's absolutely all relative. you can't really look at the ukraine and compare it to situations in the middle east. ukraine is looking more towards western europe and comparing themselves to europe and other countries that came out of the soviet empire, if you will, with the collapse of the soviet republics back in the early '90s. and what they're looking at is other countries that have made the transition to democratic states that are not part of e.u., nato, and they want ukraine to move the that direction. but some

nbc's foreign correspondent ayman, what can you tell us about this agreement that's been reached?f moving pieces but it has been signed by both parties if you will. and by both parties we mean the president of ukraine and representatives of the political opposition, the three major political opposition parties. they have now agreed to this deal. in that deal, as you mention, it will be early presidential elections to be held before the end of the year. at the same time you can expect the powers of the ukrainian president to be limited and for the constitution that was implemented back in 2004 to be reinstated, that was a constitution that made ukraine more of a parliamentary republic than a presidential one. there were some immediate signs that this deal was going to meet the demands of the protesters, there's also some short term gains, calling for the immediate release of a lot of protesters that have been rounded up since these demonstrations began back in november and cessation of all violence and bring to justice those responsible for the killings over the past 48 hours. >> t

ayman mohyeldin has been watching all of this unfold and joins me live from london. the e.u.ng an emergency meeting today where they could impose sanctions against ukraine. what kind of sanctions are we talking about here? what kind of sanctions could they impose? >> well, the european official that addressed this issue used the word "targeted sanctions" very specifically. in that sense, they would try to go after individuals within the ukrainian government who they believe wrp responsible for ordering the killings of the protesters or perhaps not ordering the killings but ordering the use of violence that led to the killing or use of force. that may include everything from the minister of interior to the head of police, perhaps to some local government officials, perhaps all the way up to the chain of command through the president. so it remains to be seen, as we saw yesterday from the announcement from the u.s. state department, 20 such individuals have been identified. their names have not been released. right now that travel ban has been imposed on what the u.s. described

ayman geologist at texas austin and before we start i want to say a few words about the festival although the mission of the festival was to celebrate books and authors i want to emphasize that it also benefits texas public libraries and literacy across the state. proceeds from the sale of all books and merchandise benefit these efforts and since 1995, the festival has contributed more than $2.5 million to libraries throughout the state. you can participate in the work through purchasing this dhaka at festival today. so, 15 minutes after the end of the session, the authors will sign their books on congress avenue between tenth and 11th street. now it's my honor to introduce the authors of this very interesting book. kate galbraith is an energy and environmental journalist who's worked at the texas tribune, "the new york times" and the economist. asher price has been an energy and environmental reporter for the austin american statesman since 2006. i'm going to start by turning over to the two authors to tell us a little bit about their book. >> thanks to the book festival for having us an

. >> most notably in 1997, where ayman al sawahiri, new group whose name translates as supporters of jerusalem is going down this road and trying that tactic again? >> yes, it's depressing. i mean this is really sad to see jiept swing back to the kind of violence it had in the '90s. sadat was assassinated by these militants. they would fight back, terrorist bombings, it hurt the tourism industry, it hurt egypt badly. it is hard to see it go to where it is now. >> does this group have any connection with the muqtada muslim brotherhood the muslimbrotherhood, the muslm brotherhood has been connected again. >> there is no connection between ansar and the muslim brotherhood at all, and there's no connection between al qaeda and the muslim brotherhood. it is an interesting bit of terrain that most americans don't understand. there is a danger of conflating all of these groups as if they are the same thing. the muslim brotherhood has a sketchy past, a chickerred history and a -- checkered history and long history. it embraced democracy. mohamed morsi was elected from that representation. su

. >> ms kessler is a senior spokesperson for the unhcr and joins us from ayman. welcome to the program. infighting between the syria government and the opposition, the u.n. resolutions looked good on paper, but nothing has changed on the ground. >> you're absolutely right. we are in the midst of what could be a major disaster for syria's refugees. the afghans fled their homeland 35 years ago, and that could leave us, we hope, not, of course, but, indeed, where will it leave the millions of children displaced within syria, the chin displaced in the refugee-hosting countries, that six and a half, close to 7 million children affected by the conflict. >> the last generation of children that are not being educated and suffering from the psychological horrors of the war. >> it's a terribly worrisome situation as your report indicates. in syria we are seeing signs of malnutrition. u.n.i.c.e.f. and the world food program found signs of malnutrition. it's vital that more aid get into the region, so where the u.n. and partner agencies deliver, the children, the other refug

right outside a military compound, military training college, in pakistan, and the assumption is that aymaning someplace in pakistan, as well. there is a lot going on. the new government in pakistan, the prime minister and the others, seem to be receptive to improving the relations with the united states, given the fact the u.s. is withdrawing its troops, maybe all of its troops from afghanistan by the end of this year may keep a residual force in afghanistan if they can work out a deal. there is a lot of potential there for real turmoil if it's not finessed properly. so i think they're sensitive to the internal political requirements of this pakistani government for the u.s. to cut back on those drone strikes. especially since not all of those drone strikes have been perfectly targeted. there have been civilians and military personnel killed by accidental strikes. >> yeah. one of the problems, of course, pakistan thinks they can't control half that area up there in waziristan, can't see their own troops up there because of the taliban control. wolf, appreciate it. thanks so much. wolf blit

al qaeda leader ayman al-zawahiri had previously ordered the islamic state of iraq and the love font to disband and return to iraq, endorsing the nusra front as the group's official branch in syria. fighting between rebel factions in syria has reportedly killed more than 2000 people this year alone. the iraqi government says it's early and allied tribesmen killed 57 isil fighters in anbar province on monday. afghan president hamid karzai has reportedly been in secret contact with the taliban in a bid to reach a possible peace ofl without the involvement the united states. "the new york times" reports the context could explain karzai's recent refusal to sign a long-term deal to keep u.s. troops in afghanistan, as well as his release of taliban prisoners despite u.s. opposition. than 40 lgbte activists were arrested after blocking the entrance to the idaho state senate. the protesters called for lawmakers to and sexual orientation and gender identity to a law banning other forms of discrimination. the law currently does not define anti-lgbt violence as a hate crime will stop there is n

doctor keith ayman al-zawahiri will set him straight. stossel goes to college.on campus. he will report, this is the last thursday at this time. we will make the most of it. ♪ stuart: the latest in the 3d printing revolution which we have been talking about on this program before the other guys. we, desktop manufacturing and there is news on it today. one of the biggest plants in the industry 3d systems is partnering with as grow to allow police in your own home. download plans for the latest ploy to your home computer, print it out on your desktop 3d machine. no need to go to the store. two angle stir charles, 3d is the place to be. charles: revolutionary, revolutionary stuff from large manufacturing to individuals in their homes. stuart: you expect consolidation? charles: tremendously successful. i am shocked larger names haven't been leaked into this already. stuart: a blow to bricks and mortar. charles: i went to a 3d factory last week in queens and we will show it in the next show and i presented this, and he said the opposite like this hasbro's thing. has

ayman mohyeldin, thank you so much. keep us posted.e're going to be watching these live pictures as they come in today and watching for the emergency meeg meeting as well. >> very good. >> i would love to talk to ezra and robert as we move forward on this issue. it's just not a lot of great options for the president right now. >> nope. >> coming up on "morning joe," senator john thune of south dakota, david axelrod, gene sperling and later, actor and comedian wayne brady. up next, the top stories in the politico playbook. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ameriprise asked people a simple question: can you keep your lifestyle in retirement? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confide

. >> all right, ayman, great to see you, sir.omething completely different, and this is completely different. cnbc's brian sullivan is in sochi this morning, but he needed to get ready, prep himself for this big trip to mother russia to figure out what the other side of the world was like. so how did he immerse himself in russian culture? wait until you see it. eye opening to say the least. keep it locked in on "morning joe." like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. oh, it's great. yeah. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. ♪ new at&t mobile share value plans for business. our best value plans ever. for example, you can get 10 gigs of data to share. and 5 lines would be $175 a month. plus you can add a line anytime for $15 a month. sharing's never been better for business. ♪ sharing's never been better for business. a steel cage: death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat agai

. >>> still to come on the show, can ayman toe the line between international business and towing theine? >> we're be back out in dublin to hear what you had to say. >>> democrats now look to pass it through the senate. the new fed chair, janet yellen, sooths market and assured that she will continue the fed's taper path. >>> and strong data out of china boosting confidence in asia and europe. the prime minister in dublin, questioning him about tax masses. steve is there posting the questions. what do the corporates think, steve? >> well, what do other countries think about what's going on in ireland, as well? i've got a new panel for you. i've got lord livingston, minister of state trade and investment. i've got brian costas joining us. thank you very much for joining us here in dublin. let me start with you, ian. is there a push with the uk and eyreland to get reform done in brussels? we know that's one of your key briefs. >> yeah. we are very much linked. i think we got some refuse about being welcoming for business and really prioritizing growth .prosperity. serm we'll work togeth

by that i mean not only is chess champ and dagestan and abkhazia is seen in ayman l. zawahiri reference to the noble and heroic persistence of the fight in chechnya but the russians and their support of assad and in the backing of what is viewed by the global jihadi groups as a backing of the slaughter of sunni muslims has really put itself back into the heart of the global jihadi narrative as a key potential target and force to hit. that may not manifest itself in sochi but it certainly will manifest itself in the future, and i think that is an important point to note. i think in the minds likely of the groups operating out of the caucasus, this is the moment of opportunity to embarrass the russians but it also may be an opportunity for the global jihadi narrative to take advantage of sochi and take advantage of what may be a moment of rejuvenation. and lastly the environment itself presents opportunity so it's not just the potential to attack in sochi, to launch attacks or to provide logistical support out of abkhazia and the report by the waylays out recent instanc

the recent assertion by a state department spokeswoman that zawahiri zawahiri is the -- ayman al-zawahiri is the only corpsman left is false. for starters, zawahiri is no mere abstract threat. he specifically calls for attacks on the united states on september 10, 2012, the day before the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of four americans in benghazi, including the first u.s. ambassador killed on duty since 1979. and zawahiri is actively involved in directing al qaeda groups that are active in syria. but core or noncore, whatever that means, the reality is that al qaeda has been at war with the united states for more than two decades, and the attacks of september 11, 2001, are only the most spectacular of a series of attacks and attempted attacks launched at us. trying to parse this threat to make it seem less deadly to make it seem like less of a threat to americans will not make it so. we need to confront what attacked us in 2001. you cannot defeat radical islamic terrorism when the president seems unwilling to utter the terms radical islamic terrorism. and indeed, the recent sen

. >> ayman at a ukrainian church offers daraa comfort and community. the children pray with others who share their culture and language. >> they exchange stories with other kids like 17-year-old anastasia. she left the ukraine 13 years ago but worries about relatives, including a cows join injured. >> it's difficult to go through, knowing your family can be hurt, but that they are fighting for something we should have, which is freedom. >> despite the attachment neither sasha nor daria want to return there. they hope the peace they enjoy here will come to their homelands. >> her next guess is alexander, a political science specialist and specialist on ukraine and russia. good morning, professor. given all that is going on, how would you describe the state of politics in the ukraine. do you think a democratic ukraine is possible in the immediate future? >> i think ukraine has become democratic and at this point in time the uprising succeeded the revolution is successful and viktor yanukovych and his regime have essentially gone into the past. they are p

has chechnya and dagestan always been part of the global jihadis narrative as seen most recently in ayman al zwaawahiri 's speech about the noble fighters, and the backing of what is viewed as the global jihad groups as the backing of the slaughter of sunni muslims has really put itself back into the heart of the global jihad the narrative as a key potential target forced to hit and that may not manifest itself in sochi but it certainly will manifest itself in the future and that is an important point. in the mind ofs likely of the group's operating at a caucus -- caucusus this is a moment to embarrass the russians but also an opportunity for the global jihad the narrative to take advantage of sochi and take advantage of a moment of real generation. the environment itself presents opportunities so it is not just the potential to attack in sochi, to launch attacks or provide logistical support, the report lays out a recent instance of terrorist cashs captured, weaponry and supplies in abkhazia. the environment itself provide opportunity logistically. .. and citizens who are visiting. two o

. >> go ahead, ayman. >> well, the situation in kiev, obviously, taking a turn for the worst early this morning. and this was following a truce announced late last night between members of the opposition and president yanukovych, the president of ukraine. now, there was some hope that perhaps that truth would allow for the situation in the heart of kiev to calm down and at least for there to be some dialogue that could get the country out of this crisis. european mediators are in the capital to meet with president yanukovych's government. they're trying to find a way to reach consensus to stop the violence on the street. unfortunately, that has not happened this morning. there are varying numbers of death tools coming out according to some as many as 18 people have been killed. in addition to the 26 that we saw yesterday. now, there is growing concern that the european union, including the united states, may sanction the ukrainian government or at least some individuals in the ukrainian government who they deem responsible for these killings. right now, there is no end in sight for the

ayman joins us this morning. this is a huge topic. >> yes, that's right.ll be up on the hill explaining what the company knew and what it did about the hack attack that affected target. a couple things to wave, whether the senators focus on what the companies did to protect the data in the first place or whether the questions are focused more on what the companies did to notify the shopping public about what happened here. that's going to be the fascinating issue because it's going to give you a sense of where we might go with legislation on capitol hill later this year. also yesterday, we saw a little bit of a hint here possibly from senator mark warner of virginia that u.s. intelligence knows a little bit more about all of this hacking than they can talk about publicly. take a listen to senator warner testifying yesterday. >> quite honestly, i think we're going to see this is a crime that happens daily to financial institutions, retailers at a level that frankly, if most americans realize would find rather confounding. >> warner hinting that u.s. intelli

>> nbc's ayman mujaladin. joe, it's convoluted to say the least. >> no doubt about it.de are we on? conservatives who understandably and legitimately want no more military interventions -- i count myself as one of those -- have forgotten the power of the articulated encouragement that means saying what side you're on and why. and what principles you back. in this case, they should stand with the people in independence square in kiev just as much as their predecessors stood with the people of the warsaw pact. just because it doesn't seem there's much you can do, doesn't mean there isn't a lot you can say. and in the saying, show to the world that your country, for all its woes, for all its limits, for all of its distractions, still has a beating heart. senator rob portman, on "morning joe" yesterday, said, quote, i think we need to stand with the people who are supporting democracy and freedom. that, he said, is our tradition, our history. it is. we should stick with it. and not only for the world but for ourselves, to remember who we are. eugene robinson -- >> yeah. >>

ayman mohyeldin is covering the trial from london. >> reporter: for the first time since he left the trip as captain he is returning to the costa concordia as a defendant. even locals are surprised the captain often called most hated man in italy would return. we have been a little bothered by that because we think he is somewhat guilty of all what happened said this resident. he is back along with inspectors surveying the ship that sits off the coast. it is part of the trial where he faces charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship after prosecutors allege the captain steered to close back in january of 2012. more than 4,000 passengers and crew were on board. 32 died as the cruise liner first hit a rock and began to capsize. during the trial prosecutors say he abandoned ship while passengers were scrambling to save their lives. if convicted he could face 20 years in jail. but he has defended his actions saying the rocks were not marked on the map, not detected by the ship's navigation system. this cost more than a half a billion dollars to turn the capsized cruise up right, one of

ayman mohyeldin. >>> let's turn to the action here in sochi now. natalie, as we mentioned, and we're going into week two and some olympic dreams are being delayed. >> yeah. just for a little bit. last week, you recall it's all about the sun and slushy conditions up in the mountains. this week, though, the dense fog is causing the problem. the men's snowboard cross qualifier was called for today and the biathlon also postponed. but today, lots of action still on the ice including the u.s. women's hockey team and the ice dancing finale. >> meryl davis and charlie white hope tonight to become the first americans to win the gold for ice dancing. they floated on the ice during a stellar performance in the short dance on sunday. >> oh, my goodness. >> their moms shared a hug impressed by the performance and so were the judges. >> 78.89, the highest score ever recorded. >> the pair who have skated together for 17 years leading by more than 2 1/2 points. they look to reach the top of the podium after tonight's free skate competition. >> in the american's s