natural gas for their winters. >> the gas question is a crucial question for the europeans, for eastern europe and western europe for that matter. they are still dependent on russian gas and this is winter it has forced them to consider share dependence and find alternative forces. europe is taking an active policy to begin to diverse sigh so it's not so heavily dependent. >> what population. it's -- i don't know the number of that off. top of my head. the question really is what percentage of the population speaks russian and even then that is not necessarily the best indicator as to their sense of ethnicity and national identity. large poningsz did not make the majority of those regions. i think that's with a why putin felt comfortable annexing crime e a and a more confusing path in eastern ukraine. host: michael in burleson texas. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: sure. caller: i have actually spoken from someone from donetsk t also crimea. one from crimea considers themselves russian right now. and the person in donetsk, he is suffering a lot from this war in this r

gets ready to display its might over a greater eastern europe. that's not going to make the kremlin happy. how might they show their displeasure? >> well, i think it will be viewed as nato playing to type. russian narrative of what is going on in ukraine. differing vastly from the narrative in the west. >> russia what is happening, it fits in with geopolitics over the last 20 years or so. they say that the revolutions placed in the former soviet space, countries of eastern europe and the caucuses ukraine - they say the revolutions started instigated by the west. undertaken by the c.i.a. they said that about ukranian 2004/2005. and about the maidan revolution that led to the oust are of viktor yanukovych. this is what they say, deliberate acts of instigation in their own backyard. talking about a broader policy that n.a.t.o. has. breaking promise made to russia over the fall not to expand it. n.a.t.o. is in the baltic state. nato is in poland and other eastern european areas. so for russia an n.a.t.o. bolstering of forces in eastern europe and a c

it has terrible consequences for eastern europe. russia is not anymore a danger for eastern europe. people know about soviets, but the soviet union is not russia today. everything i hear in america and i live in america for 25 years, for the last 10 years, i hear putin did this, putin did that. i think mr. pomeranz probably has roots in eastern europe. i am an engineer, but i know something about history of those countries. i think he is biased about the will of the big corporations in america. see they destroyed industries in eastern europe. romania was put down. >> host: george, thank you for your call. your response? >> guest: i think this crisis is not the result of neocons in the state department. this crisis emerged from ukraine. it was an exercise by ukrainians in their home country, to pursue a different path. it escalated into a crisis, and a change in government, and the state department was not directly or indirectly involved in that transformation. this is a ukrainian transformation a ukrainian decision to move closer to the west. this has not been masterminded from behi

we see the confrontation in eastern europe and the tension in eastern europe. one of the fragments is that this huge center of rapidly of europe which is certainly in terms of size significance is important. this has become alive. one of the most important questions asked in europe as well the germans join us in one of the most important discussions going on is between the germans and the russians who are also flirting with each other. therefore it is not germany and france going to war. it will be the entire periphery shatters and when it shatters -- we just saw an election in which 45% of the scots voted to leave a 300 year union. we see in barcelona an independence movement. we see the northern lake in italy speaking about dividing it. it is not simply that history will repeat itself, but even within countries the assumption is more than italy and southern italy are one country by being challenged by some. i do know this much. if you go to romania or if you go to poland they feel near war and with going on in ukraine is significant. their question is where d

buyers across europe, especially eastern europe, are facing skyrocketing payments after switzerland unpegged its currency from the europe. this family has seen their equity wiped out and are struggling to pay the interest. i have thought about it and i think i am about to lose the house. id -- i do not have any other options. 740 francs means 3,000 romanian lei. >> the bank is considering a loan extension. >> the national bank asking to assist clients and do what they can to help on a case-by-case basis. >> in hungary, nearly half of all households took out swiss franc mortgages. the hungarian government ordered lenders to convert loans into hungarian forints the move and post losses on the banks and was heavily criticized by the banking sector. poland and romania are still debating what to do. they rolled out a hungarian solution for now. genie: let's talk about greece. getting an inkling of what the government might propose. >> leaders are not optimistic about a greek deal. finance ministers will meet in brussels and this is the idea we have got of the proposals greece will be putting on t

it will have since command centers in the eastern europe. russia is meant to notice that. the response to our changed environment. >> they are defensive and in line with our international commitments. >> they also talked about russia as decision to upgrade the nuclear missiles and apparently lower it's threshold to use nuclear weapons. there is a day when leaders are trying to get peace talks started. while they do so, nato is working on how to respond to the crisis with the talking fails. al jazeera. >> u.s. president said to be considering sending what he calls defensive weapons to ukraine. currently, only provides nonhe that will assistance, russia foreign ministry spokesman says that the move would be viewed as a direct threat. >> this is not only fought with the escalation of the situation, but it is also threatened the security of the russian federation. whose territory as you know has been shelled from the ukrainian side. certainly if this decision is put into practice, kit seriously harm relations between russia and the united states. >> let's get more on this from

i talked about the flood gates from eastern europe from the baltics and elsewhere, who came into the u.s. and included thousands of nazi collaborators who were running con send addition camps and interrogating and rounding up jews. that was the biggest group of nazi fugitives to make into it the u.s. not from germany itself. >> what happened to the jews you said were treated as axis because they were german jews or -- >> the policy -- >> had it worse? >> the policies in the beginning around late 1946, eased up a little bit, the conditions for the survivors and the dp camps. did improve. patton died, which maybe was part of the reason. and the immigration policies loosened up a bit. so beginning in 1947 '48 it became a little easier but thousands of them died before that happened. in the dp camps. and meanwhile, nazis were coming in, in even bigger numbers. there was a period in the early 1950s under the immigration laws where being a nazi was not a ban to getting into the ute and that became a legal problem years and years later when the justice department started going after these g

most of the targets have been in russia and eastern europe. the hackers also target banks in the united states, and asia and russian, and eastern europe. >> commitment is building major road closings are in affect this morning and the hollywood part is exiting, a full week before the oscars. >> part of hollywood boulevard was closed at a hot spot and other streets are chessed to allow craws to put up stages, bleachers, and the red carpet in front of the theater that is home to the oscars. >> a hand picked group of young filmmakers will take part in the event. here are the details. >> this year the road to the oscars was paved with a dream. a smile. and a banana. >> you meet team oscar. they are the aspiring young filmmakers and actors hand picked to attend the biggest night in hollywood. >> this is where most of us start. >> a dream come true for any budding artist. >> i called every family member, in management everyone. i went crazy. >> nominees are on pins and needles waiting to see if they make it to the stage, these filmmakers heard have

we see the confrontation in eastern europe and the tension in eastern europe and one of the fragments is this huge center of gravity of europe which is certainly in terms of size significance as the rhineland, this has become a live. one of the most important questions in europe is will the germans join us? one of the most important discussions going on between the germans and russians who are flirting with each other, therefore it is not that germany and france will go into war but this entire periphery shatters and wind it shatters, we just saw an election in which 45% of the scots voted to leave a 300 year union. we see in barcelona and catalonia and independence movement. we see the northern league and italy speaking about dividing it. it is not simply that history will repeat itself but it is that even within countries the assumptions that northern italy and southern italy are one country are being challenged by someone. i don't know what the fragmentation will look like but i know this much. if you goes to romania or poland they fear war and what is going on in the ukraine is si

but acted out on the ground of capitals in eastern europe and the caucuses, so it says this is what happenedgeorgia it says this is what happened in ukraine in 2004, thousand five the orange revolution and also tend of the 2013 in the revolution that kicked yanukovych out of power. russia also says that made oh, since the fall of the soviet union, has consistently broken its promises not to expand eastwards. and it has now object soar absorbed the baltics states, pole amends as well it's a policy of encircle. strangling russia, the developments going on now with regards to the ukraine give russia an opportunity to jump up and down and say look, we told you so, this has been happening. >> all right for now rory, thank you very much indeed. rory challe challands our correspondent in moscow. >>> to tie why now where investigations are underway to try too find out why a plane crashed shortly after take off killing at least 31 of the 58 people on board. the audio recording between the pilot and the control tower has been released. now more from the crash site. >> reporter: slowly the wreckage of

different way than britain was and certainly in a different way than southern europe was and eastern europe facing this after reemerging in 2008 because the spaniards did learn about the russians, the germans didn't worry much about it. so what happened here was a fragmentation of europe and there was a greek experience and there was an italian experience. all of the national distinctions reemerged and the institutions remained in place but what it meant to be the europeans changed tremendously. think about who was affected. government employees were affected in the united states. he think of department of motor vehicles, and certainly even here, the government is far more. but in europe it's even more than in the united states. electrical engineers and government employees, the economy is we have a friend in greece who is an architect who checks houses after earthquakes and he used to earn 3000 euros a month and now he earns 800 euros a month. so even to those who are employed they are on the edge and well beyond it. when the poor become poorer, it is not a radical event. because the poor

to answer your question, you are asking why shouldn't we put more troops in eastern europe? well you have to have a different structure in europe. >> i'm saying, let's not pretend. i think we are drawing a very faint pink line and no one will read that clearer than putin. at some point we have to face the facts in ukraine, continued to do what we are doing in a nonlethal way, but make it very clear, unido, that we have troops. if putin has his eyes on those countries, he is nuts. >> i agree we should be reinforcing that. i think we should be helping ukraine. and the billion dollars or whatever can be very productively spent, assuming there is the right situation in ukraine to begin to rebuild the military and lunch -- launched the force they have been delaying for a long time. essentially, you need to equate military with the money you propose. along the line with what nato allies having eastern europe. >> another country -- question? young woman in the aisle right here. >> my name is mary jane. you both spoke very eloquently about the position of putin, the position of russi

. >> a thread of euro disintegration and a war of eastern europe. we cannot get away from the fact that it was the best time of the are since 2099, why is now the best time? >> we like european exposure and we made good money on armed trade but our target is 380, so currently we're 3% below that. we have very little upside as far as we're concerned and the potential for 15% downside if something awful happens in greece. >> you say there is some complacency. looking at the greek bond market going to 21% yesterday. does the administration care? 81% of their debt is in the official sector, a are not borrowing and not issuing three-year debt, why should they care? do they? >> the important thing is that politicians don't matter. what matters is the positives of the banks. think of it from the point of view of the depositor in greece. if you think your currency will be valued and then you and up with a draw,, what you do -- drachma? you store it under your bed in a suitcase or take it out of the country. if you are in portugal, you do the same thing. the

they were therefore an early valuable source of intelligence from nazi occupied countries in eastern europethere will -- there were of course czech guerillas. they could pass that on to churchill felt government in london, providing viable information about german military resources to the british government. also the soviet government sending them viable information as well. yes, question? [indiscernible] i should have written it on the board. he is found in london from 1939 onwards. now, the czech underground has a steady flow of information to the west from the exile in london. they said they could get useful information about german reserve locations. they said they could sabotage german industries. it's always hard to know when you're are doing the history of secret activities, to want to rely on these kinds of documents because of course people who say they are in the position to do these valuable things hope that will make them indispensable. you always have to guard this with a degree of skepticism. nevertheless that is why there are in a particular valuable position for the allies

fragments but we see this borderland coming to life my attention developing the confrontation in eastern europe and the tension and one of the fragments is this huge center of gravity of europe which is certainly in terms of size, significance, as important, this has become alive. one of the most important questions is we will the germans join us. one of the most important discussions is between the germans and the russians who are also flirting with each other. therefore it is not germany and france but this entire periphery shatters and when it shatters what will you do? you just saw an election that was 45 percent of the scots voting to leave a 300 year union. in barcelona and independence movement the northerly in italy speaking about dividing. dividing. it is not simply that history we will repeat itself but it is that even within countries the assumptions that in northern italy and southern italy, one country being challenged i do not know what the fragmentation we will look like but if you go to romania or poland they feel the air war and what is going on in the ukraine a significant and

it will have six command and control centers in eastern europe. russia is meant to notice that. >> we are taking these steps in response to our changed environment. they are defensive proportional, and in the line with our international commitments. >> they also talked about russia's decision to upgrade the nuclear missile disas patiently lower it's threshold to use nuclear weapons, this is a day when western leaders are trying to get new peace talks started for fear the situation may spiral out of control, and while they do so, nato is working on how to respond to the crisis if the talking fails. al jazeera. >> nato top commander is warning any effort from the west to provide ukraine with weapons could prompt an angry reaction. general phillip says ukraine has the right to defend itself, but he says there is no military solution to the conflict. i am in favor of stopping the fight. to refit rearm prepare for a further push, we are for a negotiated peace. >> and tomorrow, we will speak with former nato supreme alley commander general westerly clar

today we begin with the growing concerns in eastern europe. >> german chancellor angela merkel was in the white house today. >> she aand the president promised to stand together against russia. but she refused to give weapons to kiev. she says that would make the fighting worse. >> and putin continues to blame the u.s. for making the cries worst. >> the two leaders say there's no gap in their approach to russia. people moved from towns along the border. angela merkel believes the peace plan joined with the french, all sides meet in belarus on wednesday. willing to give diplomacy a chance for now. both leaders agree no deal will mean stricter sanctions against the russians. >> if in fact diplomacy fails what i've asked my team to do is look at all other options. what other means can we put in place to change mr. putin's calculus. >> translator: if at a certain point in time one has to say that a success is not possible, even if one puts every effort into it, then the united states and europe have to sit together and try and explore further possibilities. >> european union has backed st

and certainly there'll be heavy rains, and a sweep of snow from the north, across eastern europe. snow expected here over the next couple of days. >> thank you. do stay with us here. coming up, food shortages, venezuela - it stays this warding supplies. >> and they may look beaten up but the cars in france are worth serious cash. cristiano ronaldo back for real madrid and hoping to end a winless streak against local rivals. details a little later? sport. >>> you're watching the al jazeera newshour. firing in the air above crowds of protesters in sanaa. there has been demonstrations across the country. on friday the shia minority dissolved the government and took control in a coup. angela merkel is unsure if peace talks to end the conflict in eastern ukraine will succeed. she is attending a summist in eastern europe focussing on the violence between ukrainians and pro-russian separatists. >> in baghdad a suicide bombing. 12 died in a separate bombing in the city center >>> the united states called for nigeria's presidential elections to be held on time. polls open jan 14th. they ar

when the communists took power in eastern europe, they also were not communists.mein many cases. once they had power off came the mask. then they brought in and took over the secret police. that was their primary objective in every country. secret police. then establishing arrests. stossel: communism is just supposed to mean we're all in this together comrade. why does it always become secret police and murder? >> the reason is, people decide they want to get out of it. you are forced into it. we -- george orwell put this so well in animal farm. predicated on equality for everyone, as it turns out all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. people figure this out at at some point. but they want out. but they have to be kept in the prison. >> tom palmer spends most of his life overseas in third world countries. many of them communist. he travels for the atlas institute to set up libertarian think tanks and help those groups. you see a lot of the third world. >> i spent a lot of time in the soviet union when it was still with us. they allowed east ge

today at white house to discuss what's next in the effort to block vladimir putin's ambitions in eastern europe. the press conference, after they met seemed designed to highlight differences between european leaders and the president rather than present a united front against the march through crimea perhaps further into eastern ukraine and the baltic states. the two leaders making it clear they disagree on whether to arm ukraine. angela merkel unwilling to do so, the president saying he's considering a decision. neither view likely to bolster the morale of ukrainians and mr. obama coming very close to yet another red line. putin's aggression. >> it is true that if, in fact, diplomacy fails, what i've asked my team to do is looking at all options. what other means can we put in place to change mr. putin's calculus? and the possibility of lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that's being examined. lou: all options in obamiyan language, that's tough talk, too tough for the president himself, here he is ten minutes later making it categorically clear, he did not intend in a categorical

that i think that i've been kind of prime to see it going on is because of all those years in eastern europe in the '80s and after communism because, um, so much of what went on there was under the radar. it was hidden. in order to get things done. you couldn't operate the way the system said you should operate. it was impossible. so you had to have networks you had to use your contacts. even if you were an official waiting in an an estate organization, the only way you got things done was informally and that's why there were, you know, so many of these guys who were managers were drinking all the time because you have to drink with people in order to make deals. so it's an institutional systemic problem. and we're seeing that sort of thing, we're seeing the ip formalization -- informallization of influence right here in the united states. it's not just with uber and air b&b and these, you know solutions people are turning to under financial stress, it's a much more kind of endemic problem. and we would think that, um, you know traditionally the media -- one would think -- would be there to

eastern europe and ukraine and united states and of course russia.the attackers did not expose a vulnerability inside of the system. they studied the internal procedure and recorded the process and impersonated bank robberies and controlled the a tm's and timed the release of cash when the money launders were ready to collect it. and transferred millions to accounts in the u.s. and china. hackers stole 7.3 million from one a tm alone. >> and so is the threat going on or have they plugged it up. >> it is active and evolving. the criminals are still after money but not looking for intelligence. but the biggest bank in the united states, jp morgan- chase was not affected. they are expanding the operations in the middle east and africa and asia john. >> thank you. it is. that is something we have never dealt with. the now depth i have never, never seen. >> he's ready to go. boston area digging out from a foot of fresh snow. and they are braving bitter cold temperatures. many other areas are suffering with negative double-digit wind chills. there is a lot

it will have six command and control centers in eastern europe.ush are sha is meant to notice that we are taking these step, they are defensive, and in line with our international commitments. >> they also talked about rush are sha's decision to upgrade the nuclear missiles and apparently low terrorism threshold to use nuclear weapons. s in a day when western leaders are are trying to get peace talks started for fear the situation may spiral out of control. while they do so, nato is working on how to respond to the crisis if the talking fails. al jazeera. >> russian foreign ministry spokes men says the mood would be seen as a direct threat. >> this is not only fought with the escalation of the situation in the southeast of ukraine, but also threatens the security of the federation. whose territory as you know has been reare peteedly shells shells from the ukrainian side, certainly if this decision is put into practice, it could harm relation between russia and the united states. director of the democracy initiative that's a think tank, based in th

. >> no question there's a war in eastern europe. let's play this out then. you arm the ukrainians you arm the ukrainian military. russia as a response does what? they send in more tanks or heavier weaponry. >> no one thinks ukraine can out-weapon out-man, have more strength than russia. >> the ukrainian army can't beat russia in an open conflict because the russian army is so big. the ukrainians are goot good fighters and they're fighting for their freedom, for their own independence. i'm not saying this is the risk. to me -- president poroshenko who i met with in munich he pleaded with us please send us the arms. we can't defend ourselves. >> why don't you think president obama will send arms? >> i think in part this is the general -- sort of holding back from getting involved in conflicts elsewhere in the world. it's been part of the administration. i think part of it is that our allies in europe are urging president obama to sit back -- >> it sounds like secretary kerry privately at least, make he said it to you, he's in favor -- some suggestion he's in f

most targets have been in russia and eastern europe. the hackers targeted banks in the united states and asia and russia and eastern europe. >> just six days until the academy award and preparations are in full swing. >> a block of hollywood boulevard is closed down to allow cruisers to puts up stages in front of the theater. more roads will be shut down as well, with oscars handed out by hand picked young filmmakers from across the country. here are the details. >> you can watch the oscars on sunday, february 22 only here with the big show starting at 4:00 p.m. for a list of the nominees visit oscar.com. the we carpet arrival is almost as fund to watch. >> on oscar sunday it looks warm with a cooling trend starting tomorrow but not this cool. in southern missouri and illinois and indiana and kentucky and tennessee and arkansas, some areas you do not assimilate with heavy snow such as arkansas and tennessee but that is what they are getting from little rock memphis, to nashville, and this is going over to the carolinas and turn left and

is this person in eastern europe hitting both of us? we opened up a close relationship with the city of london police. we share investing -- investigatory information. there was one case that involved new york actors and english actors. this is the wave of the future. it is international. it is everywhere and i'm not trying to be dramatic. it is a lot. we have not won the war on cybercrime. >> there is this -- google and apple. [laughter] yes. they can now encrypt and they don't even know how to access the information. >> once apple and google said in their most recent upgrades to their operating system is that they no longer have a key. we used to send them the phones and they would take their key, unencrypted, send it back. we get the data and we deal with it. they no longer have that key and market their phones. they said several months ago we cannot assist law enforcement. >> did this come of the snowden business? >> i'm sure it did and concern over the nsa. i don't diminish the importance of right to privacy. i don't want the nsa l

for their country and strengthening the enduring alliance with europe by reassuring our alneys eastern europe and energizeing nato to meet threats. as we update our system our strategy is to enhance our focus on regions that will shape the century ahead starting with the asia pacific. partnership to expand cooperation. we are investing in azian, the east awesian summit and the pacific islands forum to strength en their capacity to enforce regional norms, respond to crises like natural disasters and resolve disputes peacefully so the asia pacific remains a region of dynamic growth and opportunity. request china, we are building a constructive relationship that expands collaboration over a wide expect trum of issues from global health to non-proliferation. as we confront real differences t cyber enabled espy onionage and the use of coercion to advance territorial claims. president obama's receipt trip to india strengthened another critical relationship that will deliver economic and security benefits from both of our nations and the broader region and will help lift up the lives of more than a

it's still one of the main cliche about women from eastern europe, that all of them are prostitutes.ing about all these kind of things. in the beginning, questions an what is the position of woman today? and we started to scream more and more. we became radical feminists. >> members of the group begin to realize the more provocatively they dress and undress, the more the press takes notice. >> we took off our tops, and the next day we found information about feminists' naked protests in nearly all languages of the world. >> they call their method sextremism. >> it's the name of tactic that we invented for ourselves. we realize that we have to be radical and we decided to be terrorists, peaceful terrorists. we're using our sex as weapon. >> naked protests are nothing new, but femin's signatures are their vocal militants and their use of messages inscribed directly on their body. >> it's not only bare breasts, it's a posture. they don't want to listen to us. they don't want to listen to our voice. they want to look at us. now they can see our naked bodies, but it's always reaching what

we did -- in eastern europe, the one thing -- the movie is called "focus."hey kept saying [ bleep ]-us. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: what do we do? >> yeah, yeah. i was like, well, maybe one of y'all. not everybody. >> jimmy: your movies are popular internationally, all around the world. was it the same in the '80s when your songs came out? parents just don't understand. were they popular around the world? >> that was the fun part for me, the global. i remember i was in australia. with arnold schwarzenegger. >> jimmy: doing what? >> well, i was with arnie. like with arnie. no, no. i was there for a promotional thing. and he told me about being a movie star. he said, it's not just in america. you want to be famous, it's everywhere in the world. you know. that was actually pretty good. >> jimmy: pretty good, yeah. [ cheers and applause ] >> i've always loved traveling. one of my greatest experiences, i was with run dmc. during a show. >> jimmy: wow, what year was that? >> it was 1989. >> jimmy: okay. >> whoo. it was 1989. we were over there and run did something tha

. >>> in other news musicians are keeping a tradition alive dating back hundreds of years to eastern europe edwards has their story in today's art of aging. >> you may not be familiar with the name klessner but if you have been to a jewish wedding you recognize the sound. elaine has been playing klessner since she was a little girl. >> my father taught it to me and he brought it over from russia. >> we call it the hoffman family repertoire, it's to be an ambassador for our lineage and our heritage. >> elaine was the first female purcushionist to attend, and she was awarded a fellowship from the national endowment of the arts. >> i can't do anything else, i condition do math i can't cook, and i enjoy it and have a great time playing. >> she is inspiring, as long as you are alive you live. >> seniors are passing on their heritage to the younger generation in so many ways, our organization can connect you to those that do just that. >>> david is here with a check of the accuweather forecast. and that storm what little we got of it. is moving away. >> it's out of here. >> we like it that way. >

. >> reporter: like most economies in eastern europe, hyun-jin rir's nothungary's last not done well. thousandsen onto the streets in protest. opponents of the government want the crowds to come out again. question is whether enough hungarians want change. robin forester walker, al jazeera, beud budapest. >> john holman reports. >> world's longest ever helium balloon flight began with smiles in japan and land he of the two eagles off of mexico's northwest coast. >> now we are feeling good and optimistic. and very glad to be among people. >> american troy bradley and russia leonid, endured 160 hours cramped together in a cabin smaller than a king sized bed. their route took them across the pacific ocean the balloon capsule weighs only 100 kilos and is stuffed with state-of-the-art equipment. ballooning has always captured public attention helped along in recent years with high flying adventures of millionaires of like richard branson and steve fawcett. fawcett's balloon was a hybrid, could go faster than two eagles, making that little achievement a little bit sweeter. john holman, al j

back, opposing views on how the world got here, and what the take holders have to do if peace in eastern europe . >>> welcome back to "inside story" on al jazeera america i'm ray suarez, why the emphasis on the battle for debaltseve. for one thing, a lot of resources has been sent in. and the center connected luhansk and donetsk by lapped and rail. the situation in ukraine is the focus. joining me now, kurt volker, former u.s. ambassador to nato. director of the mccain institute for international leadership, and fred reeka bipedy, senior fellow from the school of advanced international studies of johns hopkins university. the last time you were here you argued against giving defensive weapons to the ukranian army. has what has transpired given idea? >> not yet, i'm afraid. i support the idea that petro porashenko laid down, having international peacekeeping forces in ukraine. that would be an excellent idea. more so, developmental context, mistake. >> here we are, arms continue to pour in over the russian frontier, even though russia doesn't acknowledge that they are russian weapons, giving an

eastern europe, in eastern ukraine. 5,000 dead now. hundreds of thousands of people ds placed and there is a debate in the obama administration to the effect of we have applieded all of these sanctions, u.s. sanctions, european sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and it's not changing vladimir putin's behavior, nor is the fact that putin's economy is in deep trouble, russia is really feeling the economic pain, and if anything, he's escalating. there was a cease-fire agreement in september is, which is now basically in tatters. today french president olin and german chancellor merkel went on an extraordinary trip to moscow after stopping in kiev to meet with putin. there was hope that they had some kind of skeleton key here, some plan, some deal that would unlock this all and deescalate from this moment we're at where there's talk of military escalation from the west, from the united states. they've left moscow, it appears basically empty-handed. they're going to keep talking but we have no breakthrough. gwen: so the u.s. obviously is not

hundreds much thousands of homeowners in eastern europe have been hit by the falling swiss frank. hundredhungary has been praised for rescuing many from more deaths. we have reports from budapest. >> victoria took me to see the apartment she bought in 2006 with a low interest swiss franc mortgage. then came the the crisis and she defaulted. >> for two or three years i could not find work. but i could not afford repayments. >> luckily she has found a buyer for her home. the bank will take the money and bright write off the debt. when swiss franc surged, borrowers in many parts of europe were hit hard. many appeal for help in belgrade. not so in hungary. in november banks were required to convert foreign loans into foreign currency. >> it was a huge for hungarian households and the economy. just by getting rid of the swiss franc loans it has brought a relief not only for the hungarian families but for the hungarian state. >> it may have jumped the household debt that has been avoided. some feel the government has been lucky. they rescue the those who could otherwise survive. then mo

announced moves to double forces in eastern europe fearing russian military moves behind ukraine. president obama is said to be considering up to $15 billion in so-called defensive weaponry for ukraine's military. joining me now is the new york office manager of a pro-russian think tank set up by russian organisations in 2008 and he says any arming of forces by the u.s. will be viewed as a major intervention by moscow and lead to them ramping up their intervention. where are we on this. i've seen the articles that you have written. where do we go to deesalate this? >> the key for de-escalation is in washington. a couple of times on your channel it said it's enough for president obama or joe biden to pick up the phone and say petro porashenko, stop killing your people. sit at the table, net the settlement and achieve the peace. >> why do you think petro porashenko is killing his people? >> petro porashenko wants - because petro porashenko has, you know made -- megalow maniac ideas that he is the president that has to destroy the forces, keep integrity over the country at the expens

back opposing views on how the world got here and what the take holders have to do if peace in eastern europe and the ukraine is really what the parties are after. stay with us, it's "inside story". her son... >> me being here is defying all odds... >> they were patriots they wanted there country back >> al jazeera america presents the passion... >> onward.. >> pain... >> it's too much... >> ..and triumph... inspirational real life stories >> all these labels the world throws at you, that's what drives me hat drives me . >>> welcome back to "inside story" on al jazeera america i'm ray suarez why the emphasis on the battle for debaltseve. for one thing, a lot of resources has been sent in. and the center connected luhansk and donetsk by lapped and rail. the situation in ukraine is the focus. joining me now, kurt volker former u.s. ambassador to nato. director of the mccain institute for international leadership and fred reeka bipedy senior fellow from the school of advanced international studies of johns hopkins university. the last time you were here you argued against giving defensive weapon

back, opposing views on how the world got here, and what the take holders have to do if peace in eastern europe >> i think we're into something that's bigger than us... >> that's the pain that your mother feels when you disrespect her son... >> me being here is defying all odds... >> they were patriots they wanted there country back >> al jazeera america presents the passion... >> onward.. >> pain... >> it's too much... >> ..and triumph... inspirational real life stories >> all these labels the world throws at you, that's what drives me to push.. >> of ordinary people >> i tasted the american dream, i liked it... >> living extraordinary lives... >> if we could multiply this program, we could change the world >> from the best filmmakers of our time >> i give al jazeera tremendous credit, because it's not traditionally what broadcast journalism does >> the new home for original documentaries al jazeera america presents only on al jazeera america . >>> welcome back to "inside story" on al jazeera america i'm ray suarez, why the emphasis on the battle for debaltseve. for one thing, a lot of resourc

crucially, it will ever six command and control centers in eastern europe. >> the important thing for nato is to of course underline that russia is responsible for violating international law for violating the territorial integrity of ukraine. >> they will discuss russia upgrading its nuclear arsenal. this is a day when western leaders seek to engage both sides to stop the fighting and restart peace talks. they will talk while nato lays out detailed military plans on how they might have to respond if the talking fails. >> we'll have the latest on the situation in eastern ukraine in a moment, but first and update from moscow. >> moscow is waiting at the moment. it's seen that press conference between petro poroshenko and john kerry in kiev and would have been watch that go closely and made its own assumptions about what wasn't said in that press conference. now it's preparing for the arrival of angela merkel and president hollande friday, meeting with vladimir putin. there are few details about what exactly the peace niche initiative is, but some expect the european to play good cop af

it will have six command centers in eastern eastern europe. russia is geared to respond to that. they also talked about russia's decision to upgrade missiles, this is a day when western leaders are trying to get new peace talks started for fear the situation may spiral out of control. while they do so, nato is working on how to respond to the crisis, if the talking fails. simon mcgregor wood, al jazeera. >> and russia has warned against any u.s. military support for ukraine. foreign ministry spokesman says such an act would be considered a threat. >> this also threatens the security of the russian federation, whose territory as you know has been repeatedly shelled from the croon side. >> and rory challenge has more from moscow. >> so many are talking about this meeting as a last ditch attempt. a wider conflagration of the conflict in ukraine that draws in other countries in the region. sets off a broader conflict between east and west. considering all that it's unusual that we know so very little about this meeting and what is exactly going to be talked about. if you consider thi

. >> nato defense ministers have agreed to set up a new week reaction force of 5000 troops in eastern europe. the secretary-general said it sets a clear visible sign that nato is prepared to defend its allies. >> he said that multinational command centers would be set up in bulgaria, lithuania, poland and romania with immediate effect. >> our correspondent has been following that summit in brussels for us. the nato secretary-general said that nato is prepared to defend its allies. did he elaborate on that? how far is nato willing to go here? >> nato is a military alliance and is obliged to defend everyone in the end. nato would have the means or obligation to defend if there is a russian attack, but this is a very unlikely event. nobody has calculated that rush is about to attack anyone. it is meant to deter russia from further aggression and is also meant to reassure especially the baltic states that nato is standing by because there is no big nato headquarters are nato troops. this is kind of a reassurance that nobody would come to help them. >> as you said already, it's basically just ass

crucially, it will have six command control centers in eastern europe. >> the important thing for nato of course is to underline that russia is responsible for violating international law for violating the sovereignty the territorial integrity of ukraine, annexing crimea, destabilizing eastern ukraine. >> they will also discuss russia's decision to upgrade its nuclear arsenal and worry it has lowered its threshold for use of nuclear weapons. both sides are encouraged to stop the fighting and engage in peace talks while nato lays out military plans object how it mate have to respond if talking fails. >> we'll have the latest on the situation in eastern you a crane in a minute, but first an update from moscow. >> essentially moscow is waiting. the press conference between president poroshenko and john kerry, and it will be watch that go closely. it also made its own assumptions about what wasn't said in that conference now is preparing for the arrival of angela merkel and president hollande on friday, meeting with vladimir putin and bringing what they call a new peace initiative. now, th

we have not even gotten to eastern europe and russia. vladimir putin has decided that it is time to get the old bands back together. he moves into crimea and ukraine and looks at the baltic states. and let's remember, it was secretary of state hillary clinton who hit the reset button with russia. removed missiles from eastern europe and told us that we are moving to a new era of american-russian relationships. and we sure did. we sure did. it was this president who drew a redline in syria. and said if assad uses chemical weapons against his people, america will not stand for it. and then when he did, he said never mind. and allowed russia to intervene in syria. another moment of failed leadership for this president. you see, if you listen and start to list some of these things, i almost feel bad for the president. he is like a man wandering around in a dark room, feeling along the wall for the light switch of leadership. well let me tell you something everybody, he hasn't found it for six years and he is not going to find it in the next

well, "gangnam style" happened to have spawned a cottage industry of parodies from eastern europe, saudia nasa's johnson space center. even the chinese dissident artist ai weiwei. and then there were flash mobs from bangkok to barcelona. from a budapest shopping mall to a philippine maximum security prison. economist kim wondered, could it possibly be that when these videos anywhere from italy to indonesia went viral, or even just bacterial, in their home country-- would the dad's stock price go up there? take a guess. you mean people were actually buying the stock of the father of psy in "gangnam style" because there were flash mobs in their area? >> yes, that's what i'm documenting in this paper. >> reporter: and though d.i. corp's stock price eventually subsided some, it soared again with the release of psy's second hit song, "gentleman," in april 2013. though the company's earnings remain pretty much where they were, pre-virus, the stock still hovers four to 500% above where it started. and, says kim... >> whenever people are anticipating psy's new songs coming up, the price shoots b