on the phone with us from kiev, and jennifer we are using the word calm. highway would you describe the situation? >> it is certainly much calmer than it was in the terrible violence this morning that took so many lives. right now the protestors took back most of the area that they had lost to police overnight, they reenforced their barricades and are holding those positions. the police have moved way back, from the closest barricades. certainly not very very close stand off that we saw early this morning. and the reescalation is the first time we are seeing the widespread use of weapons. that's why this became such a serious event so quickly. >> we thans the foreign minister from germany, poll lance, and france met today. what came out of that meeting if anything. >> the meeting went on far longer than was expected, and the announce there had would be sames against the president government or members of the government, or anybody they sell, who was involved with the violence the list of who is involved in those sanctions will be made public. likely draft

. >> let me go back to hellmuth tromm, who joins us from kiev. you are out on the streets. what is the environment like? what is the mood like? >> it is kind of a bizarre situation. we are less than a mile away from independence square. right here, you couldn't tell anything special is going on. but on independence square people are digging in. they have fortified the barricades throughout the day. fires are burning. everyone you talk to on the square will tell you, we are not turning back, this is a one-way street for us. we will stay here and either we will win this battle or it is all over. >> are you feeling pressure from outside? are folks on the ground in kiev feeling pressure from outside forces, whether from the united states or russia? >> well, i think people have somehow lost a little faith in diplomacy. the situation has continued for so long. their demand is yanukovych has to leave. at least he has to give into early elections. they have seen so much talk, and nothing has happened. i think they are not having very high hopes at this point in terms of diplomacy. t

hellmuth tromm, managing editor at bloomberg news, joining us from kiev. washington correspondent peter cook. our next guest wants to take some of the financial pain out of dealing with insurance companies rolling a car accident. he are ready handles a quarter of the world's auto claims. this is "taking stock,." ♪ >> perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the 10 -- successful entrepreneurs are their humble starts. mark zuckerberg started facebook in his dorm room. elon musk taught himself programming at the age of 12. our next guest went from hanging -- in his father's uncle auto garage defending a company focused on modernizing the insurance industry. good to have you on "taking stock." you have done four other companies, created them and sold them. what guides you? >> well, i worked primarily in the automotive industry. that is my passion. i think what guides most of us improvingsion for things or inventing things and trying to get people to see a different way. giving them an opportunity truce -- terry use it in a massive scale and finding solutions. >>

. >> barnaby phillips joins us from kiev. it looks like the situation has calmed down. is this the truce or fatigue. >> it's probably fatigue. it has been quieter over the last hour. it's true, but it is extremely tense, and i think everyone is really shocked as to what happened. in an hour of mayhem that began at 9 o'clock in the morning local time, from our understanding of the situation, it was the protesters who andrew said seemed to have a plan, and they drove the police back there was a lot of gunfire, and many injured people have been taken into the hotel where we are staying, the ukraine hotel. i have seen a body of someone who is killed in the lobby, and my colleagues have seen more bodies, and we see many armed men inside the hotel, protesters who say that we are looking for snipers, and i'm afraid that's why i am not standing in front of a window showing the square behind me. we are hearing of others saying that they have been shot at through the window. >> there's a lot of western countries calling for the protection of peaceful protesters. it raises a quest

. >> our correspondent joining us from kiev. >> campaigning has begun for afghanistan's presidentiallection. 11 candidates are competing to replace hamid karzai. the two aids for abdullah abdullah have been shot dead. the election is seen as a test of whether afghanistan can ensure a stable transition. n.a.t.o. troops are prepared to leave. jane ferguson has this report. >> 11 men in afghanistan are getting ready to sell themselves to the public. soon their faces will be posted across the capital. for those hoping to be the next president posters are crucial. in the past images were produced abroad. the manager of this business said times have changed. translation: one of the reasons we get the contract is the work is done in kabul, and the money is not wasted. the candidates are happy. >> the 13 men who work here are happy. for small businesses like this in kabul, the presidential election season is the busiest they have experienced. having one candidate as a client means tens of thousands of business, keeping men like this employed. >> posters are one part of the battle. winning ov

. >> gulliver cragg, thank you very much for updating us from kiev. viktor yanukovych has been speaking out this thursday. he says he is still the legitimate president of his country. moscow has granted the deposed president protection shortly after he sought help. that is according to officials quoted by russian news agencies. it is being reported that yanukovych has been seen in the moscow how tell -- in a moscow hotel. he is currently on the run from the interim authorities in key have -- in kiev. warrant was issued for the mass murders of protesters there. ukraine's acting president has warned that russia's black sea fleet should not leave port in crimea or it will be seen by ukraine as an act of aggression. that followed vladimir putin's demand on wednesday for combat readiness drill of the russian military. the u.s. has warned russia against making a grave mistake with any military action. nato has also warned against any military action. on.let's move the european parliament is expected to give the green light for the lifting of the visa requir

nick paton walsh is joining us from kiev with the very latest. nick? >> reporter: wolf, as the protesters behind me grow in numbers, somber in the atmosphere, we heard a lot of massive prayers being said for the loss of nearly 100 people, according to act visits in the bloodshed. this morning, we are possibly seeing maybe the beginning of a solution. the polish president who is here with the french, german, and dutch foreign ministers have been in meetings with opposition leaders and the ukrainian leader viktor yanukovych. this may bring elections forward to this year and may perhaps result in a new cabinet government in the next ten days and perhaps could see a change in the constitution, a weakening of the power. that's what people have come here to try to seek peace. we have not heard from him at all apparently from other messages he's given to diplomats. what we've heard from the government here, worrying messages from both the police and the military. the police say you've taken 67 of our men hostages and therefore we're going to defend ourselves

country or he is live for us in kiev to give us all the latest so alexei what's the situation on the ground right now in the capital. well we keep hearing some banging noises from time to time of this is fireworks with people celebrating what they believe to be their victory we first of all know that the country's former prime minister jailed unity machine and go will be released according to the parliamentary decision more than three hundred votes in that favor although i just saw a report by a local journalist and who says that you would see much tangos currently in a prison hospital which has been taken under heavy control by the police so it's not we cannot say that the machine co is out of the prison just yet we also do know that a new interior ministry has been appointed one of the figureheads of the year to my down protest outside of a he's already made several statements including the statement that the right wing sects of the so-called right wing sect of the radical wing of the protest may be included in the interior ministries troop force says this is also interesting development here as we talk about key itself it's free of any violence it's relative

jennifer has been following and story and joins us from kiev.s this mean an end to the violence, jennifer? >> reporter: del, certainly that's what people are hoping for here in ukraine. now, just a few minutes ago they announced that the parliament passed the law here in the square and there was applause in the square. that certainly is a positive move for. the opposition leaders know it's the people behind me, the thousands of people in the square that they have to convince this is a good deal. it does mean that the president will step down early, but elections won't be held until before december 2014, december of this year. so the question is will that be soon enough? they are playing, if you can keep the beeping behind me that is the video of the vote in parliament earlier this evening. as the news spreads here that there is ideal, it is very peaceful on the streets, actually down in the square it's really interesting families are out there, small children, well, people taking pictures. there are shrines to those killed in the terrible violen

the latest on this was going out to our correspondent boss ian harding who joins us from kiev. boston's first off what are you hearing from opposition members in key at what they say the charges are being manipulated by the united states secondly you are being manipulated by and i think it would cause a problem for the opposition leader but much more that that recorded phone call make it a day or week and the inability to handle this type of enterprise it to the gym and it becomes clear that in the united states from two to push further him a call to any sort of compromise that makes them all the teeth look weaker all the hype of the ukrainian people. we asked to leave th sounds we heard that report both point to the differences in how the eu in the us are seeking to handle this political crisis. are they that far apart. i think when you look at their own they're pretty close together victorian london a press conference today demanded reform political and economic reforms and she said that the us was working towards ukraine which is democratic where human rights are being respe

joining us from kiev independent square, nick peyton walsh and also joined by nick burns, former ambassador to nato, joins us from harvard. first, nick walsh, give us a sense of what is happening right now? >> as we stand now, dark has finally fallen. we have to my left the clash with police happened. substantial barricades, tires set on fire, police much further down the road. the first line of defense is there. another one down there and eventually into the square. they've been cleaning up the square after the clashes in the past couple of days trying to maintain some sense of control there. of course waiting for police to respond in some way. police have pushed in the last two days to retake a lot of the square. this morning's activity where all the people died was protestors moving towards police lines. we're hearing from medical officials working with protestors, possibly 100 have died. we haven't seen the bodies themselves. that's a large jump from the figure of 20 we heard before. that figure alone is going to inflame anger here as well. we saw this morning clashes and exchanges of g

jennifer glass with us from kiev, appreciate it. joining me now is former ambassador nicholas burns, senior director for russian, ukraine, and eur asia affairs on the national security council. ambassador. you're perfect to talk about what is going on right now. what are your thoughts on word of a truce in kiev? >> well, if there is a silver lining in this very dark cloud, it would be a truce. that will help the people of ukraine to sort out this extraordinary division in their country. they're threatening to secede from the country and not submit to the president. it's a angry country and people need time to talk to each other and work out some political compromise. another thing that is obvious is the tremendous miscalculation by president yanukovych. it was a terrible decision to use force, the loss of life. it backfired on him. you saw some of the most powerful business people in the ukraine speak out against the president, some of his supporters, and you saw the furious reaction of the united states and the european union, the

jennifer glasse has been following the story and joins us live from kiev. so far what has come out of oppositions meeting with secretary kerry? >> as you can probably hear behind me, demonstrations go on day and night, 24 hours. music playing right now. in munich, the opposition leaders got the kind of rhetoric they wanted from the u.s. secretary of state. and european leaders. they want support. but they say they want concrete support. and one of the leaders said the problems -- the reasons are clear. he places the blame firmly on the president. >> just one person who is responsible for all escalation, who can easily stop the escalation, is the person the president of ukraine. you have absolute power in his hand. and he has absolutely -- for everything what happens in ukraine also. >> and that is why vitaly really wants the president to step down. they want him to step down or call early elections. he is also calling for anyone who is calling for human rights violations to be prosecuted. that has been a problem here as protesters have clashed with police h

from star wars. >> wonder world - a former astronaut tells us about these spectacular time lapse images. >> and we begin tonight with the fiery live images from kiev. it's early morning now. you are looking at independence square, flames, smoke, flashes of light amid a sea of protesters and riot police that moved in to clear the square, setting off the deadliest day of violence. at least 18 have been killed, untold numbers injured. several forces are at play, political, economic, religious. opposition leaders say today's talk failed to end the violence, and this comes tonight as the state department issues a warning to u.s. citizens travelling there. we have a lot to get to. joining us from kiev is journalist max ooen. welcome. it's good to have you on the program. tell us what you have been seeing? >> you know, it's tense. nevertheless, it's - the pressures are ongoing, and basically just an hour ago it was 5am. i saw clashes before my eyes. basically it was a gun battle between some thugs apparently pro-government thugs that were clashing with protesters on the treats, and i was clearly i heard some afghan bullets flying around. it was kind of s

jennifer glass joins us from kiev. what is the mood on the square? it is one thing for the politicians to agree to this deal. i wonder if it will be accepted by the square? >> i got to tell you tony. people on the square feel angry. they feel they've been sold out. it's too little too late and they want viktor yanukovych to step down. they've been calling for that for months. even after the bloodshed, after seeing dozens of people die there have been funerals all day at the square, dramatic scenes as people are remembered here killed just before. and many believe the agreement is too little too late. the question is what will they do? how long can this peace stay? tonight the opposition are policing the streets in the immediate. that's part of the concession outside of the deal aimed to diffuse tensions here. tensions are still very high. >> you know, jennifer, you heard the comments from the polish foreign minister, as i did, i'm wondering was this deal entered in to in good faith? was it a good-faith compromise? or was this deal. forced upon the op

process of being issued and we will of course get you up to speed on that and she was speaking to us from kievters are not going anywhere in madan square and this is overlooking the square in kiev. a lot of tense and signs that people there are bedding in. one of the people in that particular square was former georgian president and he welcomes the west. >> it vanished and got burned in the fire and i think nobody should know and what happens today as i said the end of russian empire started here in kiev. >> reporter: and that is not a view that is shared by everyone in the country. in viktor yanukovych's stronghold in the west many people still support russia and we traveled to kiev, the ukraine second largest city where the governor is calling on people to reject the rebellion that has unfolded in the capitol. >> reporter: still standing high and proud in the main square, a statute of lennon determined to protect it and stand by the links of moscow. and they asked them to be peaceful but this is the rebellion sweeping from here. >> translator: we are not going anywhere and do not trust anybo

reporter saudi arabia bra joins us from kiev.ell us what's going on right now. >> right now on the square it continues to be quite volatile. there are fires burning on the square where the protesters are piled up tires and other items they can find and are setting them on fire -- advance pretty far into the square. there is a fire going none a building known as the trade union building where the prey testers have kind of camped out there on different floors. there is a fire up on the seventh floor there and people jumping out of windows to escape. the situation is really tense on the square at this point. there has been a lot of people, when i was down there about an hour ago, i saw wounded people being carried out of the square. there is young minute and women actually decked out and somewhat kind of homemade riot gear. they have a lot of hockey gear on. elbow pads, he will mets, that sort of thing. so it's pretty unstable situation. >> sabra. thank you very much. i hope you will continue to follow this for us. thank you, sabra.

. >> gulliver cragg joining us live from kiev.the seige of a school on the outskirts of moscow has been brought to an end after authorities neutralized an armed high school student who had taken more than 20 other students hostage. the siege lasted for a short while but did leave one police officer and a teacher dead. to rome now where the u.n. chief aid official is meeting with humanitarian agencies to find ways of alleviating the suffering of syrians on the ground. opening the conference a short possible int really affairs minister accused the international community of having failed syria -- italy's international affairs minister accused the international community of having failed syria. towe have rejoined forces convince countries and authorities that are still resisting. there is nothing more on acceptable just to see that everything is ready in the -- justat the borders need a green light. >> we can join our correspondent in rome who has been following that conference for us. thank you for being with us. we heard emma bonin

we're just getting word right now, it's fascinating, barbara, because phil black is joining us on the phone from kievhe's there on the streets reporting for us. phil, we're just getting word that the ukrainian opposition lead has arrived at yanukovych's office for talks. this is according to the spokesman for the opposition leader. explain what potentially this could mean. because the violence, the explosions that we're hearing, they seem to be escalating even though it's approaching -- it's after midnight now in kiev. >> just a few moments ago, wolf, we saw what is described as russian security forces that drove through some of the opposition lines here. they are surrounded by security forces with shields and protective gear trying to drive their way through. crowd and that triggered enormous panic here. some of the thousands of people here are fleeing in one direction and then others running in the opposite direction trying to build up their line with the barricade. this went on for a few minutes. happened grenades were thrown to further scare the crowds but then the security forces withdrew and no

certainly keeping us up to date from kiev he's also posting video from the center of the protest and photo this. instagram page the police lines are just twenty meters away from where he took this on his mobile phone so you can follow. videos directly from the front line now for. meantime there have been accusations all the live ammunition being used from both sides of the ongoing conflict well so far in r.t. international we have been seeing pictures showing some protesters in possession of real guns and are certain you can see people wearing camouflage there and some guns being held here as well allegedly using live ammunition and the rioters were also attacking police with the showers of molotov cocktails and rocks and this is when protesters rammed a truck right into the chord tones of the pictures continue to follow through here on r.t. international that's a quick look back now at how the situation unfolded in kiev on tuesday when violence returned to the ukrainian capital first the opposition rallied the crowds and urged them to march on parliament i trouble began when a radic

chilcote, joining us live from kiev. stay with bloomberg for comprehensive coverage of comprehensive coverage of ukraine. he will bring us a firsthand look at the struggling economy and efforts to help the people of ukraine on friday. fed chair janet yellen acknowledged today that recent economic ada has been weaker than expected but says the central bank will likely continue to trim back its bond purchases for now. our chief washington correspondent, peter cook, has more on the testimony. fed isate with in the over the weather right now. >> it's fitting. delayedimony has been for two weeks because of a snowstorm back on february 13. the fact that janet yellen and is in factues fitting. it was supposed to be a match to it she told the house committee back on february 11, but in the two week interim, we've gotten a host of economic numbers that have come in weaker than expected. today, she straightened her oral testimony and acknowledged the softness and talked about it directly with the committee. asset purchases are not

ll the interest rates to kiev tonight to where the violence continues the live pictures coming to us from at independence square says that for this flaming barricades for the protesters are trying to protect what has been the heart of their protest movement since last november when they began recording for the resignation of the country's president viktor yanukovich their fears inside the square. tonight's that the government did to they seem to separate the security forces rather are preparing a new assault on the square the police had been trying to wrest control of independence square now since yesterday morning leading to that the worst violence twenty five killed the words violence since the protest movements began ukraine's security services announced today a nationwide anti operation to restore order with the defence ministry announced its ending paratroopers to get its defense. according to government and government offices and eighteen stations not to confront anti government just isn't yet fears that in the square tonight. the police are preparing another school on the square to

this is peaceful from this day forward, because obviously the terrible violence that took place in the maydan was a shock to everyone in the world. >> tim friend joins us live from kiev. take us through the developments on the ground and what is expected to happen later today? >> sure. as you have been hearing from john kerry, what i think everyone is striving for now, not only the international community, but the people in kiev, and we are just a few hunt dread metres -- hundred metres away from the epicentre from what is regarded as a revolution. what they want is a form of consensus, and what they are hearing is that the new cabinet will be put to the people in independent square. now, it may be put to them as a whole or to their leadership, but the politicians know if they don't get their support, there could be further trouble ahead. it's an unusual process. you would normally expect a new cabinet to be within the power of parliament and government, but we are in what they record as a post revolutionary situation, and so the people in the square, who believe they have brought that about, will have their say, we think later on on wednesday. >> thank you. tim frie

. >> what was interesting on fox report last night, we had a grn reporter talk with us from kiev. he says, you know, once the olympics are over, we could see some changes. we could see the russians reengaging somehow. lawmakers here are concerned with the russians meddling or worse. >> no question about that. and there may be a tug of war with the united states and europeans on one side and the russians on the other with americans hoping ukraine will move forward with western values. senator bob corker, the top republican on the foreign relations committee, says the united states should insure ukraine remains one country and their territorial and political in integrity are maintained. senator john mccain has an eye on moscow. >> what does putin do here? the message has to be sent to him to let the ukrainian people determine their own future. and a partition of ukraine is totally unacceptable, and we need to act as immediately to give them the economic assistance that they need based on reforms that are going to be required as well. >> senator mccain predicts it's going to be tough

joining us from kiev. can we think about this is a country anymore?is an independent country with the new government in place. the new government -- its main it has been branded as a, cause a government. eventspolitical aspect, that we are seeing at the moment are serious. behind this is russia and .resident putin this is one of the biggest defeats on a foreign policy bid for president putin. i think we will see more disturbances coming from russia. ukraine became independent in 1991. it had the third largest nuclear arsenal in the whole world. it was bigger than china, u.k., and france combined. he gave it up voluntarily in exchange for assurances from united kingdom, the united states, and russia. it remains a sovereign state. i think the country, what will the u.s. andrimea, eu will need to monitor that closely. hard to going to be deal with that, given the agreement that was a made. maybe heant to secede, will recognize them, but you can see a split in this country. with peopleroblems trying to do business with them. them over the last 23 years, t

john joins us now on the ground from kiev.o talk about a sense of normality returning to kiev? >> much too early. if you walk through the streets is relatively peaceful. at the same time, almost every second person you walk past in the main square is wearing some sort of militia, camouflage, or combat gear. it is a pretty surreal situation when you walk around. streets form in the now. some concerns expressed by some militia volunteers that law and order will become harder to guarantee and maintain the longer this power vacuum goes on. power vacuum obviously feeding into concerns about the financial situation the country faces. there now five days after ousting of the government. how serious is the financial situation becoming? even justserious, looking at the currency this morning we have seen another 6% decline in the currency this morning. what you are seeing at the central bank is running out of money to defend the hryvnia. yes, there is talk in european capitals and in kiev about the 35 billion dollar bailout ukraine clai

kiev. right there just want to show you again these are live pictures coming to us directly from downtown kiev it has been the scene now for the past thirty six hours of extreme violence we've had at least nine police officers killed allegedly from gunshot wounds so let's get the very latest what's happening of what's continuing in the ukrainian capital got a pretty good offer now joining me live from there and do you go it's daylight where you are we still see the smoke. we thought that was that it was over but now apparently it's it's still going on. well things have quieted down right now compared to how we were over the nights but lots of people are still on my down square they're calling on the others to join the protest right police are there as well and they have managed to push out the riders from a large part of the square so far it's more or less peaceful but tensions are really really high in fact several districts of the essential key of look like a battlefield so with boulders a ripped out from the pavement but small barricades flames are still coming out of the house of trade uni

on women and children to leave the affected areas the ministry to the live pictures coming to us from kiev with its battles continue between security forces and protesters that is the text images coming to us from our live from the ukrainian capital discussions of course loves it. after months of the office and evening off to the task is to make their way to the canadian parliament where opposition leaders failed to have constitutional changes they want in the country even discussed on the parliament floor. changes that would mean its presidential power and sincere attempt the two thousand and four constitution at bay during fetal position to get these changes discussed in private that the demonstrators to make their way from independence square to the country's parliament or your state you can see that the results. dr based on the streets all. yes and its battles continuing even though at tonight's in the center of kiev it is the bloodiest day since at the protest movement began last november. in other news at least five people were killed and scores injured in today off to anti governmen

joining us from kiev by phone is christopher miller. he's been seconding out truly some amazing pictures through social media of the protests. christopher, can you hear me? >> i can hear you. >> you've been covering these protests from the very beginning. you have been in the middle of it all and we're showing some of the images you have been sending out. can you describe really the unexpected escalation of this violence? >> yeah. down the street, the mood is incredibly tense. more so than it has been over the last more than two and a half months, nearly three months now. in the beginning, this was a protest that began in response to the president's decision to spurn an eu deal and turn towards russia. and -- and sense then -- since then we've seen it escalate month after month, first in december when police raided for the first time entering dozens of protestors. it was on december 1st. everybody here thought that that would be the worst of it. they're a -- they were afraid it could escalate further, and it did in january. but this typ

from is an important question. let's talk do demetry, he is an economist for the imf, and joins us live from kiev.kraine's revolution may have brought about swift change, but it has left the country many say sliding towards an economic crisis. how much trouble is the economy now in you think? i would say the situation is pretty tense. at the same time it isn't default, it isn't really not eminent. because the last four years we haven't seen any economic policy measures so now it is the time to clean up the mess. and i would say basically this mess is cleaned up, the economy could prosper, even as a midterm perspective for 12 or 18 months. >> let's talk about where that help can come from. ukraine had been relying on a $15 billion bail out, to service it's debts and pay for it's imports. what is going to happen now with russian financial help and the gas discounts. >> it's unclear. russians officially declared that it will be willing to continue dealing with ukraine, and so on, so it's really unclear whether the help will really come. at the same time, i will see increasing chances of western help

let's talk to associate professor at kiev academy joining us live from kiev.a danger that ukraine should split in two? >> i think there is a danger that ukraine should split and there could be -- separatism, but i don't think in two. i think the map you just showed is a little bit outdated. i'm sorry, david i don't mean to be critical. >> no apology needed. give us the proper version. >> i think it's not just a question of language. certainly there is a question of ethnicity. this is the only area of ukraine that has a majority non-ukrainian ethnic population. with respect to the rest of the country, certainly the south, for example, it is a lot less clear as to what will happen with the new regime. i think there is quite a bit of support now. and there is a good chance of the territorial of ukraine proper minus the peninsula can be maintained. the issue at this point is we have quite a bit of russian medaling, certainly because of the fact that the revolution that happened in kiev is not in the interests of the kremlin, because they are afraid, quite frankly

joining us from kiev. stay warm. stay safe. thank you for the update. oment, we will go back and hearapitol hill more from fed chair janet yellin. you're watching market makers on bloomberg television. stay with us. ♪ >> welcome back. ,ight now come you see david the senator from louisiana questioning janet yellen. the fed chair testifying before the senate banking committee. let's take you back to washington right now. >> in contrast to that, there has been concern that you might follow europe possibly do in watering down some other provisions from the initial draft concerning things like weaker treatment of derivatives and evaluation of repurchase agreements. can you give us any insight into where those things stand in your discussions yo? >> let me see if you understand -- if i understand what you mean. we came out with a proposal for the 5%. >> is there any chance that will change in the final action? >> this is something we've been quite supportive of. i'm not envisioning -- >> ok. deeper in the weeds come if you will, there has been some that you c

jennifer glass joins us from kiev. the president losing the support of the party over the weekend. e is a warrant for his arrest. what do you know about that? >> that's right, del one join me here from the edge of independence square. president yanukovych we know is on the run. the prosecutor is preparing a warrant, police looking for him. we have a little more information about his movements over the past few days that from the new interior minister. he says that yanukovych left kiev early saturday morning, first he went to one of his political bases to meet with leaders of his political party, then went sunday to another political base where he was governor. he tried to leave the country from there on a chartered plane but turned back by border officials. the last known whereabouts, he wrote a public letter to his guards releasing them from duty. very much a man on the run this morning, this after parliament sent haim clear message that his presidency is over. >> the acting president of ukraine is this a temporary post or is he a challenger now. >> the feeling is he's very much a

from russia. clary a ward joins us by phone from kiev. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of confusion from crimea. this is a very fluid situation, but what we're hearing is that two airports have been taken over. the main airport, the civilian airport in the regional capital appears to have been taken over by unidentified masked gunmen. they're in the control tower. they're roaming around the terminal. they're patrolling the outside. they're wearing uniforms without any insignia and they refuse to talk to journalists on the ground there. there's not any idea who they are but there's a suspicion they're a pro-russian military team. in conjunction with that there are other reports that russian military personnel have blocked an airport in a different city in crimea. that airport is near a large russian naval base. russ russia's fleet is denying that they're blockading or seizing this military airport but they did concede they have stepped up measures with their anti-terror units to, quote, protect units with parts of the fleets that are locate. ukraine's interior mini

kiev. >> abdel joins us now from kiev. is it any clearer now where victor januar yanukovych is?rter: no, it's not. the last time we have seen him is in that video message that came public on saturday morning in that message he said that he was victim of a coup and he still regarded himself as the legitimate leader of this country. since we haven't seen him but did hear from the interim interior minister who said that yanukovych was trying to feed the country on a private jet from the eastern city that he was prevented by -- from doing so by the border guards but he actually fled the airport and has not been seen since, there was some illusion that he have fled the country by land but none of that has been proven. we also heard from one of his aids who actually said, no, yanukovych remains in the country. in the east part of the country. and that he will go and speak to his supporters and explain his position. so we really don't know where he is presumably somewhere in the east. but i think he is in a very difficult position at the moment because you also hear some very harsh cri

from kiev that have shocked the. well continue of course to bring you all the latest from the ukrainian capital stay with us international and so to come for you this hour as well as historic victory . another sensation for russia of the sochi winter games as a young athlete claims the country's first ever olympic gold in the individual women's figure skating. and a luxury that no one wants over a dozen mansions worth hundreds of millions of pounds stand empty in the heart of london stay with us for the. belmont told him aligned with what i will only react to situations i have read the reports for unlike the pollution and no i will leave it to the state department to comment on your latter point to say due to the security of a car is on the job here no gonna. take you no more weasel words when you need a direct question be prepared for a change when you run you should be ready for a. freedom of speech and little doubt the freedom to question. dramas they're trying to be ignored. stories others to use in those. places change the world right now. to picture a day. from around the globe. look you don't. want to run your lif

you are looking at a live picture from kiev where ride please are moving in on a large protest camp using water cannons and stun grenades. part of that camp is engulfed in flames. the action comes after thousands of antigovernment protesters fought with police earlier today outside of ukraine's parliament. nine people were killed, including two police officers. more than 150 others were injured area it was the worst violence since protests began in late november. the government has shut down several stations in the center of the capital in its promise to restore order. ryan chilcote has followed the in theon an and you ukraine for years. ofthose are live pictures independence square. on the very far side of that life picture, you can see those planes burning. this is a direct standoff between protesters, many of the , and thousandsed of riot police who have moved in. this is different from the violence we have seen in ukraine up until now. there has been violence going back about a month ago, a month before that. but this is been the single deadliest day by far. we have never seen the vio

from the demonstrators. >> thank you so much for speaking to us. we will bring something else from kiev, -- someone else from kiev, and antigovernment protester. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. tell us what you -- where you are right now what is happening. --i am on my way to i did not know what is happening. [inaudible] we seem to be having some trouble with our lines, but if you can hear me, tell us more about what the feeling is among your colleagues, the other protesters who do want victor yanukovych to go. do you feel you are any closer to that goal? >> yes, i think we are closer. hoping for the best but bracing for the worst. i think everyone is ready. i don't think anyone has illusions. [inaudible] apologies for our viewers. we do seem to have a troubled phone line. i just want to try one more question. for you, for the protesters, what would calm the situation at this point? if the government were to come the meetingash from and nothing early elections, would that be enough? think the onlyi establishment back and find a solution to this is the ukrainian par

from prison. live to jennifer glasse in kiev. explain to us something. what does tymoschenko's release mean for the protest movement and politics in ukraine. >> a huge cheer went up when it was announced that she was freed. her daughter is on the wi. she's the poster child. you see the poster of her in the square, and a number of other once. she is one of the viktor yanukovych's main rivals and a unifying figure. that's what the opposition needs right now. there's a sense of momentum. a number of changes have been made. an interior minister is awaiting for the appointment of a prosecutor jrnal. no one knows where viktor yanukovych is. he's not in the capital, it's believed. an assistance of change and giulio tymoschenko, the former prime minister and the darling of the opposition movement. the fact that she was freed i would imagine she'd come to independence square. there are thousands gathered. a loud cheer went up. she's been in prison for two years, many believing it was more a political imprisonment than anything else. embezzlement was politically m

remind everyone, and ask everyone to remain calm. >> let's bring in barnaby phillips, joining us live from kiev. the opposition claiming the president left the country. any more clarity on viktor yanukovych's whereabouts? >> no. in fact, there are some people within the opposition who say that he hasn't left the country, but he's left the capital, left the capital kiev and gone to harq. >> -- harqiv and one of his loyalists gave the same information. that's the likely whereabouts of him. until he's made himself seen, we don't know. we can say with authority that there's no one iota of presidential power in kiev at the moment. there are no police on the streets. there's certainly no army involved. thank got if you go to the perimeter building, it is guarded by protesters, maybe i should call them revolutionaries, as you were saying, his own residence outside the capital is no longer guarded, neither is the presidential administration building, which is a few blocks away. protesters are wandering into it freely. it's a fluid situation. all we can say is that president viktor yanukovych's grip on

neve barker joins us live from kiev now. neve, hi, good to see you.s talk of a stalemate between the two sides, is katherine ashton making much headway? >> reporter: well, this is her third trip to ukraine since the conflict began. she met with the opposition late on tuesday night and this afternoon met with the ukrainian president. she has just started to speak about the results of these talks, and has indicated, as was thought that the european union and u.s. are planning a financial aid package to help the country's troubled economy. the national currency has been fluctuating wildly for weeks now, and this afternoon plummeted to a new low. the concerns there are that the country will be in economic freefall without any kind of external help, but the concerns are that -- by the western [ inaudible ] presented by the eu and the us is this could well start something of a bidding war with russia. russia has already signed a $15 billion aid package for ukraine. that is currently on hold while the country remains in political turmoil. the concern here, t

. >> our journal joins us live from kiev.fter that night of violence, what the situation there in independence square. >> the situation is very difficult. protesters say they are blocked by the police cars from every angle. they are acting people to bring tyres to set them on fire so the smoke goes on, but what we have also - is the acting prime minister held a ministerial meeting today. he said that he - he pledged financial aid to the families of those killed police men. he did not say the things about the protesters, but he was sorry for the deaths. and he called the protest, not the manifestation of democracy, but the attempt to seize power in ukraine. he asked all sides to remain peaceful. it looks very much the same as the placement earlier in the night made by the president viktor yanukovych. what we know that viktor yanukovych asked the opposition to leave later today. vitaly klitschko announced that they will probably hold a meeting and will try to resolve the crisis, but there is information of trains being stopped

we are in the ukraine, who joins us now from kiev. good to talk to you from there. it about mr. yatsenyuk and his credentials. of a technocrat. he has been government quite a bit. he has been speaker of the parliament, he has been at the central bank, at the ministry of finance. which is one of the reasons why he has been endorsed by the other members of the opposition, and last night by the crowds at independence square as the guy to negotiate, to do with the imf, the u.s., the e.u. that they so critically need to get started on. parliament is going to meet in just about half an hour and they will start considering his candidacy, and the candidacy of all of the members of the new government. we expected to be pretty much a quick procedure. but he is an interesting guy, 39 years old. his job is going to be to get the financial assistance and also prepare this country for an election in three months' time. caretaker for three months, then they have the presidential election and everything could change. from will try to attain various parties, whether the imf, the u.s.

us from washington, d.c. thank you. nick schifrin joins us live now from kiev, and nick, what is the move there tonight on the square? you know, it is one thing for the politicians to agree on this deal, but the big question remaining is will the people in that square, will they accept it? >> if you ask them, it's a defiant no. they're angry, upset and disappointed. this square has witnessed two revolutions, and many are saying they are not going to see that revolution and it's not enough and they're going to stay until the president steps down or leaves the country. frankly, you know, you talk to them and there is real gulf between them and the political leadership. they say, look, we have died in this square. hundreds of us have taken bullets by police, by government forces. we have simply paid too high a price to give up on elections, to give up on what they see as a vague deal between the president and the opposition. so if they want to see if the president actually stepping down tomorrow, tony, anything less they will stay. and they're fort flying tonight the molotov cocktails are still out, and everyone is gear

from munich with news potentially of a breakthrough. they may scatage large-scale rallies. thank you for joining us there from kiev. >>> three people have been wounded in the latest anti-government demonstrations in thailand ahead of sunday's election e gunshots were heard in bangkok. dwayne hey is there >> reporter: this is exactly the sort of build up to sunday's election that everybody in thailand had feared. these people moving down this road here are anti-government protesters and they are coming from one of the central bangkok stages at another building a few meters down the road here also in the area is a pro-government group. as they are protesters are moving down here, there has been a lot of gun fear coming from somewhere and, also, explosions. there is very little security in this area. there are some soldiers, unarched and, also, some police but very little security at the moment. as you can see, protesters moving down this road. this was an area of bangkok that the security forces, both military and police had warned could see violence on election day. we haven't even reached the day, yes. already, a

. >> nbc's richard engel filed that report for us tonight from kiev. there's one other development today you should see. with the fighting in the streets, with police using live ammunition and now protesters in some cases shooting back at them with live ammunition, with worries at the ukrainian president may be preparing to deploy the military against the protesters, it sometimes hard to see how the political process fits into this. violence, after all, represents the failure of politics. but today, the parliament in ukraine did convene just over half of the members of parliament turned up. the government had asked them to vote for what they called a nationwide anti-terrorism roundup. to crack down on the opposition in response to the protests. the government wanted that vote. parliament today did take a vote on that bill. the vote was no. the parliament voted 236-0 to say no to rounding up the opposition. they voted instead that the ukrainian government should reset all security forces to normal operations and should release the prisoners from the oppo

us. i'm joie chen. it is clear at this hour that the firey clashes and burning anger that drew the world's attention to a burning city square in kiev have now spilled from ins >> good evening. thanks for joining us. i am joie chen. a fiery clash that drew the world's attention to a burning square in kiev have now spelled out well beyond ukraine's capital city. just about this time a day ago, a truce was announced and the opposition held their breath. within hours, it was clear that whatever hope there might have been for an end to the stand-off, it evaporated. since u crannian president yanokovych declared intent to start negotiations, even more blood is spilled. within hours, protesters are in independence square sparking renewed and violent clark with the police. less than 12 hours after the truce announcement, protesters wrestled control from security forces and more than a dozen officers are taken hostage. during the showdown in the square, at least eight people died. over the next few hours, sharp international response with a government targeted for blame. u crannian domonokovoski leave the sochi games in protest. the olympic committee says more t

. >> and jennifer glasse joins us live from kiev. jennifer, how has this case, this latest case changed the dynamic of these demonstrations? >> reporter: well, you know john, i think many opposition supportsers say it proves what they've been saying all along that the security forces have been targeted them and this surreal standoff at the hospital tonight with police trying to question bolotov and his supporters protecting him, really is reminiscent of what we've seen over the last few weeks here when clashes broke out last week, opposition supporters were instructed not go to public hospitals because public doctors have to report any injuries that are connected with a protest and police were going to the hospitals and interrogating and arresting people at the hospitals as they were being treated. so i think it's just really heightened the mistrust between the opposition folks here and the thorlts -- and the authorities. >> seablght john kerry is meeting -- secretary of state john kerry is meeting with opposition leaders. what can w

. >> cnn's ian lee is joining us live from kiev. what can you tell us about the airport and the air space closed? >> reporter: well, jake, the men that have taken this airport or who have been there, i think we don't know who they are but i think what we are seeing is the most telling. these are very professional looking soldiers. they have new equipment, new uniforms, and they are moving in a way that is not would be like a rag-tag force. we don't know why the air space has been closed. neither the civil administration here in kiev or in the crimea has given any reason why or when it will reopen again. but definitely tense times here. >> what do you know about reports of the russian military moving directly into crimea. >> reporter: this is something that we've been watching all day. whether it's youtube videos or on multiple local networks. we're seeing at least 11 helicopters moving across the crimea towards an area called ballbeck. we're seeing a youtube video of that and all this is really backed up by the government saying that