at the national kiev academy.nd george, director of the atlantic council's n.a.t.o. source. let me start with you david. watching the event as they have unfolded, what is russia up to? what are the near-term objectives. what is it trying to accomplish. >> i think what it's trying to accomplish are the interests and proper representation of the east, people of eastern ukraine. this is one of the situations that could have been avoided. russia has said not just under vladimir putin, but since the fall of the soviet union, russia has been concerned about the fate of 20 million russians, who find themselves outside the russian federation following the fall of the soviet union. and i think that - for reasons i can elaborate later, i do not believe russia has knit interest in annexing eastern ukraine, and taking on the problems of that part of ukraine. >> george, as far as it goes, is david right - there is some concern in the russian government about russians who are overseas. >> it's not just concern. voout jup has st

and what we haven't seen what we've seen from this to every gene in kiev is not first rate. the complete inability it doesn't control its own armed forces to a large extent we have seen them issued repeated orders to the military security service leaders are to use deadly force against the protesters in south east ukraine and repeatedly they have denied orders some of them have defected openly they have turned over their weapons to the people again and again so it's not first rate. it's not inability to get out there security forces are to use force against their own people and the government has responded with courage after courage of the military the police and the security forces and increasing attempt to form these paramilitary forces. it's a brown shirt national guard units of the reit sector restructuring the military forces so that the majority of them around us love the odds are composed of western ukrainians not from the area for more willing to use force against the people from the street and bought which is treated as a man at least i will come back to the few min

it looks like a symbol of kiev, to the government in kiev.now who painted them or when they did it. down the square here, there's a gathering of supporters at people's republic to drum up local support for a referendum to be held the 11th of may which is supposed to decide the future of eastern ukraine. whether or not this region stays in ukraine or votes for independence. >> reporter: this is one of the organizers people are are handing out. it's calling for a referendum and presents a stark choice. they say it's about employment, price rises. as with the people's republic here in donetsk, it talks about economic ties with russia. not political but economic specifically. saying that wages will rise and so will pensions. now the crowd shouting russia, russia. a lot of support for closer ties with russia. >> this is a peaceful meeting. there's no sign of armed men we've seen in other towns. this is what organizers say are a chance to express opinions. the strongest opinions from the crowd and speakers on the stage is that government in kiev do

the majority who voted voted in favor of breaking away from kiev. maruiupol e of understand they must vote for the referendum. look at all these people. are you in favor of the donetsk people's republic? [cheers] >> ukraine's interim government and western powers have called the vote illegal and their focus is turning to the national election set for may 25. >> joining us now is or our rrespondent kitty logan from donetsk. the separatist leader is saying he'll regard kiev's force as occupiers after the vote. what do you make of that? >> he made those statements this afternoon while the polls were still open. they have just closed. not surprisingly this is very much a referendum run by the donetsk republic for its supporters. everybody we met at the poling station today said they voted in support of the referendum. the people who didn't agree with the referendum simply didn't show up. many polling station is were improvised. there are areas where ukrainians didn't want the vote to take place but the separatists held it anyway. we don't know if the tu

in kiev it's snowing it's cold in the old city dangerous as well here. on the shores of lake geneva. minus twenty. enjoy it. i wonder what. the weather temperature is you know. i feel really bad. most of the east and south most of the east and south of the country is behind the president given to me and the president has promised to reshuffle the government and release those arrested during riots in the capital earlier this week and while the plan has failed to appease the demonstrators in kiev officials to the east of the capital are still enjoying strong support artist reports from video. i'm here in the city of donetsk where there has been a pro the government a rally happening just a short distance behind me most of the east and south of this country is supportive of the government and the president in addition to this demonstration there's some twenty cities in the east of the country that will today be holding pro-government rallies we're talking about tens of thousands of people who are expected to come to the streets now the european commissioner

as you know, the capital kiev called it illegitimate. do we know if it is indeed illegitimate, legal, illegal? >> well certainly i'm not an international lawyer, but i will take what the governments are saying. not just in kiev, but in paris or london or washington. most of the western governments declared the poll to be illegitimate. there are concerns about the way it's operated. it's a people's poll. it's amateurish. i'm here at a school. it's east of the city center. there are no voting booths, so there's no privacy. most people are registering their details and ticking the box in front of the adjudicator. they are not concealing their vote. i haven't seen a single no vote on the ballot paper. the passport details are taken down, they are not having fingers dipped in ipping or anything like -- ink or anything like that. it seems possible to nip down the next polling station and register and vote a second or third or fourth time. by international standards, it doesn't seem to meet the criteria for official recognition. that said, the

kiev fascist.yet the government inkiev sending troops against eastern ukraine on the grounds their terrorist. and you have the insurgents, let's call them that in eastern ukraine refer to the government as fascist's. that is how far apart these people are. and all of this on the 69th anniversary of world war ii, when ukraine and russia lost millions of people to actual fascist. this is how bad it is. though bold statement he made in the premise on which american policy is being made is that putin attacked ukraine and began this whole mess. what ever you think about what the outcome should be, that is just factually untrue. all of this began when the united states and europe asked ukraine that last november to make a decision between russia and the european union. that trigger the protest that led to this. here's the tragedy. people are dying when there's a perfectly accessible way to negotiate. and it is not my idea from it is the idea proposed by angela merkel of germany that there be a roundtable

said no, we'll only talk to kiev.o these negotiations took place recently in geneva, but it was too late. so many tragic events happened. the top lipping of viktor yanukovych, the russian take over - we needed the tragic event for the side to start talking. >> in geneva, the west, they refused to see the representatives. they said we are only going to talk to russia, and the west delayed. whatever we speak or say about the uprising in the east of ukraine, there may be gun men, but there are lots of civilians. if you watch the western television, you can't avoid seeing that request bility a lot of people protesting much. these are old women, children, middle age women who don't trust the new government. >> thank you for joining us from moscow. i want to go to odessa, we have more after the fire on friday. let's talk to jonah hull, who is live for us there. what is the latest? >> well, you refrt to the removal -- removal of the police chief that happened on saturday when the deputy chief was removed after a riot ensued

defying kiev - voting opens in a referendum for parts of eastern ukraine to breakaway from kiev >>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm rob matheson in doha. also on the programme - another five years in office. jacob zuma is officially declared the winner of south africa's election. >>> michael sam becomes the first openly gay man drafted into america's biggest football league. >> and i'm nick clark report fromming the atta clamma desert in chile, from where in 2020 a giant majellan telescope will stand, to april some of the pressing questions of the cosmos. >>> thanks for being with us. polling stations in parts of eastern ukraine are opening as separatists hold a widely condemned referendum on self-rule. the vote will be held in donetsk and luhansk, with a combined occupation of 6.7 million. only people in a dozen or so places under separatist control will vote. there has been fighting in donet donetsk, luhansk, slovyansk, among others. ballots were printed asking voters if they agree to self-rule. 70% in the east do not support the separatists and do not want to leave ukraine or become p

i came from kiev yesterday. the acting president there, mr oleksandr turchynov was insisting that the cheest would not be a -- east would not be allowed to slip away. he introduced conscription for 18-25-year-olds across ukraine. they could be getting september out as early as monday next week. there's a determination in ukraine and in kiev in particular, of course, that the east of ukraine is not just going to be allowed to be taken over by what kiev says are professional mercenaries, directed by russian intelligence agents. they are adamant although there has been calls for constraint and containment, the kiev government has its own red line, and cannot allow the situation in the east to slip out of its control. there has been a lot of criticism of the way the police stood by in certain circumstances here in the east, and allowed pro-russian demonstrators to attack unarmed pro-ukrainian demonstrators. that has not gone down well with the administration in kiev. the feeing was that action had to be taken. >> le

being carried out by the kiev government.there is the impression that almost all colleagues can't read minds of the government in kiev, so they are talking about [indiscernible] visit led to a situation where the situation further escalated -- and a more forceful turn of events, a violent return of events. it is not surprising that it was said in the declaration did not want the osce to -- ,hat is to bring about dialogue organize a roundtable between representatives of different regions of the government in kiev. why did the u.s. not what the osce to do that? in fact, over the crisis, russia several times suggested a different format for the organization with such dialogue between the government and forces in the region. we suggested a constitutional -- mbly they said they were not ready to organize that. when the 17 april meeting was --pared from you suggested we suggested that some representatives of the region fourd come and that the parties would sit, at least he ande.u., the u.s., russia, and ukraine would conduct talks,

the money was supposed to be transferred from kiev to new york to moscow. everything depends on the money getting their. that will determine whether ukraine to keep its gas supplies flowing from russia, and by extension whether the european union is going to get its gas supplies that run through ukraine. >> that is my next question. how big is the threat that europe will also lose access to gas? >> again, these are tough times. if that money lands in the account in moscow on monday, negotiations will continue in brussels towards a complete package. but we simply do not know. we do know that about a quarter of the european union gas supplies come from russia. half that supply runs through ukraine. twice in the past, russia has cut off those supplies. it is threatening to do so again if ukraine does not come up with the money. this is an ongoing story. everything depends on the money landing in the account on moscow -- in moscow on monday, and possible negotiations in brussels later in the day. >> thank you very much. thailand's coup leader ruled out election

i can't go on to describe kiev authorities. we are one with russia, we want to stay with russia. >> the voters will not be balloted on whether or not they want closer ties with russia. simply if they recognize the unilaterally declared republic here. the inevitable consequence of yes result would be closer links with moscow, and kiev is not going to allow that to happen without a fight. >> and a deadline by the russian gas producer orders kiev to pay its death and said it owns $3.5 billion and ukraine will have to pay in advance for gas supply. and the money ukraine just received from the international fund over $3 billion, so be used to repay the debt. >>> in a landslide many people are missing. on a tour, confronted by villagers angry by the slow pace of aid. karzai promised more resources and set out a plan to deal with the disaster. >> one emergency assistance. second, those who wish to have loved ones, relatives taken out from under the soil, and the opening of th that was there, ao give new homes. >> voters are heading to

the region will be tipped into the abyss say kiev. some fear it has already happened >>> shots fired and one person killed outside a polling place. a journalist witnessed the event and joins us from donetsk. thank you for joining us. can you tell us what you saw? >> yes, we came there. people were kicked out in front of city hall, because a man entered. we don't know who they were, people say they were nards , others say it was militia. most thing test local militia. they went inside. the people at the polling station had to move to the park. after a while people stood in front of the city hall. they started shooting in the air. more came, there was shouting. they started to shoot in the air, then at the people. it happened a few times, you know, in a row. in the afternoon four vans came and they tried to get the guys inside out, and they started to shoot all around them. they were shooting at innocent people. i was there. no one had a gun. the only thing they did was throw an axe and a stone. the people, you know, were harmless and w

the government in kiev is taking back some of the strong holds. in afghanistan, a landslide buried an entire town. the officials say over 2,000 people are dead and the recovery is shifting to assisting the 4,000 people displaced. >> this is world press freedom day. al jazeera journalists are held being accused of falsifying the news. the men appeared in court for the 7th time today and once again denied bail. >> when you think of new orleans you think of food, fun and music. that is what they have been doing. the jazz festival is wrapping up tomorrow and the music scene in the city survived. all thanks to the efforts of the folkses at thread head records. we caught up with the founder and the people benefitting from it. ♪ >> after katrina, new orleans was scattered around the country and we lost everything we had. >> i didn't know what i was going to do. there was no place to play here in the city. ♪ >> it was seven years ago in 2007 i was at a backyard party, a fundraiser, and they were playing a set. i was backing john up and trading on the song

for this simple fact is the authorities in kiev already.to be responsible which is russia the russian reset very far from. what seems to be happening and of course we have to be careful because we don't have. is that the army does some. civilians come along and the soldiers are not. on civilians right sector of brought in to do that they are currently well they're completely disproportionate it is true that people civilians have been dragged out and shot in the head then that is murder and an extremely severe and terrible war crime the authorities have shown very little interest in what has happened in mind pression is on balance they support the people who have done this terrible thing in adesa because they want to suppress the protests against themselves. he uses your political forces to accept the responsibilities for shooting the crisis and to get back to inclusive dialogue so western politicians there resorted to it exotic cars and while others tried putting the blame for the tragic events on the victims themselves washington's denounc

he joins us live from kiev where he is at a may day rally. phil, pre-dawn security drills in kiev indicate concerns about what may day might bring today. how's it looking right now? >> reporter: that's right. big security operation in the government corridor of kiev. a lot of security here today. may day is always something that's a politically charged holiday with people rallying. the dominant issue in this country at the moment is clearly survival of the country as it stands today. so there is real concern things have been pretty stable. there could be some unrest. there is the potential here. we've seen thousands of people on the streets preparing to march through the center of the city towards the government buildings, not independent square itself but to strengthen areas around there. in the east of the country where there's that divide between the pro ukrainians and separatists and pro russians, where that divide is so stark, there is even greater concern of what the day will bring. >> that's the point, isn't it? as they march for unity

we are not expecting the government in kiev to recognize it either. they did not recognize the vote in crimea. that did not stop that referendum going ahead. in practical terms, what will people do about annexing this region if it comes to that? it is logistically more difficult than what happened in crimea. already the separatists have control of a great deal of government buildings in many towns. it is difficult to know what they could do without further military clashes. >> thank you for bringing us up-to-date. we apologize for the audio dropouts in the feed. western powers are dismissing's sunday vote --sunday's vote as illegal. the leaders of france and germany say the key to stabilizing the country is the presidential elections planned for may 25. they say russia must do more to assure they go smoothly or face more sanctions. >> these were crucial talks for chancellor merkel and president hollande. they travel to the northern constituency for a meeting dominated by ukraine. europe struggled to formulate a year of -- unified response. now they ha

kiev sent in the troops that are trying to counter. the protest is. now we understand the people that hunkering down and expecting another assault from the government what do you anticipate could happen as a saving or do you think things might be averted because they might have same orse happen now in a decimal say you know what we should hope. we would all hope that that would be the situation however it seems more likely to me that this puts regime or attempt to double down and try to salvage a victory there under intense pressure political pressure from the ultimate nationalists on the ground in kiev who threatened earlier this week in riots that broke out in kiev altar nationals riots with a torchlight march reminiscent of the one nine hundred thirty s. germany through the city demanding that the putsch regime take definitive action to . assert its control over the east of the country and with this pressure that's on them to do something it seems likely that they will further attempt incursions into say that but we've been hearing today also from

in kiev before the coup d'etat i call it. or she said in so many words the e.u. can go to hell this is how we washington or at least her friends in washington are going to constitute a new government this this is a coup top my washington misplacing a democratically elected president whatever his flaws and faults which have been documented but the point about this is and this is what makes it so dangerous there are people in the military industry in the united states right now who are popping champagne corks over the escalation of this ukraine crisis because going from a regime or a climate of severe military budget cuts only a few months earlier now there is no congressman who can vote down any increases in pentagon armaments that's requested and there's a powerful faction in wall street extremely powerful and wealthy people in the united states and nato especially the u.k. who want to see this escalation toward a not just a new cold war but de facto a hot war and russia and china would be the main target in my view so this is an extremely dangerous situation the

from washington when he recently was in kiev making a speech supporting into the museum in kiev and denouncingrussia who now are house to end because just because just because president putin at this stage is calling for the referendum to be on hold and for the dial to place that doesn't mean that russia will not take steps to intervene if the conflict increases and if military forces acting on behalf or into the regime in kiev continue to attack civilians and you mean that they have been doing. what some of the west are they likely to recognizing the results of the doubt not but of all the conforti devoted he can to these people illegitimate. that this is a ploy by russia one thing we can beat a fugitive from this development is the idea that the anti-government protesters and so the u.k. interacting at the behest of more school that russia is directing these events and some of these new to national incidents and as proved by the five this president putin has called the referendum to cancel and people want to go under saving to go ahead regardless so the west has no been exposed as having pla

violence in eastern ukraine that erupted during a referendum on moving towards greater autonomy from kiev may find some of the following images disturbing. pro-government forces entered the city of a mess in an attempt to disrupt the voting locals tried to stop them and here you can see troops shooting at a crowd of civilians one person died on the spot and another was injured a third man reportedly died on his way to hospital for schools serving as polling stations have been seized by government forces the voting had to be stopped early according to referendum organizers a sufficient number of ballots have already been cast. or getting news just in the interim authorities in the eastern ukrainian region of the net say that ninety percent of voters have said yes to greater autonomy from kiev in a local referendum and that's according to a preliminary count and the final results will be released on monday where voting is also taking place in the nearby lugansk region the turnout in both provinces was reported to be over seventy percent a poll in the country's industrial mostly russian spea

. >> the government in kiev is trying to make., yes, there are international observers here on the ground and this is due to come to kiev for more talks here today and obviously they are joining in condemnation and what is really important here is we heard there are cries that people in the east should be listened to and the government in kiev saying this is not the case and this morning saying the turn out was very low and in donsk and the population and 24% of people turned down and we have the election commission coming out today saying this is illegal, this is i'll -- illegitimate and this is under the constitutional that is not allowed and they would be open to dialog in the east but not who are armed and not with blood on their hands as they say but look to roundtable political talks at some point in the future to deescalate this crisis. one more thing i would add is eu president is coming to kiev today to speak to interim prime minister to try to find a way to deescalate this crisis and i think this is happening with the sh

according to his source graham phillips is most likely being taken to kiev in order to be interrogated by the ukrainian security services or the s.b.u. at this point we haven't heard from graham phillips since tuesday when he has described his ordeal to r.t. and go on roughly to being detained. but i'll also say that. paul called. her and only. a small i do i. didn't. work it was going to be off. the question of course he couldn't prove money because she wanted in response or if he's plea for help here case foreign office said that they're monitoring the situation and are standing ready to provide consular assistance graham has been receiving threats on social media networks for several months now ever since he began covering the situation in southeastern ukraine in fact there was a ten thousand dollar bounty on his head by some of the supporters of the current of regime many accused him of working with the people they called separatists and terrorists but he was more interested in the social response and response of the people to the events that have been unveiling here in southeaster

there's been a military alert overnight in kiev.talk us through that. >> reporter: well, yes, we've had a number of things that happened yesterday. first of all, the acting president saying they were losing control or lost control of the east. namely two areas of donetsk. we saw a show of force overnight. show of security forces in the government area of kiev showing they could secure the building. perhaps more of a symbolic show given the government showing they are helpless in the eastern part of the country. >> daniel, interesting this phone call between angela merkel and president putin. merkel asked for help in the releasing of osce military observers. mr. putin saietting his own conditions. >> that's right. it's fairly clear there were demands from president putin spelled out by his own office following that conversation with angela merkel. the first one and the hardest for the kiev government is they should remove all military units from the southeast of the country. that obviously includes two sets of military units. one is

i can't believe this is the way to kiev looks right now it's. it's a very different scene today well we saw twenty four hours sleep so when we first arrived here. you can see the wall to cut it all to go but it's a bit they're trying to put out those fires because while those fires are only go they get called trying to clear this type of area in the same way as well to get it all your own which is is exactly why all that said he does fine and the demonstrators have seen. overnight just by placing calls and buses that they will go to stop the police so yeah they've been there they've adopted this topic of donning these pious i mean you have to realize is the police are only about to see me just that way you can see the middle you would think they were here right now but they're definitely there is you can say from the old account of the spire and. the cops who realize this no way they could legitimately pull as well as the type of barricade in front of. you on the gunman who was. trying to. mission the shots the. circling the just the code which

more to come from kiev.atest as well on cnbc.com. >>> joining us for the next part of the program today, the chief economist at saxso bank. events around ukraine and russia have caused over the first quarter and it caused a risk with the dow off fresh record highs. now that we have this election ape parashenko has a majority, which means we have no runoff, how will investors view it? >> they will still see the glass as half full as long as things are not escalating, they think it is good news for the market as we claim to see this morning in the european markets and certainly in germany. so for them it is still about waiting for the ultimate resolution to this conflict. i don't see on my personal level any news in terms of this. i think the situation is probably slightly diffused from the fact that you and i have a precedent with real majority, not just one given. russia will still claim it's not legitimate. and we have to look at what is coming out of russia. i have not seen yet that they have actually said

independence square during the sniper attacks in february this year or pausing in kiev he was always in the thick of the fighting and was even left shell shocked on one occasion when an explosive went off place by. our producer an independent filmmaker danny schechter told us washington officials are quick to slap the terrorism label on those who try to report a point of view different from their area u.s. officials are trained in the art of perception management they don't deal with facts they deal with impressions and perceptions that someone could be considered a terrorist that immediately would discredit anything they've done and their legitimacy as as a professional in this case with kiev and washington basically purporting to be there as emissaries of freedom somehow it's particularly discouraging that they're not allowing access to crews from other countries or with or journalists with points of view they don't michael don't want to see a get access to the facts of what's going on there for years we in america were taught that you know all information coming from the other sid

government in kiev. >> these riot police aren't showing any attempt to fight back. >> i think that the peace in a city like donetsk feel in an extremely difficult position at the moment, laura, if they use force, that the reaction of the crowd will be even more hostile. i think they feel demoralized. there's a lack of leadership from kiev, a lack of faith between the peace leadership here and the new government in kiev. of course, they were on opposite sides during the overthrow of president yanukovych, which was only a couple of months ago. it's a cries of confidence, a crisis of morale and on the other side, the pro russian forces, separatist forces if you like, the people who want a referendum or at least much greater autonomy for the east feel momentum is on their side. >> as we're talking, watching from the latest pictures that you must be seeing there, as well. scenes from donetsk as those people are holding that government building under siege with riot police trapped inside. do you get the feelin

there is certainly no meeting of minds between kiev and moscow right now. it is also far from certain whether in fact the likes of the chancellor and the european union are going to apply more pressure on putin. >> inflation rate that is the highest in the world, the raise in venezuela u won't make a difference. >> he wants to protect the people's quality of life and so he's raised the minimum wage by 30%. >> the increase protects the workers and their rights to employment and stability. >> the government already raised the wages by 10% in january, and four times last year and plans to continue increasing the salaries throughout the year. >> very positive, it is the first time that the government has taken continuing measures in a short period. the previous governments only did it when they remembered too. >> now making $675 a month. a 30% increase sounds high, but the economy in venezuela is working around the black market and what the people getting in the end is an extra $67s a month. the increases are not making a difference. >> it is a joke like everyt

the small ukrainian troops reportedly gear up to storm an administrative building ahead held by anti kiev protesters in the southeastern city of mariupol it's a region wide military offensive right now to quell unrest. gun fire and armored vehicles elsewhere in the region as the army advances against dissent in the city of kramatorsk. ukrainian wrest spirals out of control in the southern city of odessa where dozens of killed in an inferno after activists fireball monday government protesters in a barricaded building. and moscow blames kiev for condoning the crimes conducted by radicals in the deficit as russia's leader warns of the protesters in the east and now unlikely to disarm. for its part the west denounces the upsurge in ukraine's violence but some politicians put the blame for friday's tragedy on the victims themselves. however good morning to you if you just joined us just after one am here in moscow this is r.t. international with me kevin oh in the night of many developments in ukraine we're starting in the southeast of the country we'll be getting a lot of reports through in

when putin says the west is the paymaster of the government in kiev, he's correct.nd nobody knows that better than those in kiev itself. >> we have to leave it there. russian and eastern europe specialists. thank you. >> thank you. >> meanwhile, ukrainian forces continue their push against anti-government troops in the southeastern toons of slovyansk. their efforts have been behind lack of manpower and lack of money. nick spicer reports from kiev. >> reporter: the government is looking ahead and sees the need for a stronger fighting force. there aren't enough bullets to tract shooting today and training takes only two weeks, but many already feel that already. after holding their ground during the previous government's violent crackdown in kiev central square which killed over 100 protesters. >> people who are fighting here have very valuable national experience. that's why they should join the national guard. right now we need those with experience. it's something that we have not had before. >> reporter: the armed forces are broke. the interim government accuses o

what is kiev's end game here? >> well, kiev's end game is to retake the cities, which have been controlled by pro-russian separatists. kiev's stance is that the separatists are led by professional mercenaries and the concern is that the actions of these managersan ris is leading to huge instability and the possibility that the east may slip out of kiev's control. that said, the acting president mr oleksandr turchynov before the nothingsal 4-day -- national 4-day holiday said he would not allow it to slip away. there has been a significant increase in the military and security force activity. as you say, there has been a renewed effort for a second day around slovyansk. we have seep a tv tower retaken by the ukranian military and it had been seized by pro-russian militants and had taken ukrainian channels off the air. now they are back on the air, information, of course, vital in this wide-open aridable land. it's important that the information rasps the people that -- reaches the people that live here. the end gam

there is nothing in kiev. so many people died because of them. i will not go to vote. >> reporter: sunday's vote will be a test of ukrainian's loyalties, east or west. division or a united ukraine. >>> there are more than 1,000 international observers in ukraine now, including former u.s. secretary of state madeleine albright. number of voting violations already reported but observers have to be aware of the danger in the east. they only have a very small team because they know a lot of the polling stations are closed and also they have to be conscious, victor and christi, of the plet of violence. >> indeed. jim sciutto for us from kiev, thank you. >>> a question, were warning signs miss with the shooter in this california rampage? we're showing you more of the terrifying moment when the shots rang out. (music) defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d. highly soluble, easily absorbed. and i get a lot in return with ink plus from chase i make a lot of purchases for my business. like 60,000 bonus

kiev's interim government denies its forces were involved. we spoke to a journalist who witnessed the event. >> they started to shoot in the air, because more and more people came, and they were shouting. they started to shoot in the air, and then at the people. that happened a few times, you know, in a row, and then later on in the afternoon there were four fans coming, and they tried to get the guys inside out, and they were starting to shoot all around them. they were shooting at innocent people. no one had a gun. the only thing they did was throw an axe, and the people - they were harmless and wanted to vote. they were shooting and were shooting at them at the back. >> organizers say 90% of voters in one reason chose more autonomy. the single question - do you support self-rule, prompting confusion, jonah hull reports from donetsk. >> reporter: hastily arranged, low budget. the referendum drew a large number of voters to small polling stations. at issue - the question whether the region should split from the are the of ukraine. the govern

not one time did we hear any reasonable initiative or reaction from kiev.some kole colleagues today spoke about the declaration from the eu where he said that on 25 may when there would be presidential elections, and the president be appointed, that there be some sort of survey con can ducted -- conducted regarding destabilization, people are at barricades but we need a survey so as to know their opinion about what they want? now, prom the discussions today, more than anything, very -- concerning how colleagues spoke about those operations which are currently being carried out by the kiev government in the east of the country. impression that our western colleagues can read the minds of the government in kiev, and so they're very calmly talking about what is going on. but of course, it isn't that surprising because, as we know, that every visit from a high official with kiev and an american representative led to the situation where the situation further escalated, to a new level of confrontation and a more forceful turn of events, a violent turn of events a

the government in kiev in the view of washington just received their instructions from. one of the biggest concerns that we've seen is the russian propaganda that has been. blasted out nonstop. suggesting somehow that the a cranium government is responsible for the problems in eastern ukraine the ukrainian government has shown remarkable restraint throughout this process president obama spoke early after his meeting with german chancellor angela merkel and basically dismissed the whole protest against key of the sponsored and controlled by russia and put the responsibility for the escalation on moscow alone president obama also showed full support for key crackdown on the protests in the east of ukraine he called it a move to restore order. at a national relations academic marks the botha from moscow state university believes western powers are forgetting that they were the ones to open this pandora's box. they will continue to blame russia as being responsible for this for destabilizing the situation in the ukraine by their view they had a right to destabilize the situa

it turns out it's raining in kiev. now i can't explain it. but because it's raining, our satellite isn't working. i liked it better when we had long strings with two cups at the end. ever notice the president's answer when it comes to scandals and his administration? >> i first learned about it from the same news reports that i think most people learned about this. >> our sunday panel discusses what that's all about. plus, what you would like to ask the panel about the president and accountability? just go to facebook or twitter. and we may use your question on the air.

as the german foreign minister in kiev to do. you create needs a president who waited for the election thirty fifth of may and hopefully a pretty good be elected that he can begin to go shooting with the separatists and this is farcical if they only had a president well they did have a president and he was elected it tells me the european union has no idea what it's doing i think the e.u. does know what it's doing what the objective is to encourage the companies in the ukraine that is the kleptocrats to sell out to their european partners to take the euro per european partners in go and then have the i.m.f. come in impose austerity for the population and squeeze out more of a surplus for the foreign investors. the white house is considering doing away with a four decade old law that bans the sale and export of american oil abroad that is being floated because of a tremendous supplies plus caused by fracking process artie's damages you can report to the competition is not what it used to be. three years after the civil war broke o

didn't create what happened in kiev nor did it exacerbate the issue in the in the crimea. the we understand that russia has a serious interest in what happens in the region however what we hope that both sides russia u.s. and the europeans as well as the recordings can get together and say what is what are the solutions to this can we have a peaceful vote on the twenty fifth of may. unaccompanied by force and by violence that would be helpful what would be the results of can we stick to the results of that election to the degree that we can then move forward and we look at more regional power do we look at what what happens the russian language and what happens there those are things we need to look at the always see is now looking at that we need to support that effort you know there is a saying not only here in russia but mania american in the western policy analysts say the americans and the west in general have very short memory and they they would rather prefer to forget you know what happened in ukraine a couple of months ago and move or have them analyze what actual

what it means to be russian in kiev. the european the lection campaign has ended its critical period. 400 million europeans will go to the polls to elect a new parliament and the next president of the commission. but there is a problem. many europeans mistrust the e.u. and its politicians. in southern europe, many blame brussels for the economic hardship they are going through. greece's opposition leader is trying to capitalize on that sentiment rate as the left party candidate for commission president, he is trying to win support from all those who say enough is enough. >> in the market square of the little town, the stages ready for the arrival of the socialist opposition leader. the area is buzzing with people who are fed up with the established parties. >> if the prime minister and his people win, it will have a worse effect on europe. he's a young man and we have high hopes for him. >> people should give him a chance. they will see if things go uphill or downhill for us. >> when he finally takes to the stage, he rec

numerous attacks against anti-government activists and although it helped the current government in kiev come to power it isn't controlled by it so they have already defied the interim leadership several times including refusing to disarm or leave buildings they occupy in the capital. most government he condemns and the inaction of western countries to was the wrists in ukraine with president putin pulling no punches the games i thought is in kiev as well that could no more from our teaser you got a piece going up is joining us live eat you go so how did the russian president react to all of this is happening out in odessa or the president lashed out at the current authorities in kiev largely blaming them for the violence in southeastern ukraine also adding through his press secretary about wherever supports them as the legitimate authorities for ukraine are criminals. also know that in the schools we monitoring the situation there in south east of the country and isn't only deeply concerned about the situation itself but also about how it's being perceived in the west mr scoffs said tha

kiev? is stay with us this is inside story. >> don't miss the system with joe burlinger al jazeera america's highly acclaimed investigative series the los angeles times says... "beringer tells gripping stories..." new york times... "large complicated, sometimes heartbreaking..." >> to keep me from going to jail, i needed to cooperate... >> see what everybody's talking about the system works... says variety al jazeera' america presents, the system with joe burlinger story.come back to inside ukrainians vote for a new president sunday. it could be a chance for a fresh start. but after all the country's been through, from the protests to presidentian that covish's ouster, russia's annexation, and now insurgency in the eastern part of the country, condition an election alone pull it together? and confer legitimacy? stephen knicks, will it be possible to hold a credible poll in those cities in the east that have had takeovers? private still authorities trying to make tape law and order? the ones

they can't now, they get them from kiev. in order for this to become feasible, there should be compromise. >> how interested is russia in seeing these areas becoming sovereign states? >> i think russia is not interested in turmoil and killing on its borders, because if refugees start coming, right now, there are very few, but they may come in greater numbers if fighting continues. russia will be the first to suffer. russia has been animately opposed to the military operation with the use of army. i think russia will stay opposed to it, but the problem is that the west does not criticize kiev for using the army, although just two months ago, when mr. yanukovych was preparing probably to use force, the west said that the use of army in kiev under similar circumstances would be crossing the red line. >> one of the issues that really hasn't been cleared up, we've got two sides saying very different things is the extent of the russian involvement in the rebel movement, separatist movement in the east in terms of perhaps personnel

did its people's republic government he say that moving forward they can be no communication with kiev other than prisoner swap said might be in the pipeline he said that only russia could act as a mediator and now moving forward the regions of dates and lugansk will cooperate we're hearing from the lugansk central elections committee that they are appealing to the united nations to grant them a sovereign state status at the same time they say that they're canceling the presidential elections that are slated to be held on the twenty fifth of this month that is something that people have been asking whether or not those presidential elections will go ahead in this part of the country and the answer is no this reaction has been greeted on the streets with a lot of enthusiasm in fact in front of the local administration building here in donetsk people were very excited to hear the final tally or vote was very much anticipated it did bring a lot of optimism from the crowds. i do believe the outcome reflects the will of the people here are several polling stations and everywhere they will f

italy demands explanations from kiev over the killing of one of its journalists in eastern ukraine while a russian t.v. crew revealed the death threats and abuse they face during their detention by the army. and arrest overshadows a bitter ballot as ukraine chooses who is next to take the tough job job while eastern regions refuse to vote amid ongoing military crackdown. was among the week's top stories russia and china strike a historic gas deal worth four hundred billion dollars it's moscow's largest manager kondrat in decades as it turns its business priorities eastward. courtyards international live from moscow with me marina joshie italy's foreign ministry is demanding explanations from kiev over the death of an italian journalist who was shot down in the village of andrea in eastern ukraine ever coming under mortar fire andre were cali's the first member of the media to be killed in the conflict in his russian interpreter has also reportedly been killed now this is a food which we're getting from where the deaths occurred you can see passports and belongings of those came under att

kiev ukraine. now bringing all opposing parties to the negotiating table will be the primary task for whoever is voted in ukraine and that's the view of geo political analyst eric draitser it is an open question to what degree the regime. that is controlling things right now is actually supported by the people i mean if you look at the polls the polls are for the most part inconclusive because there is no candidate anywhere in ukraine that actually has the support of even close to a majority of the people in ukraine and the question then becomes will whatever the new government in kiev is whether it's a poroshenko government to machine call whomever will that new government actually engage in substantive negotiations with the people's republic of donetsk and the self-defense forces in lugansk and elsewhere will be engage in legitimate discussions and negotiations with them if they do then there is hope for some kind of a peaceful resolution if they're unwilling to do so than undoubtedly what we're